It truly appeared that the way to the enemy camp was open. They had broken away from the army, and the defeated elite unit, several minutes ago and there was no sign of any other barriers. They still made their way cautiously, always on the lookout for traps or signs of others.

  The ease of their progress seemed to cause an inverse rise in anxiety. If the enemy headquarters was truly nearby, then shouldn’t there be some sign of defenses? The longer they traveled without traps or sentries, the less sure Pixel was of their path. She was getting ready to call it off when Alan spoke up.

  “Hold up everybody.”

  Hearing him break the silence was enough to freeze everyone in their tracks, let alone his actual words. While Jordan and Mikael felt comfortable enough to banter during the march, Alan had still felt like an outsider to the tight knit group and kept his words to himself. However, now he was no longer able to hold back.

  His magical senses were screaming at him. There was a pool of energy a few meters in front of them. Alan had first detected it about ten seconds ago, but it was faint and he couldn’t tell what it was. Now he could sense the power contained in that pool and he couldn’t wait any longer.

  “There’s something just ahead of us, some kind of spell I think. Maybe it’s one of those wards”

  Mikael and Jordan just looked at him, but Pixel’s gaze was to the front. “Are you sure, I don’t sense anything.” She did look back then, puzzlement clear in her gaze. She was a much more experienced mage than he was, surely she would have sensed something before he did.

  But Alan knew that his senses were far beyond normal. Not just for his level, but even for someone a grade above him. Also, Pixel may not be very focused on her mage class, and she probably didn’t have a Mentor pushing her like Alan did.

  “Give me a moment, let me get closer,” and without waiting for permission he slipped past her and approached the anomaly. Now less than fifty centimeters away, he could tell that it wasn’t just a pool of energy. There were small strands coming out of it, spreading to the trees and bushes around it.

  These were much smaller and harder to detect than the large mass. If he hadn’t sensed them coming out of the energy pool, he likely would have missed them. Now that he was looking however, he could find them stretching out to the sides of where they stood. He couldn’t tell what they would do if broken, but this must be some kind of ward.

  He relayed what he had found, even while he was making his way along the tiny strands of glowing, at least to his senses, mana. The many strands, while dense near the pool, petered out to a poor few after about ten meters. However, he could detect another pool in that direction, and another series of strands stretching towards him. There was a gap between them, but it was less than a meter across.

  Once more he reported his discovery to the group. Pixel was the first to respond, “this is beyond anything I can deal with. My class doesn’t really deal with wards. What do you suggest?”

  Alan’s happiness from her previous faint praise was nothing compared to the pride he felt as his Sergeant asked for his advice. He was acting like an eighteen-year old straight out of boot. With all of his experience, he would have thought himself beyond these feelings. Then again, it had been a long time since he had been in the company of people who were so much better at his job than he was.

  “Well, I have drained a magical trap before, that might have been like a ward. I could try to do that again, or we can try to squeeze through the gap I found.”

  Pixel gave him a hard stare, “how confident are you of being able to disable the ward without setting it off?”

  Alan had to be honest, “Compared to what I dealt with before, this thing is several orders of magnitude more powerful. I wouldn’t want to try it if it can be avoided.”

  That was all the rest of the squad needed to hear, so they followed Alan’s directions to the space between the mana strands. He spent another minute trying to sense if there were any smaller mana tendrils that he had missed, but he couldn’t find anything.

  Moving carefully, the tall and curvy Pixel most of all, the squad slipped through the opening. After his contribution of finding the ward, Alan was given a spot just behind the earth fairy. As they continued forward, he marveled at how much his sneaking had improved just from watching those around him. They were still much better than him, but the gap was not as big as before.

  It turned out that the wards were the last hurdle before they located the enemy base. They soon came upon a ravine running parallel to the frontline, tucked in between two larger hills. A clear blue stream ran the length of it, but there were wide green strips of land running alongside it. This was the much sought after headquarters.

  On its own this space wouldn’t have been a big enough area, but there were several caves on either side that the Untarians were clearly using in lieu of tents. A magical barrier ran along the top of the ravine, and guarded the entrances to it as well.

  This was not ideal from the Protian viewpoint, as it meant the blasts from the siege weapon that was the sky wouldn’t be terribly effective. However, even if it wasn’t as vulnerable as hoped, they had found the enemy camp. Pixel reported her findings, and then found a spot to plant the location beacon.

  A nearby tree had a cleft in its base and she placed it inside. Since the beacon was planted in the ground it wouldn’t need the fairy to constantly feed it mana. It would draw it from the ground once she activated it. The general had agreed to hold off on beginning their bombardment until the scouts were able to leave the area.

  The brass also wasn’t sure if they still wanted to commit the energy to an attack if it wasn’t going to be terribly effective. They could scorch the ravine and boil the stream dry, but the soldiers and officers in the caves would be safe.

  Fortunately, that was none of Alan’s business and he gladly scampered off with the rest of his unit. He had to help guide them through another gap in the wards, but they were able to make an otherwise uneventful return to their own base.

  They all breathed out a sigh of relief when they crossed the imaginary line that demarcated the two sides of the battle, the much disputed frontline. While there was no visual sign of the change, they could all feel the buffs provided by the home field advantage. Even Alan, who was still becoming accustomed to the effects of the various arrays, could feel the change.

  Arriving back at the camp, Alan received a series of notifications the moment he stepped through the base’s magical bubble.

  Quest Complete: The Battle of Ashford Hills (200)

  [You successfully discovered the enemy base and planted a location beacon. Reward: one uncommon Stalker class stone and 200 dungeon points.]

  Bonus Reward: The Battle of Ashford Hills

  [Because you successfully completed a mission while part of an Army Array, you have been awarded a bonus. Reward: you have been promoted to Private and gained access to the Army Array. Error# Conditions not met]

  Bonus Reward: The Battle of Ashford Hills

  [Because you successfully completed a mission while part of an Army Array, you have been awarded a bonus. Your aura is not of sufficient strength to activate the Army Array. Alternate Reward: you have been given a Hunter Track talent stone]

  The series of messages made him stumble slightly which earned him some ribbing from his squadmates and another curious glance from his leader. This wasn’t the first time he had gotten an error message, but this one, at least, he understood.

  Pixel had already explained to him that he couldn’t operate properly under the Army Array without an opal class, and therefore an opal aura. That was the reason he had been unable to change chat channels afterall. It would have been nice to gain access to the array, but given his lonely situation, the talent stone was probably a better reward. At least for the short term.

  He wasn’t going to inspect his gains here in the camp, the others would ask too many questions that the dungeon would probably prefer not to have to deal with him answering. The first stop was at the squads tent, where the boys wearily sat down on the cots. The mission had only lasted a few hours, but they had been on the move or in peril for most of it.

  Their squad leader was not so lucky. She had to report to the big bosses. While she had been able to communicate over chat, it wasn’t the same as face to face. Also, she had to turn in all of the gear they had collected. Jordan and Mikael tried to explain that part to him after Pixel left.

  The archer started, “if soldiers were allowed to keep any loot they found, there could be chaos on the battlefield. One person may engage enemy after enemy, while at the same time one of their supposed allies could be following along behind, rummaging through their kills and only fighting when necessary. Most armies have a standard no looting policy, and everything is collected at the end of the fight and pooled.”

  Jordan took it up from there, “If anyone is seen going through corpses during the battle, then the officers can deal with them later. All of the loot that is collected after is then gone over by our quartermaster and he assigns a monetary value. Everyone who participated in that fight is entitled to a share based on a variety of factors.”

  Most of this made sense to Alan, and seemed like a practical way of dealing with looting. In the battles he had been part of on Earth, the enemy usually didn’t have much of worth, unless it was too bulky to carry anyway. With spatial storage devices that was no longer an issue. He wasn’t sure about one thing though.

  “How do you split it evenly since these items are worth all kinds of different amounts?”

  Jordan answered that one. “Well, that would be an issue if they paid out in items or consumables like potions or stones. Instead, you receive a number of points, often called contribution points. You can then use these to purchase items off of the list of available items.”

  Mikael seemed excited as he explained, “this is nice, because it doesn’t limit you to just what is available from that battle, you can choose anything the army has for offer. This can even include non-physical rewards like promotions or special services. I’m saving up points to buy an achievement. Only General’s can hand out those, and they have a limited amount so they are expensive.”

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  Jordan cut in again. “This system is also beneficial for the army because factions usually have more money than they do special items. This way the possibility of attaining something really valuable is there to draw recruits to the army without the army itself having to provide all of them.”

  “Okay, I think I get the idea,” Alan began, “how did we do, do you think? Was that a big haul?”

  Mikael’s face broke into a huge grin, “oh yeah. There are only four of us, so we each get a much bigger share than if we were part of a larger unit. And on this mission we did a good amount of killing of some rather high level units, which means good loot. Not only that, you get credit for completing objectives.”

  “Mikael will probably be able to buy that achievement he’s had his eye on after today. Not only did we complete our main objective, but we also helped prevent a major assault by the enemy. And Mikael’s bow was a big part of how we did that. We’re all gonna eat well today.”

  This was all good information for the future, just in case he ended up in another Army, but he was also excited by the possibility of purchasing some great stuff. He was still missing upgrade stones for some of his classes, in addition to other magical items he might get. Alan had noticed that both of his squadmates wore rings on their fingers. This was a component of gear that he hadn’t even realized was a thing.

  Mikael was the one to crush Alan’s hopes. “Well, we’re gonna eat. As a new recruit you don’t have access to the contribution store. You have to be here for at least a week before you can cash in your points. Don’t worry, though, you still get credit for everything, you just can’t use your points yet.”

  That was going to be a problem. With his mission finished, Alan had no plans to stick around. After Pixel returned he had planned to say his goodbyes and then find the exit. That meant he might be missing out on a nice reward for today’s work. He couldn’t afford to stick around, though. Staying that long would definitely exhaust the dungeon’s time dilation and he would be spending real time while he waited.

  “What if I can’t stay that long? Is there any way to access it earlier?”

  Jordan gave him an incredulous look, “but you just got here. And I think I speak for the whole squad when I say you are a definite upgrade to the last few people they’ve sent us.”

  Mikael also tried to talk him out of leaving, “If you leave before the week, you can cash out, so to speak, but it’s at a big penalty. Stick around, now that we know where the base is we’ll probably be able to wrap this thing up in a few more days. If the army wins then everyone gets a big bonus.”

  This almost got Alan to reconsider, but Pixel’s arrival ended that line of thinking.

  “I wouldn’t count on a quick finish to this war.”

  They all waited for her to explain with various degrees of patience. While their mission had been successful, and the siege mages had begun an attack on the enemy’s shield, they didn’t believe it would lead to assured victory like they had originally thought. The clever placement of the enemy camp meant it would only be mildly helpful to bombard the area.

  If they could have destroyed the rallying point and eliminated the leaders who were sheltered there, the Untarian forces in the area could have been quickly forced back, or eliminated entirely. Total victory now seemed unlikely, but they could still prevent the area from being used as a rallying point. Who would want to gather in an area constantly exploding with lightning. Unfortunately, the soldiers and leaders already present would be safe from assault.

  The best news she brought was that their squad would have the rest of the day, and most of the next, off. Mikael shared Alan’s desire to leave with her, which served to dampen the mood a little. Alan was interested to note that Pixel didn’t seem that surprised.

  The two men gave him pats on the back, and each tried to convince him one more time to stay, but in the end wished him luck. When it was Pixel’s turn to say goodbye, she instead told him she would be escorting him to the edge of camp.

  Together they made their way back to the base entrance he had used to enter. They halted a good distance from the barrier, both for safety, and it turned out, for some privacy.

  Pixel gave him a sad smile, “I too will be sorry to let you go. But something tells me that you were never going to be here long.”

  Alan also felt sad to be going. His time in this dungeon had both been rewarding and familiar to him. If things didn’t work out with the tutorial, but he somehow still managed to survive, he could be happy with such a life. “I will miss the squad, I hope it wasn’t too bad having me along.”

  “I will admit that you got off to a rocky start, but I sensed potential in you from our first meeting. You definitely proved yourself out there. I also never really thanked you for saving my life. I suppose you have earned the right to stare at my boobs every now and again,” she finished with a wink.

  He couldn’t help glancing down as she said this. She was still wearing her adventuring gear, but the coat was open and her magnificent breasts were once more trying to burst free of her shirt. He blushed before managing to bring his eyes back up to hers.

  Not that she had regained his attention, Pixel continued, “you’re cute. Look, I have a suspicion that you aren’t really who you seem to be. Something about everything that happened is trying to spark something in my mind, but it never seems to catch. So, here, I want you to have this.”

  Reaching out, she held up a cloth pouch. Inspecting it, Alan saw that it was a small spatial pouch, similar to the one he had first earned from the Network. He took it from her, but he would be unable to inspect it until he attuned it with some of his blood.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  “Well, our group did really well today and you earned yourself a lot of contribution points. Suspecting you were gonna leave before you could make use of yours, I made a deal with the General. I’m gonna take your points, or most of them, and in exchange I used a similar amount of my own to get you that. They wouldn’t allow any gear, but with that much gold, you should be able to purchase a few things from a merchant.”

  She didn’t know that he didn’t have access to a merchant, but at some point the gold should come in handy anyway. He had spent some in dungeons already, maybe he would have another opportunity soon.

  Saying her goodbye, Pixel turned and made her way back through the maze of tents. After allowing him one last lingering glance at her well-formed backside, Alan instead made his way toward the forest. The guards didn’t even spare him a glance as he approached.

  Now that he knew all the people would be flagged by the Army Array depending on their allegiance, their casualness made more sense. However, if Alan was running the show, they would be more cautious. Was it truly impossible to trick the Array, or at least the people using it? He doubted that.

  This was a one way dungeon, so somewhere there was an exit, separate from the entrance. He hadn’t seen one yet, and while thinking on it back in the squad tent, he had decided to see if maybe the entrance portal was now an exit portal.

  It turned out he didn’t need to worry. Somehow the whole barrier must have become the exit, and when he stepped through the shimmery bubble, he found himself once more back in his zone.

  Suddenly, he felt enervated and disoriented. It only took him a moment to realize the cause. Now that he was outside of the dungeon, he was no longer a part of the Army Array. Alan was suffering the opposite of what he had experienced when joining. His body felt sluggish and his perception of the world around him seemed fuzzy.

  It took less than a minute to readjust. It was probably easier to adjust to the loss rather than the gain since it was the state he was more used to. He wondered how his squadmates would do when they had to reacclimate to their normal abilities after being in the army for so long. That reminded him that it was just a dungeon, which made him a little sad.

  He had entered the dungeon in the night, and it was still night when he came out. With the low time dilation of that dungeon, a couple of hours should still have passed. Not wanting to wait anymore, and now that he was back in relative safety, Alan decided to check out his new stones.

  Item: Opal Stalker Class Stone, rarity Uncommon. This stone can be used to upgrade the hunter class to the opal class Stalker, a perception based class that specializes in stealthily tracking down their prey. Requirements: A Stealth talent or a sneak skill of 25 and a Track talent or a tracking skill of 25.

  It was only an uncommon class, but he couldn’t expect to get all rare classes. They were supposed to be rare, he assumed. It was also nice that he had met the requirements already. He didn’t have the Track talent, at the moment, but his skill was high enough to qualify anyway. Speaking of the talent.

  Item: Hunter Track talent stone. Usable by anyone who has at one time had a hunter class. Will grant the hunter talent Track. Not usable if they have already unlocked this talent.

  There wasn’t a downside to having more talents, Tamee had assured him, so he saw no reason to wait to absorb it. Since gaining his scholar talent, Understanding, this was no longer a painful experience. Instead, the burst of knowledge that was spiked into his brain gave him a slightly euphoric feeling.

  Thanks to Pixel’s explanation of the class talents, he now better understood what they did. His new tracking talent was easy to guess, it would make him better able to track things and pick up on faint signs. But he also now knew how some of his other, more mysterious talents worked.

  6th sense, for example, was another hunter talent. There were a lot of things it could have meant, and in a way, it was all of them. It boosted his intuition and instincts. It was also, most likely, what had given him the warning about the crossbow bolt back when he saved Pixel. Thinking back, there were a few times when his body had reacted to attacks he hadn’t consciously noticed.

  Fury was another one he had not understood. If for some reason he became angry during a fight, imagine that happening, this talent helped his aura funnel that emotional energy into stamina. This would allow him to continue fighting without having to slow his attacks.

  Pricking his finger, he rubbed the bead of blood on the pouch Pixel had given him. Once it had attuned, Alan was able to check the contents. What he found almost made him drop it. There was over four thousand gold inside. This was an incredible windfall.

  That dungeon had been one of his favorites so far. Not only had he felt a camaraderie that he hadn’t in a while, but the payoffs had been huge. And it wasn’t only the things he had been given. It had been a long time since he had really checked his player status, and he did so now with anticipation.

  Alan Taylor

  Race: Human [W]

  Class:

  Fighter (100%) Quartz

  Guardian (100%) Quartz

  Healer (100%) Quartz

  Hunter (100%) Quartz

  Mage (100%) Quartz

  Rogue (100%) Quartz

  Scholar (100%) Quartz

  Seeker (100%) Quartz

  Health: 242 (24/hour)

  Stamina: 222 (44/minute)

  Mana: 204 (20/minute)

  Dungeon Points: 1955

  Stats:

  Strength: 20

  Dexterity: 20

  Perception: 18

  Focus: 19

  Intelligence: 19

  Wisdom: 21

  Constitution: 19

  Spirit: 15

  Skills:

  Alchemy: 19, Archery: 10, Aura Reading: 130, Blocking: 18, Blunt Weapons: 47, Cooking: 11, Daggers: 83, Dodging: 44, Farming: 19, First Aid: 27, Harvesting: 12, Herbology: 18, Identify: 36, Mana Drawing: 54, Mana Enhancement: 28, Mana Handling: 99, Mining: 3, Running: 38, Sneak: 40, Spears: 4, Swords: 21, Tracking: 35, Two Weapon Fighting: 63, Unarmed Combat: 24

  Titles: [Apprentice], [Gladiator], [Top Recruit]

  Talents:

  Fighter: Fury, Parry, Slash

  Guardian: Hammer Blow, Taunt

  Healer: Cure, Mend

  Hunter: 6th Sense, Charm Animal, Track

  Mage: Air Bender, Dark Spreader, Earth Mover, Fire Starter, Light Spinner, Water Weaver

  Rogue: Dodge, Quick Hands, Stealth

  Scholar: Critical Hit, Fast Learner, Understanding

  Seeker: Sensitivity, Soul Mending

  Spells: Cone of Steam (Uncommon), Conjure Water (Epic), Fire Bolt (Rare), Gust (common), Light Bolt (Uncommon), Light (common), Minor Healing (common), Minor Regeneration (Rare), Prismatic Orb (Rare), Stone Spear (Uncommon)

  His skills had made some nice gains, and the new talent listed was nice. But the thing that caught his eye was the string of one-hundreds after his classes. His Mentor had suggested he wait as long as possible to upgrade, and this was as long as possible. His classes would be unable to progress, and his stats would be frozen, until he upgraded them to opal.

  It was time.