The air immediately changes as we walk down a narrow staircase into the second level of the dungeon. It doesn’t grow colder, exactly, but the presence contained within sends chills down my spine. Chloe has broken out into goosebumps right alongside me, and she grabs onto my left arm as we huddle up next to each other.

  I flicker on [Ethersight], wondering if there’s some sort of phantasm or other invisible being that’s hanging around us, trying to cause us problems. That’s part of the reason why I picked up the [Blessed Sword] as my secondary weapon; I can’t conclusively state that incorporeal undead don’t exist, and if they do, light-elemental attacks seem likely to be particularly effective against them.

  That, and it’s good to have a fourth element to fall back upon. My class values flexibility and preparation above all else. Although I don’t know how many elements there are in total, nor how they interact. At the very least, I can assume that we have the elements of earth, wind, fire, water, ice, lightning, light, and dark. But what about combinations? Fire and earth to create lava? Light and dark combining to make… cosmic? Earth and water making wood? Fire and water mixing to form steam? Or maybe earth and… lightning to get metal? I can throw together even more combinations, but without knowing how the system categorizes elements, I have nothing to work with.

  The lack of information is a pain in the ass. But the creature staring at us is going to be an even bigger pain, and in far more places than just our asses. It looks similar to a bear, except with an extra pair of forearms. It snarls at us, seeming to shake the air as it roars at us.

  And an extra row of teeth, I’m forced to add. Because ten feet of solid muscle and fur, six claws as large as my head, and enough mass to trample us underfoot isn’t deadly enough for just the second level of this dungeon. My first instinct is to take our loot, head back to the surface, and lock in our gains before we get ourselves killed. I do take a moment to examine it with my [Ethersight] to make sure I’m not missing anything.

  It’s weaker than Armosi? Maybe not in terms of its stature or how imposing it is, but the glow of [Ether] within the ursine beast is definitely and noticeably less than the boss of the first floor had. Is every boss that much of a power spike? It nearly killed me, but the other enemies on the floor barely scratched the two of us.

  And that leads me to the other reason why I don’t immediately rush back the way we came. We need better equipment. I can work on crafting more, but I need more knowledge to do so.

  This is not quite true, I have to correct. I have more knowledge stored in this book, thanks to the generosity of the System. But I don’t have the knowledge to make use of it, and short of finding a [Linguist] and a year or two to decipher it, I’m not going to get it without more to work with. Maybe, if I can find a few pieces of text that contains the same script in both English and System, I can use my Skills to pursue that path further.

  The bear moves toward us. It makes a swipe in our general direction, but when it gets within about five yards of the entrance, further movement is repelled. My [Ethersight] reveals a wall not unlike the one that surrounded us when we fought Armosi earlier. This makes a surprising amount of sense. The dungeon has multiple floors, and it needs some mechanism to keep each type of enemy on its appropriate floor.

  I reach through the barrier. Other than the fact that my palm is immediately swatted at, I’m able to pass through the glowing wall without incident. I’m also able to pull my hand back inside just the same as if the wall never existed in the first place. But the bear just swipes toward us again. It meets the same fate as before, falling backward onto its ass from the impact and subsequent ricochet.

  Chloe and I stand back, and I toss an [Ether Bullet] at the barrier. As expected, the attack explodes on contact, with not a single trace of the attack passing through. A couple of chunks of stone break off the stairs. The stairs, however, instantly repair themselves, to my astonishment and bemusement in equal measure.

  I examine the stairs closely, hoping to find some sort of [Repair] or [Mending] glyph. I find nothing, suggesting the glyphs are either hidden deeper within the stairwell, or it’s some natural property of these twisted dungeon spaces. [Ethersight] doesn’t see any traces of a glyph I can copy either, to my great disappointment.

  At the same time, however, I remember that equipment registered in the System does seem to get some sort of mending property even without specific glyphs to that effect. I’ve not noticed any chips in the rifling of my [Modular Blowgun], nor has it deformed even slightly from the immense heat and pressures involved.

  With no desire to delay further, we pass through the barrier and are immediately greeted by a roar and a trio of slices at my face. I dodge the first one, block the second one with my buckler, then activate my [Boots of Impulse] for half a second to slide underneath the last swipe. As the bear recovers from its attack, I launch a [Flaming Bullet] right into its groin.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I expect it to keel over in pain. Instead, it charges at me with even greater intensity, not even stopping to put out the smoldering fur still faintly glowing between its hind legs. I dodge another four attacks, but then the fifth one takes me by surprise. I spin out of the way at the last second, but I’m still down a hundred and forty health from the laceration across my left arm. Thankfully not my good arm, but I still need both arms to properly aim my weapon.

  All I can do is dance around the battlefield, fighting fully defensively as I slowly maneuver toward Chloe. She’s got her [Healing Bullet] charged and on standby, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Unfortunately, her ranged healing isn’t instantaneous, and one false move will have her healing Mr. Bear instead.

  I continue my dodging, ignoring the lightheadedness starting to seep in as blood continues to ooze down my arm. My heart races as my [Health] continues to trickle down from the [Bleed] status ailment I’m suffering from. Now under 500, and still slowly trickling down. Thankfully, it’s right as the bear pounces that Chloe’s healing Skill hits me. Rejuvenated, and cured of my condition, my head starts thinking more clearly, and I’m again able to use [Boots of Impulse] to move out of the way, then switch to my [Gauntlets of Repulsion] to deflect the errant swipe heading in my direction.

  To my delight, the spider-bear keels over from overextending itself. Its middle pair of arms catch it before it thuds on the stone floor, but I have enough time to use [Trick Shot] to aim a [Lightning Bullet] directly into its mouth. It explodes, completely removing its lower jaw from its head and sending teeth flying. I’m able to dodge, while Chloe deflects them with her own gauntlets. The creature is bleeding profusely, but the battle is far from over.

  It’s even more pissed than before. Thankfully, its moves are starting to slow down. In order to conserve my [Ether], I switch to regular bullets, powered only by the [Impulse] glyph for added momentum and stopping power. I aim everywhere I can. The eyes, mouth, and even ears make ideal targets, and with my [Ethersight], I also notice an energy concentration on the pits of the creature’s middle pair of legs. Some sort of special gland there? What sort of odd mutation even allows for such a thing to happen?

  I get an idea. As it raises its palms to swipe down upon me, I charge [Flash of Insight] and wait. It gallops toward me with its back two pairs of legs. My palms sweat as I continue to delay. Its massive claws extend outward, eager to rend my flesh asunder, seeming to pop further out of its hands. Not until I feel them grazing the hair on my ears do I finally step backwards, letting the bear’s momentum crash against the ground. And in that moment, I throw thirty units of [Ether] into my flash grenade and let it rip.

  A primal, guttural roar fills the chamber. I’m half surprised not to see half a dozen more bears join the fight. But I take the opportunity and count my good fortune. I sheathe my [Modular Blowgun] and draw my [Blessed Sword], thrusting it directly into my ursine foe’s left eye. My blade glows brightly, and a wave of black fog sublimes off the creature’s fur as I pull back my weapon.

  More slashes follow. I nearly trip over my weapon once as I swing it into the enemy’s left foreleg. The gash is deep and the cut isn’t clean, leaving me unable to pull my sword back to me as it gets caught in more fibrous muscle. I grit my teeth, but just as I’m about to abandon my blade for the time being, a small fireball flies through the air and hits the beast right on the ass. This gives me just enough leverage to pull my sword loose, nick the two weak spots near its middle legs, and finish the creature off.

  [You have slain a Cavern Spider Bear (Level 19). You have been awarded a boosted 2,400 Experience.]

  [Level: 17; Experience: 24,946; To Next: 179]

  [Current Stats: [Health]: 941 / 1,274 ; [Ether]: 224 / 741]

  Damn. Not quite enough for a level up. Next battle almost certainly will, as a small comfort. And, to my greater chagrin, no more loot either. Would it kill for an [Ether Canister]?

  I turn to Chloe with bemusement. But instead of a serious face, she’s wearing the most conniving, shit-eating grin I’ve ever seen as she prances up to me and gives me a high-five.

  “Okay, I’m going to assume that the fireball came from you. When and how?” I ask.

  “It’s the wand you gave me. It allows me to cast the spell [Fireball] once each hour, without eating into my [Ether] reserves.”

  I chuckle. “No wonder you look so pleased with yourself.” The implications of her words immediately hit me with all the subtlety of a sack of lead bricks to the face. “Wait, can cast the spell without eating into your [Ether] reserves. Did I hear you correctly?”

  She grins even wider, if that can be believed. I found what might be the closest thing to a Holy Grail just sitting among piles of loot, and I didn’t have enough knowledge to realize how valuable this was. A way to cast without drawing on her personal [Ether] stat means it has some other way to absorb environmental Ether. And that means I can finally start using my weapons without blowing through a tenth of my reserve with each shot.

  She presents the wand back to me with open hands. “Do you want to work your technical magic?”

  Now it’s my turn to grin with delight. “Absolutely, Chloe. But, it’s all technical skills. I don’t have magical capabilities in this class.”

  She rolls her eyes at me and gives me the finger. I ignore the playful jest as I examine her wand more closely.

  “I’m being serious,” I say. “Even my elemental bullets are apparently classified as nonmagical and operate off my [Strength] stat. Never mind that I have to expend a metric ton of [Ether] to do so. It doesn’t make any sense.” I sigh. “Then again, common sense is a vice when it comes to trying to understand the System.”

  Chloe motions back over to the protection of the stairs. “Well, Sera, show me what a [Mechanist] can really do.”