Over the past few weeks, I've managed to progress a lot in my general skills. It was refreshing to go back to normal general skill grinding, after all the craziness of the tournament, airship, and early dungeon stuff.

Ting! Tailoring has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 100!

10th Breakthrough: You've managed to weave spells into your cloth, allowing the spell mana to behave like an enchantment.

Ting! Tailoring has obtained level 95->106!

Ting! Mana Manipulation has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 230!

23rd Breakthrough: You've learned to weave spell mana into a stable form, allowing anyone to discharge the spell later.

Ting! Mana Manipulation has obtained level 204->210!

The [Tailoring] breakthrough allows me to weave a spell into normal cloth, much like enchanting it. In a sense it is enchanting, but tests show that it uses less enchantment allowance than normal enchanting, so I can fit more effects in the cloth. This does not work if I mana weave the cloth because [Tailoring] works by doing actual tailoring, not forming mana silk from the air, but what I can do is use the [Tailoring] skill while making mana cloth by hand from threads created with [Mana Manipulation]. This takes more time and effort but the product is more powerful because I can then use my new breakthrough, even if it's all mana.

The spell mana cloth made by [Mana Manipulation] allows the casting of one spell by sending mana through it; not unlike spell crystals, although it does have the downside of burning up the mana silk, so it's a one-time deal, whereas the spell crystals are multi-use. However, the upside is that it is far more portable. The amount of spell mana used to make the cloth determines how powerful the spell will be.

Ting! Sense Soul has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 70!

7th Breakthrough: You've learned how to sense souls in multiple different locations; this will help you see more.

Ting! Sense Soul has obtained level 57->74!

I practiced [Sense Soul] whenever I was busy with other things like [Tailoring]. I already knew about this breakthrough because it's a common breakthrough for most sensing skills.

Ting! Musician has obtained level 111->115!

Ting! Graceful Movements has obtained level 47->63!

These ones are hard to get more breakthroughs in now that I have most of the safe ones. I'll have to be in increasingly more unique and dangerous situations, especially for [Graceful Movements]. It turns out this is why the average cap people hit on their skills is less than one hundred.

Ting! Clear Mind has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 50!

5th Breakthrough: You've maintained a clear mind through pain; this will help you tolerate pain.

Ting! Clear Mind has obtained level 23->37!

[Clear Mind] is actually hard to level without being in dangerous situations, it's more of a resistance skill than a utility skill, and as such it'll be hard for me to level up. A mind mage may help me level this, like how the Guardian helped me level [Mana Toxicity Tolerance], but I don't know one.

Ting! Acting has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 70->80!

7th Breakthrough: You've managed to project your voice; this will help you be heard further away than usual.

8th Breakthrough: You've managed to produce beauty essence to create slight illusions to alter your appearance in subtle ways; this will help others see you as your role.

Ting! Acting has obtained level 54->78!

A long-overdue training session with this one, it's interesting how it incorporates beauty essence to make illusions. It's more like makeup which can be used in a myriad of ways, from beautifying – not that I need it – to making scars, all without the need for illusion spells. Also, I think the breakthrough was influenced by my affinity for beauty essence, much like [Graceful Movements] was. Normally light mana would be used for things like lasers and illusions but it probably just used beauty essence because that's most abundant in and around me.

I've tested the voice projection, and it's a form of sound essence usage; this works well with my clones as long as I have one mind piloting it, giving my clones the ability to speak.

It’s a good thing I’ve made so much progress with my skills, because after much effort and time have been invested in both planning and material, it’s finally time for the large-scale expedition to the dungeon.

I board the Winamr with the rest of the fighters, walking along a plank of thick bamboo, quickly finding a nervous Tana at Esofy's side. I smile at him, to which he blushes and looks away. I tilt my head at his strange actions, he has never acted this way before, perhaps he’s been shut away in Esofy’s dojo for too long? As I continue thinking about it, [Inquisitive Perfection] tugs at my minds and with its suggestion I finally realize the situation.

Is he already at that age? It only makes sense, we’ll have to go through puberty sooner or later, although that realisation only makes me despair at my own hormone-filled future. I’m not sure how I feel being the subject of Tana’s interest, I’ll leave that for future me to figure out.

The sails above me stretch tight, with only a little sag, and with a shake, the airship lifts up to the skies as we depart the village.

The village elders have continually sent small parties to survey the area and have funded this expedition on the condition that all materials gathered, aside from a portion each member can claim for their own use, are to be given to them. Anyway, thanks to those survey parties the dungeon has been scouted in greater detail, and more monster dens have been found.

The Felin Glade is a sort of monster den, but it’s not in a cave. It's a large area walled off by trees, grown so close together that one cannot see between them. The monsters are feline creatures often racially aligned to an element or essence; they are highly valuable, as their pelts often have some ability of their own. Someone brought back the pelt of a Snow Felin, as they’re called, and we found that when worn it both protects the wearer from the cold and emits an aura of cold around it. Unfortunately, like all the dungeon monsters we’ve tried, the meat of all Felin varieties proved to be poisonous.

The Glade has a minimum level of one hundred, and all are Major-tier monsters. The mini-bosses of the Glade are level three hundred, with a level four hundred Glade boss. Beyond the glade is a more thickly-wooded area.

Two other dens have been found: a giant tree with hallways inside for ant-like creatures and a mossy ruin with slime type monsters.

We are wary of the roaming Treant with its high tier, but no one wants to fight it with our current levels and experience.

"Last chance to make sure you haven't forgotten anything!" Chyzu calls out to the group.

I have my brigandine armor on, and I can easily make more armor if need be; the only potential problem is I can't replace the metal in it. None of us pack food as our [Mana Sustenance] will keep us healthy. Instead, we pack other provisions; blankets made of fire silk for warmth, tents and tools. I made several spell cloths as others requested, my general casting skill allowing for any spell, albeit weaker than normal.

Looking around the airship, I can see various items in crates. They'll be transported in storage items until we find a spot for the main camp. The crates include bandages enchanted to provide healing and spare weapons; with me as an onsite enchanter, they aren't enchanted but are ready to be customized for those that need them. Spare armor of varying quality, made by other craftsmen, and more miscellaneous camping supplies are also brought along.

The airship takes off with a rush of air and we fly the short distance to Temple Island, then start loading the crates of supplies into storage items. Most members of the expedition have yet to arrive, since they are coming from the middle and outer islands.

The camping site has been previously scouted and selected, so our first job is to get things set up. We all trail into the dungeon, march through the forest to the clearing, and start setting up camp. Tents are pitched, and then trees are felled to make defensive positions. Over the course of the day, more and more people arrive and help set up camp. Near evening, there are three hundred people here, a whole village crammed into a too-small camp.

"Alysara," Esofy calls to me. "We're going to be meeting with the leaders and going over a plan. We want to invite you and see what we can come up with."

I follow Esofy. In the command tent there is a table with chairs around it. On the table is a very rough map of the area; it shows a circle labeled 'Camp' and other circles around it with the labels of the dens, but there are no other landmarks known.

"We may have too many people," one of the leaders says. She is on the shorter end, but she has a commanding presence. Her clothes differ from the fashion I am familiar with; her skirt is longer, and the floral decorations depict thick bamboo that is different from what I am used to.

"Nothing we can do about that now, Shura," the second leader replies. She towers over everyone, even taller than Esofy, and her unusually short hair and two swords give her away as a dedicated martial warrior. She wears plate armor, although from what I can tell it is not based on the designs that I stole from the tried and true medieval armor from my past life. If I were to rate her armor, I'd say it is a good effort, but the maker clearly doesn't know how to make good armor. It is wonderfully decorated, however, so I guess that it's more form than function.

"And how do you expect us to split them up, Tato? This is supposed to be for training; too many people make it inefficient," the third leader says. Everything about her seems plain and average. She has average length hair, average eyes, an average voice and an average demeanor; she is the epitome of the average Jane.

"Evenly, I suppose. How would you do it, Hauro?" Tato retorts, leaning back in her chair and tucking her arms behind her head.

"Calm down," Esofy sternly rebukes them. "First, we split people up into six groups of fifty, one for each den and the camp. We can further split groups up once they reach the dens, they are quite extensive and can easily accommodate fifty people."

"Who will go to which den, though?" Shura asks, folding her hands.

"First, everyone under the ranking of one hundred will go to this den." Esofy points to the rodent den, the weakest of all the dens. "We'll split each group into ten squads of five. Each squad will have an experienced fighter to act as the leader. If there are too many, then the rest will wait at the camp for their turn."

Esofy used the ranking selection that the tournament uses, which is the sum of both class and Bond levels, meaning an average of level fifty and lower will be in the first den.

"We can have those who qualify in the one hundred to two hundred rankings go to this den," Hauro points to the ant tree. Level fifty to one hundred, on average, would be assigned there.

"I see,” says Tato. “Then the two hundred to three hundred rankings will be assigned to the Arachnoid's den and the Ruins." 

Esofy nods in agreement; seeing as how leveling up to one hundred is relatively easy but passing level one hundred makes leveling slower, most people are between level one hundred and one fifty, so they'll be split up among two dens and many will likely be sent to lead squads at the lower-level dens.

"Lastly, the three hundred rankings and higher will be for the Glade," Esofy says.

"We should make subcamps at the entrances," I say, realizing a potential danger. "We should have one squad hold the entrance, so that in case any squad gets into trouble they can reinforce them, or the squad can retreat to the entrance and pursuers can be handled. Having additional supplies there will be helpful too, so the group doesn't have to return all the way back to the main camp and risk running into danger with damaged equipment."

"This is why I wanted you here." Esofy smiles.

How else can the expedition go wrong? The Treant could show up and damage the camp.

"In addition, if something happens to the main camp, we won't lose all of our supplies."

Now that I think about it, having spell cannons powered by large spell crystals would be a good idea to fight off any and all roaming bosses; we know of the Treant, but there could be others out there. Something for the next expedition.

"Also, anyone with talent should be allowed into higher-level dens to help them grow," Esofy says.

"Agreed, but if that's the case, then that squad will have to have someone of a much higher level to compensate," Shura agrees, leaning back in her chair and stretching.

"They'll have plenty of opportunities to grow; we shouldn't show favoritism," Tato disagrees with a frown.

"It's not favoritism; it's rewarding those who are more dedicated. The faster they grow, the more people we have to help those of lower level," Shura argues.

"I'm with Tato on this one. This isn't sparring practice, this is a dangerous place!" Hauro joins the debate.

The leaders argue back and forth until they bring me into it.

"Then let's settle this with a vote, Me and Shura are voting for it, Hauro and Tato are against, let's have Alysara break the tie," Esofy says.

With all eyes on me, I feel a little nervous.

"Y-You both make good arguments, but rankings and level don't always properly measure one's ability to perform. Tier, gear, magical items, enchanted items, so many things need to be taken into account, so let’s compromise and anyone proposed to be let into a den above their ranking needs to demonstrate their abilities to you four. A majority vote will decide if that person gets to go into a higher-level den, and which one." I try to appeal to both sides, which seems to work.

"Also, we should amend the rankings, at least for dungeon expeditions, to account for class and race tier," I say, sitting up straighter. "Minor-tier should apply a negative multiplier to your rankings, seeing as how most monsters in this dungeon are at least Adept and higher. Major-tier should give a positive multiplier as your class would be of higher quality. I say a stacking ten percent multiplier per race and class. No one is Grand-tier yet, but I'll argue a twenty-five percent multiplier for that."

There is a moment of silence while everyone thinks about it.

"I agree... But most people have Minor, especially those in the lower rankings," Hauro breaks the silence.

"It makes sense though,” she continues, “Perhaps we should consider the average tier of each den and apply that to the tier modifier, so the Glade for example will net you no ranking bonus at the Major-tier, and any lower will result in negatives."

"If we did that, we would lose most of the people who currently qualify for the Glade. Losing thirty points on their ranking is bad enough. It already disqualifies anyone who is Minor-tier but including the race, for which most people are at Adept-tier, it will mean losing sixty points. Only about a dozen people would qualify for it." Esofy argues, flicking her tail.

"Maybe make it five percent for the Glade? That'll be thirty points off for an Adept race and class," Shura compromises.

"Better, but we'd still lose half the people," Esofy says.

"They'll rise in level soon enough, so it's not that big of an issue," Shura points out.

The new ranking system was accepted by a unanimous vote.

 

* * * * * * * * *

 

Tanafyam receives his score, looking at it with apprehension. One hundred ninety-four plus twenty percent. Being Major-tier in both his race and class grants him a stacked twenty percent bonus, raising him into the two hundred rankings. Not only that, but because Tana can heal, he has a special green and blue card. Blue because he is a martial fighter and green because he can heal.

It took several hours for the leaders to have all the rules set. Each group now consists of a mix of blue, red, and purple, and ideally a green, but there are not enough healers for everyone. Purple stands for mages and red is mundane ranged combatants like archers.

"Tana!" Esofy calls, walking over to him, "Would you like to go to the Glade? Although it is for higher rankings, if you can prove yourself you'll be let in so you can get stronger, faster." With the magic words said, Tana immediately nods.

He follows Esofy to a sparring ring, within which stands someone he doesn't know. Esofy goes to stand with two others, judging the fight. Tana steps into the ring and assumes a stance.

"Good stance. You're young, and you're already almost at two hundred in ranking; that’s good," the tall woman with two swords compliments him.

Tana raises his shield and grips it firmly.

"I like your look. It will be a shame if you disappoint."

"Start!"

Tanafyam doesn't hesitate and jumps forward to surprise his opponent, jabbing out with a jet of flame. As she steps back from the flames, Tana presses the attack, which is parried. Under the cover of his shield, Tana lashes out, again and again, each blow being deflected. His opponent strikes back, but Tana catches the sword on his shield and retaliates. The sparring match goes on longer and longer, but as the fight progresses, the dual-wielding woman presses back more, the duel getting progressively harder.

The woman is holding back, of course, to test his abilities. Tana knows he can't beat this warrior, but he didn't have to; he just needs to impress her. He coats his sword in flames to distract the other warrior long enough for him to kick at her legs. As expected, his foot doesn't connect, but the woman hums in praise.

"Seen enough?" Tana's opponent asks.

Esofy and the two others nod.

"You may stop now," Esofy tells Tana, holding a hand up.

"Tana is still a child but has remarkable skill," The dual-wielding warrior remarks.

"I agree," one of the other two judges says.

"Your request is granted, Esofy," says the second.

Esofy looks at Tana with pride. "You may enter the Glade, with close supervision."