54. The Tower 5

<Okay system, lets level up.>

His character sheet popped up and he was surprised that a few of his skills now had miscellaneous modifiers attached to them. He then got to thinking about all of the things that he had done since he hit level ten and he had not really leveled up until now. As fast as he made it to level ten it seemed like it had taken almost that long to get to just level eleven.

<System it seems to me that I should be of a higher level than eleven. The bears and the turtle should have been close to enough for a level.>

<You are correct. Your experience has been modified since you reached level ten.>

<Why has it been modified?>

<It was done to maintain balance. Host was leveling up at a rate that was not acceptable to the local power structure. There was nothing in the region that would be a challenge in the near future if you continued to level up at the previous rate. The system has done extensive research in this world and your old world and even inquired on a Dungeons and Dragons forum about the problem.>

<Thank you for all of your effort. Did you find a solution to the problem?>

<I found several and I will be using them in combination. I will not tell you to much to prevent spoiling things but one of the things that was mentioned and is currently being used. You will be getting monetary value instead of experience. The wines and a few other things in the near future will be used in place of levels. They will not only be interesting items that might make the story later progress but they will make your life easier in the short run as well.>

<That is a good option system. Especially since I have a feeling that you are shifting the regional power structure.....you know what you just do what you think is necessary. Have you also been hiding my notifications on things?>

<Yes. After more research I felt that I was what they call spoon-feeding you and that how a person or group feels about you should not be put into numbers and into how they interact with you. Plus if someone shows a negative number towards you, you are prepared for whatever bad thing they might throw at you.>

<That is very reasonable and sinister of you system. I highly approve.>

<Thank you. Please enjoy your life.>

"Boss I found some things that you need to see."

"Okay Topaz I will be right there." Novum left Rurik and Berry to finish picking up all of his stuff and headed back into the wine cellar. "What did you find this time?"

"Well the glass cabinet on the top was not the only surprise in this cabinet." Topaz pulled open the front that appeared to be a solid piece of decretive wood was actually another hidden panel. There was a bottle of wine in the cabinet. Well he call it a bottle because it was glass and shaped like a bottle. But it was the size of a barrel. "I can't read this one either."

"That one I can read from here. That is wine from a group of storm giants. They are one of the races of giant that do not attack and kill everything in sight on sight. They are dangerous and not to be messed with but I will honestly say that I have never heard of any giant wine. This is truly a rare thing. This mage was much more well rounded and interesting that I thought."

"So this is the only bottle of giant wine that you have heard of."

"Yes Erica. Although I am sure that they have wine and probably other spirits it is more than likely not for outsiders and probably not even for common giants of the same race. They very seldom band together but they have been a few villages founded by giants. Luckily for the people in those regions giants that live that way are peaceful or it would be really bad."

Topaz shook her head. That is pretty crazy. But I did find that you can pull the entire thing off the wall and take it with us. But I also found one more hidden panel."

Novum walks over and see shelfs full of different things. What is weird is that all of them are goods that are traded in other parts of the realm but not really in this area. He had not seen anyone in this region selling black walnuts or hickory nuts. "Erica could you go and ask Berry to join us please?" Erica gave him a nod and headed out of the room to get Berry.

Novum was thinking about a few things when Berry and Erica walked back in. "Did you need something Novum?"

"I have a couple of magical questions and I am hoping you might have an answer."

"Sure ask away. Barriers are my specialty but I have a bases in most magics."

"I was wondering why the foods in the kitchen were rotting but the foods in the cabinet are fine."

Berry looked over the walls of the small alcove. "The mage used runes to protect the room. Nothing that is in here will age at It is like a seal on the alcove that will not let anything happen in the room. It is not unheard of but it is rare. It is also powerful."

"So a person could stay the same age in one of these rooms?"

"No. One of the things that the seal does is removes all of the air our of the room. You could live in there only as long as you could hold your breath. And please don't start with the if time does not pass in there then I could hold my breath forever. If it worked that way you would freeze as soon as you went into the room and someone would have to pull you out. This is a rare and specific branch of magic. I am not an expert and I am not sure that anyone currently alive could be considered an expert."

"Okay that answers that. Now if I pull things out will it cause them to age faster or will they come out at the same age as they went in?"

"They should come out the same age as they went in. Unless there is something wrong with the runes it should be fine."

"If I take some of the things in here and plant them would their be any issues with their ability to grow or would they even grow?"

"They should be fine to grow and based on where they are they should be fine to eat. The mage was an expert and he would not risk his life to eat something that could be dangerous. Again I am not an expert in this type of magic this is only based on theory and the fact that most people would not risk their lives for something like this."

"That is good to know." Novum put his portable hole on the wall and moved all of the rare spices and nuts into the hole. He also grabbed the cabinet with the extremely rare wines and put it in there as well. Then he quickly closed the hole so that time in the hole would stop. He wanted to try and plant the nuts and see what he could grow. The hickory nuts and black walnuts could handle the temperatures of the area. Well they could handle the normal temperatures of the area. There was always a risk of an blast of cold from the north wiping them out when they are young.

Rurik put the last things in his bag. "Novum are you sure that you want to stop this early?"

"Early?"

"It is barely lunch time. We should take a break an eat and then decide what to do."

"Wait are you serious? It is only lunch time. That fight seemed to take forever. Then let's grab something to eat and then we will see how everyone feels. I am not in a rush to end this thing and I am willing to take as long as it takes."

"Yeah are you sure it is only that long?"

"You young ones. Trust me I have spent more time underground than all of you combined have been alive. It is just after lunch time. It took us a short time to get in but then a lot longer to look around. We were being cautious and through but this is only a small area. The fight took a while but it was not that long of a time."

Erica shrugged. "Then let's go ahead and grab something to eat and go see where the other door leads. We can check out the second floor and decide how long far we want to go based on what we find."

Novum nodded towards her. "That sounds like a good plan Erica. Let's eat."

They pulled out rations and they all ate them quickly but Berry seemed like she was somewhere else and was only nibbling at her rations. Crystal was the first to notice that she was somewhere else. "Berry where are you right now?"

"Oh yeah sorry about that. I was thinking about the golem. I have never seen one that small before. I mean it works just like the rest of them with the poison gas and the resistances of a normal metals and even some magic metals don't really do anything. I do not have magical storage with me that is big enough to hold it. Baron would you be so kind as to let me place it into your bag so that I can study it?"

"Sure thing." He tossed her his portable hole. "Try not to smash anything when you put it in there." Berry put the armor in the hole and then came back to the group with a content smile. "By the way I know that it is a little late for this question but how exactly has this building been created? I understand that if you use extra dimensional containers in an extra dimensional space it can cause a rip and possibly kill us all."

"I am not sure how he did it. But it was not created with extra dimensional space it is weird. Somehow, and no I don't know how, he managed to simply make the space bigger than you would think it is. He used some kind of rune magic that alters both space and time from the looks of it and it is more advanced and stronger than any magic that I have ever heard of. But from now on please do not use those without asking me first. I am not sure that the entire tower is made the same way. And if it is not then like the Baron said it will rip you into another dimension and might rip you apart of the way."

All of them looked at her. Novum broke the worried silence. "Okay now that we have eaten and rested Topaz would you please lead the way to the second floor, or at least through the other door."

"Right away boss."