Harvest Dungeon

Minutes, hours, days, I had no idea how long it lasted, time was merely a concept I couldn"t understand through the pain. Every single part of my body felt like it was being burned, regrown, and then burned again, over and over, in the most painful way possible. The only thing I wished for was the pain to end.

After a while the pain from my skin, muscles, and organs started to decrease and I thought for a brief moment that it was finally over. But I was mistaken. My bones were next, the lose and regrowth of my bones was even more painful and contained the unsettling sensation of being unable to support myself in those moments between the burning of my bones and their regrowth. How I could feel that amidst the pain is unknown to me yet it felt so wrong and uncomfortable that it was able to pierce the haze of pain that was my mind. As that pain finally eased I feared that there would be another step I hadn"t considered that would wipe away my hope that this ordeal was finally over. I had though, all but one of my organs had been through the burning and regrowing torture. After the bones it was time for my brain, and when it caught on fire then seemed to explode within my skull I blacked out.

When I woke up my head was laying on Vanessa"s thighs.

"He"s awake." Zephirah called out.

Vanessa peered down at me from over her impressive bust and gave me a smile. "Feel better?" she asked.

"I feel like I was ripped apart, burned to ashes, regrown in the most painful fashion, only to rinse and repeat." I replied, my throat felt hoa.r.s.e as if I hadn"t had anything to drink for days.

"It"s still there." Lilian spoke up as she appeared by Vanessa"s shoulder looking down at me.

I had a clear view up the fairy"s dress, but it did nothing for me. Maybe it was because she was only three inches tall.

"It"s just the residual stuff. Should be gone by morning." Zephirah replied though I had no idea what they were talking about.

"Answers." I stated without moving. Vanessa"s lap was rather comfortable, and I didn"t trust myself to move yet. Everything felt off, maybe that wasn"t the best way to put it, but I didn"t feel like I had before the pain.

"We don"t actually have time for that." Zephirah replied while staying out of my view.

"Why?" I asked stubbornly.

"Your transformation took several hours. We need to make an appearance to explain what took so long, that or Vanessa"s evil recruiter is going to think you picked her cherry already." Zephirah replied.

I considered that for a moment then shook my head. "Not good enough." I replied.

"Huh?" Zephirah asked floating into my view as she stared down at me. She frowned for a moment as she read through my thoughts. "But…" she said then stopped.

"We can"t keep operating as we have. We can"t afford too if this is really a tier seven trial right?" I asked hesitantly. I didn"t really understand what it all meant. Just that it was a lot more dangerous here.

"What about my family?" Vanessa asked worriedly.

So it was her family. I had expected it but it was different hearing it confirmed. What kind of a b.a.s.t.a.r.d was her recruiter? More importantly, I didn"t want to put her family at risk. "Fine we can head down and tell fake Candice what is going on, but I want answers as we plant the next set of crops." I said sitting up then glaring at Zephirah.

"What of my serpent gem?" the cobra asked from its...o...b..

I jumped a bit as I had forgotten about it. Which caused a round of giggles from all the girls.

"What is it for?" I asked as I stood up then reached down and retrieved the cobra orb.

"It gives us access to create serpent minions. If we can grow its strength we can make serpent guardians, and maybe some stronger beings." Zephirah replied.

I nodded a bit relieved that Zephirah was willing to give me a straight answer.

"I am doing this for you. If you knew everything you would probably curl up in the corner and cry like a two year old." Zephirah told me mentally.

I rolled my eyes and ignored her. This place had turned out to be so much more than what it seemed to be. Reluctantly I sat up then very slowly stood up. I seemed fine at first then I tried to turn and head for the portal to the lower level but I lost my balance and stumbled, falling down to my knees. My head throbbed for a moment before it pa.s.sed.

"You are going to feel a bit unsteady and disoriented from the transformation. Your stats have shifted considerably, and it will take a little while for you to adjust to it." Lilian chimed in.

"Could have told me that sooner." I grumbled.

"Yeah, I could have." Lilian replied as she started to fly around me lazily.

"Why don"t you impart all that knowledge you are here for. I am getting a bit hungry." Zephirah suggested.

Lilian froze in mid flight her complexion turning sheet white again. "It would be better to wait until he has adjusted to the changes in his body." Lilian replied meekly.

I groaned then stood back up only to fall back down to my knees when my sight started to become blurry. Both Zephirah and Lilian seemed to be exuding waves of light from them which caused my head to hurt. What the h.e.l.l was wrong with me?

"Status." I called out.

----------------------------------------------------

Name: Jason

Level: 4

Available Points: 5

Strength: 15

Agility: 16

Vitality: 16

Fort.i.tude: 15

Intelligence: 21

Wisdom: 21

Perception: 23

Dexterity: 16

Luck: 18

Charm: 14

Bloodline: Carbuncle 3%

Mana Sight

Resistant to negative status effects

----------------------------------------------------

"Holy s.h.i.t!" I exclaimed in surprise. No wonder I was feeling so off. I had gained thirteen levels worth of stat points in a couple of hours.

"What?" Vanessa asked concerned.

"My stats jumped up, a lot!" I replied.

"Of course they did. Did you think you went through all that pain for nothing?" Lilian asked.

"What was that exactly?" I asked her.

"Mana rebirth. All those who reach Mana Lord have to go through it. It grants increase in all stats by five, at least with your system, and gives you mana sight." she told me.

"My intelligence, wisdom, and perception went up by ten." I told her.

"One point each per rank increase." Lilian explained.

I frowned. Five points in three stats? How is that the aura of a master?" I asked as I tried to distract myself as I adjusted to my new stats.

"Maybe I didn"t explain the aura very well." Vanessa spoke out.

"Maybe?" I asked.

"Hey, I was more than a little shocked by everything." Vanessa defended herself.

I sighed, "Alright, so what did you forget?" I asked.

"Firstly you will have another transformation when you reach level five." Vanessa told me.

"What?!" I asked in a panic. The last one was horrible, I wasn"t ready to go through another one.

Vanessa giggled at my reaction. "Don"t worry, the transition from novice warrior to apprentice warrior isn"t nearly as bad as what you just went through." she rea.s.sured me.

"Huh?" I asked confused.

Vanessa smiled at me as she kneeled down beside me. "Like the runic system, your leveling system has ranks. With each rank up you will get rewarded. Reaching level five is where you transition from a novice to an apprentice. Which is why the newbie shield disappears at level five, as you aren"t a newbie anymore. When you become an apprentice you will gain aura sense. Which was what I was talking about earlier. How it works is by sensing two things, a person"s level, and their actual strength. It isn"t exact, but for someone of a higher level it can be very accurate on a telling

a level. As I am a level eight I can easily tell that you are a level four. The aura I was talking about is how much stronger you are than your actual level. With each increase in runic rank you gain stat points outside of your level. A Rune Master would have three entire levels worth of stats above their own level. I wasn"t able to sense that much power from you." Vanessa explained. "However now I can easily sense your Mana Lord aura." she added then frowned and looked up at Lilian. "Did he get more points in charm?"

"Are you asking if he got more handsome?" Lilian asked with a chuckle.

"He does seem more handsome." Zephirah commented.

Lilian sighed, "Spoil sport. He is more handsome, there isn"t much of a bonus, but for those who have a high clear rate in the common ranks, the will receive an increase to charm and luck along with the normal stats." Lilian replied.

"Those aren"t normally included?" I asked.

Lilian shook her head. "No, charm and luck are special stats, it is difficult to increase them. Next time you have free points you can try and put them in there." Lilian told me.

"Are you saying I can"t increase them?" I asked.

"No, she is trying to trick you. You can increase them, but they take double the points to increase." Zephirah interrupted with a glare at the fairy.

Lilian just giggled and floated around carelessly.

"Wait! You never explained how he was already ready to become a mana lord! Didn"t he still have a test to pa.s.s?" Vanessa asked.

"Huh? Oh, no, he just thought he did because he didn"t advance when he pa.s.sed it." Lilian replied.

"I pa.s.sed it?" I asked confused.

Lilian nodded. "I get the feeling that you don"t know this, but you don"t have to finish each of the puzzles in the trainer at one hundred percent. As long as you get about eighty percent of it done you can advance. Even though the last test wasn"t designed to be done with your phone, you were still able to finish eighty two percent of the puzzle, test, whatever you want to call it. You didn"t advance because there is a second requirement of having access to mana to advance and go through mana rebirth. Until now you didn"t qualify. Though your really high scores got you the luck and charm award, so at least your effort wasn"t worthless." Lilian explained lazily.

"Then why didn"t I advance when I gained access to mana?" I asked.

Lillian sighed. "Fine three requirements, tests, mana, and currently accessing Runic Shift." she elaborated.

I took a deep breath but I still felt a bit unsettled so I looked at Lilian. "And what kind of knowledge do you have for me?" I asked.

"An explanation and a compatibility test, both should help you understand the differences between the common ranks that deal with comprehending runic, and the n.o.ble levels that focus on increasing you power." she replied hesitantly.

"As long as you are truthful with me and do not cause any trouble I will not let Zephirah consume you." I told the fairy though if she kept toying with me I might reconsider.
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"Jason!" Zephirah complained.

"NO!" I told her. "She was sent here to help me, and I have no intentions of p.i.s.sing off whoever sent her." I replied.

"You wouldn"t say that if you knew the mana races worked." Zephirah grumbled.

"And whose fault it that?" I asked her.

Zephirah flinched then seemed to deflate a bit. "Fine, I get it, I will explain, just not right now. Maybe tomorrow." she told me.

"Why not tonight?" I asked.

Zephirah gave me a look like I was being stupid. "You need to learn about that mana stuff, we need to discuss how the dungeon needs to change and expand, the minions and guardians, plus how we will deal with the recruiter and the fake Candice. Do you want to add the dynamics of the mana races?" she asked.

I hesitated then shook my head. "No." I replied.

Zephirah nodded then sighed. "Good, now are you feeling better yet?" she asked.

I took a deep breath then tried to stand up. My body seemed to have adjusted to the changes. I felt stronger than I ever had before, which made sense. I was still a bit unsteady, but now it was because I was too strong. I moved too fast or put too much strength into my step. My body had adjusted to the change, but now I needed to relearn my body.

"I am feeling much better" I replied giving the sprite a smile.