When Arden woke he was once again being shaken awake by Mina.

  “You can’t make a pattern of this Arden” She said and this time his mind snapped back into shape a little faster after sleep.

  “Well then find a way to keep me from getting beat up so much” He said, grimacing as his many bruises ached.

  “That’s part of the plan. I spent a lot of augments last night” She said, throwing fresh clothing at him before heading downstairs to continue her conversation with Talia.

  Limping down he washed his face in the sink and sat down as Talia and Mina giggled about something.

  “Your leg better today?” She asked as he sat down. Talia put a plate in front of him and he began eating.

  “Somewhat, I spent everything I had stored up last night after the beating I took in that dungeon” Arden admitted.

  “Same, that was scary. I bought a pair of augments for my healing spell and an augment for my new ward spell” She said, flicking at her wrist and displaying the augments for everyone to read.

  Battle Medic

  Augment

  This augment reduces the aggro generated by healing spells by 25%. Further augmentation can improve this reduction.

  Healer’s Stance

  Augment

  Rarity: Rare

  Cost: 1 MP

  This stance reduces the aggro generated by healing spells by 15%. This stance requires 1 MP to enter. A maximum of 3 MP can be invested in the stance. Each MP invested reduces aggro generated by 5% every second.

  Hidden Ward

  Augment

  This augment modifies wards cast outside of combat. If a ward cast outside of combat is damaged in combat, it will not generate Aggro. Using this augment increases the cost of the ward spell by 2 MP.

  Looking at them Arden nodded. They would both help a lot in the future.

  “That’s good one of them is even rare” He said, flicking out the spellblade stance he had bought. Mina’s eyes went wide and her face paled.

  “ARDEN!” She squealed, grabbing his arm from across the table.

  “DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?” She said, staring at it.

  “A stance? It required me to buy like two other things to get it” Arden said and she glared at him.

  “You idiot, this is an epic talent. That’s higher than rare. My father has one, just one. This is probably the most powerful skill in the group” She explained, looking it over.

  “It is… really good. Especially since you’re trying to use magic and melee combat. COMBAT REGENERATION! Are you kidding me?”

  “I saw that, it’s really nice” Arden said and Talia giggled.

  “REALLY NICE! You don’t understand. That effect stays on as long as you’re in battle. If you do end up in one of the guard companies some of the monster spawns can last days” She explained and Arden’s gaze snapped to her.

  “Oh, I guess it would be good in that situation. I suspect there are limits to what it can heal though”

  “Well yea, but they’re not as restrictive as you’d think” She said, withdrawing her hand and straightening her skirt. She regained her composure and looked at him.

  “We need to focus on the task at hand. You have to get your air magic to level five and you have to do it quickly. We’re going to go practice” She said and he looked down at his empty plate.

  “Go, and be home without blood on you this time” Talia said, smirking. She was technically his younger sister, but everyone knew that Talia ran the house. As they walked outside Arden spotted his brother and father in the field, with his father sitting on a barrel while his brother was cutting a section of the field with a scythe. They would gather the small section and check it to make sure the wheat was dry enough for harvest. He waved and they waved back. He walked with no limp, both the character level increase and Mina’s healing having restored him to a point where his knee was almost back to normal.

  The next seven hours were a blur, with Mina reading from a book she had taken from her father’s study on air magic and how to use it. She drilled Arden again and again on the magic, how to form the spell, how it was controlled with fine finger movements and use of an in system language called ‘Eldian’.

  By the end of the fourth hour Arden could manipulate magical constructs that produced wind, and could even lift small objects and move them around with a degree of control. His basic air magic reached level four before they were interrupted by Cole and Frederick.

  “We have to move Fred’s going to go get Ar…den” Cole said, skidding to a stop as he realized Arden was already here.

  “What are you two up to?” Fred asked with a smirk on his face.

  “Teaching him air magic, what’s going on” She said, getting up from the crystal set.

  “Bear, attacked Baker Jerald ten minutes ago, Sheriff Rawlings said come get you and find him” He said and Arden was up in a shot. He immediately started dumping his armor on the ground and Frederick ran over and started helping him put it on.

  “Where did the bear go?” Mina asked, moving to help armor their tank. In less than two minutes Arden’s worn and beaten armor was on and they were moving towards the town square. The bakery had a huge hole in its wall and that was the first hint the four of them had that something was not right here.

  “Last time I checked, Bears still at least tried to use doors” Arden said, looking inside the bakery. There was blood on a wall, and he hoped it was bear blood.

  “Is mister Jerald ok?” Mina asked, clutching her staff.

  “He’s ok, that’s bear blood I think” Cole said, pulling out his bow and nocking an arrow. They found the sheriff on the edge of the village, kneeling over a bloody track.

  “Went this way, let’s move” He said, not even waiting for them to agree. The Sheriff expected them to do what he told them to without question or complaint. Arden jogged along and noticed that his armor felt even less restrictive than before as his new talents and increased skills worked together.

  Cole and the Sheriff moved quickly, forcing Arden to work hard to keep up. Hard enough that it was digging into his stamina points. The system would sap stamina from you if you were doing something strenuous. And running in armor was one of those things.

  “Arden, how’s your SP looking?” Rawlins asked, as if he knew what Arden was thinking.

  “Down four points” Arden answered and the sheriff looked at him.

  “Only four? With all that armor?” He asked, looking surprised.

  “Talents working together sir” He said and the sheriff nodded. Minutes later they began to hear something crashing through the undergrowth.

  “Get ready, once it smells us it won’t be running anymore” The Sheriff said, drawing a two handed sword from his back. Less than a minute later they came to the edge of a clearing, and could see the bear.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “That’s not a normal bear” The Sheriff said, looking at it. The beast was huge, far bigger than a brown bear should be. It towered at well over five feet at the shoulder. Black marks ran up its arms and legs, a swirling black darkness forming tendrils in its fur. Its eyes blazed red and black smoke rose from the dark tendrils on its back.

  “That’s what we saw at the dungeon, the one that didn’t give loot” Arden said, moving to the front.

  “Ok we need to do this quickly then. We definitely can’t let this thing live” The Sheriff said, looking at Arden.

  “If you’re anything like your father this bear doesn’t know what it is in for” He said, patting Arden on the shoulder.

  “Go get his attention, kid. We’ll back you up” He said and Arden nodded, moving to exit the cover of the undergrowth. Mina’s hand caught him and he turned as she placed a hand on his chest, chanting. He felt the ward envelope him. When it was done she nodded.

  “Remember, my healing doesn’t draw as much aggro as before, so as long as you can get it back on you quickly we’re good” She said, looking at the others as Arden stepped out of the brush and into the clearing.

  He dug the tip of his sword into the ground and pointed a finger at the bear, activating his lightning bolt card. The mana flowed out of him and the bear turned. Arden realized it could feel it and moments later its eyes locked on him. An instant later a stroke of lightning arced out of the sky and slammed into the bear, blasting it from its feet. It roared in anger and stood up, bellowing at Arden as he picked up his sword and sank into his brand new Spellblade Stance.

  An icon appeared in the corner of his vision. A blade split in half, one side red, one side blue. He poured his mana and stamina into the stance. In offense he invested three mana and two stamina. In defense he invested two mana and four stamina. The blade’s colors shifted as he poured in MP and SP, and he felt the buffs take hold. His weapons and spells would deal 15% more damage and his recast timers were reduced by two seconds. At the same time damage dealt to him would be reduced by four and he would heal 2 HP and regain 2 SP each minute. When he invested the energy into the stance a timer started beneath the sword in his vision.

  Focusing on the bear Arden braced himself, activating his normal Shield Block. The bear would probably hit hard, but he had the benefit of Mina’s ward and didn’t want to overkill defending against this first shot and be left with no idea of how hard the bear hit.

  He was expecting it to run up and bite him, but instead the bear simply slammed into him. Arden was flung to the side by the impact and he rolled to his feet, already staggering backwards in an attempt to dodge a second. The bear was fast, and it hit hard. That first blow had shattered Mina’s ward, and still managed to push three damage through his shield block and spellblade stance.

  Arden tensed, expecting this hit to be bad, but an arrow slammed into the bear’s kneecap. It glowed brightly from Cole’s power shot card and the bear stumbled, forcing Arden to dance backward and roll to the side to avoid being plowed into again. He scrambled to his feet as Fred and the sheriff burst from the woods, assaulting the bear’s side. It turned as if Arden had lost aggro but he was ready for that. Arden leaped forward and activated his provoking slash. The blade dug into the bear’s thick hide and tore a bleeding gash in its side. Instantly he watched those red eyes snap back around to him and his reflexes were barely enough to get his shield up. A paw with claws the size of small knives slammed into his shield and he felt the handle fracture in his hand as he was hurled backwards again. Another barrier snapped up around him as the bear charged yet again and Arden noticed that this time Fred was using his daggers, and the bear’s right side was sporting a trio of gashes to add to the one he had put in its left.

  The bear did its shoulder charge move again and Arden was starting to think it was a carded ability. He knew monsters had them, and that meant the bear might drop a blank card when it was slain. But that was very rare. He braced himself again and stepped to the side at the last moment, shoving hard but letting the bear move him to the side. The maneuver managed to keep him on his feet but again Arden staggered backwards a few steps as the bear turned and looked at Mina.

  Anticipating this Arden reactivated his Provoking Slash thanks to the reduced cooldown and as the bear moved for Mina he leaped forward and sliced one of its ears clean off. The beast howled and backed off before turning back to Arden just as an arrow buried itself in its neck.

  A spear of ice slammed into its shoulder just as it started to charge and its momentum was limited. Arden took advantage, activating his mana block for the first time. He felt mana flow out of him and the bear slammed into his shield a moment later. The shield shimmered and again Arden was staggered backwards by the sheer difference in his and the bear’s mass.

  The Sheriff bore in as the bear was staggered as well and another huge gash opened in its hide. Arden took the opportunity to lift his shield, using it to activate his lightning bolt card again. His mana was already half gone so this would have to be the last lightning bolt he called down. The others felt the magic and backed up as a second stroke of lightning scorched the bear, this time setting it on fire. Arrows pelted it again as Cole aimed for its shoulders and face.

  Arden took the chance to check his stats and he was already down half his HP. They needed to finish this quickly as the bear was already focused on Arden again. It began to activate that charge card again and Arden responded by activating his mana shield block. Again he staggered backwards and again arrows buried themselves in the bear’s flank.

  Arden activated his provoking slash and bore in as the bear howled. Fred and the sheriff had found its right side again and the sheriff had managed to hit the same spot again, digging a deeper trench in the bear’s hide with his huge zweihander sword. Arden bore in and drove his sword into its neck and the bear swiped at him, bouncing a paw off his shield. But the beast’s strength was waning and Arden shoved back, causing the bear to stagger this time. The Sheriff, sensing an opportunity, activated a skill and with one massive overhand chop, the bear’s head leapt free of its body.

  The creature slumped to the ground and black blood flowed from its neck. Arden sunk to one knee and caught his breath. Mina running up to heal him immediately.

  “Damn boy, give it another ten years and you’re going to be a nightmare. I haven’t seen anyone blend magic and melee combat in a long time. It was impressive back then too” The Sheriff said, looking over the beast.

  “Sir, look” Cole said, coming out of the brush. He pointed and the sheriff noticed that the system had placed a loot icon on the ground next to the bear.

  “Ah, well open it up kids. You know the mayor gets his share, but we’ll see what it has got and I’ll decide what goes with me” He said, taking a knee as he took out a dirty rag to clean his sword.

  Mina healed Arden quickly this time, her healing was getting more powerful. They both watched as Cole kneeled down and opened the loot the system had generated.

  “Um… sir… this is weird” He said, pulling out several objects.

  “How so boy?” The Sheriff asked, walking over.

  “All of this loot is labeled as dungeon loot. And it’s familiar. This is the kind of stuff you get from a skeleton dungeon sir. I think this is part of the loot we didn’t get when we finished the dungeon” He said and Rawlins knelt to look through it.

  “Huh, well isn’t that interesting. Ok then, strange, but who are we to question the system” He said, reaching out and plucking two items from the list. Arden noted they were not the most valuable items.

  “I’ll return these to the mayor as the king's portion and you four divide the rest, you earned it. I think I’ll go have a look at that dungeon too, if it hasn’t closed yet” He said with a grin, turning to leave without another word.

  Cole looked at them and shrugged, taking out an item.

  “Arden, I think you’ll want this” He said, handing him a set of chainmail. It was somewhat rusted but nothing Arden and his father couldn’t clean up. It looked familiar, and he realized the skeleton boss had been wearing it. He opened the item and realized it was enchanted.

  “Wait, why did the sheriff leave this?” He said, looking back at where the sheriff had already left the clearing.

  “I guess he’s not as big a fan of the Mayor as we thought” Cole said, pulling a pair of daggers with ebony handles from the list and handing them to Fred, who let out a whistle.

  Cole claimed an ashwood bow for himself, and then smiled at Mina before placing a delicate yew staff in her hands. She squeaked when she saw it.

  With the last item removed, the window vanished and the bear began to slump, returning to its normal size. As it did the dark tendrils turned to smoke which dissipated rapidly, leaving a normal brown bear in its wake. Another loot window opened and Cole shrugged. This one was more normal and sadly contained no card as Arden had hoped it would. They were granted a bear fur, some meat, bones, and several teeth. The meat was discarded immediately, no one wanted to risk eating something that had been so… corrupted. While they discussed it they came to the agreement that they would call these dungeons corrupted dungeons, and the monsters that bore those black tendrils were also to be labeled corrupted.

  Returning to the village Mina went to help heal the baker, and Arden went home. For the first time in three days he took a hot bath, put on clean clothing, and sat with his father on the porch as the sun set. After hearing the events of the day his father seemed concerned.

  “Things change, and we have so little power over it. But if Rawlins was impressed with you, that’s a high water mark boy. He has a class” He said and Arden choked.

  “You didn’t know? He is the Sheriff, that’s why. All sheriffs are given a basic class card to make them just a little stronger than the average citizen. It lets the king maintain control” He said, smirking.

  “He said if I was anything like you, I’d be a nightmare. What did he mean by that” Arden asked. His father just smiled. Arden hated the secrets.

  “Things I can tell you, and things I cannot tell you” His father said as if that explained it.

  “He cheated the mayor out of the best items that the bear had” Arden said and his father laughed.

  “Even if Rawlins is loyal to the king, he still is loyal to the King, not to the mayor. And Percy is easy to dislike” his father said, pulling himself to his feet. Already he could walk more easily.

  “Oh, how did the training go?” He said, turning back to Arden.

  “Air magic is at level four and change. Should be level five or better before harvest starts” Arden said with a smile. His father nodded.

  “Good, good, get sleep, I’m letting you sleep in tomorrow, cause you damn well earned it” He said, heading into the house.

  Arden sat on the porch and looked at his status. His hybrid combat specialization had leveled, but he was too tired to comb through upgrades at the moment. He got up and went in, climbing up to his room he crawled into bed.