-Benjamin Franklin

The journey down the cliffside was… well, John wouldn't describe it as "uneventful", by any means. For him, though, it was almost boring. Where his excursion with Moira had been hindered by her inability to take down their foes quickly enough to prevent them from outnumbering her and striking at her charges, Kim barely allowed her opponents time to think, much less react. Not that it was entirely her doing - the foes that they faced now were far less mobile, far less quick, and the terrain was highly against any overwhelming numbers. John continued the process of looting every dwarf they came across, and in a nifty little bonus, Seras got a level after only a couple extra dwarves - he'd forgotten how close she had been to leveling after their last dungeon run.

A Party Member has Leveled Up!
Seras has reached Level 7!
+2 to all stats
+1 Growth Point

John threw the point into her Endurance, still a bit scared by her earlier near-**** experience. Kim noticed everything he was doing - she was too observant to miss him looting the dwarves or messing with his menus, but she said nothing. Her lack of outright shock or questioning him made him wonder just how much of his abilities Moira had disclosed. She'd insisted he keep his ability to Purify secret, but she'd said nothing of her own lips remaining closed…

Halfway down Kim ran into a guard patrol of no less than five of the Dark Iron Dwarves, but they could not even muster three of them at a time against her when the pathway was so narrow - one tried to sneak behind her but was launched from the ledge by a powerful kick, screaming all the way down. The only thing he accomplished was alerting the rest of his allies further down, but they were doomed to a nearly identical fate.

Well, except perhaps for the one wearing the golden armor.

John saw him almost two levels below them, some hundred feet down on the relentlessly curving path down the Cliffside, long before he actually engaged Kim in any kind of combat. Casting a quick Observe, John's suspicions were confirmed as to his identity.

Kal'durum Mittelgar
Level 11 Dwarven Warbringer
280 / 280 HP
Relationship: -200
Alignment: -50
Status Effects: N/A

"That's the big baddie of this whole thing," John called out to Kim, who was finishing up a dwarf after having crushed his adam's apple against the very same minecart he'd been busy pushing toward the safety of the inner caverns.

"He seems sturdier. This may take a moment or two longer," Kim cautioned, positioning herself at the top of the path the man was taking upward, adjusting her stance and readying herself for his charge.

"Show-off," John muttered. Kim was so focused on the oncoming threat that she didn't seem to notice the dwarf emerging from the cave, apparently coming to inspect the delayed mine cart he'd been expecting. John saw him, and a moment later the dwarf saw Kim and reached for the axe at his belt. While Kim was strong, John didn't want to take any chances - this was a mini-boss she was about to be dealing with, and he'd already come too close to losing friends in a dungeon weaker than this. He cast his eyes toward Seras, an idea forming in his head.

"Seras, I need your help for something… lend me your strength."

"R-right," she said, nodding. "I've got your back!"

"I'm sure you do," John said, smiling, "but I need something else. And… if I get hit, even once, go for it."

Seras seemed extremely confused, but John had no better way to explain his plan before the dwarf would've been upon Kim. John checked his relationship score with Seras one last time - over a hundred. Good. Siphon would reach across this entire ledge.

John activated his Siphon ability, grateful for the low mana cost. He'd never utilized the stat-transference ability he gained by leveling it up again, but he would need everything he could get against such a high leveled foe. Judging by Kim's earlier actions, these dwarves had a significant amount of Strength and Endurance, but their Dexterity wasn't that far above John's - so that's what he focused on. He took the maximum six points from Seras' Dexterity score and saw nothing but a look of mild confusion pass over her face.

But for John, it was like watching the world shift.

Six points wasn't as much as he hoped - it was only just a bit less than twenty percent of his base score. But he'd never taken his cloak off and put it back on during a fight, only equipped it in haste while under fire. Seeing someone charging, having the time to observe it, and then boosting his stats… that was a new experience. Time slowing down by "less than" twenty percent was still perfectly noticeable, and to John, that's almost exactly what it felt like. The dwarf's steps slowed, the sounds around him extended their durations and became easier to pinpoint, and even the very steady breaths of Kim Moon slowed, her chest standing almost still between the slowed beats of John's own heart.

Six points wasn't much. But all at once, it was like a shot of adrenaline, the boost John needed as he propelled himself toward the stout foe ahead of him.

John lifted his blade in the manner that Etriyya had taught him for combat while dashing forward, hoping to catch the dwarf off-guard. His lack of armor over the din of the dwarf's clanging metals gave him the advantage of some element of surprise, but as John traversed the last few feet to intercept the well-armored midget, the gray-skinned man turned and raised up his own sharpened weapon for a strike. John moved to parry, trying to catch the axe on the flat of his blade.

He had drastically underestimated the differences between blocking a blade and blocking an axe. Not only was the dwarf's strength either comparable to or greater than Etriyya's, but the weight distribution of his weapon was completely off. To make matters worse, John had barely come close to centering his block; the axe glanced off his sword, sliding cleanly off his blocking blade and over it, sending the axe just those few inches closer to his shoulder as his weapon finally lodged itself at the angle between the metal shaft and the axe blade proper.

The dwarf's strength now had the real advantage, as he gripped his weapon with two hands and sneered while pushing it closer and closer to John's flesh. Locked in place, John had only one advantage he could think to use on the dwarf - his reach. Taking full advantage of his full-sized legs, John kicked up and landed what he hoped was a powerful blow to the dwarf's dangly bits. It was crude, hardly honorable, and something he thought Etriyya might give him a much more damaging slap for with those gauntlets of hers, but it worked - the man's downward **** stuttered, as he switched his muscles’ focus to clenching his legs as tightly as they could.

Inspired by Kim's actions earlier, John pulled his weapon up, taking advantage of his height and the dwarf's distraction to pull the weapon completely out of his hands then adjust his grip to bring it down on the now defenseless Dwarf. He was so busy trying to overcome the agony between his legs that he scarcely raised his lightly armored arms in time to attempt a softening of the blow.

57 DMG!

John was a little upset that his blow using a weapon was still significantly less effective than Kim's bare-handed assaults when she landed those crits of hers, but he was more upset by the fact that his weapon was now very firmly wedged in the armor of the dwarf's forearm, caught by the metal and flesh it had cleaved partway into. Before John could set his footing to pull it free, the short man reached forward and grabbed the sword by the flat with his gauntleted hand and pulled. John's strength was nothing compared to the short man's - even with his grip being more natural, the weapon was pulled free immediately and then tossed aside without a care.

"Seras," John called, "now would be an excellent time to-"

John leaped back from a haymaker, taking advantage of his borrowed Dexterity to avoid the incoming blow. With the dwarf rearing back for another hit, John decided to return the favor, clenching his fist and bringing it to bear against the dwarf's left cheek.

18 DMG [Subdual]!

"Oh, that's not getting me anywhere," John muttered as he began to backpedal, doing his best to block or deflect any punches the dwarf threw. John thought the man was just getting overconfident and thought he could pummel John to **** despite his inferior speed and reach, but he realized as he stumbled in his footing that the short man had a plan all along. John tripped over the handle of the axe he'd thrown only a few feet away, collapsing on the ground when a punch caught his right armpit while he was struggling for balance.

-38 HP!

"Oh god, he hits like a truck," John wheezed as he hit the ground. The dwarf regained his balance and made a move to get on John to prevent him from running further away, but before he could close the distance, a blonde blur stomped her way over John's prone form and lashed out with a flurry of blows.

"Lemme show you 'ow to hit like a girl," Seras shouted. As she passed over John, he could see it again - a flicker of red in her eyes. The dwarf's blood? John made a note to watch for her to try drinking anything, but she'd never tried it with the necromancers, so he focused more on returning the points he'd borrowed with Siphon - and then returning the favor, too. John gave Seras all six points of Strength he was allowed, and although Seras didn't visibly notice the transfer, John could see a difference as her speed returned and his decreased. Her damage took a nice little increase too.

Party Member: 32 DMG!
Party Member: 29 DMG!
Party Member: -37 HP!
Party Member: 39 DMG!
Party Member: 38 DMG!

+20 EXP!

With her dexterity restored, the battle was over before the weakened dwarf even had a real chance to respond - he got in one swift kick to her shin and then fell under a flurry of punches, until his face was battered, bleeding, and half-caved in as she followed him to the ground, continuing her ****.

"Seras, enough, he's - that's good," John said, unsurprised but perhaps a bit off-put by her **** reaction. In almost the same way as before, John saw her immediately cease what she was doing, glancing up and turning toward him. By the time her eyes locked on him, the red had all but faded, and she smiled at him unsurely. John returned the smile, and it immediately became a confident one.

"You're gonna have to teach me how to punch like that," John chuckled, standing up from his prone position as he Siphoned back the borrowed points.

"Well, y'know, bein' a police girl does come in 'andy every now an' then," Seras replied, lightly scratching the back of her head. "Tho' I don' think they ever taught us how to crush a head like that… did you do somethin' there? Felt like I got weaker when you was fightin' and a lot stronger when I was."

"Let's just say that I think we're going to make a great team!"

Achievement Unlocked! "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!" ~ You learned to fight together with your creations instead of just pointing at something and telling them to kill it. Good for you.
+5 to all Stats when partied with a Purified creation
+1 Level Siphon

Siphon - Level 3: John can now transfer EXP between himself and Purified creatures in his party. John can transfer up to the amount of EXP needed to reach his next level. May not transfer stats while transferring EXP, or vice-versa. Duration of transfer increased to ten minutes, will still return in one hour if not transferred back manually.

"Huh, that seems way more useful. Too bad leveling up doesn't refill my stats… that'd be a hell of a game-breaker." With an ability like that, John could get even more stats than he could transfer when he was at a high enough level - or he could buff up weaker party members so that he didn't have to worry about them in dungeons, and as long as he didn't donate enough to lose a level, he'd be no worse off for it, since someone weaker would need a lot less experience to level.

"Alright, Seras, let's see if Kim needs any-"

John glanced over to see Kim sitting on the ground near the man in the golden armor, who was leaking blood from so many surfaces John was having a hard time identifying unblemished skin. His armor was dented in places, sundered in others, and although John had heard not a single shout, his face was eternally stuck now in a look of sheer agony. He hadn't even seen the screens popping up in his vision, he'd been so focused on Seras fighting. Kim was lightly wounded; it seemed as if the boss of the dungeon had been strong enough to pose more of a threat to her than his cronies. What surprised John was that the wounds were healing - right before his very eyes, in fact. Not with the same speed that his did, of course, but as Kim meditated the flesh wounded by the dwarf's axe closed on its own, leaving only thin, weeping lines of crimson where once deep cuts had stood. John blinked a little as he realized Kim had never shouted, whimpered, or made any sound at all that he could hear, despite having at least three cuts that would've made John cry out.

"Ah, you're finished. You lack skill, John Newman,; I hope Moira's faith in you is not misplaced - and I hope you can keep that devil of yours under control. If she steps out of line against any of our allies, I will kill her, no matter what my clan has promised Moira."

"May we leave this Barrier, now? I must admit, I was hoping for greater results, but this… this will do." Curious what she meant, John began to sift through his notifications.

+50 EXP!

Mini-Boss defeated, Dungeon complete [Level 10]!
+1250 EXP [+50 EXP from Perks]
+$5000 (2500 + 100% from Perks)
+15 Iron Ore
+Dwarven Waraxe
+20 Zone Customization Points

Dwarven Waraxe
8-17 Damage + 1.1x STR
Durability: 100/100
A time-honored tool of Dwarven soldiers. Excellent at hacking through shields. Also excellent at hacking through cheese, but may pose a threat to kitchen tools. And kitchen counters.

John has Leveled Up!

John reached Level 7!
+2 to all stats

Party Members have Leveled Up!

Seras has reached Level 8!
+2 to all Stats
+1 Growth Point

Kim Moon has reached Level 17!
+4 to all Stats

"So, you did get a level. Must have had enough experience… or we just killed enough stuff, not really sure how starting experience works for you guys. I dunno what Moira told you, but my powers are basically- a… video…"

John didn't bother finishing his sentence as Kim turned and walked away from him. Clearly, now that she had gotten what she wanted out of him and completed the task assigned to her to deliver Seras, Kim no longer saw speaking to John as being worth her time.

"Well… I guess we were just using each other," John muttered. "How are you feeling Seras?"

"Good, actually. Loik, really good. Did we get stronger in there again, like she said?"

"You got a lot stronger, actually," John noted, eyeing her sheet and throwing in the Growth Point she'd just earned.

"Oh, uh… sure, guess'so. All'a this is kinda a big mess to me," Seras admitted, staring over John's shoulder at her own stats.

"Well you should still be able to feel yourself getting stronger. Everyone else around here seems to really notice their first level up."

"So tha's what you meant by usin' 'er, like she was usin' us. If it's like a game, then the stronger they are…"

"You catch on quick, Seras! I bet you'd be great at RPGs," John praised, reaching up and gently tousling her messy hair. "But it was actually more than that. Did they tell you much about why they had to bring you here? We didn't get to talk very long on the phone."

"They said it was dangerous at the 'ouse and tha' I had to come with 'em or I wouldn' get to see you again for a long time and tha' there was a lot of bad people comin' after you. I was worried about you an' I didn't want to be apart for so long, so I-" Seras cut herself off a bit as she realized how much she'd actually said.

"As vague as ever," John grumbled. "There's a group out there called the Cabal - they want something Moira and her family have, and they declared war on the Order to get it. I know you don't really get along well with Moira, so if you don't want to help, you don't have to, but it seems like there's going to be a lot of fighting in the next few days. I wanted to make sure you weren't alone. I think you could have lived for that long without blood, and I know you can take care of yourself, but I thought you'd be lonely, and… I would've missed you. I'd have been lonely too."

"O-oh," Seras whispered, eyes widening a bit. Both of them held each other’s gaze for a moment longer, before hastily looking away.

"Anyway… I wanted something else too. If there's gonna be a war, I need more than just a weapon, and I don't know how much equipment the Order can provide. Seems like they have a lot, but that's before war was declared. I'm sure they'll be arming everyone now… so…"

John eyed his inventory. Between the dwarves, the end-dungeon loot, and the two ore veins he'd found in one of the outer mine caverns, he was up to almost fifty Iron Ores.

"I'm going to need armor."