Chapter 14: Level 2

“No, I’ve never heard of regrowing a limb,” Ralph, the guidebook master, said. He paused, craned his head to the side, and called over to the alchemist. “Hey, Bernie, you heard of anybody ever regrowing a limb?”

“No,” Bernie replied before he did a double take on seeing Thomas. “Oh hey, you’re the one I gave the job to. But… you’ve got all your limbs?”

“Not for me, my brother had a first bad dungeon,” Thomas said shortly before he turned to Ralph. “Coincidentally,” Thomas said, pulling out the guide. He grimaced at how spattered it was with mantis blood. “I have some information on this dungeon here, if you’re interested.”

“Maybe. Depends on how good it is and what you want for it.”

Thomas shook his head. “I’ll leave my phone number. Give me a call if you get a direct line on anybody who knows how to regrow limbs.”

Ralph brightened, as well he should. Thomas knew that was a good deal, and if he did right by Thomas, he’d be more likely to come back with more info. “Alright. Deal.”

Thomas gave him the information about mantis eyes, and Ralph stared at him with his creepy, too-bright gaze. Then, seeing he was telling the truth, he nodded and took his number. “Normally I’d give you a C-Grade mana crystal for that information.”

“My brother’s hand is worth more than a C-Grade mana crystal,” Thomas said.

Next, he went to the alchemist, who was practically dancing in place.

“Here you go, three eyes as ordered.” He plopped them down in an old donut sack. Inside, the eyes clinked together like glass. “I have more where that came from. What do you want for them?”

Bernie the alchemist blinked at him. “Why would I need more eyes?”

“I don’t know. Why’d you need these eyes?”

“For an experiment I was doing.”

“Oh.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Bernie was an odd duck, and Thomas wondered if he would have to ask again if Bernie would like the eyes or not. Finally, though, something seemed to click in the alchemist’s mind. “Well, I suppose the first experiment could go badly, and I may need to repeat it. Hmm, yes. Well, I suppose I’ll offer you half price for the rest.”

They haggled briefly, and Thomas examined the rest of the eyes for three low-grade healing potions. Then it was time for him to get paid for his original job. At Bernie’s direction, he placed the three eyes on the contract paper, and both pressed their thumbs again to the corners, which told the System that the order was complete.

The mantis eyes disappeared, and three B-Grade healing mana crystals flashed into existence in their place.

He snatched them up. They practically sang with his mana core.

“I don’t think this will regrow limbs,” the alchemist said, vaguely, as if he were only half interested. “They repair and restore just fine, but they can’t create tissue that no longer exists.”

“Yeah,” Thomas said, immediately feeling a little glum again. “I got that.”

“Hmm.” Bernie eyed his backpack and clothing. “Just so you know, the mantis blood is slightly corrosive. You may want to get it washed off.”

Thomas sighed and nodded, already knowing his backpack was toast. He started to turn away.

“There is one thing you can try,” the alchemist said, out of nowhere.

Thomas turned back. “What’s that?”

“Well, I just found out they’re holding a government auction for rare items in Reno the day after tomorrow. The government’s trying to set up their own system auction. There should be interesting items there. Now, I can’t say if there’s anything to regrow limbs, but that might be a good place to start.”

Thomas frowned. “I’ve heard that the larger cities are getting dangerous.”

“The whole world’s getting dangerous,” the alchemist said. “You just gotta pick and choose your danger.”

The guy might be a space cadet, but he also had a point. Thomas nodded, said his thanks, and made his way toward the exit.

The flea market wasn’t far from the lake, so after exiting the casino, he crossed the street and kept going. Within ten minutes, he was at the lakeshore.

It was a weekday, so the gravelly sand beach was about as empty as it ever got. Thomas picked a spot in the shade made by a nearby pine tree and sat down. He pulled out one of the three healing mana crystals and wondered if he should give it to Derek after all. This was a B-Grade. Maybe a better quality crystal could do something.

But the alchemist hadn’t thought so, and Thomas didn’t think he was wrong either.

No. His best bet was the auction. If any higher-level healing items existed, they’d be there.

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But whatever would regrow limbs would be really expensive. Also, his whole foundation was going to be healing mana. Maybe he could do something for Derek soon.

The problem was, if he found a skill that could regrow limbs, he couldn’t even use it yet because he already had a skill. He’d have to level up so he had more room for a second skill.

The best way was to level up. Not only for the extra skill but because he needed to get to that level two dungeon he’d found on the map piece, get whatever loot he could, sell it, and hope he could buy something that would help his brother.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” he said.

He concentrated on the crystal. It jellified, splashed into liquid, and swept through him with a feeling of rightness as it joined the energy in his core. Closing his eyes, Thomas breathed out and reveled in the feeling of rightness and completion.

He was also getting the feeling that he was approaching a threshold—hopefully his level 2 threshold. A few more crystals ought to do it.

So he quickly absorbed the others, shuddering a little each time. Adding magic to himself felt good. He imagined to some it could become addictive.

He felt overly full, like he’d eaten a big, satisfying meal, but the feeling didn’t come from his stomach. It came from his spirit. His limbs buzzed. Every breath tasted faintly of rosy mana. It wasn’t unpleasant. It felt like him.

Thomas closed his eyes again, relaxed with the sound of the lake lapping against the shoreline only a dozen feet away, and tried to visualize what he felt.

To his surprise, it came easily: He could practically see a rosy, goldish orb the size of a billiard ball in his core. As he had mostly used B-grade crystals, the ball looked and felt strong. Sure, he might have done better with A-grade, but to his eye, it looked like a solid foundation.

And he thought he still might be able to add to it.