It was day three of our delve aill had no idea how devious the poison dungeon really was. We had fought our way through several densely poputed caverns filled with scorpions, spiders, and venomous snakes and already Faelor, our tank, was pining about how much he hated the dungeohe evening, we found a tunnel leading to what looked like a det pp. As we carefully made our way through the dark passage, two things happened simultaneously. Several giant spiders dropped on us from hidden cracks in the roof. And Seraphine fell into a cealed pit trap filled with snakes. It was only through lud grit that we escaped with our lives. That day, we discovered that the dungeon had learo dey activating its traps until the third or fourth person had walked over it, targeting the healer or the mage. Removing our healer in the middle of a surprise battle was such a devastating tactic that it earhe dungeon many nasty names in the nguage of my Dwarven colleague, which I will not reproduce here.

  – The Unexplored Lands, by Lyeneru Silverleaf, Elven Pathfinders Guild.

  followed Lyehrough the great wooden doors set directly into the side of a huge branch.

  “The Pathfinders Guild,” Lyeneru said, gesturing to the room.

  held his breath and stared. The fabled Pathfinders Guild had been a feature in all his favorite stories growing up, he could scarcely believe he stood in its hallowed halls. The wele hall was rger than he expected, a beautiful space of elegantly curved mahogany walls, warmth, and life – all seemingly grown from the heartwood of the tree itself. It smelled… of adventure, he thought dazedly. Adventure and a myths and nguid evenings spent reminisg with one’s lifelong friends.

  Dumbfounded, staring like an idiot, he followed Lyeneru as she led the way further in.

  “We’ll get you signed up first,” she said.

  found himself entering a wide open-pioastefully decorated with plush rugs, fortable furniture, and a wealth of forest pnts.

  People bustled bad forth, going about their business, with only a few stopping to g him before tinuing on their way. The vast majority were Elves, and most of those were Wood Elves – many at a higher level than his skills could identify. Yet, somehow, the space did not feel crowded.

  Some lyrical words iongue of the Elves caught ’s attention. The receptionist, a green-haired male Elf, greeted Lyeneru with a respectful bow and with a curious stare. With Lyeneru’s advice still fresh in his mind, he returhe gaze, but his disounted rapidly.

  Thankfully, Lyeneru broke the moment. “This is Avery. I am registering him as an initiate-rank member under my mentorship.”

  “Of course,” the receptionist said, taking his cue from Lyeneru and answering in fwless on. Turning around, he retrieved a thick package from a closet behind him and pced it oable in front of . “You’ll find your cloak and ring in there. Please el some mana into this panel so that we register your css and mana signature for the records.”

  did as instructed, and after a few more formalities, he was officially registered. With rising anticipatioore open the package to reveal a thick cloak of stunning forest-oak-green. He carefully unfolded it, marveling at the texture, and the pathfinder guild logo proudly embzoned on the back.

  “Put it on,” Lyeneru said.

  He did not o be told twice. Somebody pinch me, he thought as he fastehe cloak around his shoulders and turo show it off.

  “It looks good on him,” the receptionist said, nodding to Lyeneru.

  “He ear,” Lyeneru said. “Go on, put the ring on too.”

  picked up the delicate silver ring, fashioo look like a wreath of leaves. “Um… I ’t…”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” the receptionist said. “Here you go.”

  Immediately, ’s notification chime sounded as the elf shared the ring’s identification with him.

  Pathfinder Initiate Guild Ring – level 40A silvery ring crafted in the shape of a wreath of leaves signifying membership with the Pathfinders Guild.Owner: AveryQuests: --+30 Intelligence+24 VitalityMana: Teleport yourself and oher to Ciradyl. Recharge: 7 days.Created by Nathaniel Sunstrider.Ring

  “Thanks,” he managed, blushing with embarrassment that he needed help to identify his ring.

  “It’s no problem,” the Elf said. “It’s surprisingly on fers and scouts to have Advanced Identify skills that do not work on items. You would not be the first to ask.”

  “Aah. Thank you,” said, somewhat mollified. He g his other hand wearing the ring of the Adventurers Guild, but before he could ask, Lyeneru answered his question.

  “You should check with your Adventurers Guild, but most towns and guilds t it as a point of prestige to have a Pathfinder as a member. You do not o give up your uild, and in fact, it will likely prove to be as much of an asset for you as for them.”

  “Ok,” said, studying the ring’s abilities. That must be what she used t us here, he thought, the seven-day recharge teleport skill ented onto the silver band. Useful. Then his eyes caught the pair of attribute entments for intelligend vitality. Wow! An unohose are det boosts.

  Lyeneru led him away toward a t board pstered with parts and notices. She coughed, “I just assumed you’d be ok having me as a mentor when I signed you up. Are you ok keeping my mentorship entment?”

  “What?” spluttered for a sed as the implication of her words sank in. It’s not temporary? “Uh… yes? I… I mean yes, of course!”

  Lyeneru chuckled softly, “Well, then, I have a few rules. You skipped the novice rank, and so you are missing a lot of the training fuals. For the first couple of months, I will pay to teleport you bae every time you visit, provided you take one of the foundational csses. We take training seriously, and so should you – it will save your life. I ask that you take at least one css a month, preferably more. You sign up on this board here.” She tapped the board with a finger.

  stared at the enormous wall-spanning board covered with magically signed postings of training csses. There were hundreds of them, offered directly by the guild, or by externally tracted trainers, an overwhelming array spanning everything from knitting to advanced military strategy on the level of anding battalions.

  “Uh… what should I take first?” The amount of choice left him more than a little at a loss for how to decide.

  “Advanced Archery for sure, your teique needs a few professional pointers. Pick up a melee on proficy for backup when you ’t use a bow. Dagger Mastery works well with dexterity csses. Scouting, Stealth,” she poio several csses on the board, tapping eae with a fio punctuate her suggestions. Theudied him specutively with her head tipped a little to the side. “I’d also reend a gathering skill, so you sell more things for mana potions, perhaps Skinning? It synergizes with Dagger Mastery.”

  He grimaced at how obvious his dependenana potions must be for her to point it out again. But he still hadn’t found a cheaper alternative that was eveely effective. “Sounds like a pretty standard setup?”

  “Nothing wrong with that,” Lyeneru said. “You fe your own path, but do you really want to be making mistakes with your skills and choices?”

  “I uand,” he answered, trying not to sound surly. o antagonize her…

  “Look, you already have a unique enough mana affinity, . Light and Illusion mixed with archery is going to be enough of a challeo navigate – there’s nothing wrong with pig a tried aed approach for the rest of your fuals.”

  “That’s probably true,” grimaced, recalling how difficult it had been to unlock Ambush and learn to use his shining damage entments from stealth.

  “I will also set you some missions occasionally, mostly fieldwork,” she tinued. “Check y’s quest lurly – I use it to unicate these missions with you without paying for a Sending, or a Telepath.”

  “I should tell my friends I’m going to be busy,” he said, thinking of Ali, Mato, and Malika. He would miss their adveogether.

  “You’ve read my boht?”

  nodded.

  “What’s rule five of the Dungeon Survival Guide?”

  “Teamwork,” he answered automatically.

  “As a Pathfinder, I expect you to make use of your assets,” she said. “All your assets. Good friends, teammates, and allies are often your stro assets. You will hem for what we’re doing.”

  “I bring Ali, Mato, and Malika?”

  “Unless I explicitly ask you to do something solo for training, yes you may,” she said. “And you probably should.”

  It was only when the sense of relief surged through him that he realized how much he was worried about missing his friends.

  “ I ask you some questions about leveling up?”

  Lyeneru nodded.

  “Your css is simir to mine, right? I mean prioritizierity, intelligence, and perception mainly?”

  “Yes.”

  “I keep running out of mana and stamina,” he said, finally admitting it out loud. “Do you have some tips? Should I find seion equipment or just keep buying mana potions?” She had joked about his potion addi twiow, and it was something he was rather embarrassed about. However, he had not been able to find any information on how to solve the problem. He was holy jealous of Malika’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of stamina, Mateion skills, and Ali’s deep mana pool.

  “This style is based on two damage attributes – none of our primary attributes improves resources. Most people with this kind of css specialize in maximizing their peak damage because they ot sustain it. This is why your Ambush adva is so powerful,” she expined. “It makes this kind of css funal above level fifty. With your illusion skills, you could work toward true invisibility, i heavily in critical damage, and bee an incredible assassin.”

  “Assassin?” he said, wing.

  “Assassins are good in dungeons, ,” Lyeneru said. “This kind of build specializes in hunting mohey kill instantly or focuses on kiting. Stealth, Ambush, and very high burst damage – it’s the same profile as an assassin, or a rogue, but at range. An invisible sniper.”

  “I see,” said. It was not the dire he had envisioned for himself, and the idea of aiming for an Assassin specialization somewhere down the line didn’t sit well with him. She must have seen him frown though, because she tinued.

  “Imagine having a member of your party who sneak up on a monster pad assassihe healer from a distance. How valuable is that?”

  “Aah, I see,” he said, suddenly uanding what her focus was. It was something of a niche role, but he could see how effective it would be uhe right circumstances. Was it right for him, though?

  Before he could dwell upon it, she added, “Regeion won’t help you much because it is a pertage based on your total mana or stamina. The simplest approach would be to i in skills that use all your mana for the maximum power and then bi with your stealth and ambush. Put just enough of your attribute points into wisdom and endurahat you cast ygest attack.”

  “But that’s not what you’re doing,” noted. “You seem to have high damage output, and you sustain it indefinitely.” One of the most valuable experiences he earned from his trip was the opportunity to study her in a. She seemed just as relentless as Malika but with a vast well of personal power to back it up.

  “Good, you’re observant,” Lyeneru said. “But my approach is either ridiculously expensive or you will o get incredibly lucky. It’s not worth pursuing.”

  “Assuming I have a dungeon as a friend,” he said, “and she has a ke full of mana-purified water to sell, and a spellbook that make A Dal’mold s, how would I do it?”

  Lyeneru shot him a plex look. But she raised an arm, “Here, look at this.” At the same time, ’s notification chime sounded as she shared the item with him.

  Vampiric Bracer of the Bat – level 64A sleek, masterfully crafted leather bracer designed for archery.+45 DexterityGain +3.5% of your attack damage as mana over 30 sedsGain +2% of your attack damage as health over 30 sedsRequirements: Intelligence 128, Dexterity 128Created by Zor’kan.Hands – Bracer – Leather / Bone

  “You’re wearing a level sixty-four bracer?” asked incredulously. She must be at a far higher level than that. At least nearly two huo face that Death Knight. The bracer seemed heavy, made from delicately tooled red leather and inid with heavy studs made of bohat created a set of abstract-looking patterns. The bouds were absent on the inside of the forearm, leaving a smooth leather surface that would not interfere with a b.

  “Yes,” Lyeneru said, “I saved an Aman Rak troll leatherworker from a sver ring orolls seldom aowledge debt towards members of other races, but the svers who had captured him were quite powerful and had an artifact to force his pliance. He was motivated to make me this as a token of his gratitude, or perhaps to preserve his honor. It’s hard to know with trolls sometimes.”

  g the mana signature inscribed on the bracer. Zor’kan.

  “For my skills and css, nothing es close to the effectiveness of this bracer. With those two leetments, all my most frequently used attacks gee more mana and stamina than they cost. Instead of stag regeion, I simply maximize my damage, increasing my resource return because of that bracer, and I abuse skills with reservation or pert of maximum mana costs because they are retively cheap when you have low mana or stamina pools. Like that Heaven’s Strike skill that you were offered at level forty.”

  “Where do I get one?”

  “I know of only one Gnomish enter who make a weaker version of this. But he will charge an enormous fee for it, and you’re not at a high enough level to use it. Once you advance, I will give you his details and you decide.”

  Will Ali be ok with making money for this? wondered. It was literally the sario that Ali had said bothered her. Oher hand, it was the perfeswer to the problem he had with sustained damage.

  Perhaps I make enough money by then, he thought. At least he had some idea of how it might be done.

  “e, . Let me introduce you tuildmaster, Nathaniel Sunstrider. He also serves on the Elven cil of Archmages,” Lyeneru said and led him from the guild hall and deeper into the tree. “It was him who sponsored my guild membership many years ago now.”

  Nathaniel Sunstrider! The legendary Archmage? With a flutteri, scrambled after Lyeneru. “Wait, wait… I ’t meet Nathaniel Sunstrider with only one boot on!”

  ***

  Name: AveryRace: Half-Elf

  Active Buffs: Blessing of the Dawn, Mirage Armor

  Css: Archer of Light – level 43- Radiant Archery – level 26- Arrows of Brilliance – level 30- Motes of Light – level 14- Explorer – level 26- Blessing of the Dawn – level 21- Eclipse – level 22- Eyes of the Ar – level 23- Righteous Fury – level 15- Azrael's Wings – level 14- Mirage Armor – level 6

  General Skills- Bowcraft – level 7- Wood Carving – level 3- Cartography – level 10

  Aptitudes- Languages: ana (Affinity): Light- Perceptive (Racial): +11 to Perception- Quick (Racial): +5 to Dexterity- Timing (Css): You have an innate sense of timingPatrons & Tithes- Deity: The Wanderer- Mentor: Lyeneru Silverleaf

  Attributes- Vitality: 70 (+24)- Strength: 13- Endurance: 31- Dexterity: 256 (+107)- Perception: 199 (+83)- Intelligence: 242 (+131)- Wisdom: 50

  Equipment- on: Hunter's Bow – level 30- Body: Leather Armor – level 20- Hands: Bracers of Accuracy – level 1: Silver Guild Ring – level 3: Pathfinder Initiate Guild Ring – level 40

  Evasion: 729Dodge: 37.71%+5% to Accuracy rating.

  Health: 700/700Stamina: 310/310Mana: 350/500 (150 Reserved)

  Aliandra Ali was still shaking wheered the library, but the cool and quiet atmosphere immediately calmed her down. This was her fort zone, her happy space, but she had to remind herself she had been attacked even in here, and to not let her guard down.

  “Aunt Lira?” she called out, her voice eg slightly in the softly lit wide open space, but her aunt did not immediately appear. She must be busy.

  Ali’s ued adventures in the Forest Cavern had shaken her more than she liked to admit, and it would have been o have someoo talk it over with over tea, but it wasn’t urgent. More than anything, her experience had firmed that her rategy was far more effective than she had imagined.

  That was rule two, she thought. Using her moo flush out the invisible assassin had been the only way she could have imagined surviving that enter. She didn’t want to guess what might have happened if his invisibility persisted after shooting his fireball – she had e to rely so mu Are Insight to see mana, but he had found a way to cloak even that.

  Rule three also. After Lyeneru had pointed out that her slime could detect ventional stealth, she had deduced that acquiring monsters with a diversity of perception skills would be her greatly. Her reasoning had just been firmed, in the most spectacur and immediate fashion.

  She dispelled her barrier, letting her Kobolds and slime down, and walked over to the couch. It had taken more than an hour for her moo collect all the zombie corpses for her to destruct, but it was time well spent – she wasn’t about to leave them lying about, stinking the pce up as they rotted.

  Oh, she thought, eyeing the couch. Ryn got it fixed! She gnced about, and sure enough, on her favorite walnut table, she spied a fresh pile of books with peared to be a note on top. Her lethargy vanished in a fsh as she skipped up to the table and sat, excited to see what Ryn had mao dig up.

  Ali,

  The money-grubbers at the Vertias Library demanded an additional deposit of fold to borrow magical books. I couldn’t find you to ask, so I took the money from your at. I hope you don’t mind. It does mean that your at is low again.

  I found the book on are triggers you requested in their colle – it’s the pin-looking one bound in bck. I also had the couch repaired, I’m not sure what happened, but it looked like something bur. I’ll be back after I search the Myrin’s Keep library for your other requests.

  – Ryn.

  Ali smiled at the note, happy to see Ryn making su important decision for herself. The gold was not a problem for her, and the access to knowledge seemed well worth it. But after growing up in Dal’mohra, Ali couldn’t imagine how much poorer people were for not having free access to the knowledge of books.

  Fold. It must be a fortune for most of the on townsfolk. Likely the libraries supported themselves oronage of the wealthy, nobles, rich merts, and the like. However, no normal person was going to pay fold when they were struggling to find food, pay rent, make i payments, or pay for prote scams.

  Maybe one day… she thought, gng at the small colle of books on her shelf, grimag at the amount of work it would take to turn this into even a tiny library, let aloore it to some sembnce of its flory.

  She put the o the side, and then quickly copied the books Ryn had brought, making a pile oable for her to shelve ter. Ali wasn’t quite sure how Ryn’s anization system worked, so she would leave it up to her to decide where they went.

  Then she reached for the small, nondescript book and picked it out of the pile, ying it oable in front of her. She exami carefully. She didn’t kly how other dungeons created their traps – the details were unclear in Lyeneru’s ats – but she had high hopes that within the pages of this book, she might find a clue. Or at least, a way to fake it well enough with her Runic Script skill.

  She would never have sidered runic circles for traps given hht they appeared, but it turned out that none of her friends could see them easily. She always had to point out where she made them so that they could find them. It was only when she realized that they required mana sight to see that everything made sense: she had observed the novices tripping up her Grasping Roots in the sewer, and the circles worked exceptionally well on zombies. It just went to show how familiar she had bee with her Are Insight that she hadn’t realized she wasn’t using her mundane vision wheing them at all.

  The unassuming volume resting oable had none of the typically ostentatious mana-embossed runes evident on the cover. It was a no-frills textbook, probably made for some obscure css at the uy or marketed to specific schorly mages or crafters. With a rising sense of anticipation prig across her skin, she reached out and ope.

  Trigger magic is the simple approach of using one magic to cast another. Widely regarded as a niche field, this heless should not be ignored by the aspiring archmage for its sheer versatility. By far the rgest colle of useful triggers be found in the Are affinity. In its simplest form, a Timer spell may be lio an Are Bst, resulting in the Are Bst being cast with a dey pre-determined by the caster. There are many different types of links and triggers, useful for just about any occasion, and they even be ed for more plex effects.

  – Excerpt from Are Trigger Magibsp;by Archmage Ridelus Brightspark.

  She paged through the book finding it anized in a straightforward manner, showing a sirigger spell per chapter, and tips and hints on how to attach various other spells to them, variations, and suggested uses. She still had it memorized from when she had duplicated it, but something about physically turning the pages helped her to focus.

  Perfect.

  She sat at the table with the book ope the table of tents arieved a bnk notebook. It would take a bit of work for her to extract what she needed – the book was clearly an academic work, fog on the most basic example spells, likely chosen for their utility to illustrate the theory, rather than actual usefulness.

  Still, there seemed to be many applications to crafting, such as a bination that would activate a heat entment when pced into water aivate when it reached a specific temperature. Useful for heating a bath. Really? The sacrifices a girl must make… She paged further, pausing at a chapter devoted to the creation of the ubiquitous doorway chimes she had found all over town. There was even an example of how to create an arm when aher than the owner opened a spellbook.

  Typical Archmage paranoia, she thought, grinning. Most archmages she had met had been rather possessive of their secrets, choosing only to share when they got academic reition for publishing their work.

  She pced Lyeneru’s book oable beside the are trigger manual and ope to the chapter on the poison dungeon, reviewing the at of the trap that had almost wiped their party.

  What makes a good trap? She sidered the problem for a while. This dungeon had been sidered devious because the trap had been ued and surprising – it had triggered only as the third person walked over it, and it had happened when they were distracted by other monsters. The effect of the trap was much more dramatic for having targeted the healer specifically. Deadly, not dramatic, she corrected, sidering the at soberly. It had nearly killed someone.

  This is who I o bee. She shuddered softly at the idea, but the point of making duraps was to be deadly – she had to keep reminding herself of this fact. She wouldn’t make anything too devious in the sewer to avoid killing the novices, but she would make good use of them to test her spells. Her real traps would o protect her against zombies and people like Roderik or that fire assassin, and for that, they would eeth. Just like Lyeneru said. Layers. I need yers of defenses.

  She sat up a little straighter and turhe page.

  I need a versatile way to determihe trigger ditions, a of surprise, and a good effect. She paged through the triggers, appreciating the author’s effort to present them in a clearly anized manner.

  Hmm, this one looks good. Detect. She marked the spell down in her notebook. Detect erfeswer for how to initiate her traps. It roximity dete trigger that cast Identify on anything ing inte and could trigger based on a simple, but versatile set of predefined ditions. The textbook showed an example of having it detect humanoids, but Ali could see how she could easily tweak it to detey specific category of creature. She could even have it detect css types or level ranges – almost anything Identify could reveal.

  Here's anood oimer. While not useful for duplig the poison dungeon’s trap, Archmage Ridelus expounded greatly on the versatility of this simple Timer trigger, and Ali decided it would be a great way to add uability to her traps. The textbook example was a deyed Fireball. It was also one of the simplest spells she had seen in the book and would be a great way to practice. All it did was trigger after a preset epsed time, anywhere from zero to mauries, although why anyone would need a timer that triggered after so long, she couldn’t imagine.

  ter looks iing too. She chose the ter trigger simply because Lyeneru’s story had so inspired her. ter, it seemed, would trigger after a specifiumber of things. Ali wao try to make a humanoid Deted link it to a ter for the hree and see if she could duplicate the strategy of the poison dungeon Lyeneru had described in such detail.

  But I probably won’t link it to a pit trap, she thought. Although the book did tain inverse triggers – spells that would disable things wheriggered, instead of turning them on. She could ceivably set such a trigger to turn off her barrier spiral staircase, causing people on it to fall, but she decided to leave the exploration of those till ter. Instead, she took a quick look at the runic spell options she already knew, writing two lists in her notebook.

  Runiature Spells1 – Restoration2 – Grasping Roots3 – Cure Poison4 – Cure Disease

  Runic Are Spells1 – se 2 – Inspiration3 – Teleportation Locus4 – Static Teleport

  Not a lot of offeions, she realized, iing her lists – g an invader of poisons and diseases wouldn’t make for a trap with any impact. She decided she could worry about that ter, for now, she could use any spell just to learn how the triggers worked.

  She eled her mana, dropping into the study trance of her Sage of Learning, and began to work her way through the three spells she had selected.

  Sage of Learning has reached level 20.

  It had been too long since she had truly had the time to sit down and study magid she found her mind rag with new possibilities and es, imagining all the ways she could use her new spells.

  She flipped the pages to the se where Archmage Ridelus described how the trigger links worked, and she began to design her first linked pound spell. She didn’t to serve a purpose, but she did want to explore the ways in which magic was linked, so she picked Inspiration as her payload – the anchor or locus for her new creation. Then she sketched in a Detect trigger and a ter trigger, refereng the manual regurly to uand how the runes o be adjusted to facilitate the es.

  There seemed to be several tricky principles, but fortunately, the Archmage seemed to be gifted at clear, if decidedly dry expnations, and Ali grasped the ideas quickly.

  So, it should work like this…

  She inscribed the runes on the floor of the library with her Runic Script skill. It took several tries before she perfected the more subtle links, but suddenly it sogether with a ringing chime, and she smiled as her first creation of lirigger magic glowed in a bright golden circle of runes on the ground.

  Inspiration – Linked Magic – level 15 (Are)Creates an Inspiration aura within the circle.Detect: Faeter: 0/3Runic Circle

  Runic Script has reached level 23.

  She studied the circle carefully, all the details id bare for her to see, but she could find no fw in the runiions. At least most people ’t see this, she thought, reminding herself that someone would need a specialized perception skill to see what she saw. At least Runic Script, or some form of mana sight or a trap dete skill probably. Otherwise, it would make for a very poor trap if everyone could tell what it did from a distance.

  Just to double-check, she sed to the eyesight of her Kobold, relieved to find the entire runic circle was simply not visible at all.

  No wonder Lyeneru’s guide insists that mana sight is an essential skill. She already sidered her Are Insight skill to be one of the best perception skills, but if other dungeons used simir approaches for their traps, being able to see them would be an incredible, life-saving advantage.

  The Fire Assassin had some way to ceal his mana from me. It was a crucial observation, in her opinion. If she truly wahe best traps, she would o do some researto how that had been achieved. He was an illusion mage, she thought, which wouldn’t do her much good, but it didn’t mean there weren’t are solutions to the same problem – but she probably wouldn’t o add mana cloaking to her traps for a while. She simply made a o ask Ryn to look into it.

  Ali stepped over her new runic circle. The mana within the struct twisted, with several runes flipping into different shapes, but other than that, nothing happened.

  Inspiration – Linked Magic – level 15 (Are)Creates an Inspiration aura within the circle.Detect: Faeter: 1/3Runic Circle

  Her circle was entirely unged, with the crucial exception that the ter had ied. She stepped outside the circle.

  “Go stand there,” she instructed, and her Acolyte shuffled into the circle.

  “Here, Mistress?”

  “Yes,” Ali answered absently, studying the shifts in the runic structure of the Detect trigger. Nothing ged, and the ter remained fixed at one. She made the slime step – err, blob? wobble? – into the circle too, being thh with her testing. It, too, caused no ge.

  She stepped into the circle again, noting the ter increasing to two, and then one more time where it briefly reached three before resetting back to zero. Immediately, the circle filled with the blue glow of Inspiration, and she felt her mana regeion quiing.

  It works! Even though her trigger-linked Inspiration circle was strictly less useful than an ordinary Inspiration circle, she was eted with her success. Her possibilities had exploded, and her mind was filled with more and more ideas.

  I could just set the Detect spell ter on Healer, she thought. But then she recalled that Mato identified as a Druid, and Malika as a Monk – and both of them had healing magic. She had far too little experieh the typical adventurer or delving group position to make a good decision here, but perhaps it was something she could ask Ryn to research, or she could ask Vivian Ross ime she stopped by the guild. At least with the ter or the Timer, her trap would trigger on any group position.

  “Hi, Ali, I’m back.”

  Ryn popped into the library atrium with a shower of her distinctive golden mana tinged with violet sparks and flew down to where Ali stood beside her creation.

  How is her are mana so simir to mine? Ali wondered briefly as she studied the golden cascade of free-floating mana drifting away in the wake of her Teleportation spell.

  Ryn nded beside her, her eyes flickering across the table and the open books and hat y there. “What are you w on? Was the trigger magic book helpful?”

  “It’s perfect, thanks Ryn! e ahis!” Ali spent the en minutes excitedly expining what she had done, showing Ryn her notes and demonstrating the circle and its properties, enjoying the pleasure of Ryhusiastiterest and engaged questions.

  “ you detect css levels?” Ryn asked when Ali paused in her excited expnation.

  “Yes, anything Identify see,” she answered.

  “ you make an arm fh-level people?” Ryn asked. “Does it work through stealth?”

  “I didn’t think of that,” Ali said, quickly returning to the table and making some notes for her future testing. Perhaps the level of the detect spell limited how high level it could identify. She wasn’t quite sure.

  “Are you going to go make some now?” Ryn asked.

  “I still o find a good offensive spell and learn it before I make a good trap,” Ali said, sg her brow. “Grasping Roots is all good and well for the sewer, but I need something with more bite.”

  “What about your barrier magic?” Ryn suggested, pig the obvious choice, but then she added her own personal spin on the idea. “You could block off passages or imprison people for a while.” She suggested, entirely skipping Ali’s thoughts of making traps by removing barriers out from under peoples’ feet.

  “Like the Bone Prison?” Ali wondered aloud.

  “What’s that?”

  “Oh, a spell the Wights used,” Ali answered, her mind still mostly absorbed with the new idea. “A cage of bohat sprang up out of the ground to prevent you from moving.”

  “Something like that,” Ryn nodded.

  “The problem is, I still o take care of the monster,” Ali observed. Her barrier was good for trapping things, but she doubted her riggers were up for the task of duplig her barrier trick that had killed the invisible flying mage with his own fireball.

  They tinued brainst bad forth fes, and Ali found herself having just as much fun with the discussion as she had had learning the trigger teique in the first pce. By the time they were done, Ali had several pages of her notebook covered with ideas to explore.

  “Oh, I almost fot, I found some fun books at the Myrin’s Keep library.” Ryn deposited a pile of books oable. “There’s a nature magic book in there, perhaps you find some good trap spells?”

  “Oh, cool!” Ali excimed, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the new books. She copied them quickly while Ryn busied herself anizing the shelves. She seemed to be stantly refining the book and pts, but Ali left her to it.

  When she opehe nature-magic book Ryn had brought, she immediately found the perfect trap spell. Sitting down with her Sage of Learning active, she quickly learhe Poison Cloud spell. It wasn’t a particurly high-level spell, and it wouldn’t work on zombies, but she decided it would be perfect for testing out her designs in the sewers.

  Poison ixed with Grasping Roots could make a pretty good challenge. She sighed through her teeth. For newbies, yes.

  ***

  Ali examined her work with a happy smile. Several new runic circles decorated the crumbling brickwork of the final room before the entrance down into the Forest Cavern. With her current Poison Cloud being a level eight spell, she had kept her raps to the tter areas of the sewer where she had pced the higher-level monsters. She wanted a challenge for the novices, but she recalled Havok’s enthusiasm and Aiden’s bright-eyed optimism the day they’d earheir csses and knew she couldn’t be too mean to people who had just unlocked their css for the first time.

  Of course, now that they all had a few levels uheir belts, it shouldn’t be as much of a problem. She studied her creation.

  Poison Cloud – Linked Magic – level 8 (Nature / Are)Creates a Poison Cloud within the circle.Detect: Humanoid (exclude Minions)ter: 0/3Runic Circle

  Runic Script has reached level 24.

  This will work. Ali articurly proud of her discovery of an obscure option for her Detect trigger, tucked away in a er of her book. She had learhat if she excluded any minions, her owures would ner the traps. The option seemed desigo igs, familiars, a Tamer panions, but it was ideal for her. Now she wouldn’t o teach her Kobold warriors to avoid stepping in her poison traps. Setting up the ditions reminded her how much she had liked her logic teacher ba school.

  I have my first real traps! She grio herself, it wasn’t so long ago that she was terrified of finding out she was a dungeon, and now she was making proper duraps. Take that, Lyeneru Silverleaf!

  ***

  Name: Aliandra AmarielRace: FaeTitles: A

  Active Buffs: Empowered Summoner

  Css: Grove Warden – level 50- Are Insight – level 26- Are Recall – level 6- Barrier – level 37- Grimoire of Summoning – level 29- Runic Script – level 24- Sage of Learning – level 20- Martial Insight – level 29- Empowered Summoner – level 24- Domain Mastery – level 19- Minion Teleport – level 1eneral Skills- Reading – level 11- Identify – level 13- Sculpting – level 5- Inspiration – level 8

  Aptitudes- Languages: A Dal'mohran, Elvish, Dwarven, on, Draic, Goblin, Ahn Khen- Mana (Affinities): Nature, Are- Tiny (Racial): The effects of Strength and Vitality are reduced by 50%- Magical (Racial): The effects of Wisdom and Intelligence are increased by 50%- Domain (Css): Your maximum mana increases with the size of your domain, up to +100%- Domain: -10% maximum health per day domain withdrawal. You have Domain Sense

  Attributes- Vitality: 59- Strength: 6- Endurance: 17- Dexterity: 36- Perception: 95- Intelligence: 230 (+52)- Wisdom: 266 (+87)

  Equipment- Body: Tailored Cotton Clothing – level 45- Hands: Wooden Bracelet – level 11- Ring: Silver Guild Ring – level 30

  Resistance: 648Magical Damage Redu: 31.64%+21% to mana regeion.

  Health: 295/295Stamina: 170/170Mana: 1622/7980 (6358 Reserved)

  Grimoire Imprints1- Stone2- Wood3- Armor (Body)4- Arrow5- Axe6- Bone Bracelet (Hands)7- Book8- Bow9- 10- Dagger11- Shield12- Sword13- Creeper14- Grass15- Moss16- Mushroom17-19- Tree20- Wildflower21- Bat22- Dragon23- Elemental24- Goblinoid25,26- Kobold27- Ooze28- Wolf29-

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