Before he could say anything, Alan was bombarded with notifications.

Achievement earned: I Will Pass

[You have slain a boss with greater power than you who was placed specifically to bar your passage. The effect of your spirit stat is slightly improved.]

Bonus Quest Completed: The Village of Elstree

[You have gained sole control of the village of Elstree, eliminated all opposing forces, and defeated the guardian blocking access to your previous zones. Reward: Title {The Mayor}.]

Achievement earned: I Can Do It Myself!

[You have completed a conquest tier in the Tutorial without any other members of your planet to assist you. A new stat has been unlocked for a future grade.]

New Medicine Man talent unlocked: Eyes of the Healer

New Skill unlocked: Vita Handling

Skill Merge: Energy Handling

[Synergy detected between Vita Handling and Mana Handling. These skills have merged to unlock the new skill Energy Handling. Skill level has been reduced to reflect the more comprehensive effects.]

Status Update: One of your classes has progressed more than halfway through the rank of opal. Congratulations on your progress, but be warned. Due to the incredible amounts of energy your classes will demand from your aura, you will be unable to progress to the red grade if you possess more than four classes. If you currently have more than four, be aware that you can obtain class stones at the diamond level that will allow you to merge two classes into one. There is no restriction on what classes can merge, you must simply find the correct diamond class stones. Make sure when you have upgraded all of your classes that you only have four total.

Alan wasn't even sure where to begin. There were two new achievements, and the first one at least was fairly straightforward. It also confirmed that the owlbear had been no wandering creature, but a test placed there by the Network. The boost to his spirit would be helpful eventually, but he would probably need to increase the numerical value of the stat a lot before slight increases had a meaningful effect.

The second achievement's description made sense, but the reward did not. He understood all of the words, but when they were put together, the sentence baffled him. Did this mean there were stats other than the eight he had right now? He had seen how his aura, and to an extent his body, was tied to his stats, so he didn't really understand how there could be another one that he didn't know about. Also, it wasn't unlocked now, he would have to wait for an unspecified future grade. It left him with doubts about what the reward would do, but it didn't seem like it would negatively affect him, so he set it aside for the moment.

To go along with the achievements, he had also received a new title. The name was misleading though, because he wasn't really the mayor, he was the owner of the village. It might be semantics, but semantics often mattered. Curious as to its effects, Alan mentally triggered the title.

The Mayor: For gaining control of a Tutorial Village, your town menu access has been upgraded.

That was going to take some experimenting to figure out the effects of, unless Tamee already knew about it. That was doubtful since she had no access to such a thing herself. There was one more easy to understand message that he had received. A new talent, and for his wisdom class. As it was a talent, Eyes of the Healer didn't come with a description, but he could guess as to its effects. It should help him with reading a patient's injuries and/or the healing energy inside them. If Alan ever tried to upgrade or make another healer spell, this should make that easier.

Alan had gotten skill unlock notifications before, but he had never had them combine before. Vita Handling sounded a lot like Mana Handling, and the merge notification supported that guess. Vita was latin for life, so maybe this was the term for the healing energy he had been experiencing. The notification of the skills merging had caught him by surprise, no one had told him that was a possibility. It was either one of those things that was so rare most people didn't know about it, or so common that it wasn't deemed remarkable.

What was frustrating is that they had come so close together that he had never gotten a chance to check on the status of his Vita Handling skill. By the time he was aware of its existence, it had somehow merged to become his new Energy Handling skill. Looking now, he saw that its level was down to 100. That was a big drop from what his Mana Handling had been at before, but the new skill hinted that it was because it covered more things now. Would he have a better ability to deal with all types of energy, or just mana and vita? That also begged the question of what other types of energy were there.

The last message was superfluous since Pixel had already warned him of that fact, but it was nice to see that the Network did caution people before locking out their future growth. Then again, he was in something called the Tutorial, so it made sense that it would provide you with such important information. He had been spaced out dealing with the messages for long enough, it was time to get back to Tamee. She clearly wanted to talk again, and he had more questions for her now too.

"I hope you enjoyed the show. It seems the Network did, I got a bunch of rewards."

Even though Tamee was an observer, she couldn't see the individual notifications, so she had to ask. "What did you get this time? I do not see any boxes or pouches."

"A couple of achievements, a title, and a new skill."

"Wow, that is a lot. What do they all do?"

"The first achievement improves my spirit stat, and the title is supposed to upgrade my town menu. Any idea what that would do?"

Tamee answered without pausing. "No, I did not even know that was a thing, but as I told you, I do not have access to anything like that."

"My other achievement says it unlocked a new stat for a later grade. Any clue what that means."

This time she paused for a while. "That is a really good reward. It is not common knowledge, mostly only those who have gotten something similar know about it. I myself got one unlocked in my orange grade. Those of us who have one don't talk about them much, except in generalities. My stat was called proprioception, it works similar to dexterity, but there are a few differences."

"Anything else you can tell me about what this might be?"

"Chances are good that it will unlock at your next grade, and no later than the one after that. Some are similar to what you already have, like mine, and some are totally different. In either case, know that there is a possibility of unlocking a class associated with it. It has to be done before you upgrade to the next level, though. I hope I will have the opportunity to hear what you get. What does the new skill do?"

Alan chuckled a little as he answered. "Couldn't really tell you. It was called Vita Handling, but as soon as I got it, it merged with my Mana Handling and I got something called Energy Handling."

There was more silence from Tamee. "Okay, so let me split this up. Vita is what healers call the energy they use. It is similar to mana, and seems to come from the same place, but it behaves differently. Also, skill mergings happen a decent amount, especially from those who craft things. It is never a bad thing, and even if the skill level drops when it happens, you won't lose any of your capabilities. The number is more a reflection of the aggregate for all the things it now encompasses. I am surprised you got a merge so soon after getting a new skill."

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Alan had to ask. "Why is that?"

"Well, merges usually happen when enough of the associated skills reach a certain level. For a brand new skill to merge means that either it only needed a very low level, or that you managed to unlock your skill at an already high level."

"Is that a thing? I figured all skills start at one."

Tamee took on her lecturer tone. "When you are starting out, that is usually the case. However, as you start to move up the Rainbow, you might see skills appear with higher numbers. The most I have ever heard about is one hundred, but usually it is somewhere between ten and fifty. The reason is, there are certain skills that the Network won't formally recognize until you achieve a certain level of power, but you can be using and developing the skill before then. This is similar to what you learned about lifting weights to make leveling your strength class go faster, the difference is that as soon as the skill is unlocked, you get credit for everything you've done with it."

That made sense to Alan. He had long ago learned how to manipulate the healing energy, or apparently vita energy, to more effectively heal himself and others. Maybe it was due to either his new talent or the threshold he hit in his medicine man class that allowed him to finally unlock it. He had used it enough prior to this that it had most likely been at a decent level. He did have another question, though.

"Other than mana and vita, are there other kinds of energy?"

Tamee had that note in her voice that let him know this was not a topic she was too comfortable with. "Yes, but I really don't know what they all are. I think there is a curse energy, and you already know about soul energy, but I could not tell you the names of any others. Not my specialty."

Alan felt restored enough by now to make his way over to the former location of the owlbear's corpse. The lootnado had formed a while ago, and now there was a grocery bag sized satchel sitting there. Inside was a wooden case, a pouch of what looked like money, and a ball of metal.

The pouch contained about two hundred gold pieces. Not enough to drastically change his wealth bracket, but it was a not inconsequential amount of money. The ball of metal was more interesting. It was something called hartiron. Alan didn't have a guide to metals, so he couldn't look it up, but considering what it was a reward for, he assumed it was good. The box ended up containing a class stone. This one was a clear stone the size of his thumbnail. Carved into it was a figure in a cloak.

Item: Diamond Evoker Class Stone, rarity Uncommon. This stone can be used to upgrade an appropriate opal Intelligence class to the diamond class Evoker, an intelligence based class that specializes in using mana to create powerful destructive effects. Requirements: A synergistic opal intelligence class and a corresponding class ability that has upgraded at least once. It also requires a talent for at least three different mana types.

While holding the diamond, he could tell that his sorcerer class qualified him to use it. Unfortunately, while evoker sounded pretty nice, it wasn't something he was going to be able to use himself. Both Pixel and the system had warned him that he would need to get merged classes at the diamond level. He had eight classes now and needed to get them down to four. That meant every stone he used needed to combine two of his classes together. Still, it was a big diamond, and the class was also probably worth it for someone out there. He could most likely sell it for a pretty penny.

It took a full day for him to reach his house from the sight of the battle. During that time he could confirm that his ability to handle mana was not negatively affected by the skill level decrease, he was able to create his path just as quickly as before. He also was able to confirm that there were still dungeons present in zone two. It was one of the things he had wanted to check on. Some of them were missing, but since he hadn't run all of them, he couldn't begin to come up with the reason for why some remained while others were removed.

As he approached the area where his house was located, Alan started to get anxious. Two Socks had always seemed to know when he was around, and had previously been unwilling to leave the vicinity of their home, so he should be nearby. But what if he didn't show up now. Every step he took getting closer to the farm would fill him with increasing levels of dread. Maybe something had spawned that was too much for the wolf. Or maybe Alan's prolonged absence had caused his friend to forget him and he left.

Alan's worrying about worrying was as far as it got. At almost exactly two kilometers away, he was confronted by a pair of furry ears sticking up from the tall grass. As a stalker wolf, Alan knew that he could have remained hidden if he wanted, even given his incredible size compared to the cover. This was an attempt at levity for their reunion, and it was touching.

Calling out to his friend, Alan started running. The wolf stood and came bounding towards him as well. Rather than stopping when they got close, Two Socks pounced forward and the horse sized canine easily knocked Alan to the ground. The wolf then sniffed him all over, his cold and wet nose prodding him, searching.

Smiling, Alan reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a handful of blueberries. Two Socks' tongue slurped them up in one lick. It was good to be back. Alan hadn't really realized how much he had missed his hairy friend while he was on his own in tier three. He was eager to check out how the farm was doing, and the items he had left there, but he took his time on the walk to get there. Not because he was continuing the path, he had stopped that project to give his friend his proper attention. No, he took his time so that he and Two Socks could reconnect.

They couldn't speak to each other, although the wolf seemed to understand Alan fairly well. The problem was that Two Socks was incapable of speech. That didn't seem to be much of an issue though, as Alan could read his body language well enough to follow the story. The wolf was happy to hear of his exploits, and was eager to share his own.

With a few questions, Alan was able to determine that Two Socks had been doing well, and that the bosses summoned by the obelisk had been no challenge. The wolf wasn't any larger, having reached full size, but he was consolidating his power. Identify had shown proof that he was excelling.

Beast: Stalker Wolf (rare) level 15, threat: medium. A stalker wolf is adept at moving unseen and ambushing its prey. This particular wolf has formed a connection with a human and has increased intelligence.

That was only two levels above what he had been last time Alan checked, but the obelisk bosses should be coming out at the same level, so they would be much easier to handle. There was also an additional sentence in the description that hadn't been present before. He noted that it said a connection and not a bond. After some of what he had learned about his seeker class, he didn't think that was an accident. It was also interesting to see that this connection had benefitted the wolf's characteristics.

Alan had already spent most of the trip here talking to Tamee, debriefing how the last bit of his takeover had gone and confirming and modifying plans for going forward. That meant that he could use all of his remaining trip time to enjoy his friend. When he finally got within range of seeing their homestead, he was startled when Two Socks stopped and raised his head to the sky. He let out a long howl.

It was baffling behavior, as he had never exhibited it before, but motion by the house distracted Alan. A red furred creature was emerging from his door. At first he thought it was the dragon and that the egg must have hatched, but that was easy to dismiss. He wasn't aware of dragons that were covered in fur, no matter the color. Whatever it was started running toward them, and Two Socks waited here for it. Trusting his friend, Alan stood alongside him. It didn't take long before he could identify the newcomer.

Beast: Crimson Wolf (uncommon) level 8, threat: low. A crimson wolf is a variation on a standard wolf caused by the absorption of a lot of mana. They are usually larger and stronger than their mundane predecessors, and have a resistance to fire based attacks.

It seemed another wolf had moved in, and the way it gleefully snuggled up to Two Socks suggested why it was present. It seemed that his friend had found a mate. He was thrilled for him, although there was a bit of a size difference. The stalker wolf was over two meters tall, whereas the crimson wolf was barely bigger than a great dane.

After some prodding by Two Socks, the new wolf approached Alan and sniffed at him. It seemed that he was showing off his human friend. After she had circled him twice, he reached out to try and rub her head, but the she-wolf was having none of it. She backed away and bared her teeth in a growl. Boundaries were going to be a thing, apparently. With introductions made, they continued on to the house.

The farm was starting to get a little overgrown, and weeds were starting to become an issue, but the house looked fine, and his diagrams outside seemed undisturbed. He noticed that none of the weeds were growing near the powdered quartz lines, clearly some side effect of the magic. Even the circle around the dungeon core looked good, and the core itself glowed brightly. It was actually pulsing a little, so Alan didn't immediately realize that it had increased in size. It was probably fifty percent bigger. Alan had big plans for that core, so he was pleased to see that the empowerment portion of the diagram had worked.

Alan actually had big plans for pretty much everything in zones one and two, but he would have to check on some other things in the next few days to make sure they were viable. He also wanted to spend some more time with Two Socks, and maybe go hunting together. But before he did any of that, he had something else to check on.

Walking up to the house, he could actually feel something inside of it. He had never had a long term connection to any of his drawn out magic circles before, so he doubted that was what he was sensing. It was a feeling of strength, of solidness, and of vulnerability at the same time. Ducking through the doorway that the crimson wolf had left open, Alan got his first look at the dragon egg.

Visibly, not much had changed, it looked pretty much the same as he had seen it before. Carefully stepping closer, Alan placed his hand on the egg. When he had left it weeks ago, the shell had felt hard and thick. It was still hard, but it didn't have the same feeling of thickness. It wasn't so thin that it felt fragile, but it was definitely moving in that direction. Placing a second hand on the egg, he tested the other side and got the same sense.

On a sudden impulse, Alan leaned his head against the egg as well and was surprised how warm it felt on his forehead. He was trying to imagine what exactly was inside the egg, and how much longer it would be, when he thought he sensed something stirring from within. Straining with his aura senses, he tried to determine if he was just imagining things when he heard it.

"Soon…"

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