“Nothing with Sara but everything to do with her class.”

  Now Dave was just getting frustrated. “Just speak plainly.”

  “Her class allows her to bond with monsters. So what is a monster?”

  Dave grinned. Okay, this was exactly the type of intellectual thing he liked to deal with, but one thing did bother him. He didn’t want to disappear for a long time. “Do we have time for me to reason this out?”

  “Given that the dungeon’s normal time dilation is even further compressed in here, I believe you have an abundance of time. I can’t say without absolute conviction, but the sense I get is that the time dilation inside this bubble is at least ten times greater than in the regular dungeon.”

  “Uh, that isn’t good. Remember time flows faster inside the dungeon.”

  “You people are always so concerned about the petty things happening outside the dungeon, but you didn’t let me finish. During the challenge, time is flowing in reverse while still being more compressed.”

  Dave whistled. “Wow, so something like 170 hours in here to 1 hour outside.”

  “At a minimum,” Altracia replied.

  “Okay, then since we have the time, I have a couple questions about you first. It might help me understand the larger issues here.”

  “As you wish.”

  “Oh no, I’m not Princess Buttercup.”

  A profound sense of confusion flowed out of the core, but Dave just kept going.

  “First off, why don’t you speak like Altracia the drake does?”

  “That is simple. My intelligence has evolved, but in order to maintain the connection with Sara, I keep an Altracia drake around all the time. That serves as the anchor for her bond, but is not entirely separate from me. In reality, her monster friend is me, a dungeon core, but I’ve changed a great deal since that bonding.”

  “And you don’t want your changes to affect her prematurely?”

  “Something I’ve learned from you humans and elves is that childhood is a special time. It is so in all the memories I have examined. I have no desire to rob Sara of something so precious,” the core replied.

  “Thank you. That is very considerate of you.”

  “Of course, think nothing of it. I too love Sara. She is the best of this world.”

  “I’m biased, but I tend to think all my kids are pretty special. Now the other question though. Why did you bother listening to me unload all that emotional junk? I feel like I was wasting your time.”

  “That is even simpler. As I already explained, we have the time, and while you’d never get drake me to sit still long enough to listen to more than a sentence of whining, I’m an immobile dungeon core. What do I have to do except sit around and listen.”

  “Fair enough. Okay, so you asked me what a monster is. I guess we think of monsters as uncontrolled creatures who wreak havoc and destruction everywhere, but I doubt that is the definition that you were aiming for.”

  “From my perspective, that is the description of dungeon adventurers,” Altracia said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

  “This isn’t one of those, who the monster is depends on your perspective sort of discussions is it?”

  “Hardly, I still have the attitude of a predator at my center, even if I have refined the exterior. I deal in facts, and there is an objective answer to what a monster is. If it helps you, Eloria defines three types of creatures. Animals, which include insects, fish, birds, etc… are the first type. Then there are monsters and people, although, I have some slight reason to believe that there was once another form, but they are no longer native to Eloria.”

  “You mean celestials and fiends?”

  “Very good. Now, what makes all these things different? Some monsters are as intelligent as some people, and some people could become as powerful as some fiends.”

  Dave thought about it. She had said that the answer was an objective one. So it wasn’t something about degrees of difference. He tried to apply Earth rules to it at first and was coming up blank. Then he thought about the difference between what would have been angels and demons—or here celestials and fiends—versus humans on Earth.

  The simple difference as he thought about it was that humans had flesh while the others were pure spirit. That was a big jump relying on religion and mythology. And there were certainly examples in both of angels or demons acting on the physical world. But the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that he had discovered the difference.

  Then he applied that to monsters and people. Monsters weren’t just animals who were more powerful. They had different motivations and could even form societies. That had to be true, given that Sara had been able to bond a goblin as her monster friend.

  If flesh was the difference between people and celestials then perhaps the difference between monsters and people was something intangible. Spirit or soul or ding, ding, ding, divine spark as Altracia called it.

  “Okay, since you pretty much spoon-fed this to me, it must be that monsters don’t have what you called the divine spark,” Dave said. When the core didn’t immediately respond, Dave said, “So what is the practical application of divine spark then? Or I think I’m just gonna call it a soul if that’s okay with you.”

  “Call it what you will. As for the practical application, I will draw from Sara’s memories to make my point. The real difference between monsters and people is that unlike the movie she watched, no monsters go to heaven.”

  “How sure are you that there is a life after death anyway?”

  “Fairly, but don’t ask me what form it takes because I surely don’t know. I don’t know who is in charge of it. It could be Eloria itself or perhaps one of the deities or all of them. I’m not privy to any of that. I simply know that something fundamental in people is missing from monsters.”

  Dave frowned. “Okay, I think I get it now. If you obtain that divine spark then you will evolve beyond being a monster, and because Sara can only bond with monsters, she would lose her bond or maybe even her class. This, in turn, would leave her stranded wherever she is, defenseless against whatever dangers are there, including even her own monster friends.”

  “Exactly. Now you see why I have not forced my way through the barrier,” Altracia said.

  “So how do we fix this problem?” Dave asked.

  “I was hoping whatever brought you here might have given you a solution for this.”

  Dave shrugged. “Not now, but I won’t give up. Let me sit down and think about it. After all, with this time dilation, I have all the time I need to do a few things I’ve been putting off.”

  The core didn’t answer, so Dave took that as agreement. The first thing he did was check his bag of holding. He needed to be able to access it to have a steady supply of food. The results were a bit mixed. He found that he could access what was already in there but couldn’t add new things to it and presumably wouldn’t be able to receive anything new that someone else placed into the shared space.

  Even with that limitation, he had enough food for a few months. So he was going to do something he had been putting off. He was going to jump into the spellbooks he had and try to add a few spells. Who knew, maybe the process would expand his options or give him an epiphany.

  The first book he pulled out was the one he had been gifted by Albret. It was significant because it had Tier 5 spells. Well, and Tier 6 also, but he couldn’t use those yet.

  Spellbook: A Tome on Combat Magic for Adepts and Early Masters

  Quality: Epic

  Weight: 31.0

  Author: Grand Mage Ilias Sothen, Praetor and Instructor at the Imperium

  Having learned the basics of magic through your apprenticeship and then proved your versatility as a journeyman, it now falls on you to take the next steps. No longer will you go galivanting off at a moment’s notice. Now the adversaries you face will be ones that require planning and forethought.

  This treatise shall provide you with a foundation for combat magic that can deal with powerful foes as well as change the course of battles. Be forewarned these magics require great focus—and in some cases significant reagents. The magic that shapes destiny isn’t cheap.

  Tier 5: Greater Stoneskin, Repulsion, Teleport, Conjure Elemental, Enemy Locator, Chain Lighting, Spell Trigger, Artic Sphere, Were-bear’s Might, Lesser Giant Form, Elemental Enhancement

  Tier 6: Spell Turning, Sphere of Invulnerability, Hostile Transposition, Grand Monster Summoning, Foresight, Telekinetic Sphere, Fire Bomb, Shredding Wave, Grand Polymorph, Control Weather, Reverse Gravity

  Dave took one wistful glance at the Tier 6 spells and then put them out of his mind. Now was the time to get down to work. He had already looked at two of them, there just hadn’t been time to study any of them. Based on prior experience, he expected it might take him ten or more hours to learn one of these spells.

  He grinned. For once time wasn’t the issue. So, he immediately set out to learn Lesser Giant Form.

  Congratulations, you have learned the spell: Lesser Giant Form. Base chance of learning the spell was: 50% + 58% (Intelligence bonus), -30% (highest tier of spell usable by reader, -25% (adept tier without instruction), +20% (research bonus).

  Wow, 73% was higher than his chance to learn Lightning Bolt had been but only marginally so. That felt like it has been so long ago. His Intelligence was much higher and so was the bonus, but an additional penalty appeared for trying to learn an Adept level spell without someone to teach him. That didn’t seem fair.

  He took a moment to look at the spell description. It was just as he remembered it, an even more powerful version of his other enlarge spells. He looked forward to using it in combat. Dave started to feel bad about the fact that he was actually looking forward to fighting and killing monsters, but then he remembered that he had decided to make peace with this. It was who he was.

  Then he asked the core, “If you had a spellbook, would you be able to learn all the spells in it?”

  “If I absorbed the book, yes. But the book would be destroyed in the process, although once I have access to my full dungeon, I would be able to create spell scrolls with the appropriate materials.”

  “Wait, you could be making spell scrolls for us? Do you have any idea how much more powerful that would have made us? We wouldn’t have even had to worry about the goblin army.” Dave shook his head in frustration.

  “We have a symbiotic relationship, but my growth depends upon your continued struggle. Our contract doesn’t call for me to become your personal factory.”

  Dave didn’t reply for a second. She was right of course. “What if we negotiated further?”

  “We can discuss that once we solve our current problem. Why do you ask?”

  Dave could sense her unwillingness to enter into any further long-term agreements, but at the same time, her hunger for the contents of this spellbook was clear. “Then what if I fed you this spellbook? Would you agree to teach me the spells that I am able to learn and then once our current situation was resolved create two spell scrolls of each spell within the book?”

  The core was unmoving, of course, but the pulsing light inside of it sped up some. Dave couldn’t help but think that the display made negotiations easier.

  “I have no need for low-level spells.”

  “First off, I know that isn’t true. You want any scrap we can bring you. But besides that, this book contains 5th and 6th Tier Spells.”

  The core practically screamed at him, “Give it to me. Feed me.”

  “There’s the Altracia I know,” Dave said with a laugh.

  He felt the ground under his feet rumble. So he slid the book back into his bag of holding and held his hands up. “Okay, okay, do we have a deal?”

  “Yes, but I won’t be able to learn the 6th Tier spells yet.”

  “And how likely is it that you will be able to teach them to me?”

  “If you were just anyone, then it wouldn’t be much above a 50% chance…”

  Dave cut her off, “Then forget it…”

  She repaid the favor as she spoke more forcefully, slamming the words into his ears. “But you are a dungeon enhanced, so the chance will be 100%.”

  “You’re sure?” Dave asked with an arched eyebrow.

  “Absolutely.”

  It was a big risk, but sometimes, the bigger the risk the bigger the payout. With his current chances, he would likely lose something like one in four of the spells in the book unless he got either really lucky or really unlucky. This was much better odds, and he wanted those spells.

  “Okay, but you have to remember this when it comes time to renegotiate.”

  “Done.”

  It took her about an hour to entirely consume the book. Dave tried not to look at it as it was slowly turned into sludge and sucked up into the base of her pedestal and then pumped up to the core like a shake through a straw. It made him sick to his stomach thinking about it, but he just had to hope the gamble paid off.

  Another couple of hours passed before she said, “You need to fall asleep so that I can update you.”

  “That wording doesn’t make me too comfortable. Our original agreement stands, and you won’t take any action to try and kill or control me?”

  “Yes, now do you want the spells or not?”

  “One last thing, when you say upgrade, will you attempt to change anything about me other than uploading the spells to my mind?”

  “I will brace your mind to handle the input of data. I could try to upgrade you since I have grown, but it would be better to wait until I evolve again to try that.” At the last second, she added, “And only if you are willing.”

  Dave lay back down on the couch she had made and started counting sheep. He didn’t need that much sleep with his Endurance, and excitement combined with nervousness was a bad recipe for sleep, but eventually, it found him.

  Chapter Nine

  “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”—paraphrase of Virgil’s Aeneid

  Tier Challenge- the place between- David Nelson

  When Dave woke it was to a throbbing headache. He opened his eyes and shut them immediately as it felt like someone drove an icepick through his eye and right into his brain.

  It took a couple of minutes, but he finally managed to open them just a tiny slit. The pain diminished, and the benefit of all the regeneration he had made itself known. He finally managed to croak out a few words and was surprised by how dry his mouth was.

  “Ugh… what’d you do to me?”

  “Ah, you are awake. I was beginning to wonder if you were more fragile than I had estimated.”

  Dave sat up on the couch so he could stare at the core. He had adapted enough to be able to open his eyes and took in the room. The walls were still a dull gray sphere around him while the floor was the stone of the dungeon broken only by the couch and the pedestal holding the Altracia, the dungeon core.

  “Did it at least work? I think it did, but I can’t check your character screen like I can check the status sheet of a dungeon born. Seems unfair after all that you gained by becoming a dungeon enhanced.”

  Dave frowned. It reminded him that Altracia was an ally, rather a sometimes ally, but not a true friend, other than to Sara. Then he checked his character screen.

  You have received 14 new spells. This resulted in a strain on your mind. This method is not recommended for rapid use.

  Sometimes the notifications he got were so mundane. Reading between the lines, whatever Altracia did to him almost caused him a stroke, but he managed to make it. The question was 14 spells. He was only supposed to get 10 new spells from the spellbook. So what had she done to him?

  The character sheet revealed the new spells. For a faint moment, Dave had hoped that Altracia had found a way to put Tier 6 spells into him, but that would have been too much of a cheat, he supposed. Instead, she had given him four extra spells.

  Then the shock set in when Dave realized he had been out for almost three days. It was faster than trying to learn those ten spells on his own, but somehow, he had expected it to be faster.

  “What took so long?”

  “I give the man fourteen spells in less than three days and he asks what took so long. Ungrateful much?” the core asked.

  Dave didn’t say anything in response, so Altracia added, “If you must know though, three of the extra spells I made for you by altering spells I already had, so it took a bit more time to modify.”

  Dave laughed and checked out these new spells. The list was simple. They were all 4th Tier spells except for a single stand out which was a 2nd Tier Divination Spell.

  Track Bloodline: This spell has been modified from the Tier 1 spell Track Minion that all dungeon cores automatically learn. It will allow you to track anyone belonging to a specific bloodline as long as you have a sample of genetically related blood. The closer the connection, the more accurate the spell will be. The more common the bloodline, the harder it will be to get accurate readings. Mana: 150 + 10/tick. Range: worldwide. Duration: 1 tick plus 1 tick per 10 mana spent. Cast Time: 1 minute. Reagent: minimum 1 oz sample of genetically related blood. Tier 1

  “Oh, you created a way for me to find my kids. Thank you,” Dave said as soon as he read the description.

  “I meant it for you to find Sara, but yes, I suppose it would work for your other offspring.”

  Dave just ignored the core. There was no reason to argue. This spell would be useful if he could figure out how to resolve the present challenge.

  The second spell was just as useful but not as specifically tailored to his needs.

  Lesser Creation: This spell can create non-living and non-magical matter. Basic food items or soft goods such as clothing or rope can be made without any material component. Metal or rock can be made but require magicyte as a material component. The more worked the object is, the greater the cost in mana and magicyte. Mana Cost: variable. Cast Time: 1 minute for 1 cubic foot. Cast time increases by a fact of 10 every time the area of the object created is doubled. Tier 4.