The protective dome gave me time to upgrade, but not a lot, so I began by assigning my extra points. Two placed at Mana. It is always good to have a bigger Mana Pool.

  I also placed two at Endurance. That one increased my Base HP and my Health regeneration rate.

  I wanted to upgrade a spell and that meant I have 2 additional points to place somewhere. One went to Mana and the other to Endurance. It was a good strategy so why change it.

  It was a no brainer. I had to choose upgrade one spell, and after going back and forth I decided to upgrade Mana Shield. If attacks do get through my Reflection Spell, I needed a strong spell to protect myself.

  “I want to upgrade My Mana Shield.”

  I decided to read over the improvement later and walked over to the kobold to loot it.

  Not wanting to linger, I passed through the dome instead. Jason was waiting somewhere near the barrier, and calling him felt more reliable than hoping we’d run into each other.

  The Comm Crystal was already in my hand. “Call Jason Morales.”

  “Hi, Danny. How are you?” Jason asked.

  “Hey, Jason. I’m doing okay — how about you?” I said.

  “Great. Great.” He paused. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m close to your barrier,” I said. “Feel like meeting me?”

  “Sure, man. I’m close to where we met last time,” he said. “I’ll meet you there.”

  I quickly checked my Mapping Crystal and accepted. The place wasn’t far. I got there and Jason was already waiting.

  “My man, how have you coping?”

  I nodded “Good, got my third part of the quest done, you?”

  “Yeah man, I finished it. It was brutal. The monsters were just… insane.”

  I was very happy that he finished it and that we were now able to talk about the Monsters. He faced some of the same monsters but also new ones. He also faced an Orc and a Pixie Swarm.

  He also chose Night Monsters and faced the Nacht Geist. I was thankful that I also saw a shiver go down his spine when he remembered that Monster. It made me feel that I was not the only one.

  The other Night Monster he faced was a Hushspawn.

  “You level up already?”

  I ginned, “Yeah, today. I have not yet gotten my last part of the quest. I hope it is not to hectic. You?”

  “I will upgrade this afternoon. Only need to kill one more Level 7”

  I thought about asking him about how he manage to kill a Level 7, but honestly, I was a bit embarrassed. I felt that I was… struggling too much.

  “That’s great. How is Malik?”

  Jason gave a small half smile, “He is doing great. I am helping as much as I can.”

  I nodded, “That is great. We need to stand together, now more than ever.”

  We said our goodbyes and I decided to go home. I also made a note to call and meet with Sofia. Also, to call Claire and wish here good luck for the quest the next day.

  At home while eating my Legendary Cured bison and wild rice wrap, I called up the description of my new advanced spell.

  Honestly, it was not bad, the spell and the food. It was very good, to be honest.

  The spell was not bad either. The increases were not big, but they did give me more protection. It absorbed twelve HP damage instead of five. Also, the time extended to six seconds.

  I almost missed the additional effect, reducing damage by 25 percent, and that was before absorbing the twelve HP.

  I was happy.

  It was getting late, so I decided to call Claire.

  “Hi, Danny. I was just about to call you,” she said.

  “Hey. How was your day?” I asked.

  “Okay — but I’m a bit nervous about the quest tomorrow. I know I’m not going to die, but it still feels intense, and…” She giggled softly. “Sorry. I’m rambling again.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I know you’ll do great.”

  “Thank you, Danny.” She paused. “So… did you level up?”

  “Yeah, this morning.”

  “Nice, so what are your plans for tomorrow? You already know what I am doing?”

  “I was thinking of trying to contact Sofia… Oh, and I spoke to Jason again. He is doing well.”

  She nods, “I am glad. I will try and meet up with Malik after the Quest is done.”

  We spoke for a while and then I knew Claire had to get to bed. She would need her rest for the Quest.

  I again reassured her that she would be brilliant doing the Quest.

  The day was over, and after a shower and another snack, I went to bed.

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  I woke up to my Quest notification.

  It looked very ominous. I had to go underground, and its navigation map-guiding. I don’t think the System would allow my Crystal Map to help me.

  I had no plans to do the quest just yet. Maybe in a day or tow and there was a Kobold Level 8 wondering around. I just learned to kill the Level 7… It felt like just when I caught up, I fall behind again.

  I ate my breakfast and reminded myself to call Sofia to see if she would be able to meet up with me

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