Weisner woke me up sometime later. It was full light out and most everyone was ready, if not eager, to leave the safe zone. “Mornin bud.” Weisner said. “Been itchin' to see this new ‘pet’ of yours.”

  “You got it. Let me just warn these folks first,” I said, before yellin', “I’m about to summon another clone! Don’t freak out!” My drake clone was already in my Bone Vault. I couldn't remember doin' that, but maybe it automatically entered when it got close, or it touched me while I slept. Either way it was back. My new clone was fully healed and had reverted back to its original appearance. I summoned it ten feet from us with its massive, knobby tree-club.

  Wiesner stared up at it slack-jawed. “Why doesn't it stink? Trolls are supposed to stink.” He said kind of offhandedly.

  “Dunno. It's been in my Bone Vault. I guess it got cleaned as it was healed and infused.”

  “What kind of abilities does it have?”

  “I ain't checked yet.” I noticed a blinkin' notification that answered his question.

  [Harvest Potential has detected six compatible abilities from a recently slain enemy. Do you wish to harvest one of these abilities?

  Earth Affinity: Grants 50% of the slain creature’s Earth Affinity(Can be increased by killing more lifeforms with Earth Affinity).

  Reaper Morph: Redistributes your mass, lengthening your limbs, turning your hands into blades. Increases Strength, Dexterity and Agility by 100% for 5 minutes. 20 minute cooldown.

  Earthquake: Grants the ability to channel Earth Essence into an attack generating a localized earthquake. Damage scales via Earth affinity and Fantasy stat. Cooldown: 1 minute.

  Life Surge: Converts 20% of your mana pool into Health Regeneration. Increasing Health Regeneration rate by 500% for 1 minute.

  Troll Smash: Smash a foe with +300% Strength. 10% chance to stun target for 3 seconds. +10% chance to stun per 10 Fantasy stat. 20 second cooldown.-1 second of cooldown per 5 Fantasy. Capped at 10 seconds of reduction.]

  Passive Ability: Ancient Troll Physique: Grants a superior, durable body that is in tune with nature. +25% to all physical stats. +30% resistance to physical damage. Grants immunity to most diseases and poisons. +50% to pain tolerance. Wounds heal 300% faster and healing consumes 20% less energy in the process.

  So many abilities I wanted for myself, but right now I needed another OP clone more than another ability. I shared a brief description of the troll's abilities with Wiesner.

  Wiesner guffawed, eyebrows peakin', “Gettin’ to the dungeon tower is gonna be like followin' a parade.”

  “Let's hope so. I cleared towards that direction but there ain’t no tellin’ how it works in this crazy place. The beasties might’ve repawned, or a nearby dungeon overflowed, sendin' waves of 'em out.”

  I pulled out a large handful of venison jerky and split it with Wiesner. We wandered over to the waterin' bowl and drank our fill. It was only half full so I decided to head to the river quick-like and grab some extra. Wiesner wasn't too keen on leavin' the safe zone in case it dropped so I left alone. I took off at a jog, slowly pickin’ up the pace. I used to be fast as a youngster, but this was somethin’ else, my legs turned into pistons, pumpin' me forward like a runaway train. Dodgin' shroom stems, leapin' over logs, and slippin' through underbrush and such, I was a blur of motion, faster than a greased pig at the county fair. I felt like a damned superhero. I didn’t spot any beasties on my way and filled up with twice the water I got my first time since I hadn’t noticed any water sources on the way to the tower.

  The safezone dropped minutes after I got back to camp. I summoned both clones straight away. Most folks were lookin' like a lost puppy in a hail storm, but I could tell they had somethin' simmerin' beneath all that fear; determination. They finally got the hang of this whole ‘life or death’ situation. Wallace and a few others had organized our group into a big circle, fighters on the perimeter defendin’ the support, ranged attackers, healers and otherwise in the middle, ready to sling spells, heal the wounded and whatnot. Wallace asked me to take the front, I didn’t mind so I did. I brought my drake with me and sent my troll to follow behind. Wiesner took the right flank, shorin’ up defenses there. I activated my Diamond Mind’s second facet and kept watch through the troll’s eyes. Usin’ a second facet kinda felt like havin' another whole me in my brain, processin’ things. Managin’ two things at once was effortless.

  I made sure we didn't forget our waterin' bowl, and off we went, just like that. I grabbed a fresh shroom-cap seat and rode atop my drake's shoulders, keepin' an eye on the whole gang. Wallace had wanted to travel up on the canopy above but there were too many points where it didn’t connect to further clusters and we’d have to descend and reascend. Even though I cleared many beasties along our path I kinda expected a flood to hit us, but we only ran into lone boars or sows a few times an hour, sometimes more. Using my Sense Life ability, I was often able to point out the beasties before they charged out of the surrounding undergrowth. They seemed mighty pissed we was encroachin' on their turf. I let the others fight 'em when they came to their side. They needed to get stronger too. When a beastie came at our front, a simple Talon-Strike from my drake took 'em down. Drake's Breath was flashier, but it took a bit for the flames to die down and we'd have to navigate around it. Many of the fighters took wounds, some lethal without healin', but the healers patched 'em right back up. We didn't have any casualties until a small herd of six sows and near twenty half-grown piglets smashed into our weakest side, crumplin' our defenses there. I sent my troll runnin' around the perimeter with Reaper Form on. I had it drop its club, it was too big to use in a crowd. Nearin' the piglets, I saw they was still in that cute stage. I felt bad doin' it, but I took out half the herd, piglets and all, in less than a minute, carefully usin' my troll's sword-like fingertips to stab downwards, pinnin' two or three at a time to the ground. The fighters weren't slackin' neither, takin' out their fair share. A cheer rose as the last sow died. People talked excited-like about the levels and new abilities they gained. I looted the pig corpses, revealin' a grizzly truth. Twelve of our thousand lay lifeless. With my Sense Life on, I could tell there was no savin' them unless a healer had a resurrection spell of some sort. Lookin' around I didn't see anyone with hopeful expressions on their faces. It was temptin' to take them into my Bone Vault. I didn’t wanna seem like a heartless bastard but I might be able to harvest some abilities from ‘em, not to forget the biomass, I’m certain I’d be needin’ that one day soonish. I couldn't just let that chance slip on by. Figurin’ it better to ask forgiveness than permission, I spoke through my troll, voice deep and gravelly like a rumble in the earth, tellin' the folks around me that I'd make sure and take care of the dead when we stopped for the day. Hey, I didn’t lie to ‘em. Then I looted 'em into my Bone Vault and set 'em to preserve mode. My Reaper Form was still hummin', nobody dared question my clone, the form made Freddy Krueger look like a cute lil’ puppy. Since nothin' had bothered attackin' us from the back I kept the troll on the left side of our gang. Wiesner was the cornerstone helpin’ hold up the right side and nothin’ besides a boss, miniboss or an army had any chance of gettin’ through the front.

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  We got moving again and rather than annihilate the pigs coming at our front I started pinning them to the ground under my clone’s talons and letting fighters around me attack them for the experience. It was enough participation that I still gained life.

  I was gettin' bored up on my drake so I started openin’ loot chests, startin’ with the common ones. Each common chest granted 100 champion coins and a currency bag with varyin’ amounts of silver. More often than not I got minor health and mana potions, one to three each chest. Floatin’ above those I'd find two or three loot coins for generic, random single stat weapons, jewelry and armor. Iron Dagger of Strength, Bracer of Dexterity, Ring of Intelligence etc etc. The stat boost was between 5 and 10 per item, but never more than one stat per item. Occasionally I received a stat-less item with a single ability, one was a Ring of Shadows, allowin’ invisibility for a minute with a ten-minute cooldown. Better than our stat-less startin’ equipment but nothin’ like the epic, legendary and mythic items I'd gained. Things got a lot more interestin’ after the 18th and last common chest. I had two rare chests, glowin’ blue. The first only had two loot coins, 1000 champion coins, a bag with 50 gold in it, two greater healin' potions and two greater mana potions. Usin' identify on the first loot coin I got this.

  [Wizard’s Staff of the Elements:

  Item Tags: Rare, Rank D. 2h Staff. Droppable.

  Item stats: +10 to Intelligence, Soul and Fantasy. +25% to all elemental damage. Every spell landed has a +1% chance to shock, ignite, chill or bleed your target(depending upon element and ability used) per 2 Fantasy stat. Caps at +50% chance.

  Ability: Elemental Roulette: Channel mana into the staff and release it to randomly cast one of four elemental spells. Lightning Bolt. Beam of Fire. Icicle Blast. Earthen Spiked Chastity Ring. All spells scale by dealing damage equal to the energy units channeled into the staff multiplied by the wielder's Fantasy stat. Maximum channeled mana or life units: 100.

  Self-repairs when fed mana if at least 70% of the item remains.]

  It was odd to get a caster weapon from a trash melee mob, but I wasn't goin' to complain. The item looked kind of fun, I’d always wanted to have magic. I'd be keepin’ it for sure. I moved on to the last coin.

  [Tusker’s Exaggerated Codpiece:

  Item Tags: Rare, Rank D. Overwear. Droppable.

  Item Stats: +5 to Strength, +15 to Constitution and +5 to Fantasy. +1 to Luck and Charisma for every 2 Fantasy stat. Caps at +50 Luck and Charisma.

  Ability: Endless Seed of Conquest: Once per day you can completely restore your body from all forms of exhaustion.

  Passive Ability: Unerring Thrust(because accuracy is overrated, right?): Let's be honest, sometimes the best way to find your target is to just go for it, blindly. With Unerring Thrust, you'll find that even if your initial aim is off, you've got a knack for finding your way back on track. Think of it as a second chance, or maybe even a third, depending on how many Fantasy stats you've got. Because let's face it, sometimes the thrill of the chase is all the reward you need. Effect: +5% chance to hit your target per 5 Fantasy stat. Caps at +50% chance to score a hit.

  Passive Ability: Voodoo Jewel Barrier: Any damage directed to the wearer’s groin is negated and reflected back to the enemy’s groin, potentially causing damage equal to 50% of damage received plus 500% of the wearer’s Luck stat.

  Self-repairs when fed mana if at least 70% of the item remains.

  Note from Burguis, the item’s crafter: Tusker the orc was cursed with massive balls, making them a frequent target in combat so he commissioned this item as revenge.]

  Odd item and abilities, but the stats were decent and the clicky effect might come in clutch in a protracted battle or to stay awake for days. Unpackin’ the loot-coin, an item appeared resemblin’ Conan the Barbarian’s leather undies, with a much bigger bulge and a dozen evenly spaced boar tusks attached around the front and sides of the waistline, points facing out. The dang codpiece was so big I could stuff four or five cucumbers in there. Whoever that Tusker fella was, he sure was packin’. I couldn’t figure if I was supposed to wear it on the inside or outside. On second thought, outside for sure, them tusks was sharp, they’d tear right through my pants. The outerwear looked too big for me around the waist and leg holes but after I sent them to my P.D.S. and summoned them out over my trousers and leather armor they had resized and fit like a glove, except for the bulge. Lookin' down, I had to admit it looked kinda badass. And all the better if the ladies thought I could actually fill the cavernous codpiece; they’d find out the truth in the bedroom and be satisfied enough. Wonderin’ how hard the thing was, I gave it a hard punch, yep, tough. Luckily I didn’t get hit by the reflect passive.

  Moving on, I opened the second Rare chest. A new potion dropped, Potion of Speed, increasin’ action-speed by 25% for 1 minute. 1000 Champion Coins, 50 gold. A weapon dropped but it was a one-handed sword named Whispering Shadow Blade. Not my style, but gainin’ weapon skills granted me stat points I could assign anywhere so it was worth practicin’ with.

  [Whispering Shadow Blade:

  Item Tags: Rare, Rank F. 1h Sword. Droppable.

  Item Stats: +5 to Strength, Dexterity and Fantasy.

  Passive Ability: Bloodlust: Increases attack and movement speed by 5% for 1 minute after every kill while wielding this blade. Effect stacks, capping at 50%.

  Passive Ability: Whisper of Death: You hear the promise of death on the winds of fate as your opponent approaches their imminent demise; you deal an additional 10% damage to enemies with health below 30%. +10% additional damage per 3 Fantasy stat. Caps at 300%.

  Passive Ability: Shadow’s Grace: Grants a 10% chance to teleport to a safe area up to 5 meters away before being struck by a lethal attack. If no safe area exists within 5 meters, the range is infinite. +10% chance per 5 Fantasy Stat. Caps at 50%.]

  The second item was a huge upgrade to the Chain Hauberk of Agility I got from a common chest that I’d already equipped.

  [Obsidian Spiked-Plate Shroud:

  Item Tags: Rare, Rank E. Nano-Chestplate. Bindable.

  Physical: +10 Strength, +10 Constitution and +10 Agility.

  Ability: Shadow Retreat: By vanishing into a shadowy form the wearer can teleport to any position within 300 yards of their current position they can see or have seen within the last 24 hours. Cooldown: 3 hours.

  Ability: Obsidian Barrage: The wearer unleashes a wave of hardened shadow-shards from the voidstone adorning the chestplate of this armor that deals significant damage to enemies in a cone in front of them. Each shard deals damage equal to 50% of the wearer’s second lowest stat multiplied by their Fantasy stat. Cooldown: 1 hour.

  Passive Ability: Shadow Resistance: The wearer gains +30% resistance to shadow-based attacks and spells.]