The green sphere of light erupted like a very angry firework.

  Lucian pushed himself to move as fast as he could, his sword still in reverse grip, he pulled it up in front of him like a shield.

  Thin beams of green light lanced out in every direction, fueled by the energy the stag had gathered. Lucian’s blade was wider than normal thanks to [Heightened Manifestation], and shielded the center of his body and his head. A beam struck his side, another hit his shoulder, and one struck his knuckles as he gripped the hilt of his sword. [Spirit Barrier] was helpless to stop them. Several beams struck the blade itself, but it held firm.

  The beams sent pain lancing through his body like fire. There was no physical damage, but it felt like there was. Less than a second later, he felt the real effects of the skill - each beam imparted poison.

  He heard Annabelle groan as she was hit by several beams, and then he heard her casting [Minor Cure] on herself through gritted teeth several times. The sounds were muted, though, as if he were hearing through a wall between rooms. He felt dizzy as well, but gripped his sword and pushed it down into the tiles to keep steady. Then he heard the sounds of hooves as the stag charged him.

  It headbutted the flat of his blade and he felt the skill waver. His focus was split, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to maintain the two skills keeping his blade in its current state - and dumped his 6 free points into Willpower. The stag struck his sword with its hooves, but it held.

  Then, relief. “[Minor Cure]!” Annabelle screamed, her skill cutting through the poison and mental fog it caused - dousing the affliction like water on fire. Lucian gasped for air as his senses sharpened. His body ached, the lingering echoes of the pain remained - but the effects were gone and that was what mattered.

  He briefly noted that her skill felt much more potent than before, and then he moved. He pulled his sword up and dodged sideways before turning back on the stag as it stomped down where he had been a moment ago.

  [Slash] and [Penetrating Strike] lit up his blade. He noted the cost of the latter skill had decreased with a strange detachment. Then he struck. His blade bit into the stag’s back, directly above the previous cut into its flank. There was brief resistance, and then nothing. His blade dug against the tiles beneath, cracking stone as the stag fell forward, its body cut in two.

  Then reality came crashing back down onto Lucian. He lost concentration on both of his channeled skills simultaneously, his weapon shattering into light as he stumbled backwards against the wall behind him.

  Annabelle walked over and looked him up and down, frowning and then speaking, “[Forest’s Protection].” Lucian felt the restorative energies of the skill settle over him, it was a comfort, even if he wasn’t actually physically injured, he still felt dazed from the whole experience. Annabelle leaned against the wall beside him as the system made itself known.

  The points he had dumped into Willpower had brought his maximum Spirit up to 106, and the level up had only added to that. He also finally took a moment to acknowledge the fact that two skills had leveled up during the fight.

  He moved his attention from the levels back to Annabelle, “Thank you.”

  She smiled, “You’re welcome. Oh yeah, [Minor Cure] leveled up 3 times. I had to push the skill hard to actually cure that poison, and I also leveled up.” She paused, “You look out of it still, you okay?”

  “Yeah it just… it was disorienting. The pain, then the weird suppressed senses. I was channeling two skills so it was probably worse than it would have been normally…” Lucian smiled awkwardly, “Not sure what happened after that though, I kind of tunnel visioned on finishing the fight and got into some kind of flow state… I think…”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re alright now.” She smiled, “Now let’s get whatever’s in the boss chest and get out of here.” Annabelle started walking towards the familiar nook in the wall containing a chest, scooping up the [Lesser Trapfinder’s Stone] along the way, Lucian in tow.

  The chest was much smaller than the one that had held the bow, more of a box than a chest, but the patterns carved into its surface were more detailed. Annabelle walked up to it and popped it open with a hum. There was no ornate sword or gilded shield for them to claim. Within the stone container sat a single object.

  Annabelle removed a palm sized lime green rhomboid gemstone from the box, examining it briefly. "Can you…” She began to hand the gem to Lucian when she stopped and stared down at it. She looked back up at Lucian, “ Oh shit… It’s a fucking skill crystal.”

  “Holy shit.” Lucian blinked a few times, “Wait, you can tell what it is?”

  “As I was holding it, it identified itself.” Annabelle handed it to Lucian fully.

  He took it in his hand, and decided not to use [Analyze]. After a few seconds, the crystal identified itself for him.

  “Woah. I guess that makes some sense.” He mumbled, looking at the gem from a few different angles, “Wouldn’t be any good for me though - the skill I mean.”

  “Same, obviously. But we can probably offload it along with the bow, right? A ranger weapon and what I have to guess is a ranger skill.” Annabelle hummed happily.

  “I imagine you’re right.” Lucian agreed, and gave her the crystal again. Then he thought for a moment, “There’s probably general skill crystals too. A class skill crystal is probably going to be worth a lot, depending on the skill - but a general skill would be even more since you aren’t capped at 10…” Lucian mumbled, since as far as he was aware, there was no limit to the number of general skills a person could have, or if there was it wasn’t displayed anywhere.

  With their prize collected, the two made their way back through the dungeon chatting as they went, picking up the loot they hadn’t carried through the whole dungeon with them as they made their way back through the second and then first floors, and then back up to the surface.

  As they climbed the stairs that took them out of the dungeon, the sounds of rain hammering down onto the world filtered into their ears. As they reached the surface proper they realized it was simply pouring rain. In the distance, a flash of light arced through the dark clouds in the sky and a moment later the sound of thunder echoed across the jungle.

  Thankfully, the spot they had left their things was under the cover of the dungeon entrance.

  “Well, I guess we’re setting up a tent in the rain and waiting for the storm to pass.” Annabelle chuckled.

  “I guess so…” Lucian sighed as the pair got to work.