Captain Henderson rose up from the ground with a groan. Her entire body hurt after using the spell she was specifically told not to use unless her life was on the line. Now, she understood why.

  “Who knew an illusion could be so effective.” Henderson thought to herself. The sand continued to whirl around her. However, through the sand, a glow could be seen. Her eyes went wide at the sight. “That’s right, the Area Quest!”

  She opened her menu, there was just over two minutes left. There were no sounds that indicated the worm was nearby. She scrambled to her feet and rushed toward the object. She was halfway there when an arrow punctured through her side. Henderson grabbed at the wound instinctively as the pain was far worse than she expected and looked around for the attacker.

  She could see nothing, but remained on guard. Her sword was held out, and she focused on her surroundings. “I picked a bad time to not eat that Wisdom fruit. Why did I have to trade it for an Intelligence one?”

  Another arrow was fired, but she narrowly dodged it this time. She saw a shadow move through the sand. “Hey you! Come and fight me like a man!”

  “Aren't you a woman though?” A voice answered. “The reward is mine! Stay down, and I won’t kill you.”

  Henderson growled. “No chance. I didn’t almost die to a Beetlejuice monster just to give it up to a coward like you.”

  The light coming off the pillar started to swell. Henderson knew it was almost ready. She waited for her invisible enemy to make a move. The Sandworm let out a bellow that echoed from far away, it sounded strained, then was cut off abruptly.

  An arrow flew at Henderson. She deflected it with her heavy blade, then activated her newest Axiom. Her sword took on a silver sheen as she moved toward where the arrow came from. For just a mere moment, she blinked out of sight of the archer using an Ability, long enough for her to swing the sword around and leave a deep gouge across the archer's chest.

  Henderson was breathing heavily. Using that Ability after the Spell on the Worm left her exhausted. “Are you going to make me kill you, or are you done?!” She yelled.

  The archer dropped his bow and held up both his hands. “No. I’m done.”

  Henderons glared at him for a moment, then went over to claim her prize. On a marble pedestal was a teardrop shaped yellow gemstone. She grabbed it, threw it in one of the bags Mathew made for her, and ran off.

  The sand continued to roar around her, but she didn’t care. She won.

  Nearby, she saw a faint glow of a portal, and saw several people running through it.

  Mathew sighed in relief as the sandstorm finally started to wane away. As it continued to thin in ferocity he kept his head on a swivel, looking for anybody that was a danger to his life. Instead, he saw nobody.

  Even when the sandstorm died off, he didn’t see a living person, nor a dead one. Just sand as far as he could see. He was confused. He hadn’t moved that far, and the storm only lasted for half an hour after the Area Quest ended. “Where the hell is everyone?” Mathew half shouted into the empty air.

  “No clue Boss.”

  “I don’t have any ideas either.”

  Mathew deflated as the adrenaline from combat started to wear off. He had been on edge this entire time. An entire time that he was apparently alone for. He fell to his knees, exhausted. Both mentally and physically.

  “What was that giant creature?” Cherry asked. “Did it even die?”

  With a huff, Mathew opened his menu. His eyes went wide. “It did. I gained five whole levels. There’s no other explanation other than the fact that it did die.” Cherry checked her own menu and nodded, “I gained three, and I barely did anything in the fight..”

  Agnox huffed in annoyance and looked down at the sand.

  Mathew was torn on where to put his free stats at. If he didn’t find the portal to leave this floor, he would have to kill another one of those creatures, alone no less. He couldn’t take the risk. All of his free points went into Intelligence, raising it to 545. All of his stats were over 200, while his Wisdom was at 628.

  He looked down at his powers, noting that two Rank Up’s awaited him.

  Mathew was confused as to why the spell remained. He watched Jeffery get eaten right in front of him, sacrificing himself for his master.

  Unless…Mathew had never risked Jeffery dying. He always assumed the wolf had one life. He looked inward toward his soul. He didn’t feel any changes. Not a loss of attachment to anything.

  Instantly, Mathew selected the Power option for the spell, and the only option for [Contest]. He then started to resummon Jeffery using his rod.

  The red furred wolf appeared. He looked heavier. Taking on easily a hundred pounds, if not more. Mathew also saw his paws were larger.

  Upon seeing the wolf, Mathew didn’t know what to feel. Either relief or out right annoyance. How many times could he have let the wolf die in a plan, or battle. Then again, would he have felt closer to him?

  Jeffery has been one of his summons for a long time. Even if he hated Mathew when he was first acquired, now they were partners. Man and wolf. A tale as old as time.

  Agnox was ecstatic to see the wolf, and was instantly on top of his back hugging him. “Don’t you ever risk your life like that again! What if you actually could die!”

  Seeing the two, Mathew shook his head. “No, it was my fault for not truly knowing, nor testing it. Let’s take it as a blessing that he doesn’t stay dead.”

  Mathew went over and patted the wolf on the head. “Thanks for saving my life Jeffery. I owe you a big meal.”

  The wolf just looked into Mathew’s eyes as if to say ‘of course’. As he scratched at the wolf's head, Mathew felt a bump on his skull. He moved some fur to see a black bulge. “Agnox, what’s this on Jeffery’s forehead?”

  “Oh right! He’s Apprentice rank now! Feral Infernal Wolves undergo a transformation at this rank. We used to tame the already transformed ones and use those, since they were stronger naturally. Oh he is going to be such a strong big boy.”

  Mathew remembered the one he fought. “If you breed them, do their offspring have horns as well?”

  Agnox nodded, “Yup. We use them as leaders in packs. It comes naturally to them. It’s not a rank requirement. Just the ones without the horns who make it to this rank acquire them. Jeffery will be stronger than any of the ones bred, even at the same rank too!”

  “How does that make sense?” Cherry asked, looking at Jeffery inquisical.

  “More experience. Same with anyone. Take Mathew here. If he was to go up against any natural Apprentice ranked creature, he has titles, items that boosted his stats, and powers that were grown from experience. Look at yourself Cherry, how many of your slots were filled when you were born at level ten?”

  “Only a few…” Cherry said, seeming shy about the topic now that she was the focus on it.

  Mathew nodded, understanding what Agnox was saying. “It makes sense. Now that Cherry is acquiring real life experience, she will be stronger than her siblings who were coddled.”

  “They are not! At least not in this abandoned pit of land.” Cherry shouted, gesturing around them.

  “Yea, but how many techniques do you have?” Mathew asked. “Anything new from that battle?”

  “Why should I even check? To prove you right?” Cherry ‘humpfed’ but did open her menu. “Oh my…”

  “Go on, tell Boss what you got. I wanna know too! We can compare stat sizes!”

  “Actually, can you both open your menus for me? I want to compare them both.” Mathew asked. Agnox looked a bit sheepish.

  “Nah, you don’t need to see mine, Boss. Nothing important other than another upgrade is all. It’s so many numbers looking at both of ours, and so many screens. Do you really want to look at all of it?”

  Mathew really wanted to see it now. “Come on. Now that I think about it, I never looked at your menu before. Just the class, and the details of a few techniques.”

  He leaned in close to Agnox, staring at his familiar. “Unless you are hiding something from me.”

  “No! I would never!” Agnox said too quickly.

  “Good. Then show me.” Mathew almost demanded. Agnox was about to say something, but Mathew beat him to it. “Yes I trust you. Do you not trust me with the details of your menu?”

  Agnox slumped in defeat, and opened his menu.

  [[A/N Menu’s that include the Ability/Skill/Spell lists and details, will be placed in ‘spoiler chat’ for the uploaded chapter. In case nobody wants to see it. The actual menus and titles are important since Mathew had yet to see them before. Agnox’s menu was last referenced in Ch. 102]]

  [[Spoiler chat contains Agnox's Abilities, Skills, & Spells]]

  Mathew inquisitively looked over everything. Only a few things caught his attention with a raised eyebrow. At first, he was worried about the Traitor Title. After reading it, he realized it was because he betrayed the Infernal Ky’ Clan, and not him.

  “Agnox…how long have you had the soul bonded title and ability? The title alone gives +1 to all stats every five levels. The Ability does even more than that.”

  Agnox rubbed the back of his head. “Uh, remember when you almost died? That’s when the title popped up. I’ve had the ability ever since we were bonded, but it was upgraded into an entire new ability after I acquired the title. It was an 89% match up. System gave me a free upgrade.”

  Mathew didn’t realize how far Agnox has gone. He barely had any Novice powers, most far into Beginner rank or already Apprentice. He had a much narrower path, focusing on fire and melee combat.

  Then he noticed the Rank Up to [Backstab]. Mathew didn’t know Agnox and Jeffery were that close. Close enough that he chose a rank up that was related to the other.

  He shook his head, then went over to Cherry. She displayed everything, with a slight sheepish look.

  “You are acting like you have something embarrassing to hide.” Mathew said, looking at her.

  “It’s…personal. I just don’t want you to be angry or anything.”

  “Nonsense. Unless you have been hiding something that could have helped in the past couple of days, then you are fine. I also want to see the details of your class and profession too please.”

  Cherry hesitated. “What’s wrong with your class and profession?” Mathew asked.

  “Uhhhh” Cherry didn’t have an answer to that. Looking more embarrassed. “It’s” She took a deep breath. “It’s the principle. Showing your menu like this is seen as very personal. Mom says to never do so, since others could get jealous or even angry at what it holds.”

  “Well, as the guy you are bound to, I need to see it so I can ensure you don’t die.” Mathew said, starting to get very annoyed that she was stalling.

  Cherry sighed, and opened up everything for Mathew to look at.

  [[Spoiler chat contains all of Cherry's Title, Abilities, Skills, & Spells]]

  Mathew blinked. He did a lot of mental math right then, figuring out just how strong Cherry will become. Her profession alone gave her 18 stat points per level. Stack that on top of her title, both her Wisdom and Intelligence will be over 200 by the time she was Level 24.

  Comparing it to Agnox, it showed the power of higher tiered classes and professions. He couldn’t fathom exactly how this was fair. Then he realized life wasn’t fair.

  “Cherry, how many slots do you have for everything?”

  “Oh, well Dryads are natural spell casters. We start with two Ability, two Skill, and five Spell slots. After the profession and class I was given by Gaia, I now have three for Abilities and Skills, and seven for Spells.”

  Mathew slowly let out air. He was surprised at those limitations. Cherry will be great to put all his healing and buffing needs into. However, he didn’t need to keep her too narrow. Having her learn an offensive spell will be better strategically.

  The lack of any strength or dexterity gained as she leveled up didn’t skip his notice. All her stat bonuses went into all of her other stats. “Cherry, will there be a problem with you not gaining any Strength or Dexterity?”

  “There will be. I don’t think I was destined to gain too many levels. Just enough to help back home.”

  Mathew rubbed at his head before looking around at the empty desert. “Okay. That’s good to know. We can figure that out more later on. How about we Rank Up that healing spell and try to find the portal out of here before we are forced to survive the horde on our own.”

  Cherry nodded in agreement. “I was thinking of the Regeneration Rank Up option. It allows me to turn my healing spell into a heal over time effect instead. The only other option is making me able to target more than one person at a time equal to its overall rank.”

  “Go with Regeneration. Since you can’t heal at a range that will at least heal over time until someone can get back to you. Try to work on getting that to work at range though. I feel like it will be needed.”

  Mathew pointed upwards, “Agnox, can you fly around and get a bird’s eye view for me?”

  The imp gave off a two finger salute and took off into the air. Mathew looked up at him for a moment, then back down at Cherry. She was looking out across the sand. “So, Cherry is tied to Gaia more than I thought. Just what is she planning? I knew getting Cherry was easier than expected, but now I feel like it was all planned.”

  One thing Mathew understood was to gain Cherry’s trust more and more. Like he had with Agnox. Forming that bond will strengthen his soul more. Right now there was a gap between him and the Dryad. He needed a solidified bond with her, otherwise it will all be for nought.