“Reina, I don’t suppose you have any more rope and hooks, do you?” Rook asked, looking at the left path.

  “Ahem.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, fortunately for us, I bought a few sets,” she said, pulling a grouping out of her bag.

  “Right. Eeeny, meeny, miny go.” Rook pointed at the right tunnel. “Let’s go this way.”

  “I have enough for one repel, and we can mark our path to an extent,” Reina said.

  “I’ll use my map to charter the other path then,” Rook said, pulling out the rune lantern. The cavern was bathed in a blue light.

  There are countless ways to die in a cave, and that’s on Earth with Earthen beasts. Rook tried not to entertain thoughts of the different cave beasts that might lurk. Desperately, he tried not to think of the ghoul popping out of the darkness. He shuffled down the narrow corridor, feeling his way through the darkness. This is just asking for death. Each time his toes perched against something hard, he slid his foot over in the likely event this was a cliff face. As much as he wanted to make a joke about scary cryptids to break the tension, he decided it was best to keep his thoughts to himself.

  The pathway ahead shone dim blue as the mouth of the tunnel opened from the inky black. The same crystals on the ceiling of the bridge corridor were everywhere. The blue stones jabbed out of walls like stars in the sky, lily pads in a stone lake. He placed his lantern back into his inventory.

  “This place is amazing, these crystals are beautiful.” Reina reached a hand out, feeling the tip of the budding stone. “Like flowers,” she said, sounding far away.

  Rook grabbed a piece of the stone, a piece of the bud broke off, and the whole flower blinked into a dull grey, and the shard shattered into dust. Well, it looks like I won’t be able to take this with me.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. It’s like the Maker’s heaven,” Mara said, letting out a low moo.

  “The pulsings kinda giving me a headache though. How are you both holding up?” Rook asked.

  Reina pivoted around to meet his gaze. “What do you mean?” Her blue eyes reflected the familiar curiosity. “They aren’t pulsing, they are doing what arcane crystals do–Glow.”

  “Well, tell that to these crystals. It’s like they are alive, and when I broke one off, it seemed to die.”

  Rook wiped some of the dust on his pant leg. “Maybe this has something to do with my mana.”

  “Arcane Crystals can’t die, they aren’t living beings. But if you want them to glow, like they do in the street lanterns, you need to take them off with magic. But it’s a high-level builder’s guild skill,” Reina said, then paused her mouth open. “You bought all the skill books, didn’t you?”

  “I’m going to share the amplifying effect on my mana.” He reached out and touched her shoulder.

  Reina cried out in surprise. “Don’t do that!” She hissed. After a moment, her eyes went wide. “These are just common cave crystals, they’ve proven to have no effect on mana or anything else, really.”

  “Strange, cause I was easily able to lift up a 40 lb rock with it. What do you think smashed the last goblin’s head?” Rook asked.

  Just pluck them off with magic Rook, you know, the thing you learned weeks ago? Easier said than done. Rook scowled at the twisting corridor; it was borderline intoxicating. Each pulsing crystal made him feel as if he were staring at snow reflecting the sun. Let’s see if I can’t finally break this stat.

  He checked his status, pleased that he was no longer at a low level. With his reach and maximum effort skills, Rook had an easier time seeing the echoes of Attramancy. It’s not as if I could just pick them up, right? Given the same theory and Rook’s two brain cells firing on all cylinders, he could figure this out. He reached out to the vibrating crystal, feeling the positive response to his Attramancy and tried to pluck it as if he was grabbing any other object. The crystal came off with ease and continued to pulse just as Reina said. What the colorful fuck. Feeling a new power, he brought the crystal close to his face, rotating it round and around like the loading screen on some of his favorite RPGs as a kid.

  Attramancy increased to level 92/500

  +2 experience gained

  7 out of 900 experience until level 16

  There is absolutely no freaking way. Rook blinked, stopping and staring at his increasing atramancy level. This is just too good to be true. The conversation that he and Knox had in the watchtower flashed in his mind. When his infernal battle buddy was power leveling his necromancy, he used a high-level spell while eating the mana from the earth. Which is exactly what he is doing right now.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Is everything okay?” Reina asked, sidling up next to him.

  “Yeah, I think I found out how to use the Infernal exploit my friend taught me.” He held out the crystal and held it in front of his face. “By holding the crystal, I am passively activating my reach and maximum effort skills. Which are considered higher-ranked spells, even if only level 25 and 40. But with the tunnel giving my mana bar a seizure.” With a smile, he glanced at the dumbfounded Reina and confused Mara. “Then presto, another level up,” he said, rotating the crystal.

  “The torokin aren’t much in mage classes, we have shamans, but that’s the closest thing,” Mara said. “So I’m out of my depth in your conversation.”

  “It’s alright, Mara, it’s just unusual for this to happen.” His Attramancy continued to increase, ticking up and up. 110, still he held. Rook felt powerful, unstoppable, as if the crystal weighed as much as a feather. He wouldn’t waste the opportunity. Knowing his luck, he wouldn’t get another chance to power level like this, and as much as he loved his friend, he hated always being left in the dust by his over achievement. “I need to max it out, Reina. If I am thinking correctly, every 10-15 seconds I gain a level in Attramancy, hopefully after an hour I’ll be a new man.”

  “You can’t max your Attramancy after a few minutes, Rook, it doesn’t matter what you are.” She sat down on a stone, pulled out her journal, and started sketching.

  He smiled at her when his Attramancy reached past level 125. A dull ache throbbed in his head, but he held strong. Flicking his eyes to the mana bar, he smiled again at the flashing orange. This spell at this capacity should’ve floored him. The crystals brought the strength necessary to hold the high-level spells. A sharp pain hit the back of his eyes, forcing them shut after he hit 250. Focus. If Knox can do it, I can too. Off and on he repeated the process of plucking and releasing the crystals. Rotating them, pulling them close and extending them far away. Bile rose in his throat when he hit level 300.

  “Rook, you don’t look too good,” Mara said, wiping sweat from his forehead. “Do you need to lie down?”

  “Just a little bit more,” Rook said, through pressed teeth. “I can’t give up now.”

  Rook began feeling waves of pain in his head, a sharp needle like throbbing just behind his eye and he had to take a knee. Still he held. Focus. He squinted and felt as if he was looking through a straw. Standing back to his feet he swayed, feeling the strong grip of Mara he held on to the spells. His skull threatened to split in two as he hit 500. Then the pain stopped, and blackness momentarily took over.

  Attramancy increased to level 500/500 (Unlocked with bronze tier)

  +960 experience

  You have reached level 16

  +2 core attributes gained

  67 of 950 experience until level 17

  You have reached Bronze rank, 0/5 crucial tasks until Silver rank

  Well that’s new. Bronze rank, why did I just get it now?

  He put the two points into strength bringing the stat up to level seven. Rook used the back of his hand to wipe a mix of snot and drool away from his face. Shit, bet that looks good.

  “I tried telling you to pace yourself, mana exhaustion isn’t a joke. You heard what Dre the torokin said.” Reina remarked with a worried twist in her face. She flicked a small golden tin open and blew the collected vapors towards Rook’s face. “This will help soothe and focus you.” She smiled at his displeasure. “So how many levels did you get?”

  “All of them.” Rook said, with a grunt. “I got promoted to bronze rank, and I guess there’s crucial tasks that I need to do in order to become a silver rank.”

  “Normally, you get your bronze rank with the increase in skills, but I’ve heard of adventurers getting them through difficult quests.”

  Who determines what is crucial?” He asked, sitting up against the cavern wall.

  “Maybe you can glitch the system with your identify or stamina buff?” Rook asked, hoping she could share the exploit.

  “I don’t think so, it’s not supposed to work like that.” Her lips curled into a sad smile. “I don’t think everyone can be as special.” She turned around and continued down the tunnel.

  Mara shared a look with him. “Sometimes we say things that are inappropriate, Rook. You should apologize when you get the chance,” she said, following Reina down the hall.

  What did I say? And for that matter, who made you my mom, lady? He followed the pair into the tunnel, desperately trying to forget the creepy ghoul. Their footsteps echoed in the silent corridor, and the rhythm brought on memories of Grandpa Jimmy’s war stories in Vietnam. That he hid in a tunnel for a week, surviving on the meat of spiders the size of hamsters. Fuck that. Rook would rather go into a meat grinder than face off against another hognose spider. Rook could feel the sensation of digging his fingertips into the wooden chair until he lost sensation, on the edge of his seat, listening to grandpa’s stories. Good times.

  “We’ve hit another fork,” Reina said over her shoulder.

  Now she’s not even looking at me. The crystal tunnel head sloped into two separate directions. Each path held its share of potential dangers, but if they wanted to escape, they would have to choose one. A winding right, or a narrow left.

  “Which way do you think?” She asked.

  “Choosing a path based on gut instinct is statistically more likely to end with survival,” Rook answered, walking down the right path.

  “Is that true?” Mara asked.

  “Sure is, it’s a real fact I just made up.”

  “Damn you,” Reina chuckled.

  They continued down the sloping right tunnel, that was no more than a 15% grade. Thank God my knees are strong. He knew little about cave spelunking and exploring, however he knew from survival classes that they were supposed to stay together, stay alert, and trust your instincts, because most people are powerful enough to keep them from danger when facing a choice.

  Mara shot him a glance, and nodded towards the enhancer. Rook relented and pushed past her.

  “Listen Reina, I’m sorry about before,” Rook said, empathetic enough to understand why she was upset. Silence followed, and he glanced back at Mara, who returned a smiling nod.

  “I was a little jealous,” Reina said.

  “I could tell, about what?” Rook asked, shifting his weight from knee to knee.

  “At the ease you are leveling and finding ways around it,” Reina answered, surprising him. “Jinxor is well within his last quarter of life. Gnomes live around 120 years, and it took him most likely that long to find out about the exploit.” She puffed a breath out. “The Maker’s rules are set, there shouldn’t be a way to constantly cheat it. Yet in an hour you maxed the Attramancy copper level, an Arcane Wisdom skill that many people take years or decades to accomplish.”

  What do you think of the new cover?