The hours moved slow, but the days passed quick, and with the notable difference granted by Skandr's Skill selection and Magical Potency growth, the group's ability to clear through monsters spiked by nearly 50%. Since their mage was ripping through monsters like so much paper, Astrid found herself about to reach level 16 just a couple hours into the second day's delve. Skandr himself was the greatest factor to the party's success, as instead of inflicting minor wounds and mostly slowing the enemy, his lightning javelins now threw trolls back several steps and left them twitching on the ground for a couple seconds, the perfect attack to make clean kills on the beasts. His Lightning Bolts, though only an untiered skill, knocked the orc warriors' and raiders' heads back with every use. Through the days, he continued experimenting with how to adjust lightning curtain specifically to change it from more of an area of effect debuff to something that could continue to do debuff groups while also dealing much more damage.
"For the first time," Skander grinned, "I feel like I'm one of your equals."
"You basically just killed five orcs and a troll on your own. You're not an equal, you are far and away the most powerful of us right now." Benedict's voice dripped with a not inconsiderable amount of bitterness as he spoke. As a supporter, his skills were generally less noticeable under regular circumstances, which compounded with the "over time" effects of his Skills and Bards' more even spread of attribute growth, Benedict had made no secret of his envy.
"And this is just something for you to look forward to!" Skander laughed as he said it, throwing his arm around the Bard. "You're going to be able to do so much more than you already do with just a few more levels, once you get these milestones, and you've saved our lives dozens of times already. I'm looking forward to seeing it!"
"I'll have to reach Iron before I get a single one of those milestones," Benedict grumbled in a mostly good–natured way as he pushed off Skandr's hand. Astrid only half listened to the continuing conversation, instead looking at the tiny 30 experience left until she passed her final watershed in Bronze. Despite the teasing and joking, the rest of the party wasn't slowing down either, each one quick to finish their harvesting of the monsters before moving onto the next. Harvesting now took about the same amount of time as the fights, since their enemies were so much less capable of holding back and staving off Skandr's magic. The ability to increase their hunting speed by 50% from the two levels that Skandr and Muti had gained was enough of a draw for the rest to continue to throw themselves at the next challenge to get these milestones behind themselves. Astrid didn't need to say anything as the party nodded at each other and rushed off to the next warband.
With the anticipation of getting the boon breathing down her neck, Astrid could hardly remember the battle that got her to the watershed. They were orcs and a troll, she killed things, the other party members killed other things. Before the fight was over, she felt the presence of the Great One descend over her, her attributes surging as one of the final five Bronze levels blessed her. Fortunately, she was disciplined enough to not lose all focus in the moment she'd been waiting for and instead finished the fight. However, just as soon as the last enemy fell, Astrid had no desire to continue paying any attention to the collection of the materials. There was nothing else of interest to her right now, so instead, she took a deep breath and opened her Status, immediately blazing past the attribute section. After all, she knew what was happening there. Instead, she couldn't help but pant a little as she looked at the Skill List. Nothing had changed there? She reopened the Skill List, hoping for something to be different.
Skill List
Blunt Weapon's Mastery (Bronze)
Shield Wielding (Bronze)
Quick Recovery (Bronze)
Locked
Steady Load (Bronze)
Locked
It remained the same. Wasn't there supposed to be a boon? What had she done wrong? Was she just going to lose the opportunity for some stupid reason? Her breath hitched and she felt a tear prick at the corner of her eye as she searched her Status again. As she pulled it up for the third time, Astrid noted a small phrase at the top of her Status, something she'd blazed right past in her initial haste: "Potential Boons to be rewarded: Boon of Sublimation, Boon of Potentiation, Boon of Ascension, Boon of Perfection."
Astrid squinted, wondering how she was supposed to react to this. When she paid special attention to each potential Boon, or asked the Great One for any further explanation, she got nothing. Unlike when she asked for guidance on what her offered Skills meant, there was nothing. Just four options presented to her, not a single point of explanation offered. Astrid frowned, fighting to contain the rage that boiled inside of her. After about 10 seconds, she knew it wasn't coming out anytime soon and lifted her shield and smashed the edge into the ground one, too, three, five times. The stone under her feet shattered into gravel and pelted her legs, but she didn't care. She pushed mana through her greaves to keep herself still, and did it five more times. Breathing heavily, she threw her head back and screamed into the air in frustration.
"Ummm is there something that I should be aware of?" Skandr asked for a safe distance. "Because you just got your level, right? Did something go wrong?"
Astrid opened her mouth to explain herself, then a hot wave of shame washed over her. Had she received bad news? No. Had something gone wrong? Not at all. She'd only been told to wait, and maybe to ask Greely for some information. Yes, she didn't trust him, as she couldn't find herself trusting any Guild representative any time soon after what happened with Anders, but the Guild already knew that she was going to get a boon. It wasn't a secret, and she didn't need to say what options had been offered to her or anything, she could just ask for research and they shouldn't mind providing that information. Knowing all that, she was throwing a tantrum like a toddler because she was going to have to ask a person for information instead of the Great One?
"Honestly? I was being a little bit of a child." Astrid couldn't bring herself to explain any further, looking at the rest. "I'm ready to keep going, if the rest of you are as well. I'm not selecting my boon right now," she said, cutting off the question that Benedict was opening his mouth to ask, "because I'm going to need to conduct some research back in town. We'll do that when we return next, it's not any huge rush."
Every syllable burned her tongue as they came off of it, and Astrid ignored the look that the three human men exchanged as she said the bitter words.
"Well, this is our third day down here," Felix said aloud, "so I figure we push for another six hours, get a full day in, then get back to town instead of staying for a fourth like we'd planned. Once you figure out this boon thing, we'll probably be able to do better in the Dungeon anyways, so it's better for us to get a little break earlier than we initially planned to make sure we can walk forward faster moving on. Sound good, Astrid?"
She merely nodded, and the rest of the party obviously agreed with a sentiment. Muti stepped close and put her hand behind Astrid's head. Even with the helmet there, Muti managed to impart a sense of closeness as she pressed their foreheads, or rather the front of their helms, together.
"My leader, my bound companion, have patience. I will help you learn what is the greatest possibility available to you. Together, we will ascend to the Trials and prove to the world our strength."
Astrid's initial and immediate reaction was to push off the Barbarian, but she stilled herself and allowed the closeness to bring the comfort it was intended to. Then, continuing to master her breathing, Astrid nodded and raised her own hand to the back of Muti's head. After a couple seconds, she tugged on the Rogue's braid a couple times and sighed. Standing up straight, Astrid squared her shoulders, and, with much better humor than before, said to Felix, "Yeah, let's go. Might as well help you to catch up with us."
As her party nodded in agreement, Astrid turned to Muti and slapped her on the back, pushing her to go find the next warband of enemies.
***
The day continued with interminable hours of marching, hiking, fighting, and more hiking. In an hour, the party could usually find four groups of orcs to kill, but each of those 15 minute increments consisted of about three minutes of fighting. Another three minutes were spent harvesting the materials, and the other nine minutes were just marching and hiking and trying to stay relatively unseen. There was only one turn of events that was remotely outside of the norm, which was when they were approached by a different delving party in the hours that followed. It was uncommon, given that delvers entered the Dungeon to fight monsters, not to socialize, but the party approached and explained that they'd lost one of their canteens and were just beginning a two day delve. They were looking to buy one of the other's spares for three times the usual price, which Astrid was comfortable enough doing, given that they had plenty and would be returning soon. After bidding their goodbyes, the two parties went their separate ways and continued hunting the thousands of monsters that ranged on the massive mountainside.
"That was pretty bad form." Felix grumbled to himself as they made their way down from the fourth floor. As they walked into the stairway and ascended, Muti took care to collect the party's specially marked stone that let other delvers know about which path they had followed.
"Yeah, it was impolite," Skandr shrugged, "but I don't blame them. Seems like they're one of the newer parties that isn't used to having backups of backups, so it's not too surprising."
"Then they should have gone back to buy some more!" Felix threw his hands up. "You just got here, you got plenty of energy, and the fee to get back in is basically the same as what they paid to get the canteen from us anyways! All they were doing is saving time, and they didn't even save that because they had to track us down!"
Felix continued being the only one of the party that seemed to care at all about that specific series of events while the rest listened to his grumbling as they made their way back to town. The permanent sunlight inside the Dungeon made it hard to keep track of the time as it passed, but Muti was able to keep track of time's passage with near–unerring accuracy. Thus, as they strode out of the pyramid reinforcing the Dungeon entrance, Muti's estimation of it being just after sundown was correct. The sky still glowed with burning clouds, though the sun was completely out of sight. As they walked through the cobbled streets and into the inn, Astrid gripped her left hand so tightly that she could feel her heartbeat in it, but she still forced herself to sit down and eat a full meal before going to Greely's office. She couldn't tast the food, but once her belly was full, she was done in the communal room.
As she stood to go, Muti immediately fell in step beside her, and Astrid chuckled while the three men looked amongst each other before making to stand up.
"That won't be necessary. Honestly, I don't think that even Muti will be needed, but I guess I'll just have her along for a girl talk."
Felix and Skandr both immediately put their hands up and settled back into their seats, ordering another round of ale to be brought their way, but Benedict didn't hesitate to muse aloud, "I've always wondered what they talk about during so-called 'girl talk'. With teenagers, I'd say maybe boys, but…"
Astrid stopped paying attention to the inane ramblings of the Bard, instead walking up the stairs to strip off her armor before she descended again into the office with Muti walking alongside her. As they approached the still open door, the Druid Guild representative's voice came with a casual familiarity, "Come on in, Astrid."
She did so, waiting for the 15 seconds or so that it took for the man to be ready for her to give the after–action report. Once ready, she gave it in succinct explanations, just the bare bones, but as soon as she said "next level," Greely's mouth opened a little in understanding. He allowed her to finish, then, as she stopped speaking, he grinned.
"Congratulations." His smile was soft as he nodded at her with his cloudy eyes. "I would imagine that you are looking for information regarding boons from the Great One, then?"
It shouldn't have come as a surprise to Astrid that the old man was able to discern or recall that this was her hitting level 16, and that this would offer her a boon.
"Yes."
"Marvelous. I've sent a message to Lily to approach your party members about the spoils from your latest delve, because I suspect we will be in here for a while yet." Greely said as much with a casual air, though he glanced at the door, which slowly closed without anybody's touch. "Now, I won't ask you for the specific details regarding which particular boons were offered to you, after all, you've had no small amount of issues with other people from the Guild. So, only if you have any specific questions, please ask them, if not, I will provide to you two copies of the Guild's records regarding all boons received. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes, thank you Greely." Astrid bowed her head as the Druid's desk-garden stretched to a bookshelf on the side of the room and pulled out two thin books. Astrid felt her face fall as she looked at the book, almost more of a pamphlet than a full book with only 20 or so pages within. Regardless, she took the books as carefully as she could manage, and handed one to Muti.
"She will want the one you are holding." Greely corrected, and Astrid looked down, feeling familiarity with but not recognizing the script on the book she held. When she offered it to her Barbarian companion, Muti's face lit up, and she took it excitedly while handing back the other. When Astrid looked at the familiar script on the book she held, she realized that she was able to place the flowing script of the book Muti held.
"You have the book in the Barbarians' written language?"
"We are not always on opposite sides of a war's battlefield. There is no harm in carrying an additional copy of a book in a different language." Greely's face didn't shift as he explained it. Astrid shook her head and refocused entirely on the book she held. "It is organized alphabetically, so you can search accordingly."
Astrid nodded once and opened to the first page. Her eyes passed a handful of other possible boons before they found the first that she herself had been offered. She pointed at it for Muti's benefit, allowing the Rogue to flip several pages deep into her own book as she silently read the passage alongside Astrid.
"Boon of Ascension: This boon is always valuable, but is most useful to those in Mithril tier and above. Those who have received this boon can choose one of their Skills to be upgraded. This upgrade is not to the next tier, but will empower the Skill while also not increasing its cost. Any subsequent upgrades the Skill receives to a higher tier retain this qualitative upgrade, or ascension, to the Skill selected. For example, if the Skill Overhand Blow is selected, it may become the Skill Power Strike, Explosive Blow, or Meteor Strike. If a passive Skill is selected, such as Blademanship, it may become Blade Mastery or remain named Blademanship while also gaining an active aspect to the Skill, such as Piercing Blow, Blade Dance, or Blade Control. The ascension of a passive Skill such as Blademanship to Blade Mastery can also and typically does grant an additional active aspect to the Skill."
Astrid's eyes widened as she understood the boon. The upgrade to the scope of one of the active Skills was impressive, given the monumental difference between Overhand Blow and Meteor Strike. Astrid knew a little about Meteor Strike, which was, in fine, an immensely destructive Skill. Even whilst still Untiered, the hit would affect the area of impact and 3 meters in every direction. The scale of the Skill would only continue to climb. On the other hand, effectively making a single Skill slot into two Skills, both of which would only require a single Skill selection to upgrade was another simply unbelievable possibility. Astrid almost felt herself salivate over the idea of being able to gain the active Skill she was hoping for even before she reached Iron. With a force of will, she pulled her attention away from just thinking about this first option. It was a good one, but maybe the others were better?
As she looked to go to the next page, Muti reached a hand out and grabbed Astrid tightly by the upper arm. They'd taken off their armor when they arrived back at the inn, and Muti's grip was so tight that her fingertips seemed to be trying to shred Astrid's bicep.
"I know, now I want to look at the next."
"The Hordes never spoke of this. It is a secret."
"Then now you know." Astrid chuckled and thumbed through the pages until she got to the page with her next offering. Both Potentiation and Perfection were on the same page, and Astrid saw Potentiation's entry first.
"Boon of Potentiation: this boon is of greatest value to those in the Bronze tier. Those who have received this boon will have their next Class upgraded in rarity without increasing the difficulty of the Class evolution quest. For each increase in rarity, there is a commensurate increase in the Attributes gained per level. As such, this growth is most impactful the lower the level of the individual who takes it."
Astrid pointed at this option, allowing Muti to read it as she amused over the possibility for herself. This option wasn't a bad one. In fact, it was probably better for her in the long run than the first. After all, a common grade Class would give an additional 6 attribute points each time it was evolved. Thus, an Iron tier Warrior with no addition from the rarity would gain 16 attribute points per level from their Class, as opposed to the 10 that the Bronze Warrior received. Moving up through each tier, each evolution would give additional attributes based off of how many attributes the previous tier's Class had offered.
"For an increase in rarity for a Class," Astrid asked Greely, who sat at his desk and continued to do paperwork, "what's the increase in attributes?"
"Attributes aren't the only change that occurs, but purely in terms of attribute growth, the increase from each tier, from common to uncommon to rare to very rare and finally to extraordinary, the additional attribute growth is 6. As such, a common Iron tier class will grant 16 attribute points per level, an uncommon Iron tier will grant 22, a rare 28, a very rare 34, and an extraordinary 40. In every tier, the increase from one tier of rarity to the next will always be an additional 6 attribute points. Is that clear?"
Astrid rubbed her head, beginning to understand. Then, resolving herself, she said, "I'm sure you figured out which option this is. With the Boon of Potentiation, will the increase in tier also improve the Skills that are merged and evolved from the Class's acquisition? Like, if I became a Juggernaut that gave me three Iron tier Skills, then would I get an additional Skill?"
"No. The Skill combinations and mergings that occur due to the evolution to a new tier will not be impacted by the Boon of Potentiation. There have been records of those who selected the boon seeming to receive higher–tiered Skills with seemingly less effort, but that is not confirmed as an effect of the boon."
Astrid nodded and settled into a chair as she thought about it for a moment. Despite her current focus on going to the Wandering Trials and the reality that the Boon of Ascension would definitely be better for her with that as her goal, Astrid's goal wasn't to be someone who got to go to the Wandering Trials. Her goal was to become an Arcanite delver, and Potentiation was so much better than Ascension with that being her real goal. She'd attempted to downplay the impact of this boon when she first read it because of her short-term goals, but she wasn't going to lie to herself. The little disclaimers at the beginning of the boon's description were right, and Astrid stopped looking up at the ceiling and instead straightened out to sit normally once again.
Without looking at Muti and knowing that the Rogue too was trying to understand the impact of the boon as much as she was, Astrid pointed at the next selection of interest.
"Boon of Perfection: this Boon is of greatest value to those in the Adamantium tier. Those who have received this boon will be able to select any of the Class Evolution options next available to them without having to complete the Class quest."
Though she could see the value of this boon, Astrid also immediately dismissed it out of hand. Evolution to the Iron tier was never immensely challenging, and the growing difficulties in evolution from one tier to the next weren't something like that she currently worried about. Instead, she could see the value that this would provide to somebody at the highest tiers who wouldn't be able to pass their next evolution quest without it. That wasn't her situation, and she moved to the next. Finally, Astrid flicked through the pages until she got to her final option.
"Boon of Sublimation: this boon is of greatest value to those in the Bronze tier. Those who have received this boon will immediately be granted twice the amount of racial attribute points every level from that level and forever onward, and will also be allowed to distribute not only the bonus racial attribute points but the basic points however they wish."
Another very simple option, though it was remarkably similar to the Boon of Potentiation, Astrid found herself considering what the real difference between the two would be. First, she would get five more levels with the bonus attributes right away with Sublimation. An additional 30 attribute points was effectively two levels, but more than that, she could choose where they would go! There wasn't any reason for her to put her racial points in Magical Potency. As such, that would be two attribute points to put into Power or Alacrity! Then, every level moving forward, she could get, for example, +4 in Power, Alacrity, and Fortitude. That would result in +8 in Power and Fortitude every level and +6 in Alacrity every level, plus Steady Load.
If she had these growths available to her, then the struggles of passing any evolution quest would be so much lower, which would effectively grant the same bonuses as taking Potentiation, right? She could achieve much greater heights, and then the offer offered higher rarity Classes anyways!
The problem with that was that the possibility for growth on growth was more likely in taking the Boon of Potentiation than with Sublimation. Astrid groaned and put her head back again, the base of her skull thunking against the back of her chair's backrest. Which of the two options was she going to choose?