Monroe

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two. Crystals and Dungeons.

Bob picked up the last crystal he needed with a smile.

He was tired of killing Venobears; in fact, he was tired of delving the Dungeon in general.

It had been a long two weeks of delving fourteen, fifteen, even sixteen hours a day.

He'd picked up his missing skills, though, Parry, Armor, Armor (scale), Invocation, Gate, and Return to the Beginning. The last skill he hadn't actually taken yet, and was, in fact, a Divine Blessing, however as Bob wasn't about to start praying, he would simply purchase the skill from the System directly.

He firmly told himself that in no way, shape or form was he revering the System with that action.

Eddi and The Endless, which sounded like a terrible band name, had been putting in long hours as well, delving for both Mana Crystals and Affinity Crystals. Well, Summoning Affinity Crystals.

Bailli, on the other hand, had been putting in a few extra hours as well, although she never went past her personal limit of four hours a day. Despite that limitation, she'd come up with a couple of thousand mana crystals on her own, as well as a handful of Conjuration Affinity Crystals.

Bob pressed his token to the Gateway, then stepped through the event horizon and into the mausoleum.

Austan was sitting on a desk, a piece of furniture that served as a new addition to the sparse entryway to the Dungeon.

Two men and three women, all young, were standing in front of him while Austan paged through his ledger.

"I've got the five of you down on the first floor of the Dungeon from nine until ten," Austan beamed, "I'm glad you were able to reincarnate, and I hope the new paths your find are forever illuminated by Vi'Radia's holy light."

As the group mumbled their thanks and edged cautiously around Bob, heading for the first floor, Austan spotted him and beckoned him over to the desk.

"Another long day finished?" Austan teased good-naturedly.

"The last one for a while," Bob confirmed with a weary sigh, "I have enough to advance to level thirty-two."

"Not going all the way to thirty-four?" Austan asked.

Bob shook his head, "I need a break, and I have some things to do that don't involve delving."

Bob dropped from his portal in front of Adler's.

He'd done a bit of work with Trebor and had come up with a path that Bob would, at some point in the nearish future, be able to provide the resources for.

The Path of the Twice Blessed Smith This path requires the user to have the following skills; Divine School of Elemental Fire, Divine School of Elemental Earth, Divine Blessing of Terra - The Strength of Earth, Divine Blessing of Ignis - The Fury of the Flame, Professional Crafting Skill - Metal Working, Professional Crafting Skill - Maker's Mark. The user must have an Affinity for the Divine Schools of Elemental Fire and Elemental Earth. The user is forbidden from all other Divine Schools of Magic. The Path of the Twice Blessed Smith provides a two percent bonus per level to all Skills from the Divine Elemental Schools of Earth and Fire, as well as the users Metal Working Skill. Upon reaching levels six and twelve, the user may select either the Divine School of Elemental Earth or Fire, increasing the maximum level of all skills within the chosen School by six. The same school may not be selected twice. Upon reaching levels eighteen and twenty-four, the user may select either the Divine School of Elemental Earth or Fire and received the ability to imbue an item that they have crafted from ore to finished item with the Blessing of Earth, or Blessing of Flame. The School not chosen first will be automatically selected upon reaching the next threshold. Upon reaching level thirty, the benefits from the Makers Mark Skill are increased by one percent per level. Upon reaching level thirty-six, the user gains the unique Skill 'Twice Blessed Crest,' which allows the user to imbue an item they have crafted from raw materials to finished product with a modified Maker's Mark providing the wielder with one half of the user's bonus.

The problem being that while Bob still had a complete set of Elemental Affinity Crystals, he only had two duplicates, Water and Earth.

Walking into the smithy, he was greeted by the customary blast of heat and a loud voice calling out, "I'll be right with you!"

A few moments later, Joseph came into the room, his face sporting a wide grin as he saw Bob.

"I thought you'd forgotten about me," Jakob said with a chuckle as he stepped forward, reaching up to clasp Bob's shoulder.

Bob shook his head, "No, I was just got tied up," he replied before pulling out the parchment where he'd copied The Path of the Twice Blessed Smith and handing it over.

"This is what I was able to discover," Bob explained, "hopefully, it's what you're looking for."

Joseph read over the Path carefully, then read over it again.

"Those are some weighty restrictions," he said thoughtfully, tracing a finger over the parchment, "but the increase to my metal working and maker's mark skills alone would be worth it."

He looked up and nodded, "I'll take it," he stated firmly, before a sly smile crossed his broad features, "although I don't suppose you have the Affinity Crystals required?"

"I don't," Bob shook his head sadly, "although I do know where you can get them," he added with grimace, "levels twenty-six and twenty-eight of the Dungeon in Harbordeep."

Joseph frowned, "Bit too low for me, although I suppose I could pay someone to nip over there and harvest them for me," he mumbled.

Bob nodded, as he'd had the same idea.

Joseph sighed and carefully folded the parchment before storing it in a small pouch.

"You've kept up your end of the bargain, and as I'd imagined you would, I've been churning out lower level staves for the past two weeks, so I'll start selling them at the agreed twenty-five percent above cost, starting today," Joseph rumbled, "come back and see me in six months or so, and I should have a new and improved staff for ya," he winked as he turned and strode over to his forge.

Bob stepped out of the oppressively warm smithy and into the cold spring air.

He started walking towards the Guild, intent on advancing to his next level.

He was trying to get into the habit of not portalling everywhere unless there was a crowd he didn't want to navigate.

He had a rather nice trail looping down to the bottom of Murmuring falls and then back up to his cabin, which he ran daily, but a brisk walk wasn't a bad thing either.

Bob stepped into his shower and under the hot water, hoping that a nice hot shower would help him switch gears mentally.

As he lathered up, he asked, "Trebor, beyond sacrificing a specific creature with a specific skill, is there any way to make sure that a floor of a Dungeon produces Affinity Crystals.?"

'There are several methods that can be used to ensure that an Affinity Crystal of a particular type will be produced,' Trebor replied, 'the first, and in our case, the easiest method would be to seed the Dungeon floor with the desired Affinity Crystal.'

Bob stopped lathering up. "So all I need to do is drop a mana crystal into a pool of mana on that floor?"

'While it is easy, it isn't quite that easy,' Trebor responded pleasantly, 'you'll need to perform an interleaved ritual, combining two spells, Drain Mana and Mana Shaping, with the first targeting the Affinity Crystal, and the second targeting the Dungeon Floor itself.'

"You can do that?" Bob asked before he could stop himself. "Of course you can do that," he muttered, "I can interleave two spells together, logically, I could do so ritually as well."

'Indeed,' Trebor sounded pleased, 'you've already learned the most difficult part, joining the two spells together, so this will be simple enough for you.'

"Ok," Bob said as he started lathering up again, "Ok, so I can seed a Dungeon with Affinity Crystals."

"I'm guessing Thidwell doesn't know about this?" Bob asked.

'Although I cannot comment on his personal skills or knowledge,' Trebor stated, 'I can remind you that in several conversations, he referred to having found the Affinity Crystals, without knowing how or why they appeared.'

"Those were my thoughts exactly," Bob mused.

Rinsing off, he summoned an effect over time towel and started to dry himself.

Monroe was lounging indolently in the sink. Well, overflowing the sink, really, with kitty pouring over the sides. The big Maine-Coone was waiting patiently for his human-servant to lay down.

Under normal circumstances, he might have jumped over to the bed, but Bob hadn't yet purchased a new one instead of summoning one each night.

Dropping his towel in the tub, where it vanished a few seconds later, he cast a persistent effect summoning spell to bring out his bed before stretching for a few minutes and laying down for the night.

He was immediately joined by Monroe, who curled behind his legs. And his butt. And his lower back.

"So," Bob began as he looked up at the rafters and the underside of his roof, "I can portal to any floor of my Arcane Depths."

'Yes,' Trebor replied.

"And because it's just a portal, I can bring other people with me," Bob continued, "so if I were to start seeding the fortieth floor and just go deeper, I could delve for Affinity Crystals again, as could Thidwell, assuming I tell him."

'Yes,' Trebor confirmed.

Bob wasn't sure how he felt about bringing Thidwell to his Arcane Depths. He could imagine having to meet with the man every morning to let him in and then go pull him out every afternoon. Of course, unless Thidwell was able to drive the Dungeon in Holmstead down much more deeply and quickly, people would become stuck at level twenty-five. If they tiered up, they wouldn't be able to delve for Affinity Crystals, which Bob could see becoming the most important commodity in the world.

Unless, of course, they went to Harbordeep. A few months delving that Dungeon and dealing with the Guild there would certainly prove fertile ground for the seeds of dissent that had been sown. Of course, with an Affinity and one of the new paths, alongside the description of the method for creating an effect to eliminate mana density sickness, they'd easily be able to afford the costs.

Bob shook his head.

"No," he said, "I think its best that I keep the Arcane Depths my little secret, but I will tell Thidwell how to seed his Dungeon."

"In fact," Bob said slowly, "why not print out a quick pamphlet, just enough copies for all the Guild Leaders, and send it to them as well."

Bob reached down and ran his fingers through Monroe's ruff, starting up the purr motor and lulling him to sleep.

The next morning, Bob was ushered into Thidwell's office.

"Morning," Thidwell boomed, not looking up, as he continued to carefully write in a notebook.

"Good Morning," Bob acknowledged, "I have some excellent news."

"You've picked up the School of Invocation and the Gateway spell, eh?" Thidwell rumbled as he finished writing with a flourish, snapping the notebook closed and looking across the desk at Bob.

"Yes," Bob admitted, "but while that was good news, I have something even better," he smiled.

"And what might that be?" Thidwell asked.

"I know how you can make sure that Affinity Crystals are produced on a Dungeon floor," Bob said confidently.

Thidwell's eyes narrowed, and his voice lowered, "How?" he demanded.

"By interleaving two spells, Drain Mana and Mana Shaping, together in a ritual," Bob began, "you can ensure that Affinity Crystals are produced, although you will need to sacrifice an Affinity Crystal of the type you wish to have the floor produce."

Thidwell chuckled as a wicked grin spread across his face.

"Oh, this is perfect," his voice filled with unholy glee, "it works with floors that have already been completed and used?"

Trebor responded to the question, 'No, or at least not very well. The most effective method is to perform the ritual when you first begin to shape the mana flows on that floor of the Dungeon.'

'Not very well?' Bob mentally projected as he tried to assume a thoughtful expression.

'When you are building a Dungeon,' Trebor said, 'the lowest floor must have the lowest catchment and return system, as you saw on the thirty-fourth floor of the Dungeon here in Holmstead,' he continued, 'this system is disabled although not removed as you drive the Dungeon ever deeper.'

'When you perform the ritual, you are draining the mana from the Affinity Crystal and into the mana that is flowing into through the Dungeon, flavoring it, if you will, with that Affinity.' Trebor went on, 'this mana will circulate and recirculate through the Dungeon before it is diluted by the mana coming from above.'

'This repeated circulation allows the affinity imbued mana to permeate the mana flows on that floor, leaving a permanent Affinity in those mana flows, which will be infused into the creatures that spawn. If you were to perform the ritual on an existing floor, it is very unlikely that the mana would circulate enough to permanently imbue the mana flows, and if it did, the infusion into the mana spawned creatures would be terribly low, exponentially reducing the chances of an Affinity Crystal coalescing,' Trebor finished.

"I don't think it would work very well," Bob relayed to Thidwell, as he then explained the why and how of it.

Thidwell nodded, his smile still firmly in place. "A minor inconvenience," Thidwell rumbled, "I can always stop the flow and enable the catchment system, which will allow me to cast the ritual, and then once it's been determined to be a success, allow the mana to flow back down."

"It might inconvenience a few of the Adventurers who are delving for Affinity Crystals, but I'll need them on that floor to deal with the massive increase in monsters spawning," Thidwell rubbed his hands together as he let out a booming laugh.

"I'm so very glad I didn't pull your child's protection and kick you into the Dungeon," Thidwell gasped out as he laughed, "I'm going to drive my Dungeon ever deeper, and each level will produce Affinity Crystals and eventually," his laugh gained a dark edge of malice, "Harbordeep will be nothing but a shallow husk, a cautionary tale."

As Thidwell laughed, Bob reminded himself, again, that Thidwell wasn't evil.