ã€ŠDungeonopolisã€‹


 1 - A Beggars Chance

    Bazel''s bare feet slapped the stone floor as he ran, his breaths came ragged and quick. He dared not look behind him in fear that he would see the monster right on his heels.

    It''s just a rat, right!?

    Bazel never feared rats, not like some people did. They were a nuisance back in the capital city, but they were easily dealt with. A swift kick to a larger rat would send it scurrying away, the flames of a torch could keep hundreds of them at bay.

    Bazel thought back and remembered the sound of the small rodents'' feet as they patted around in the dark, it was a sound impossible to forget. The sound behind him was similar, only magnified by a great degree.

    Up ahead, Bazel saw a small hole in the wall of the cave he ran through. It appeared just big enough for him to fit into, meaning the rat wouldn''t be able to get in.

    Bazel ran for the hole and dove in head first.

    Rock and debris scraped Bazel''s hands and knees as he jumped into the hole, making his skin burn with pain. In the low light, he couldn''t see his wounds, but he knew he was bleeding profusely. He hoped he could stave off infection until he was able to complete the job.

    The hole wasn''t very deep, maybe a dozen feet at most. Bazel scrambled back until he couldn''t go any further. Just then, the rat appeared at the entrance and stuck its large head into the hole, yellowed teeth snapping at the human.

    The rat''s head was as big as Bazel''s whole body. He didn''t think it would be able to fit inside the hole, but it just barely did. Luckily, the rest of the rat''s body couldn''t fit.

    The rat struggled to get at its prey, spittle flying from its mouth as it chomped and screeched in Bazel''s direction. The smell of its fetid breath made him want to vomit. The yellow eyes of the creature stayed wide open and glared at Bazel with hunger.

    Bazel made himself as small as possible and pressed himself against the rock. He summoned his interface, a flat black tablet that hovered in the air before him and he quickly looked over it.

    < Bazel

    Swindler, Level 1

    Rank E

    Health: 12/60

    Aether: 130/160

    Credits: 200

    Stats:

    Strength - 5

    Stamina - 7

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17

    Skills:

    [Drain Strength] - Take your opponent''s strength for yourself. 25 Aether

    [Entangle] - Slow your opponent''s movement for a time. 15 Aether

    [Mesmerize] - Put your opponent in a hypnotic stupor. 15 Aether >

    Bazel''s health was getting perilously low. He''d already attempted to escape the giant rat using a combination of [Entangle] and [Mezmerize], but neither of them had any effect.

    Why won''t they work!?

    Bazel thought for sure he would be able to just run away from the monster. But not only did the skills fail to do anything, they seemed to enrage the large rodent even more. After his attempt, it immediately attacked him and clawed his arms. Now the magic that was supposed to empower Bazel was useless against this threat.

    How did I get myself into this!?

    The dungeon existed as a living nightmare. Had Bazel known what terrors resided inside, he never would have agreed to walk in. But he was tricked, the old mage swayed him with honeyed words and food. Bazel fell for it.

    He thought back to the events that happened the day before.

    ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ

    Bazel lived in the capital city of the Canneldorth kingdom ¨C a bustling castle town full of people from all walks of life. Food sellers hocked their products from stalls set up on the side of the cobble streets. Blacksmiths hammered away at pieces of heated metal making a symphony of clangs. The town criers shouted about the king''s new decrees in the plaza.

    On the side of a smaller street, a beggar squatted wearing only a loincloth. His long, stringy black hair fell over his shoulders and his face. His long, pointed nose looked like it belonged on a bird''s face, and his intense hazel eyes only barely drew attention away from the prominent protrusion between them.

    The beggar''s emaciated body was on full display. Thin arms and legs that looked like they could break in a strong breeze extended from a skinny torso. The gaunt face of the man focused on the feet of the people walking by.

    It must be nice to have shoes.

    Bazel didn''t have many ambitions in life, most beggars didn''t. On most days, he would be happy to get some scraps of food and find a warm pile of hay to sleep in. But Bazel had a dream nonetheless ¨C a dream that one day he could have a pair of shoes.

    His own feet were colored black from all the filth and grime on them. The calluses on his soles only marginally protected them from sharp rocks and the occasional tack left on the ground by a passing horse. His long, cracked toenails appeared yellow in color.

    Bazel looked at the feet of the passing crowds, all clad in shoes and boots of every type. He wished he could have those. He imagined the places he could go if he had shoes, the possibilities seemed endless. People with shoes traveled far and wide. They went on journeys and adventures to places Bazel would never see.

    Who am I kidding? Bazel sighed, if I had shoes, I''d probably just use them to step on others.

    That was what people with shoes did, they trampled on others beneath them. Bazel knew this well since he was the lowest of humanity ¨C a beggar and an outcast. It was only right for the people of the kingdom to trample upon him and his dreams.

    As he thought about his place in the world, three very interesting pairs of feet walked up and stopped before him.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    In the center, a pair of soft leather boots stuck out from underneath a blue robe. To either side of them, metal greaves covered the boots of two people wearing armor.

    "On your feet, beggar!" A rough voice said from above.

    Bazel stood up, but kept his gaze locked on their feet. He didn''t dare look into the faces of his betters and provoke their wrath.

    "Be nice, Gorlen!" A soft, older voice said, "You''re not in any trouble, son. In fact, we''ve come to ask you a favor."

    Nobody ever asked Bazel for anything. He was a beggar, so he was the one who asked for things. It was the duty of regular people to ignore him and pretend he didn''t exist. Sometimes, they would "accidentally" drop a piece of moldy bread on the ground near him, but they never acknowledged him. And they certainly never asked anything of him.

    Bazel cautiously looked up and saw the faces of the three men before him. The one in the middle was an older man with a white beard. The men on either side of him looked like royal guards in their shiny steel armor. The helmets they wore covered most of their faces, but he could still see their disapproving frowns.

    "What''s your name, son?" The old man asked.

    "B-Bazel, sir." Bazel answered, "Bazel the Beggar."

    "Very well Bazel," the old man bowed his head, "My name is Hargal, and I would like to extend an opportunity to you."

    "An opportunity?"

    "Yes," Hargal smiled, "there is a place not far from the city full of mystery and power. We want you to go there and seek out the riches inside."

    "Riches?"

    "Indeed. It is said that the greatest desires of men can be satisfied within, who knows what you can find there."

    "Greatest desires?" Bazel thought for a moment, "you mean like, food?"

    Hargal chuckled, "I''m sure you can find things much better than food inside!"

    What could be greater than food? Bazel wondered, then went wide-eyed at the realization. He looked at Hargal and smiled.

    "Shoes! Can I find shoes there?"

    Hargal laughed while holding a hand over his stomach, "Ooh! I like you, Bazel! You''ll be a good candidate for the next expedition!"

    Hargal led Bazel to a large building near the walls of the city, a dormitory of sorts. Inside, it seemed as if they''d gathered every beggar in the city. Dozens of cots were laid out in rows and other beggars and outcasts lounged on them.

    "Stay here for now, Bazel." Hargal instructed him, "find an unclaimed cot and wait for further instructions.

    Bazel did so. He found a cot near the far end of the room and sat down. They even left a blanket for him!

    "Hey, new guy!" Another beggar walked up and stood next to Bazel''s cot.

    "Um, hello." Bazel said.

    "Did you get any food yet?" He gestured towards a table set up one one side of the room, "they told us we could have as much bread and meat as we wanted!"

    "Really?"

    "Go see for yourself!"

    Bazel walked over to the table, a man in a vest and baggy pants stood behind it. On the table were baskets with pieces of flatbread in them and plates with kabobs laid out. Bazel drooled over the offerings on display.

    "Take whatever you want," the man behind the table said, "You''ll need your strength for the dungeon."

    "The dungeon?" Bazel asked.

    "That''s what they call it." He said, "A tower taller and wider than a mountain! It appeared in the plains a few weeks ago, and the king has been sending people into it ever since."

    "This is the first I''ve heard of it," Bazel pointed at the door, "Hargal only said it was a place with riches inside."

    "Well, that''s the theory." The man reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a piece of folded parchment, "others have been close to the dungeon and made drawings of it."

    Bazel took the piece of parchment and opened it up. The drawing showed a large tower that looked like it spiraled up to the clouds. Notes were written next to the drawing, detailing its dimensions and composition.

    Bazel read from it, "The dungeon is approximately eighteen-thousand feet in diameter at the base and rises to an estimated thirty-thousand feet¡­"

    "You can read?" The man asked.

    "My parents taught me writing and arithmetic when I was a child." Bazel held up the parchment and frowned, "This can''t be right. Who could build such a thing?"

    The man took the parchment back and folded it up, "Only the gods could do such a thing. That''s why people believe it holds great treasures."

    "That would make sense," Bazel picked up a kabob and pulled some of the meat off the stick, putting it in his mouth, "Anything that the gods built must be full of riches."

    "Aye," the man nodded, "Although, I feel it''s only fair to warn you, nobody who''s entered the dungeon has come out again."

    "It is quite large," Bazel pointed at the parchment the man was still holding, "If it''s eighteen-thousand feet wide at the base, that''s over a league. Each level looks progressively smaller, but they are still incredibly large."

    "Ha!" The man smiled, "You really do know your arithmetic!"

    Just from looking at the drawing, Bazel was able to come up with some rough estimates of his own. If the proportions were correct, then it appeared that the tower was comprised of over a hundred levels, and each one was a couple hundred feet tall. If the diameter of each level shrunk by even a hundred feet, then the top level would still be over five thousand feet wide.

    The man said that the tower had only been there for a few weeks. It was entirely possible that people who''d entered it were lost. If such a large structure had a maze-like interior, it would be easy to get lost for weeks.

    "You said that other people already went inside?" Bazel asked.

    "Aye," the man nodded, "as soon as it appeared, the king sent a contingent of knights inside. After they failed to come out within a week, he sent in some mercenaries. It''s been a week since then, and now he''s resorting to sending beggars."

    "Because we''re expendable." Bazel said.

    "Aye," the man smiled sheepishly, "sorry."

    "I know what I am," Bazel waved off the man''s concern, "I expected as much. I thought it was strange that Hargal would offer me a chance to get riches without any strings attached."

    "It''s not too late to turn back, you know." The man said.

    "I know." Bazel picked up another kabob and took a bite, he smiled at the man and held up the food, "but I''m already getting so much in return!"

    "Well, if it''s true what they say, you may get more than just some food inside the dungeon." The man chuckled, "You may find real treasure!"

    Bazel smiled as he thought about what treasure might be hidden inside a tower built by the gods.

    I bet they have the best shoes!

    ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ

    Hargal, the court mage, walked into the small audience chamber and went down on one knee with his head bowed.

    "Do you have a report for me?" The king asked.

    "Indeed, your majesty." Hargal lifted his head and continued, "I gathered up every beggar I could find and put them all in a dormitory owned by the Jarden Merchant Company. The company is assembling a wagon train to transport them to the dungeon first thing in the morning."

    "Very good." The old king nodded, "Was it difficult to convince them?"

    "Not at all, your majesty. Most of them were willing to go along with it for not much more than the promise of food."

    "Excellent!"

    The king was quite proud of himself for taking a bad situation and turning it to his advantage. After losing an entire squad of knights and a band of mercenaries to the dungeon, he became depressed.

    Then he thought about sending all the undesirables of his city into the dungeon.

    It was the perfect plan! If they died in that place or were never heard from again, it could only benefit his kingdom. If any of the beggars actually managed to return with any information or treasure, he could reward them accordingly, but he didn''t think that would happen.

    "If this works out, we should send all our prisoners there as well!" The king proclaimed.

    "Wonderful idea, your majesty!" Hargal stood and bowed, "I''ll make the arrangements."

 2 - White Room Interview

    When morning came, Bazel didn''t want to get up.

    The night before, he''d eaten kabobs and flatbread until he was sick. After that, he found an extra blanket to use as a pillow and went to sleep on his cot. It was the best sleep he ever had, and it was over too soon.

    "Everyone up!"

    The man from the previous night came to the dormitory with a couple other employees of his company and began rousing the beggars. They weren''t being mean about it, but Bazel was still annoyed that his rest had been interrupted.

    "There''s wagons parked outside the city walls," the man said, "everybody load up and we''ll take you to the dungeon."

    After talking with the man the previous night, Bazel expected some of the beggars to opt out of going to the dungeon. To his surprise, not a single one left. He wanted to call them idiots for going along with it, but he was doing the same thing. The truth was that nobody knew what was inside the dungeon. The only thing anyone could be sure of was that everyone who went in didn''t come out.

    At least not yet.

    As Bazel dragged himself out of the cot and out to the wagons, he had the thought that he should turn back. He agreed to go into a magical tower ¨C possibly built by the gods ¨C for nothing more than a vague promise of riches. It seemed to be madness.

    When all the beggars got out to where the wagons were waiting, Hargal was there to see them off. He stood on a crate and had everyone gather around.

    "On behalf of the king, I would like to thank all of you for your willingness to help us explore the dungeon and learn the truth behind its existence." Hargal spread his arms wide and smiled, "You do your kingdom a great service!"

    "What''s more," he continued, "any of you who come out of the dungeon with information or treasures will be greatly rewarded! The King is willing to give one hundred gold pieces to anyone who provides information on what the dungeon contains, or its purpose!"

    The beggars cheered at that. Even if nothing good could be found in the dungeon, simply providing information about it would allow them to live a good life. Bazel knew they were only being sent there because they were expendable, but he found he was okay with that.

    Exploring the dungeon would be the best chance he could ever have to elevate his status.

    No matter what happened, he would come out of this situation better than he went into it. Even if he died, it would be while doing something grand. The feeling Bazel had was a strange one, like his life was about to end, but also that something better awaited him. Maybe the other beggars felt the same way, because none of them hesitated to board the wagons.

    The ride out to the dungeon took half a day, which Bazel estimated to be around seven or eight leagues from the city. Halfway through their journey, the massive tower could already be seen. Just as the man had told him before, the structure was as big as a mountain. The large spiraling tower rose out of the plains and dominated the horizon. Its shape reminded Bazel of a seashell he once saw.

    Once they got closer, the absolute immensity of the tower boggled Bazel''s mind.

    It appeared to be built of white hewn stone, like marble or white granite. Each level was easily as tall as the king''s castle, and the lower ones were so wide that it was impossible to see around them. A ramp wound it way around the outside of the building making it appear as if someone could simply walk to the top. Bazel counted the levels as they approached and discovered there were one hundred and forty-four of them.

    Bazel did some math in his head. If the entire structure was around thirty-thousand feet tall, and there were one hundred and forty-four levels, then each level was about two hundred feet tall.

    Each level looked about ninety to one hundred feet smaller than the one below it. If the bottom level was eighteen-thousand feet in diameter, then the top level was still around five thousand feet in diameter.

    Even the smallest level at the top was bigger than any castle!

    The wagons finally arrived at the base of the dungeon and all the beggars exited the wagons to stand and gawk at the mighty structure. Bazel gawked at it too.

    The man from the previous night stood on the back of a wagon and got everyone''s attention. Once most of them were listening, he started to speak.

    "This is your last chance to turn back!" He shouted, "I wouldn''t blame any of you for losing your nerve after seeing the dungeon in person. If you decide you don''t want to go through with this, I''ll take you back to the city." He paused and let his shoulders fall.

    "If you still want to try your luck, then may the gods be with you!"

    Bazel walked up to the man as he climbed down from the back of the wagon.

    "I don''t understand your concern for a bunch of beggars, but I appreciate it."

    "Oh?" The man raised a single eyebrow, "change your mind, did you?"

    "No." Bazel shook his head, "I''m going to go inside, I just wanted to thank you first. It''s been a long time since someone was as nice to me as you were. I know the king paid your company to take care of us, but I appreciate it anyway."

    "Aye," the man frowned, "I just wish I could do more."

    "I brought one of the blankets with me," Bazel held up the wool blanket, "mind if I keep it?"

    "Go ahead," the man chuckled, "It''s the very least I could do."

    Bazel wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and wore it like a robe. He then waved at the man as he turned to walk towards the dungeon.

    "Thanks again, sir! I''ll be sure to come see you again after I discover this place''s secrets!"

    "My name is Jardan!" The man shouted after him, "And I look forward to it!"

    "I''m Bazel!" Bazel stopped and turned halfway, "Bazel the Beggar!"

    "Good luck, Bazel!"

    Bazel turned and walked towards the large entryway on the side of the tower. It looked large enough for giants to walk through. He had no idea what he would find on the other side, but he was excited.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    In the span of a single day, Bazel had gone from begging on the streets to exploring a dungeon. He knew that the king probably just wanted to get rid of the beggars infesting his city, but he didn''t mind. It still provided a great opportunity just like Hargal had promised.

    Bazel hadn''t given much thought to why he was willing to brave the dungeon. Sure, he wanted riches and a pair of shoes, but that alone couldn''t motivate someone to go into such a place. As he walked toward the massive tower, he thought about it and realized what he truly wanted.

    To live.

    Begging for scraps on the streets wasn''t living, merely surviving. Bazel never found joy or purpose in his life, and never thought he would. But, by a chance of fate, he received the opportunity to see and experience something truly fantastic. Maybe once he walked inside, he would find a purpose he was searching for.

    Bazel walked past the other beggars and outcasts who still stood, gaping at the sight before them. He stood taller than he''d ever stood as he walked straight into the dark entrance of the dungeon. Once he crossed the threshold, he was thrust into complete darkness, but he continued to walk forward.

    Suddenly, everything turned white and made Bazel stop.

    The light hurt Bazel''s eyes and he held up his hand to try and block it. He noticed he was standing on something soft, like the wool on a sheep''s back. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that he was standing in a white room. There were two plush chairs, one of which was already occupied.

    "Welcome, applicant." The person said.

    It was a woman, the most beautiful woman Bazel had ever seen. She had dark skin, black hair, and wore a black and white outfit that somehow made her seem respectable. She sat with one leg crossed over the other and held a flat, black tablet in her hand.

    "Please, have a seat." She gestured to the chair across from her.

    Bazel cautiously walked over to the chair and sat down, never taking his eyes off the woman.

    "Don''t be afraid," the woman smiled and showed him her perfectly white teeth, "I won''t hurt you."

    "Wh-what is this place?"

    "I believe your people call it ''the dungeon''?" She looked at the tablet in her hand and tapped it with her finger, "Quite fitting actually. We call it Aethertech headquarters of world Tau, one-one-five-oh-seven dash three¡­ but, I like ''the dungeon'' more. It rolls off the tongue, you know?"

    "I suppose."

    "Anyway," she waved her hand, "We should get started with the interview. Are you ready?"

    "Interview? What''s that?"

    "First," she ignored Bazel''s question and asked one of her own, "Could you state your full name, please?"

    "B-Bazel. Bazel the Beggar."

    "Not a very flattering name," the woman tapped her tablet some more, "but, I''ve heard worse. My name is Cassandra, by the way."

    "Nice to meet you, Cassandra."

    "Okay, how old are you, Bazel?"

    "I''m not sure, maybe around twenty?"

    "Years?" She looked up to see him nodding, "Wow, you look rough for only being twenty! Sorry, that was uncalled for."

    "It''s true." Bazel shrugged.

    "You have a good attitude, though." Cassandra nodded and looked back down at the tablet, "That will serve you well here. Okay, why are you applying at Aethertech?"

    "I''m not sure what you mean," Bazel frowned, "I thought I was going to explore this place for treasure."

    "Absolutely!" She smiled and tapped the tablet some more, "Treasure, power, whatever your heart desires can be yours. It won''t be easy, but if you work hard enough, you can have all that and more!"

    "O-okay."

    "Next, I''m going to ask you a series of questions that may sound a bit odd, but just answer them the best you can, okay?"

    "Sure."

    Bazel thought this whole thing was odd. He never could have imagined the strange circumstance he found himself in at the moment. He was so off-guard, he didn''t even know what to think about it.

    "First question." Cassandra looked at the tablet as if she were reading from it, "You''re walking through the woods and encounter a bear. The bear says it will eat you since you''re trespassing on its property. What do you do?"

    "I would probably run away. There''s no way I could fight a bear."

    "I see. Second question." She tapped the tablet, "What does love smell like?"

    "Smell? Seriously?"

    "Just answer the question, please."

    "Um, apple pie? It''s certainly the most lovely thing I''ve ever smelled."

    "Good." She tapped the screen, "Final question. If you were granted godhood, what would your dominion be?"

    Bazel chuckled, "Obviously, I would be the god of beggars!"

    He spoke in jest, but Cassandra pursed her lips and nodded as if he had just said something profound. After tapping on her tablet a bit more, she cleared her throat and smiled at Bazel.

    "Okay, I ran everything through the system and it suggested a class for you."

    "A class?"

    "Yes." Cassandra nodded, "Think about it like a job. As long as you''re in our employ, your class will dictate what kind of work you do and how you go about it."

    "I think I understand. What class did it suggest?"

    "Swindler."

    "Swindler?"

    "Yes."

    "Isn''t that bad?"

    "I don''t understand." Cassandra tilted her head, "Why would that be bad?"

    "Because swindlers are bad people!" Bazel sighed and shook his head, "They trick people and take what doesn''t belong to them."

    "Exactly!" Cassandra smiled as she tapped on the tablet and read something, "The Swindler specializes in taking things away from his enemies and using them for himself. Their main skills revolve around drains and mind manipulation."

    "That sounds really shady."

    "Honestly, I think it''s perfect for you!"

    Bazel didn''t know what to think. He was so far out of his element, he couldn''t see straight.

    Being something called a "swindler" didn''t sit well with him, but if he was being honest, it wasn''t a far cry from being a beggar. He spent most of his life leeching off of others so he could survive, and what Cassandra described sounded similar.

    "If you find that you don''t like the class," Cassandra interrupted his thoughts, "you will have the opportunity to choose another later."

    That made things a bit easier. If he wasn''t locked into the decision, then he could feel a bit better about just trying it out. He still had no idea what he was actually going to do, but he figured he would just play along.

    "Okay then," Bazel shrugged, "I guess I''ll try being a Swindler."

    "You won''t regret it!" Cassandra replied cheerily and tapped on her tablet some more.

    A small round table popped into existence between the two of them. Bazel jumped in shock at its appearance, but Cassandra acted as if it were a completely normal occurrence. On top of the table was a black box made out of a strange material Bazel had never seen. It was hard ¨C like wood ¨C but smooth. Bazel reached out and touched the box.

    "Go ahead and open it," Cassandra gestured to the box, "it contains your starting equipment."

    Bazel found two latches on the front of the box and flipped them up. The top of the box opened on a hinge. Inside was some soft gray, foamy material with three cutouts in it. Set in those cutouts were three blue crystals.

    Bazel looked up at the woman, "What do I do with these?"

    "These are Aethertech skill crystals. Once you use them, our patented aether control technology will grant you abilities to use while in our employ."

    Cassandra waggled her eyebrows and grinned.

    "So what do you say, Bazel? Ready to get to work?"

 3 - On The Job Training

    Bazel looked at the blue crystals in the box before him. Cassandra said they would grant him abilities, and he was curious what they would be. He picked up one of the crystals and felt its weight in his hand. It was lighter than it looked.

    "How do I use this?"

    "First, you need to summon your aether-net interface," she held up the black tablet in her hand and let go of it. It floated in the air before her, "Every employee gets one, it''s your lifeline and sole source of information about the company. To summon it, say or think ''summon interface''."

    "Summon interface." Bazel said.

    A black tablet just like Cassandra''s appeared in the air before him. Its appearance made him jump back just like the table had. He didn''t think he was going to get used to things appearing out of nowhere anytime soon.

    He noticed that the interface already had something on it ¨C white letters that showed information about himself.

    < Bazel

    Swindler, Level 1

    Rank E

    Health: 60/60

    Aether: 160/160

    Credits: 200

    Stats:

    Strength - 5

    Stamina - 7

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17 >

    "Can you read?" Cassandra asked and Bazel nodded, "Good, that makes this easier. You''ll see that your basic information is shown on the screen, we call this your status."

    "Underneath your name is your class and level. It will also show your current rank, but you don''t have to worry about those things right now. Your health is a measurement of your vitality, if that ever reaches zero, you will most likely die. Under that is the amount of aether you have to use, you''ll need that for your skills."

    "Are you following so far?" Cassandra asked.

    "I think I get it."

    "Good, let''s continue." Cassandra folded her hands in her lap, "Next, you will see your credits, many employees jokingly refer to it as ''scrip''. The amount you see there was your sign-on bonus. Anything can be provided for you as long as you have the credits, you''ll receive them upon completion of jobs."

    "Finally, you have your stats. These are a measurement of your physical, mental and spiritual abilities. All new employees are ranked from one to twenty. Would you like an explanation of each stat?"

    The first three seemed self explanatory. Strength was obviously how strong someone was, stamina was the ability to sustain that strength, and agility was speed and dexterity. Bazel wasn''t surprised to find they were all low, as he was quite physically deficient.

    "What is ''sense''?" Bazel asked.

    "That refers to your senses. The higher that number, the better your sensory abilities are. All five senses are lumped together into that category, although you can get a more detailed breakdown if you buy a stat assessment add-on."

    Bazel had no clue what the assessment thing she mentioned was, but decided to leave that for later. The next stat was intelligence, and it was his highest one.

    "I assume ''Intelligence'' refers to my overall ability to think?" Bazel guessed.

    "You got it!" Cassandra nodded, "Once again, it''s a combined score that includes things like lateral problem solving and information retention. A score of eighteen means you''re in the top ninety percentile of unaltered intelligent beings. Congratulations!"

    "Thanks?" Bazel shook his head and looked at the last stat, "What is spirit?"

    "That refers to your overall spiritual ability. The higher that number is, the more aether you can control. It''s also helpful when using symbiotics, but you won''t have to worry about that for now."

    "Okay," Bazel held up the crystal in his hand, "So how do I use this, then?"

    "To activate a skill crystal, say or think ''activate'' while holding it, then follow the prompts on your interface."

    Bazel looked down at the crystal and activated it with a thought. The crystal burst into thousands of motes of light that swirled around and flew into his body. He panicked a little at first, but after realizing it wasn''t hurting him he calmed down. He looked at his interface.

    < You have acquired the skill [Drain Strength]!

    [Drain Strength] - Take your opponent''s strength for yourself. 25 Aether

    Accept skill?

    Yes / No >

    Bazel reached out and tapped the screen over the "yes" option. The screen changed back to his main status screen, but now there was a "skills" category at the bottom that showed his newly acquired skill. He repeated the process with the other two crystals.

    < You have acquired the skill [Entangle]!

    [Entangle] - Slow your opponent''s movement for a time. 15 Aether >

    ¡­

    You have acquired the skill [Mesmerize]!

    [Mesmerize] - Put your opponent in a hypnotic stupor. 15 Aether >

    After using all three crystals, Cassandra tapped her interface, causing the table and box to disappear.

    "To use a skill, you simply need to say or think the name of it." She said, "There is a safety and you won''t be able to use them unless it''s your intention to do so. That way, you don''t have to worry about accidentally using them while chatting with someone. Also, you must have a valid target in mind, some of them can only be used on specific targets."

    "Targets?" Bazel frowned, "Are you saying I will have to fight someone?"

    "Well, you don''t have to fight anything unless you accept a job that requires it. However, you may find it difficult to complete some jobs by being a pacifist."This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Violence made Bazel uneasy, he had never been in a fight before. He didn''t think he would enjoy hurting someone, a sentiment that must have shown on his face.

    "I can tell you this, you probably won''t have to fight other humans unless you want to."

    "What will I have to fight then?"

    "Monsters." She said simply, Bazel''s eyes went wide at the word, "Technically, they are constructs made by ambient aether or beings mutated by aether. Most of them aren''t intelligent and killing them is considered no different than killing a wild animal."

    Bazel started to worry about what he had gotten himself into. Exploring the dungeon was one thing, but fighting monsters? He wasn''t so sure he wanted to do this anymore.

    "I can see you''re nervous," Cassandra said, "try not to be. We provide you with all the tools you''ll need to do your work and succeed. We don''t want harm to come to you, after all, a dead employee is of no use."

    Bazel sighed and tried to relax, "Fine. What''s next?"

    "Well, the best teacher is experience, so how about taking your first job?"

    "Sure, I''m curious to see what exactly I''ll be doing."

    "I''m going to send you a job now," Cassandra tapped on her interface, "Look over the details, and follow the prompts."

    Bazel heard a "ding-dong" sound like a bell, only a fake one. He belatedly realized the sound came from his own interface and looked at it.

    < You have a job offer!

    The catacombs below the dungeon are infested with rats. Oh no! Set up a "poisoned feeding station" to help exterminate the vermin!

    (One "poisoned feeding station" will be added to your inventory upon acceptance of this job)

    Task: set up the "poisoned feeding station" near the rat''s nest.

    Reward:

    100 Credits,

    500 Experience Points,

    access to first level safe zone,

    Item: "Exterminator''s Vest"

    Accept job?

    Yes / No >

    It didn''t seem like a difficult job and Bazel hated rats, so the decision was easy to make. He tapped "yes". The screen changed.

    < Please stand by, you will be teleported to the starting location in:

    00:01:00 >

    The timer started counting down the seconds until he would be "teleported", whatever that meant.

    "What is teleported?" He asked Cassandra.

    "Teleportation is instantaneous movement from one location to another." Cassandra grinned, "You might want to stand up for this, the chair won''t go with you."

    "Um, this is¡­" Bazel stood up, "Did you say instantaneous movement? Does it hurt?"

    "No need to be afraid. It might be a little disorienting, but you''ll be okay." Cassandra tapped her interface again, "I''ve added myself to your contacts list, if you ever have questions, feel free to talk to me."

    "How do I do that!?"

    "And one more thing, Bazel." She smiled like a wolf.

    "What!?"

    "Good luck!"

    < 00:00:03

    ¡­

    00:00:02

    ¡­

    00:00:01

    ¡­

    Teleportation commencing. Please stand still¡­ >

    One moment, Bazel was standing in the white room, the next moment he was plunged into darkness. He flailed his arms in a panic and screamed.

    Bazel noticed he was standing on hard ground. Instead of the soft floor of the white room, it felt like rock and dirt beneath his feet. He also noticed there was light around him, it was just dim compared to the white room.

    He took a deep breath and observed his surroundings. He stood in a tunnel that appeared to have been cut out of rock. Most of the walls and floors were smooth, with only a couple signs of tools being used to dig out the area. The light came from red stones set in the walls that glowed.

    "Right. The job is in a catacomb, this must be it."

    The interface was still floating in the air near Bazel. He didn''t know if it could offer any help, but it was worth a try.

    "Um, interface?" He spoke to the floating black tablet, "Can you tell me which way to go?"

    The screen changed and showed a map. The white outlines clearly showed all the various tunnels in the catacombs. There was even a yellow arrow that showed Bazel''s location. If he turned, the arrow turned to show which way he was facing. The only thing the map didn''t show was where he was supposed to go.

    "Thanks for nothing."

    The interface did not answer.

    Bazel sighed and started walking down the tunnel. All he had to do was find a rat''s nest and set up the feeding station.

    "Wait a moment!" Bazel stopped walking and looked at the interface, "Where is this feeding station I''m supposed to set up?"

    The screen changed once more.

    < Inventory:

    "poisoned feeding station"

    Slots used 1/10 >

    "Okay, how do I take it out of inventory?"

    A large yellow box appeared out of nowhere right next to Bazel with a popping sound. He jumped back and put his hands up to protect himself. After nothing happened, he put his hands down and looked at the box.

    It was a perfect cube, just as tall as himself, and painted a garish yellow. The sides of the box had openings, and inside was a trough with small brown chunks that looked like burnt bread. Words were written above the openings in white lettering.

    "Caution: Poison!"

    "Oh." Bazel scratched his head, "there it is! Um, how do I put it back in my inventory?"

    The interface changed back to the inventory screen, but nothing else happened. Bazel waited for a moment, still nothing. He placed his hand on the feeding station.

    "Store this?"

    The feeding station disappeared, and even though that''s what he wanted, it still made him jump. The item showed up on his inventory screen once again.

    Bazel shook his head, "Who would have thought I''d be performing feats of magic?"

    Bazel started walking again, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any rats. As a beggar who lived on the streets and in the gutters, he was well acquainted with the vermin. He also hated them with a passion since they would try to steal food from him. While he still found his circumstances strange and confusing, Bazel was all too happy to perform a task that would help eliminate his mortal enemy.

    An intersection appeared and Bazel called up the map on his interface again. He found it was easy to control the interface with nothing more than a thought. It all came intuitively, and Bazel silently thanked whatever god invented such a thing.

    After consulting the map, Bazel turned right and continued down the tunnel. The map showed a large chamber that way, and he hoped that would be where the rat''s were. Once he got close to the chamber, the interface made its "ding-dong" noise, pulling his attention to it.

    < You have discovered the rat''s nest! >

    "Huh. That was easy."

    The light in the chamber didn''t illuminate as much as in the tunnels. Since the glowing stones were set in the walls, the center of the large chamber was shrouded in darkness. Along the walls, stone coffins sat in the red glow of the evenly spaced stones, giving the room a creepy vibe.

    Bazel took a step into the chamber, then immediately stopped as he heard the soft padding of feet on the ground. He squinted and looked around for the source of the noise. Out of the shadows, a rat appeared.

    Bazel broke out in a cold sweat.

    He expected to find rats, it was in the job description after all. What he didn''t expect was to find a rat that was taller than he was. It was a rat, just one that was bigger than a horse. The massive vermin waddled forward a few more paces and turned its head to look straight at Bazel.

    It made a hissing sound that chilled him to the bone.

    Bazel turned and started running back the way he came.

    That''s not a rat!

    He remembered what Cassandra told him ¨C that he would have to fight monsters. At the time, he didn''t consider what that could mean. Now, he realized she meant exactly what she had said. Indeed, the thing chasing him was no ordinary rat.

    It was a monster.

 4 - Battle Report

    Bazel ran as fast as he could through the dimly lit tunnels. He could hear the rat following close behind him.

    What do I do!?

    He didn''t have any weapons, and he certainly didn''t know how to take down an animal that large with his bare hands. He needed something that he could use to escape the overgrown vermin.

    The skills!

    As he ran, Bazel looked at his interface which was still floating beside him. He thought about it showing his skills, and the screen immediately changed to list them.

    < Skills:

    [Drain Strength] - Take your opponent''s strength for yourself. 25 Aether

    [Entangle] - Slow your opponent''s movement for a time. 15 Aether

    [Mesmerize] - Put your opponent in a hypnotic stupor. 15 Aether >

    He couldn''t think of any way that draining the rat''s strength would be useful, so he shelved that. [Entangle] seemed like a good choice since it would allow him to outrun the beast.

    Bazel stopped running and turned around. The rat was less than two dozen feet away. He pointed at it and shouted the skills name.

    "[Entangle]!"

    Green light shot out of Bazel''s finger in a stream and wrapped itself around the charging rat like a bunch of glowing rope. It instantly broke apart and the rat didn''t slow down in the slightest.

    "What!?"

    Bazel turned and started running again. The rat was so close on his heels that he could hear its breath.

    Why didn''t it work!?

    Bazel glanced at the interface and saw the third skill, [Mezmerize]. He didn''t know exactly what a "hypnotic stupor" would do, but he hoped it would cause the rat to stop chasing him. Instead of stopping, he just pointed over his shoulder and shouted.

    "[Mesmerize]!"

    A swirl of yellow light shot out of his finger and hit the rat, but it still didn''t do anything. The rat screeched and continued chasing him. Bazel doubled his efforts and ran faster than he ever had before.

    Why won''t it work!?

    In frustration, Bazel looked over at the floating interface and projected his thoughts at it. He wanted an explanation. Unfortunately, the interface had no response.

    Bazel tripped on a rock and went tumbling to the ground. The wool blanket he was still wearing somewhat protected him from getting scraped up, but that was the least of his worries. He looked back and saw the rat was mere feet away.

    The rat lunged at him.

    Bazel held up his arms and felt something sharp cut into his flesh. The fiery pain made him cry out and he could feel the slick wetness of blood. The rat clawed at him again and ripped the flesh on his other arm, making him cry out again.

    Bazel was in a panic and kicked out with his feet, he hit something soft and wet. The rat screeched and backed up a little.

    Bazel realized he had struck the rat''s nose, and this was his best chance to try and escape again. He got up to his feet as quickly as possible and continued running through the tunnels. The rat followed a second later.

    Up ahead, Bazel saw a small hole in the wall of the cave he ran through. It appeared just big enough for him to fit into, meaning the rat wouldn''t be able to get in.

    Bazel ran for the hole and dove in head first.

    Rock and debris scraped Bazel''s hands and knees as he jumped into the hole, making his skin burn with pain. In the low light, he couldn''t see his wounds, but he knew he was bleeding profusely. He hoped he could stave off infection until he was able to complete the job.

    The hole wasn''t very deep, maybe a dozen feet at most. Bazel scrambled back until he couldn''t go any further. Just then, the rat appeared at the entrance and stuck its large head into the hole, yellowed teeth snapping at the human.

    The rat''s head was as big as Bazel''s whole body. He didn''t think it would be able to fit inside the hole, but it just barely did. Luckily, the rest of the rat''s body couldn''t fit.

    The rat struggled to get at its prey, spittle flying from its mouth as it chomped and screeched in Bazel''s direction. The smell of its fetid breath made him want to vomit. The yellow eyes of the creature stayed wide open and glared at Bazel with hunger.

    Bazel made himself as small as possible and pressed himself against the rock. He summoned his interface, and he quickly looked over it.

    < Bazel

    Swindler, Level 1

    Rank E

    Health: 12/60

    Aether: 130/160

    Credits: 200

    Stats:

    Strength - 5

    Stamina - 7

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17

    Skills:

    [Drain Strength] - Take your opponent''s strength for yourself. 25 Aether

    [Entangle] - Slow your opponent''s movement for a time. 15 Aether

    [Mesmerize] - Put your opponent in a hypnotic stupor. 15 Aether >

    The attacks from the rat had taken a lot of health from him, over three-fourths of his total. He doubted he would survive another attack.

    It annoyed him that the skills he had didn''t work. Worst of all, he had no clue why.

    But there''s still one I haven''t tried.

    He read over the description of [Drain Strength]. If it worked like it said it would, it would make the rat weaker while making him stronger. But what could he do with that?Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    The rat somehow got its head further into the small tunnel, and snapped at Bazel again. He reflexively tried to move back, but his back was literally against a wall. His hand fell on something sharp.

    He picked up the object. It was long and round, with a jagged and sharp point. Whatever it was, he thought he could use it as a weapon. But if he was going to fight the rat with a weapon, he would need more strength.

    He pointed at the rat, "[Drain Strength]!"

    Red light appeared, but this time it flowed from the rat. It swirled around and went into Bazel''s chest. He instantly felt stronger.

    Without waiting to analyze the effects of the skill, Bazel gripped the sharp object tightly and plunged it into the rat''s skull. It went through the bone much easier than Bazel expected, and the rat shrieked as it pulled its head out of the hole.

    Bazel watched from the safety of the hole as the rat flopped around on the ground outside for what seemed like minutes, shrieking and hissing loudly. Then, with one final spasm, it flopped to the ground and remained there, motionless.

    "What. Just. Happened?" Bazel gasped the words between labored breaths.

    The interface showed a new screen.

    < Battle Report:

    Bazel used [Entangle] on Giant Rat Matriarch,

    Giant Rat Matriarch resisted [Entangle]

    Bazel used [Mesmerize] on Giant Rat Matriarch,

    Giant Rat Matriarch resisted [Mesmerize]

    Bazel took 3 points of falling damage,

    Giant Rat Matriarch attacked Bazel for 22 points of slashing damage,

    Giant Rat Matriarch attacked Bazel for 22 points of slashing damage,

    Bazel used [Drain Strength] on Giant Rat Matriarch,

    Giant Rat Matriarch lost 10 points of Strength for 1 minute,

    Bazel gained 10 points of Strength for 1 minute,

    Bazel attacked Giant Rat Matriarch with "Broken Femur" for 27 points of piercing damage,

    ¡­ >

    From there, the report said that the rat kept taking damage from the broken femur. Bazel suspected this was because it was still lodged in the rat''s skull. The report ended with a congratulatory message.

    < Congratulations! You defeated a Giant Rat Matriarch (level 3)!

    120 experience points awarded! >

    Just at that moment, the effects of the [Drain Strength] skill wore off, and Bazel felt almost too weak to move. The battle report said he gained ten points of strength from the rat. Bazel only had five points to begin with, if it worked like he thought, the skill effectively tripled his strength for a whole minute.

    That''s actually a pretty good skill!

    Bazel forced himself to crawl out of the hole and flopped onto the hard ground outside. In the low light, he could see the deep wounds on his arms ¨C wide gashes that were seeping blood. The blood was all over him, actually. He was sure he looked terrible, but he struggled to his feet and called up the map on his interface.

    The map now showed the location of the rat''s nest. A red dot with a label was square in the middle of the chamber he had been to.

    Bazel took one last look at the giant rat he''d just killed. Swashes of blood were smeared all over the ground and wall near the corpse, but there wasn''t as much as he thought there should be. The femur was still sticking out of its skull.

    He looked back to his map and started walking in the direction of the nest. He prayed to any god that would listen for there not to be another one of those waiting when he got there.

    Ever so slowly, Bazel trudged to the location of the nest. When he arrived, he looked around the room for any sign of life. A scurrying sound preceded another rat walking into the light. Bazel tensed up and felt his eyes getting wet. He was scared to death.

    The rat that appeared was not as large as the one he just fought. It still stood as tall as a large dog, however. The rat observed him cautiously.

    Bazel pointed at the rat and spoke in a breaking and raspy voice, "[Mezmerize]."

    The yellow light went out of his hand and hit the rat. The whole rat glowed with a faint yellow aura, and it walked away. Bazel let out a shaky breath and relaxed a little. At least his skill would work on the smaller ones.

    He walked into the middle of the room and put his hand up, palm out. He mentally summoned the feeding station from his inventory, and it immediately appeared with a "pop".

    His interface made a "ding-dong" noise.

    < Congratulations! You completed a job!

    Rewards:

    100 Credits,

    500 Experience Points,

    Access to first level safe zone,

    Item: "Exterminator''s Vest"

    ¡­

    Congratulations! You leveled up! You are now a Swindler, Level 2!

    ¡­

    You have gained access to the first level safe zone! Would you like to be teleported there now?

    Yes / No >

    Bazel raised his shaking hand and pressed the "yes" option. Blood from his finger smeared on the interface.

    < Please stand by, you will be teleported to the level one safe zone in:

    00:01:00 >

    Bazel felt sleepy and cold. He wrapped the wool blanket around him even tighter and waited for the teleportation to happen. He tried to keep his eyes open and watch for more rats, but his eyelids felt like slabs of stone.

    His eyes slowly closed, and he felt himself falling just before he lost consciousness.

    ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ

    Samara sat down on a bench in the plaza of the first floor safe zone. The planters placed around the area made it feel like it was outside, and the bright blue light from the ceiling reinforced that. She knew it wasn''t real, but it was good enough.

    The planters contained things she had never seen ¨C strangely shaped trees and flowering bushes. They were real plants too, not an imitation. The plaza itself was paved with white and gray stones set in a spiraling pattern. There was even a slight breeze flowing through the space.

    Before she came to the dungeon, she never could have dreamed that such places even existed. The sheer size and complexity of the structure defied her imagination.

    She liked it though.

    Sure, there were incredibly dangerous monsters that could rip a man in half like a piece of paper, but there was also beauty.

    Samara learned during her time as a mercenary that finding time to unwind was important. She liked sitting in the plaza after a job and relaxing. Letting the stress of the day dissolve.

    While being in the dungeon could be stressful, it was also rewarding, and not just because of scenic areas like the plaza. The powers she was getting and the riches available in the dungeon were also more than she ever could have imagined.

    When she first arrived, the woman who "interviewed" her said that the dungeon could give Samara anything she desired, and it was true. For a price, she could have nearly anything she wanted, and she was still on the first level. She heard from one of the knights that higher levels held even more unbelievable wonders!

    As she relaxed on the bench, the popping sound of someone being teleported drew her attention to the middle of the plaza. It wasn''t unusual to see people teleporting in on occasion. It was the fastest way to travel, after all.

    The person who appeared looked for all the world like a beggar.

    He had long stringy black hair, and a big nose on a gaunt face. The only clothing he wore was a loincloth and a wool blanket over his shoulders like a robe. He was covered in blood and grime.

    As soon as he appeared, he fell backwards and landed hard on the stone floor, knocking his head in the process. Samara''s first thought was that she had just witnessed him dying.

    She jumped up from the bench and rushed over to the man.

    "Hey!" She shook him gently, "Are you okay?"

    She knew it was a stupid question the moment it left her mouth. He was obviously not okay. His arms had huge gashes in them that were bleeding everywhere and there was blood coming out of his head from where he hit it on the ground.

    Samara pulled her medical bag out of her inventory and fished out a canister of ambrosia. She held the glass and metal canister up, pressed the switch on the side that extended the needle, and plunged it into the man''s chest. The golden liquid inside quickly drained out and went into the man.

    "Show me his diagnostics."

    Her interface appeared and showed a readout of his injuries. Besides the obvious wounds, he also suffered from malnutrition, tooth infections, liver disease, and stomach ulcers. She knew the ambrosia would fix everything except the malnutrition.

    The diagnostic readout identified him as "Bazel the Beggar", which Samara would have thought was hilarious if not for the line right below his name.

    < Health: 1/60 >

    "You are damn lucky I just happened to be nearby, Bazel the Beggar."

    She looked around the plaza and sighed. Then looked back down at Bazel. She needed to get him cleaned up and in bed so the ambrosia could do its work. She lifted his body up and held him in a princess carry. He was way lighter than a man his size should be.

    Samara turned towards the apartments and began walking with the half-dead man in her arms.

    "I guess my quiet time is over."

 5 - Pizza Date

    Samara flipped the page on the book she was reading. It was a book provided by the directors of the dungeon, and it chronicled the adventures of a man named Perseus. He was currently engaged in a battle with a woman who had snakes for hair and could turn people to stone.

    How will he defeat that bitch?

    Samara sat on the edge of her seat as she flipped the page again. Just as Perseus made a plan to defeat the foul monster with his mirrored shield, Samara''s attention was pulled away from the book by someone groaning next to her. She reluctantly put down the book and turned to the man lying on the bed.

    "Are you finally awake?" She asked.

    "Where?" Bazel tried to sit up, but lost his strength and fell back on the pillow again, "Where am I?"

    "You''re in the safe zone," she put her hand on his shoulder, "Nothing will hurt you here."

    "Oh, good." He took some deep breaths, "I thought I would die for sure. Even after killing that giant rat!"

    "You almost did die. Lucky for you, I just happened to be nearby."

    "Then you have my thanks, miss."

    "Please," she shook her head, "I''m no maiden, just call me Samara."

    Bazel turned his head to look at her. Samara was a brawny woman with a scar across her face. Her short brown hair made her look more boyish than anything else. She didn''t mind the way she looked, she considered her appearance to be "tough".

    "Thank you, Samara."

    "No problem!" she slapped his shoulder and pulled her hand away, "Just know that you owe me five hundred credits for the ambrosia I wasted on you."

    "Ambrosia?"

    "It''s a healing elixir that can miraculously cure any ailment," she explained, "the description said it''s the blood of gods, but I''m not sure I believe it."

    "Oh."

    "Anyway," Samara picked up the shopping bag next to her chair and tossed it onto the bed, "I also took the liberty of getting you some actual clothes. There''s some underwear, socks, a t-shirt and some padded leather pants in there."

    "Th-thanks."

    Bazel looked into the bag and his eyes went wide. Samara thought he might cry upon seeing the clothing.

    "I also got you some shoes," she reached down and picked them up off the floor, then tossed them onto the bed, "they''re called sneakers, and they''re super comfortable."

    Bazel dropped the bag and stared at the sneakers as if they were bricks of gold. He slowly reached out with shaking hands and picked them up. He looked up at Samara with wet eyes and trembling lips.

    "These are¡­ for me?"

    "Uh, yeah." She grinned nervously and nodded, "You don''t have to pay me back for the clothes. They were cheap."

    Bazel did cry then. Not just crying, but sobbing uncontrollably. He held the shoes to his chest and rocked back and forth. He bawled like a baby.

    Samara wasn''t sure how to respond. She''d never seen anyone react that way over some shoes. Sure, the sneakers were pretty fantastic all things considered ¨C everything in the dungeon was ¨C but she didn''t understand why he was so emotional.

    "Are you okay?" She asked.

    "Yes!" He hugged the shoes tighter, "I¨C I''ve never had shoes b-before! They''re wonderful! Th-thank you!"

    I forgot! His name said he was a beggar! Has he really never owned a pair of shoes?

    Bazel kept rocking back and forth while crying and holding the shoes close to him. He stayed like that for a few minutes, then finally started to get his emotions under control. He carefully placed the shoes beside him and went back to the shopping bag to retrieve the clothing.

    Samara was a little shocked when he threw the blanket aside and revealed his naked body. She didn''t really care, but most men would have a little shame at least. He stood next to the bed and started dressing.

    He put on the boxer-briefs and socks, both black in color. He put on the padded leather pants, also black. Then he put on the cyan t-shirt with a black omega symbol on it. He put the shirt on backwards at first, realized his mistake and turned it around.

    Finally he sat on the edge of the bed and took the shoes. He looked at the shoes, then his feet, then up at Samara.

    "How exactly do I¡­"

    Samara rolled her eyes and scooted the chair a bit closer so she could help him. She showed him how to loosen the laces, then put the shoe on his foot and demonstrated tying it. Bazel was clever enough to grasp it all after seeing it done once and put the other shoe on by himself.

    He stood up and looked himself over. He looked up and beamed at Samara like a child.

    "This is great!" He said, "Thank you, so much!"

    Samara was never the type of girl to care about fashion, but even she had been won over by the clothing available in the dungeon. She wore blue pants made of thick fabric called "denim", and a green t-shirt with the Aethertech logo on it ¨C an alpha symbol with stylized wings. She also had a pair of green sneakers, they really were the most comfortable shoes.

    She thought Bazel looked pretty good in his own getup. She chose the padded pants because they would hide his skinny legs. Unfortunately, the baggy t-shirt didn''t have the same effect, and only made him look as emaciated as he was.

    Bazel seemed to remember something and held out his hand.

    "Um, interface?" He asked, "Can I have that vest, now?"

    A vest popped into existence and Bazel grabbed it out of the air to put it on. It was made of soft leather and had a bunch of pockets on it. Once he put it on, it made him seem a bit bigger and hid his skinny frame.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    "Lookin'' good for a beggar!" Samara said.

    Bazel chuckled, "Thanks."

    "Just one more thing¡­"

    Samara stood up and pulled a small hair band out of her pocket. She used it to tie back Bazel''s long hair and then stepped back to take a look at him.

    "Well, you''re still too damn skinny. But this is a good start."

    "Speaking of," Bazel put a hand over his stomach, "Is there anything to eat?"

    Samara grinned from ear to ear, "Oh, you''re going to love this!"

    Without offering any explanation, Samara beckoned Bazel to follow her out of the apartment and into the safe zone proper.

    The safe zone consisted of streets and buildings, just like any normal city or town. However, it was much more lavish than any place Samara had ever been to.

    All the streets were lined with landscaping and flowering bushes. The houses and buildings were painted white or tan, and all of them had actual glass windows. The ceiling above them looked just like the sky, complete with a sun, moving clouds and even birds flying over. It was fake, but it was just as good as the real thing.

    Bazel looked around in wonder and almost tripped a couple times as he followed Samara. She understood how he felt, as it was the same way she reacted a week earlier.

    They walked down the main street and stopped in the shopping district, right next to the plaza. Shops of all kinds lined the streets with glass fronts and colorful awnings. A couple dozen people walked around looking at the wares or enjoying a meal at one of the many restaurants and caf¨¦s.

    The people there looked just like Samara and Bazel, all dressed in clothing provided by the dungeon.

    Bazel stood in the middle of the street and slowly turned to see all the shops. His mouth hung open as new wonders caught his eyes.

    "Amazing, isn''t it?" Samara asked.

    "Yes." Bazel slowly nodded, "I''ve never seen anything like it! This place truly is built by the gods!"

    "Eh," Samara shrugged, "Close enough."

    Samara led Bazel over to one of the restaurants. The shop had an open seating area out front ¨C a bunch of round wooden tables, each with a couple chairs.

    "Have a seat," Samara gestured to one of the tables, "I''ll go get us some food."

    Samara walked into the shop and up to the counter. The portly man standing on the other side wore a red and white striped shirt, and had a black handlebar mustache.

    "Can''t get enough of my cooking, huh?" The man asked with a smile.

    "You know it, Antonio!" She pointed at the menu hanging on the wall, "Give me a large supreme and two citrus sodas."

    "Coming right up!"

    Antonio quickly prepared the meal and gave it to Samara. She called up her interface to pay for it and thanked him. She walked back out and put the square box on the table, along with the two drink cups.

    "What is this?" Bazel looked at the box and tilted his head.

    "It''s called pizza," she opened the box and let the greasy aroma out, "And it''s the greatest food ever invented as far as I''m concerned."

    Bazel stared at the round bread topped with sauce, cheese, three kinds of meat and various vegetables. He began to drool.

    Samara grabbed one of the slices to demonstrate how to hold it. She held it by the crust, folded the slice slightly and took a bite. She made a yummy sound and then nodded towards it.

    "Try it."

    Bazel copied her and picked up a slice. He held it the same way she had and stuffed half of it into his mouth. He closed his eyes in bliss as he chewed.

    "Also," Samara picked up her cup and held it in front of her face, "It''s great when paired with this tonic. They call it soda."

    She used the straw to suck up some of the sweet, bubbly drink. Bazel watched her, swallowed the pizza and took a drink just like she had. His eyes went wide with shock as the drink went into his mouth. He swallowed it and looked at Samara.

    "It has popping bubbles in it! How¨C ?"

    "Magic, I assume." Samara shrugged, "It''s good though, isn''t it?"

    "Very!"

    Bazel took another sip of his soda and another bite of the pizza. The face he made was like the face of a man in the throes of passion. Samara chuckled at the thought.

    "So, mind if we talk a bit while we eat?" Samara asked.

    "Sure."

    "When I was healing you, my interface said your name was ''Bazel the Beggar''."

    "Mhmm."

    "So what''s a beggar doing in the dungeon?" She folded her arms, "It seems strange."

    "Well," Bazel swallowed another bite of pizza and took a sip of his soda to wash it down, "It happened like this¡­"

    Samara listened as Bazel explained how he was approached by Hargal, the court mage. Hargal was the same person that approached the Blood Wind Company, the mercenary outfit that Samara worked for.

    The only difference was the reward.

    Hargal lured Bazel to the dungeon with not much more than some food and a blanket. Each of the members of the Blood Wind Company were paid ten gold pieces to explore the mysterious tower.

    The specific mission given to the company was to find the knights and report back once they found out what happened to them. Samara guessed that the king was worried about what had become of his faithful knights.

    The truth was that they weren''t so faithful anymore.

    While knights weren''t mercenaries, they still did what they did as a job. The only reason any of them had any allegiance to the crown was because of the wealth and prestige it afforded to them. If the king stopped paying them, he wouldn''t have any knights.

    What the king didn''t know was that he couldn''t ever hope to match the power and wealth given to people who worked inside the dungeon. Simply by becoming one of the dungeon''s denizens, a person automatically had more power at their disposal than any person outside, and wealth beyond measure.

    After only a week, Samara could afford to buy the kingdom right out from under that foolish king.

    As Samara listened to Bazel tell his story, she realized that the king thought all his knights were dead. He must have sent all the beggars to the dungeon in the hopes they would die as well. And actually, if they were sent in without weapons like Bazel was, most of them probably were dead.

    Bazel didn''t realize how fortunate he was by surviving through his first job. Now that he had gained access to the first level of the dungeon, he could accumulate wealth and power that would make any ruler green with envy.

    Samara wondered if she should tell him.

    "...and then he let me keep the blanket! That guy was really nice." Bazel finished his story. He frowned and looked over at Samara, "By the way, what did you do with my blanket?"

    "I incinerated it." Samara said, "That thing was filthy!"

    "Oh." Bazel looked down at the table.

    "Don''t worry," Samara waved her hand, "You can already afford the nicest blankets in the world if that''s what you want."

    "Really?"

    "Yeah." Samara laughed and shook her head, "Bazel, I don''t think you''re aware of what''s going on here."

    Samara vaguely gestured with her hand at the safe zone, "This place, the dungeon, it¨C it can make all your dreams come true. I didn''t believe it at first when they told me I could have anything I desire, but it''s true."

    "If someone desires power, they can have it. If they desire wealth, they can have that too. The finest clothes and food, servants to cater to your every whim, the knowledge of a thousand worlds, magic¡­"

    Samara leaned forward and locked eyes with Bazel.

    "Bazel. If you want, you can even become a god."

 6 - Samara the Slayer

    "A god."

    Bazel repeated the words in a flat tone. It was clear to Samara that he didn''t believe what she said, but she couldn''t blame him. Who would believe such a claim?

    "I''m not joking," Samara shook her head, "If that''s what you want, it''s possible here in the dungeon."

    Bazel stayed quiet for a minute while looking off in the distance. He sighed and took a sip of his soda before turning back to Samara.

    "I don''t really know what I want." He said, "I came here thinking I could find food and a nice pair of shoes, but then I realized I needed something more."

    "Like what?"

    "A purpose." Bazel said, "A reason to keep living. I''ve never given much thought to it before, I was always too busy trying to survive. But surviving like that wasn''t living, not really."

    "I understand."

    "Do you have a purpose, Samara?"

    "Yes." She nodded, "To be the strongest, it''s what I''ve always wanted. I want to be so strong that no one can hurt me or anyone that I love."

    "But," Bazel held up his finger, "There''s always someone stronger."

    Unless you become a god.

    Samara didn''t really want to share that sentiment with Bazel, but since finding out it was possible, she knew it was what she wanted. Nobody can stand up to a god, they hold all the power. To aspire becoming one might be the greatest hubris, but it was nonetheless what she secretly desired.

    Nobody can hurt a god.

    "Well," Samara changed the subject,"I''m sure you can find a purpose here, Bazel."

    "Maybe I will," he picked up another slice of pizza, "For now, I''m happy with how things are turning out. I got food and clothes¡­ and shoes!"

    "You''re a simple man to please, huh?"

    "I''m a beggar, it doesn''t take much." He stuffed half the slice in his mouth and chewed contentedly.

    Samara watched him eat with amusement. She felt an almost motherly attraction to him, like he was a child in need of her protection. She guessed he was in his early twenties ¨C probably not more than five years younger than her ¨C but his childlike attitude and wonder made him seem younger.

    "Bazel." he stopped chewing and looked at her, "How would you like to team up with me?"

    "I don''t see why not." He cocked his head, "I don''t want to be a burden though."

    "You won''t be," she waved her hand dismissively, "In fact, it would be nice to have someone watching my back. In return, I can help you along and share what I know."

    Bazel smiled and showed off his crooked teeth, "Okay. Let''s stick together then."

    "Good," She said, "How much time do you still have on break?"

    "Break?"

    "You don''t know about that?" She asked. He shook his head, "Your interface should show you."

    Bazel summoned his interface and looked at it, "It says I have one day and nine hours left until my contract deadline expires."

    "That''s good." She nodded, "it will give us time to prepare."

    "What''s it mean?"

    "No one explained it to you?" Bazel dismissed his interface and shook his head, "It''s part of what they call the ''terms''. It''s also the reason nobody who''s come to the dungeon has left."

    "Can we leave?"

    "Yes, but if you miss a deadline, you can''t come back. If you''re inside the dungeon when your contract expires, they will kick you out. You will also lose all the points and skills you''ve acquired."

    "I see," Bazel scratched his cheek, "Is there any way to leave the dungeon and keep all that?"

    "I heard there is, but only for people who get promoted through the ranks."

    "And how do you do that?"

    "I have no clue," Samara shrugged, "I suppose I could just ask the woman I met when I got here, but I imagine it''s something we can''t do at the moment anyway."

    "Okay,"

    Bazel leaned back and patted his stomach. The pizza was completely gone and he was the one who ate most of it. Samara didn''t mind, she wanted him to eat more and fill out a bit.

    "So what do we do now?"

    "First of all," Samara summoned her interface, "We should become familiar with each other''s classes and abilities."

    < Samara

    Guardian, Level 3

    Rank E

    Health: 150/150

    Aether: 90/90

    Credits: 5371

    Stats:

    Strength - 15

    Stamina - 17

    Agility - 12

    Sense - 10

    Intelligence - 9

    Spirit - 7

    Skills:

    [Ablative Sphere] - Creates a sphere of protective aether around you or your allies that reduces attack damage. 25 AetherThis story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    [Boost Health] - Increase your or your allies'' health for a period of time. 15 Aether

    [Boost Damage] - Increase the damage of any weapon you or your allies use for a period of time. 15 Aether

    [Reflective Sphere] - Creates a sphere of reflective aether around you or your allies that reflects a portion of attack damage. 25 Aether >

    She turned the interface around so Bazel could see it. He looked over the details while nodding.

    "It''s interesting that your skills work for yourself and your allies." He said.

    "Yours dont?" She asked.

    "No." Bazel summoned his own interface and turned it around so she could see it, "My skills are rather selfish."

    < Bazel

    Swindler, Level 2

    Rank E

    Health: 60/60

    Aether: 130/160

    Credits: 300

    Stats:

    Strength - 5

    Stamina - 7

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17

    Skills:

    [Drain Strength] - Take your opponent''s strength for yourself. 25 Aether

    [Entangle] - Slow your opponent''s movement for a time. 15 Aether

    [Mesmerize] - Put your opponent in a hypnotic stupor. 15 Aether >

    The first thing Samara noticed was the name of his class. She wondered what kind of person came up with the classes and their names. "Swindler" seemed like something really shady, but when she looked at the skills, it made more sense.

    It seemed his class actually did swindle his opponents, just not in the way she would have thought.

    She also focused on his physical abilities. It made sense that he wouldn''t be too healthy given his life circumstances, but five strength seemed really low.

    As Samara had learned earlier, the number associated with each stat was simple and helpful in determining how good someone was at a thing. A person with five strength was exactly half as strong as a person with ten, so Bazel had a third of her own strength.

    I''ll need to help him get that number up a bit.

    On the other hand, his [Drain Strength] skill seemed like a way for him to level the playing field when it came to his deficiencies.

    "How many points does the drain strength give you?" She asked him.

    "According to this," Bazel turned the interface around and did something then turned it back, "It took ten points from the rat and gave them to me. It only worked for a minute though."

    The screen showed a battle report. Samara had become familiar with the reports during her time in the dungeon. While they weren''t very useful during battle, the information they provided was quite helpful after.

    < ¡­

    Bazel used [Drain Strength] on Giant Rat Matriarch,

    Giant Rat Matriarch lost 10 points of Strength for 1 minute,

    Bazel gained 10 points of Strength for 1 minute,

    ¡­ >

    According to the report, Bazel became just as strong as Samara when he used the skill, but only for a minute. Still, in battle, a minute might as well be an hour.

    She also noticed that the attack he made after using his skill was considered a piercing attack, meaning it didn''t take his newly acquired strength into account for the damage. If he had used a heavy or blunt weapon, the damage would have been based on his strength.

    "Bazel," she pointed at the screen, "this is probably a more useful skill than you realize. The damage of certain attacks is based on your stats."

    "How does that work?"

    "Weapons can be based on three broad categories," she held up her hand and used her fingers to count them off, "One, weapons that use strength and stamina. These weapons base their damage off of strength and require stamina to use. Things like heavy weapons and blunt weapons fall under this category."

    She put up a second finger, "The second category belongs to the agility and sense weapons. These ones base their damage on agility and require good senses and awareness to use. Any piercing or slashing weapon counts as this. Most projectile weapons are also in this category."

    She raised a third finger, "The last category is a bit odd. Intelligence and spirit weapons base damage on intelligence, and they require large amounts of spirit and aether to use. From what I''ve seen, these aren''t actual weapons but skills that some people have. They can manifest things like fire and use it to attack."

    Bazel listened intently as she gave the explanation. Once she was done, he took the interface back and looked over his battle report for a moment. He pointed to something in the report.

    "So, If I had hit the rat with a rock, I could have done more damage?"

    "A simple way of looking at it," Samara chuckled, "but you''re correct. A rock would count as a blunt weapon and do more damage the stronger you are."

    "Interesting." He scratched his cheek while looking at the screen, "So if I get stronger and use the drain, then I could do a lot of damage in that one minute."

    "Yes." Samara nodded, "On top of that, you can upgrade the skills you already have. I wouldn''t be surprised to find out that an upgraded strength drain gives you another five points on top of that."

    "How do I upgrade my skills?"

    "Every skill requires you to have a certain level, the upgrades are no different. For example, the skill ''Boost Damage II'' requires me to be level five. Once I can get it, it will increase the amount of extra damage my weapon does from ten to fifteen."

    Bazel leaned over the table and sucked soda through the straw in his cup until it ran out and began making a gurgling noise. He frowned at the empty cup and put it aside before returning his attention to Samara.

    "I think that woman lied to me." He said.

    "What woman?"

    "The one who gave me the interview," he pointed off to the side, "she made it sound like fighting and killing wasn''t necessary to be here, but all skills are based on combat."

    That was more or less correct.

    While some classes focused on crafting or entertainment, the majority of the ones she''d seen focused on combat. Then again, all the people who entered the dungeon for the last few weeks were either knights or mercenaries ¨C people who specialized in combat. She wondered if any of the other beggars survived and what kinds of classes they had.

    Samara liked fighting. For someone who wanted to be stronger, there was no better test of their progress and determination than combat. When she won against a foe, it was proof that she was on the right track and motivated her to keep going.

    Still, she understood that not everyone was like her.

    She couldn''t imagine that Bazel had been in many fights and she understood his reluctance. She knew it was possible to change classes, because it was something she already did. She didn''t want to tell Bazel about it, however. Part of her reason was selfishness ¨C if he got a non-combat class, he might not need her help anymore.

    "Do you not want to fight?" She asked.

    "I didn''t think I did." Bazel said, "Even after I killed that rat, I was scared of running into another one. I thought ''I won''t be able to do that again''. But now¡­"

    Bazel reached into the empty pizza box and picked up a piece of pepperoni that had fallen off one of the slices. He plopped it in his mouth and chewed.

    "Now that I''m a little more prepared, I kinda want to try it again."

    "It''s a rush," Samara nodded, "just like drink. Once you''ve had a taste of it, you can only think of having another."

    "Does that make me a bad person?"

    "I sure hope not!" Samara laughed and slapped her knee, "If enjoying battle makes you a bad person, then I''m terrible!"

    "You don''t seem like a bad person to me."

    "Well, they didn''t call me ''Samara the Slayer'' for nothing."

    "The Slayer?" Bazel smiled, "Sounds ferocious. I think it fits you."

    "I''m not sure if that was a compliment or not, but I''ll take it."

    "Okay. Samara the Slayer," Bazel stood up and put his hand out, "Teach me the ways of battle."

    "Very well, Bazel the Beggar," Samara stood up and shook his hand, "I''ll do my best to make sure we are both victorious."

    "Thanks." Bazel let go of her hand and looked back down at the empty pizza box.

    "I don''t mean to come off as a glutton, but can we get more of this?"

    Samara laughed and pointed at the shop.

    "Get your fill, Bazel."

 7 - Xanadu Gun

    After eating a second pizza, Bazel could barely move. Samara took him back to her house, a fine home she called an "apartment".

    Bazel couldn''t believe how grand the apartment was. Everything looked clean and new ¨C made of the finest materials he''d ever seen. The floor had that wooly stuff all over it and felt good on his feet when he removed his shoes.

    The cooking area had a sink that magically dispensed water of any temperature from a shiny metal pipe. There was also a large white box that was cold on the inside and could be used to store food!

    Bazel never imagined he could experience such luxury.

    The best part of the house was the bathroom. Another sink adorned one wall with a large mirror hanging above it. The mirror was so well made, his reflection was just like looking at the real thing! The latrine was a large white chair that used water to flush away the rubbish. It didn''t even smell!

    Then there was the bathtub.

    "I cleaned you up as best I could earlier," Samara said as she showed him the tub, "but you could still use a good soak."

    "I haven''t had a bath since I was a child!" Bazel turned on the faucet and watched as the tub began to fill up with hot water, "This is going to be great!"

    Samara showed him where all the soap and scrubbers were, then took his clothes to get them nice and clean as well. She said there was a tool in the apartment that could magically clean clothes in minutes.

    Bazel hummed an old tune as he scrubbed himself clean and soaked in the hot water for a while. Once he was done, there was a soft towel that he could use to dry himself. And Samara returned his new clothing so he could dress again.

    Outside, the safe zone was getting dark which signaled the end of the day. Bazel went out to the back porch to look at the ceiling. He marveled at how a fake sky could look so real. It had all the stars and moons he saw every night in vivid detail and color.

    Samara said she was tired from the day''s activities and Bazel wasn''t against getting some more sleep. She let him rest on the bed and took the large cushioned chair for herself.

    In the morning, Samara woke Bazel up by shaking him gently.

    "Time to get up, you lazy beggar."

    "Already?" He asked as he stretched and sat up on the soft bed, "I could use a few more hours."

    "Sorry," she said with mock sympathy, "We''ve got things to do. We need to get ready for our next job."

    "Okay." Bazel hopped off the bed and stretched a bit more, "What did you have planned?"

    "We''re going to shop for a weapon that you can use, then we''re going to get a couple supplies. After that, we''ll go to the office and get a job."

    "I feel it''s only fair to warn you I''ve never used a weapon before," he paused his stretching routine and looked over at Samara, "What kind of weapon do you use?"

    Samara held her hand out and a weapon appeared in her hand. The short metal shaft of the tool was wrapped in leather strips and ended in a large head shaped like a diamond.

    "It''s a mace." She twirled the deadly hunk of iron, "It''s what I''ve always used. I bought this one here in the dungeon."

    "Neat. Think I could learn to use one?"

    "Probably, it''s not hard." The mace disappeared from her hand and went back to her inventory, "But I think we can find you something better."

    "I''ll trust your judgment on this one." He said.

    Samara led the way back into the safe zone and they walked back to the same street where they ate the pizza. Samara took him to another store called a "cafe" where they purchased some sweet biscuits with holes in them and a drink called "coffee". Bazel liked the coffee, but it wasn''t as good as soda.

    After they ate their breakfast, they went to a weapon''s shop. The inside of the store looked even more expensive than Samara''s apartment. Display cases made of real glass took up most of the floorspace and inside were every kind of weapon imaginable ¨C as well as some that weren''t.

    Bazel looked over the tools of death on display in amazement. He didn''t know anything about weapons, but they were neat to look at.

    A man dressed in blue pants and a t-shirt similar to Samara''s clothing came over to greet them. He was heavily muscled and Bazel felt a bit inadequate since the man''s arms were bigger around than his waist. The man''s bald head shone like a brass doorknob.

    "Welcome to Thano-mart!" He said cheerfully, "What are you kids looking for today?"

    "We need to get a weapon for my partner," she gestured to Bazel, "Something easy to use, but takes strength into account."

    "Strength?" The man squinted at Bazel, "You don''t look very strong, boy."

    "I''m certainly not as strong as you." Bazel pointed to his ridiculously large chest.

    "What''s your level, and how many points of strength do you have?"

    Bazel was about to summon his interface to show the man, but Samara stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

    "He''s level two and has fifteen points in strength."

    "Really." The man folded his arms and glared at Bazel for a moment.

    Bazel thought the man would call out their little lie, but after a few seconds, he shrugged and turned around. He began walking and beckoned them to follow.

    He led them over to a wall where large metal objects sat on shelves. Each of them was a round tube with handles on them. Bazel thought they looked unwieldy and awkward.

    "Hand cannons." The man said, "Not many people use them because of the strength requirements, but they do a lot of damage and don''t require much skill."

    "Cannons?" Bazel raised an eyebrow at the man, "What are those?"

    "Oh, right," the man grinned sheepishly, "this world doesn''t have gunpowder weapons."If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The man picked up one of the cannons and held it so that Bazel could see down the tube.

    "With a normal cannon, you put explosive material down the tube, then load in a steel ball. The explosives push the ball out at high speeds and cause a lot of damage." He turned the cannon around so Bazel could see the back of it, "This is an Aethertech weapon though, so you use this switch to ''load'' it with your own aether reserves and use this trigger to fire."

    He handed the cannon over to Bazel who nearly fell over with how heavy it was.

    "This particular model shoots a spray of shrapnel, like a shotgun." The man pressed his palm to his bald head, "Sorry. You don''t know what that is either."

    "I think I understand." Bazel said as he inspected the weapon.

    The tube was made of metal that looked like dull brass, and had two handles sticking off of it so it could be held by the hip. Silver bits in the shape of birds decorated the front of the cannon. On one side, the word "Xanadu" was engraved.

    "Xanadu?" Bazel asked.

    "Zan-a-doo," the man corrected, "It''s an ancient place where this type of weapon was invented. This one is called the Xanadu Gun."

    "What do you think?" Bazel looked over to Samara.

    "Well," Samara pinched her chin, "It certainly looks deadly. Pull up your interface and look at the specifics."

    Bazel didn''t know his interface could do such a thing, but he summoned it anyway. He willed the black tablet to show him information about the cannon.

    < Xanadu Gun, level 2

    91-147(17) damage (piercing, slashing)

    Causes bleeding effect

    Effective Range - 200 feet

    Reload time - 00:00:10

    Requirements:

    Level 2-6

    12 strength

    6 Stamina

    Consumes 10 aether per shot

    "Ancestral voices prophesying war! But fear not, the Xanadu Gun can rip your enemies to shreds! Patented Aethertech firearms technology allows the Xanadu to be loaded with nothing more than the flick of a switch! Pull the trigger and all should cry, Beware! Beware!" >

    "I like it," Samara said as she looked over his shoulder at the interface, "I say we get it."

    Bazel thought the description was a bit strange and he didn''t understand all the information displayed, but just looking at the damage was enough to prove it was a powerful weapon.

    He remembered back to when he fought the rat. If he added up the total damage it took, then it had just over a hundred health. The Xanadu Gun could have killed it in one shot. With a reload time of ten seconds, he would be able to attack five times after using [Drain Strength]. The amount of aether he would use between the drain and five shots would be seventy-five ¨C less than half of his total.

    Meaning that if his opponent wasn''t dead after inflicting around five hundred points of damage, he could just do it again.

    Bazel felt a bit sick at the fact that he was breaking down the lives of other beings to nothing more than a bunch of numbers. However, if they were all monsters like the giant rat, then he probably wouldn''t lose any sleep over hunting them.

    Hunting monsters. That''s all this is.

    He made up his mind and decided that he would try it out.

    "How much is it?" He asked the shopkeeper.

    "Two-thousand, five-hundred scrip." He answered.

    "I got it." Samara pulled up her interface and put a hand on the cannon.

    "You don''t have to¨C" Bazel tried to stop her.

    "Don''t worry," she said as she completed the purchase, "We''ll make that back quickly."

    "O-okay."

    Bazel stored the gun in his inventory. They bid the shopkeeper farewell and walked outside. Once they were where the man wouldn''t be able to hear them, Samara turned to Bazel.

    "You should probably carry it on your person even when not using it." She said, "It will be tiring, but it will help build your strength and stamina."

    She made a good point, but Bazel was reluctant to do it. The Xanadu probably weighed close to fifty pounds, and carrying around that kind of weight would wear him out quickly. Nonetheless, he pulled it out of his inventory and put it over his shoulder with only a little struggling.

    "There you go!" Samara smiled like a proud mother, "You''ll toughen up in no time!"

    "Easy for you to say." Bazel shifted uncomfortably.

    "Tell you what," Samara crossed her arms, "put up with it until the job is done, then you can rest."

    "Deal."

    "Okay," Samara turned and pointed to another shop, "I need to go there and get another vial of ambrosia, just in case. After that, we''ll go to the job office."

    "Right behind you."

    The second store they went into dealt in all sorts of medical items. Shelves full of elixirs and potions of every kind lined the walls. They also had a large glass tank full of weird looking fish, snakes, and insects. He went to the tank and observed the strange creatures as they swam around in the water.

    "Are you interested in symbiotes?" A pretty, young woman in a skirt approached him.

    "I don''t even know what that is." Bazel answered.

    "These are symbiotes." She giggled and waved a hand at the tank, "They are artificial creatures that can be implanted to increase your stats."

    "Implanted?"

    "It''s not as gross as it sounds," she said, "Once they are put in, you barely even notice them!"

    "I think I''ll pass for now."

    Just the thought of putting another living creature inside his body made Bazel shudder. Maybe they could increase his stats, but so could exercise and hard work. He would rather carry the Xanadu every day for a year than put one of those things inside of him.

    Once the woman realized she wasn''t going to make a sale, she shrugged and walked away. As soon as she was out of sight, Samara walked up and looked into the tank.

    "Don''t tell me you''re thinking of putting one of those things in you." She said as her face twisted at the sight of them.

    "No," Bazel shuddered once more, "I think I''ll just stick with exercise."

    "Good move."

    Bazel and Samara left the store and walked down the street to a large building that seemed to be made completely of glass. Samara stopped before they went inside and turned to Bazel.

    "So, the guy that hands out jobs," she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb, "He''s a nice guy, but he''s not exactly¡­ human."

    "What do you mean?"

    "You''ll see for yourself," she turned back to the building, "Just try not to stare. He gets upset about it."

    "Right."

    Bazel didn''t know what to expect after a warning like that, but he tried to mentally prepare himself anyway. He''d already seen plenty of strange things in the dungeon and didn''t think that someone''s appearance would throw him off.

    They walked up to the doors of the building ¨C they too, were made of glass and slid open of their own accord when Samara approached. They walked across a marble floor and up to a counter at the far end of the foyer. There, behind the counter stood a tall man wearing a black and white outfit that looked rather sharp. A red piece of fabric hung around his neck down to about his navel. He had short brown hair combed neatly to one side.

    Once they approached the counter however, Bazel immediately realized why the man was so tall. His bottom half was a horse. It was as if a horse''s head had been removed and the body of a man put in its place. Bazel remembered Samara''s warning, but he couldn''t help it.

    He stared at the bottom half of the man in shock.

    "Ah, Samara!" The man-horse greeted her with a smile, "Come back for another job?"

    "You know it, Chris!" She punched Bazel''s arm to make him stop staring, "I have a partner now, too."

    The man-horse ¨C Chris, apparently ¨C put his hand down in front of Bazel.

    "Nice to meet you," he said, "I''m Chris."

    "B-Bazel." Bazel did his best to make eye contact and shook his hand, "Bazel the Beggar."

    "Okay, then!" Chris let go of Bazel and summoned an interface.

    "Let''s put you kids to work!"

 8 - Flock Defenders

    "Let''s see," Chris tapped his interface a couple times, "a level three Guardian and a level two Swindler¡­"

    Bazel adjusted the Xanadu Gun on his shoulder and watched the man-horse as he looked for a job they could do. He mumbled to himself as he poked at his interface and frowned every so often.

    "Ah!"

    Bazel jumped at the noise. He never considered himself an easily frightened person, but he was being spooked a lot in the dungeon.

    "Here''s one that pays well." Chris tapped the interface and nodded, "look it over and tell me if you''re interested."

    Bazel heard the "ding-dong" noise and summoned his own interface.

    < You have a job offer!

    The old Laconian shepherd, Lysander, has been called to battle! While he''s away, he needs someone to look after his sheep and make sure they''re not eaten by those pesky giants. Do him a solid, would you?

    Task: Protect the sheep for one day.

    Reward:

    1000 Credits

    2000 Experience Points

    Note: A bonus of 150 credits will be paid for every giant killed. A fee of 150 credits will be taken for every sheep lost.

    Accept Job?

    Yes / No >

    Bazel scratched his cheek and looked up at Chris, "Why would a shepherd go to battle?"

    "Asked the Beggar with a gun." Chris smirked down at him.

    "This is great!" Samara said, "We could make a lot of credits on this job."

    "Or lose everything we have," Bazel pointed at the line about the punishment for letting sheep get eaten.

    "I''m sure we can handle it." Samara reached out and pressed the option to accept the job.

    Bazel wished Samara had considered the consequences of failure a bit more. If the job went south, they could end up in debt. Bazel was earning pay for the first time in his life, and he wanted to hold on to what he got.

    Now that I think about it. Samara is quite the spendthrift.

    She bought his cannon and some expensive medical supplies without considering cheaper alternatives. She also bought him clothes, shoes and pizza. He was a bit worried about the state of her funds.

    "Mister beggar," Chris got Bazel''s attention, "since this is a group effort, you both have to accept the job."

    "Oh," Bazel looked back at his interface and put his finger over it, then paused.

    "What''s the matter?" Samara asked.

    "I just thought of something," he looked up at Chris, "giants are just really big people, right?"

    "Eh," Chris shrugged, "I mean, they look like people, but they don''t really have any intelligence."

    "Still¡­"

    "Don''t worry about it too much," Chris said, "here in the dungeon, they''re no better than pests."

    Bazel had a feeling he was going to regret it, but he reached up and pressed the "Yes" option anyway. Both Samara and Chris wore big smiles like they were proud of him.

    "Very good!" Chris stamped his foot which made a very loud sound on the marble floor, "Now this is a time-sensitive operation, so I hope you don''t mind if I teleport you."

    "That''s fine." Samara answered.

    "Then, good luck!" Chris tapped his interface.

    Before Bazel could reply, the world around him changed instantly. He was standing outside on a grassy hill overlooking some woods below. No sensation accompanied the teleportation, but it still made Bazel jump at suddenly being in another place.

    "You''re here." A gruff voice said from behind.

    Bazel turned and saw a man in jeans and a t-shirt. The shirt had a picture of a helmet with a large plume on top. He held a spear in one hand.

    "I''m Lysander," he said and waved at a herd of sheep behind him, "my sheep."

    Samara stepped forward and introduced them.

    "I''m Samara and this is my partner Bazel. Thank you for letting us do this." She stuck her hand out, "I can assure you, your sheep are safe as long as we''re here."

    "Whatever." Lysander ignored her attempt at a handshake and started to walk away, "Do a good job."

    "Oookay." Samara watched him walk off and turned to Bazel, "not much of a talker, I suppose."

    "Are we still in the dungeon?" Bazel looked around at the idyllic scenery, "I can''t even tell anymore."

    "As far as I know," Samara shrugged, "a lot of places in the dungeon look like they''re outside."

    "Interesting."

    Bazel studied the area and the sheep who were happily eating grass nearby. He started to wonder what was real in the dungeon. If the sky was fake like he believed, then how could the grass grow without real sunshine and rain? Maybe if the grass itself was fake, it wouldn''t need those things. But if the grass was fake, then what were the sheep eating?This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    Were the sheep real?

    "Hello~" Samara waved her hand in front of his face, "Everything okay, buddy?"

    "Sorry," Bazel snapped out of his stupor, "I was just thinking about how weird this place is."

    "Tell me about it."

    "So what do we do now?" Bazel asked.

    "Unless the giants show up, nothing."

    Samara removed a book from her inventory and sat on the grass. Bazel sat down as well and put the Xanadu on the ground beside him, glad to be rid of the weight. He occupied himself by watching the sheep as they grazed.

    They looked like real sheep.

    Bazel leaned back and looked up at the sky ¨C or maybe a ceiling. It also looked very real, and he could feel the warmth of the sun on his face. The clouds that passed over occluded the sun and cast shadows on the ground. A breeze blew across the pasture, tickling his skin.

    In the nearby woods, a flock of birds made noise as they took flight. Their excited chirping and flapping wings could be heard even at a distance.

    "Something''s coming." Samara said as she stood up again. She put the book away and pulled out her mace.

    "What is it?" Bazel stood up and held the Xanadu by his side, "The giants?"

    "I think so."

    Bazel fiddled with the switch on his gun, he pressed it but nothing happened. He summoned his interface and looked at the status screen, and saw that his aether was still full.

    So I can''t even use it until I use [Drain Strength].

    He suspected as much, but he hadn''t been provided with a chance to test it. He looked up at the woods and saw the tops of the trees bending as something moved between them.

    "Do you have a plan?" He asked.

    "Yes," Samara half turned to him, "I''ll engage it first and try to get a couple good hits in. You use that time to drain its strength and prepare to shoot it. As soon as I give you the signal, take it down."

    "Okay."

    Right at that moment, the giant broke the treeline. The twenty foot tall monster had the appearance of a horribly disfigured and hunchbacked man. It wore an animal skin to cover its loins, but was otherwise naked. It carried a wooden club that Bazel suspected might be an entire tree.

    "Here it comes!" Samara adopted a fighting pose with her feet spread apart and her mace raised in front of her.

    The giant began running towards them, but even with its longer legs, it wasn''t very fast.

    Samara''s body and mace began glowing with red auras and motes of light that danced around her ¨C evidence that she had just used her skills.

    The giant was still around a hundred feet away, lumbering towards them with the club lifted over its head. Bazel could feel slight tremors in the ground as it approached. The sheep behind them began making noises as they sensed the coming danger.

    Bazel still wasn''t sure he actually wanted to kill the monster. It didn''t look completely human with its grotesquely twisted features, but it looked close enough to give him pause. Unfortunately, he didn''t have much time to consider other options.

    Once the giant was about fifty feet away, Samara charged forward to meet it. The giant swung its club down to smash her, but she changed direction to dodge it at the last moment.

    Clods of grass and dirt flew into the air as the club impacted the ground. Bazel''s legs vibrated from the accompanying tremor. The sheep must have felt it too, they cried out even louder than before and bunched up with each other.

    Samara ran up to the arm of the giant, grabbed her mace with both hands above her head and brought it down as hard as she could. The giant let out a guttural cry and tried to kick at her with its closest foot.

    Samara dodged the large foot as well, and fell back a little. She looked over her shoulder and shouted at Bazel.

    "Use the drain!"

    Bazel came to his senses and focused on the giant. He held up his left hand and willed the skill to activate.

    [Drain Strength]!

    Red light swirled out of the giant and flew over to Bazel. Just like when he fought the rat, he could immediately feel his body becoming stronger. He grabbed the handles of the Xanadu with both hands and pressed the switch to load it. He could feel the aether flowing from his body, down his arms and into the gun.

    The giant swung his club sideways, attempting to knock Samara down. She deftly ducked under the attack, ran up to the giant and struck it in the foot. The giant cried out again and stumbled backwards. Samara turned and ran to the side.

    "Do it now!" She shouted.

    Bazel pointed the Xanadu in the direction of the giant. The gun stopped pulling aether from him and made a "cha-chunk!" sound. He assumed that was the signal that it was ready to fire and pulled the trigger.

    KA-BOOM!!!

    A ball of fire and a cloud of smoke erupted from the barrel of the gun. The sound it made was the single loudest thing Bazel had ever heard, and caused his ears to ring. The force of the explosion made Bazel fly backwards a few feet before falling on his backside.

    The giant let loose a deep baritone howl and fell to his knees.

    Bazel scrambled back to his feet and observed the giant. It was bleeding profusely from multiple holes and gashes all over its torso. It had dropped its club and held its hands out ¨C they were also mangled from the attack. Its mouth opened so Bazel could see the yellow crooked teeth inside. He thought it might be crying out, but all he could hear was the ringing in his ears.

    The giant was mortally wounded, but it wasn''t dead.

    Bazel felt a bit sick at what he''d just done. Regardless of whether the giant was a monster or not, how could he feel good about causing it such pain? He watched the blood flow down the giant''s legs and onto the grass beneath.

    The giant looked straight at Bazel, eyes filled with hate.

    The giant started to get up again, though it was struggling. It was clear to Bazel it intended to attack again. With no other option readily available, Bazel hit the switch to reload his gun.

    The giant stood up and stepped forward, clenching its bleeding fists. Bazel put his feet apart in a wide stance and pointed the gun in its direction.

    As the ringing in his ears started to recede, he heard the gun go "cha-chunk!" He pulled the trigger.

    KA-BOOM!!!

    Bazel managed to stay on his feet the second time, although the noise of the gun brought the ringing sound back fully.

    The giant wavered for a moment, then fell straight back and crashed to the ground, causing the biggest tremor yet.

    Bazel let out a breath he couldn''t remember holding in and dropped the Xanadu on the ground. He stood panting for a moment and trying to quell his frayed nerves. The effect of the strength drain left him, making him feel weak and tired. The ringing in his ears started to die down.

    It was only then he realized Samara wasn''t anywhere near him. Bazel turned to look for her and discovered another surprise.

    The sheep are gone!

    Bazel ran up to the top of the hill and looked around frantically. On the other side of the hill, down in a wide riverbed, Samara was chasing the flock as they ran in terror. He suspected they had been scared off from all the noise.

    The sheep all stayed together as they ran and followed the dry riverbed towards a copse of trees. Bazel noticed the tops of a few trees bending in opposite directions. Seconds later, another giant walked out of the trees and waved a club above his head.

    The sheep were running straight towards him.

    Oh no!

    Bazel started to run over there, then remembered he left his gun on the ground. He ran back to where he dropped it and stored it in his inventory so he could run faster. He crested the hill again just in time to see the giant grabbing one of the sheep. Samara was running at the giant wielding her mace.

    Bazel ran down the hill towards the flock hoping he could get there before any more of them were grabbed.

 9 - A Giant Pain

    Samara sprinted at the giant that had just appeared and grabbed one of the sheep. The rest of the flock stood right in front of the monster, apparently unaware of the danger they were in.

    The sheep became spooked when Bazel used the Xanadu gun. Samara didn''t know it would be that loud, otherwise she never would have let him use it. When the flock took off, Samara chased after them despite the fact she knew nothing about herding sheep.

    Now, one of the precious fluffballs was in the grip of an ugly giant. Samara resolved herself to save the sheep so that their pay wouldn''t be docked ¨C she was a mercenary, after all.

    Samara ran right through the middle of the flock at the giant. It brought its club up and prepared to attack her. She''d already seen how slow the giants were, so she was confident she could dodge it.

    The giant stepped forward and brought its club down.

    Samara rolled out of the way at the last moment, diving between several sheep. She smoothly continued the roll and hopped right back to her feet. She spun around to face the giant again and instantly realized her mistake.

    The giant killed three sheep with the attack that missed her.

    "Dammit!" Samara shouted.

    The other sheep had backed off a bit from the action, but they weren''t going anywhere. It was as if they had completely forgotten about the loud noises that made them run in the first place. The deaths of their friends hadn''t fazed them either, and now they stood within reach of a monster that wanted them for dinner.

    They didn''t have a care in the world.

    The giant looked like he would attack again, so Samara backed off. She didn''t want any more sheep to die. There was still the problem of the sheep the giant was holding, however. It kicked and made noise, but couldn''t escape the giant''s grasp.

    The giant watched Samara with suspicion as she walked backwards and out of its range.

    Once the giant saw that Samara wouldn''t attack, he turned to leave. Apparently, since it already had what it wanted, it was just going to go home. Samara wracked her brain, trying to think of a way to save the captive sheep.

    Just then, Bazel came running up by the rest of the flock and pointed his hand at the giant.

    "[Mesmerize]!"

    Yellow light shot out of his hand and hit the giant. The giant''s whole body glowed with a faint yellow aura and it stopped moving. It put both of its hands down and dropped what was in them. The club landed with a thud, and the sheep scrambled over to where the others stood.

    Bazel bent over with his hands on his knees and panted like he''d been running a marathon. Samara walked over to him.

    "Good thinking, buddy!"

    "Thanks," he said between pants, "but I¡­ don''t think¡­ it will last long."

    "We need to get them away from it." She pointed over at the piles of blood and wool nearby, "He already killed three of them."

    "Do you know¡­ how to herd sheep?"

    "No, do you?"

    "No."

    "Well, great!"

    "Maybe," Bazel stood up straight, "We can just chase them back to the hill?"

    "It''s worth a shot," Samara said, "You look pretty winded, though. I''ll herd them, you stay here and make sure the giant doesn''t come after them."

    "Okay, but I don''t think I should use the Xanadu anymore."

    "Agreed," she nodded, "at least not for the rest of this job."

    The giant grunted and looked around as if confused. Bazel pointed his hand at it and used the [Mesmerize] skill again, causing it to stand in place and drool.

    "Looks like you''ve got this handled." Samara said.

    Samara jogged over to the flock and made shooing motions while shouting. It worked as intended and the sheep started moving away from her.

    Good! All I have to do is chase them back to the hill then.

    Samara zigged and zagged behind the flock and did her best to corral them back towards the hill. It was harder than she imagined it would be, but she eventually got them to go in the right direction. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Bazel was still standing sentry by the giant, then looked back at the flock who were just reaching the bottom of the hill.

    Another giant appeared as it crested the hill.

    "Dammit!"

    ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ

    Bazel summoned his interface so he could see his status.

    < Bazel

    Swindler, level 3

    Rank E

    Health: 60/60

    Aether: 85/160

    Credits: 300

    Stats:

    Strength - 5

    Stamina - 7

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17

    Skills:

    [Drain Strength] - Take your opponent''s strength for yourself. 25 Aether

    [Entangle] - Slow your opponent''s movement for a time. 15 Aether

    [Mesmerize] - Put your opponent in a hypnotic stupor. 15 Aether >

    He still had enough aether left to use [Mesmerize] five more times, so he could keep the giant occupied for a while.

    But what then?

    He didn''t dare use the Xanadu anywhere within earshot of the sheep, and he had no other weapon other than his fists. He doubted he could pummel a giant to death.

    Behind him, Samara shouted and made Bazel turn to look.

    Yet another giant was cresting the hill and the sheep were running straight towards it. Samara was doing her best to outpace the wooly critters and get to the giant first.

    Should I go help her?

    If he left the giant he was currently guarding, it would wake up and possibly go after the sheep again. The giant on the hill provided a more immediate threat to them however, so it needed to be dealt with first.

    Bazel watched as Samara weaved between the giant''s attack, and hit its legs with her mace. The giant toppled over. Samara capitalized on the situation and attacked the giant''s head. Even from a distance, Bazel could hear the crunching of her weapon against the monster''s skull.

    On second thought, it looks like she''s handling it.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    The giant standing near Bazel grunted and went to pick up its club. Bazel sighed and used [Mesmerize] on it again, making it drop the weapon it had just retrieved and stand there in a daze.

    Four more times¡­

    ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ

    "Dont!"

    CRUNCH!

    "You!"

    CRUNCH!

    "Touch!"

    CRUNCH!

    "My sheep!"

    Blood, bone and hair flew off the mace as she swung it back up in the air. An entire side of the giant''s oversized head was caved in and mangled beyond recognition.

    Samara brought her mace down on the giant''s skull one more time for good measure, even though it was clearly dead. She took a step back from the corpse and breathed heavily as the flock walked right past the macabre scene to their grazing spot.

    With the sheep safely back on the hill, Samara considered what to do about the one by Bazel. She knew he wouldn''t be able to keep it occupied for much longer since he would run out of aether. Her own aether was low as well. It would come back eventually, but they needed to rest for that.

    Samara looked around to make sure there were no more giants approaching.

    All clear.

    Leaving the sheep on the hill, Samara charged back down in the direction of Bazel. As she ran down the riverbed, she saw him use [Mesmerize] once more, and the giant returned to being a statue.

    She used [Boost Damage] on herself once more. She didn''t know exactly how long it had been since the whole fiasco started, but it had been long enough for the skill to wear off. As soon as she used it, her mace began to glow red.

    She ran right past Bazel and hit the mesmerized giant in the knee as hard as she could. The cracking noise of its kneecap shattering was like music to her ears.

    The giant toppled forward as she kept running right between its legs. The ground shuddered from the impact.

    Samara stopped, turned and ran right onto the giant''s back, jumped in the air and landed on his neck while bringing her mace down on the back of his head. She repeated the process of bashing in the giant''s skull like she had the previous one.

    She smashed her mace into it skull over, and over, and over, and¨C

    "Sa-Samara!" Bazel shouted.

    Samara stopped inflicting violence on the monster beneath her and looked up at him in annoyance.

    "What?"

    "I think it''s already dead." He pointed at the giant.

    "It sure is."

    "Then why are you still hitting it?"

    "It made me mad."

    Bazel took some steps back.

    "Sorry," Samara sighed and climbed off the corpse, "I didn''t mean to spook you."

    "It''s okay," Bazel''s voice cracked as he spoke.

    Samara calmed a little and pointed to the hill, "We should go back to the sheep."

    Bazel walked beside her as they went back to the hill, nervously glancing at her every couple seconds. Samara stored her mace in her inventory and patted him on the shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

    "You did a good job, buddy."

    "You think so?"

    "Yeah," Samara nodded, "You took down that giant like a pro!"

    "Thanks," he relaxed a bit, "it wasn''t as scary as I thought it would be¡­ but I feel bad for the giants."

    "You shouldn''t. They would kill and possibly eat us without remorse, so we''re only protecting ourselves and the sheep."

    Samara never had sympathy for anyone she killed. To her, it was a simple equation ¨C kill them before they kill you or someone you love. If you showed pity to someone, they would only wait until your back was turned and repay the favor with betrayal. No, she would never hesitate to kill anyone who deserved it.

    Never again.

    They crested the hill where the flock had already forgotten about the recent melee and were once again grazing on the grass.

    "What do we do with those?" Bazel pointed at the nearby giant corpses, "I don''t even think you''re strong enough to move them."

    "You''re right," Samara answered, "but I know a trick."

    Samara walked up to the corpse and put her hand on it. She summoned her interface, opened the inventory screen and thought about storing the dead giant.

    It disappeared with a "pop!"

    "That''s handy." Bazel said, "I didn''t think something that large would fit in the inventory."

    Samara shrugged, "From what I can tell, size doesn''t matter. You just can''t store more items than you have slots. Also, you can cheat by putting things inside of other things. A bag full of items is still counted as a single item."

    "I''ll have to remember that."

    Samara went over to the other giant corpse and stored it as well. She then walked back down the hill to the river bed where the third corpse was lying. Once she arrived, she took both giant corpses from her inventory and placed them on the ground beside the other one.

    When she joined up with Bazel again, he was looking over his battle report. He turned the interface so Samara could see it and pointed to a line.

    "It says I did one hundred and fifty-three damage to the giant, but my Xanadu does a max of one forty-seven."

    "That''s the strength bonus I told you about," She pointed at the interface, "pull up the Xanadu''s description."

    Bazel did so.

    < Xanadu Gun, level 2

    91-147(17) damage (piercing, slashing)

    Causes bleeding effect

    Effective range - 200 feet

    Reload time - 00:00:10

    Requirements:

    Level 2-6

    12 strength

    6 Stamina

    Consumes 10 aether per shot

    "Ancestral voices prophesying war! But fear not, the Xanadu Gun can rip your enemies to shreds! Patented Aethertech firearms technology allows the Xanadu to be loaded with nothing more than the flick of a switch! Pull the trigger and all should cry, Beware! Beware!" >

    "See the number in parentheses next to the attack damage? That''s the bonus damage. For every point of strength you have over what''s required to use the gun, it will add seventeen damage."

    "Oh, I see!" Bazel smiled, "The strength required to use it is twelve, when I used my drain on the giant, I had fifteen. That means every shot will do an extra fifty-one damage!"

    "Correct." Samara put her hands on her hips, "You know, I never would have expected a beggar to be good at math."

    "My parents taught me when I was a child." Bazel looked off in the distance as he reminisced, "reading and writing as well."

    "If you could do all that, then how did you become a beggar?"

    "My father was an outcast who spoke against the church." Bazel frowned, "The holy knights killed him and my mother, and left me on the streets."

    Samara knew the holy knights were a ruthless bunch that would do exactly that sort of thing ¨C all in the name of gods they claimed to serve. She guessed that enough people in the city knew of Bazel''s parentage that it was difficult for him to find work. Nobody would want to associate with the son of an infidel.

    Samara wasn''t fond of the church herself, and she had no faith in the gods. She didn''t think any worse of Bazel for his circumstances. In fact, she sympathized.

    "I''m sorry to hear that." Samara squeezed his shoulder.

    "It''s okay," Bazel''s forced smile didn''t reach his eyes, "It was a long time ago."

    "Just so you know, one of the holy knights is in the dungeon."

    "I''ll be sure to stay away from them."

    "It shouldn''t be too hard," Samara assured him, "he''s already on one of the higher floors, so we probably won''t run into him. But, just so you know, his name is Peton."

    ¡ñ¡ñ¡ñ

    Peton the Light Bearer ¨C first knight in the holy order of the church of the seven divines, protector of the truth, bane of infidels and defender of the faithful ¨C faced down a giant.

    Clad in his polished steel armor and wielding a shining longsword, he squared off against the enemy.

    The monstrous being was nothing like the giant''s he had faced on the first floor however. Peton could see multiple heads protruding from various places on its shoulders, chest and back. It had at least twelve arms that extended from the rest of its torso.

    No problem.

    The monster attacked, swiping at Peton with half of its hands.

    Peton easily dodged or parried most of the limbs. The ones he couldn''t evade, he simply sliced with his shining sword. The severed limbs fell to the ground with small thuds.

    The monster shouted in frustration as it failed to hurt the human. Once Peton saw an opening, he used a skill.

    "[Vorpal Strike]!"

    A brilliant flash of light came from his sword and went right down the middle of the monster. Peton flourished his sword and sheathed it at his hip.

    The monster looked like it would attack again, but it stopped mid swing. A seam appeared on the monster, bisecting it from head to crotch. Blood began to squirt out of the seam, and the two halves of the monster fell to opposite sides with a crash.

    < Congratulations! You defeated a Minor Hecatoncheires (level 13)

    1,160 Experience Points awarded!

    ¡­

    Congratulations! You leveled up! You are now a Crusader, Level 10! >

    Peton was happy for the increase in level, it would allow him to upgrade some of his skills. Skills that would allow him to destroy the dungeon.

    He knew that the dungeon stood as an affront to the gods, they had told him themselves. Furthermore, they gave him a quest to destroy the massive tower.

    Many of the regular knights who had entered the tower at the same time treated it like a game that would earn them power and wealth. They were even willing to forsake their duties to the crown in order to obtain what they wanted.

    Peton would not forsake his duties. He would use the power that the dungeon gave him to make it crumble ¨C all for the glory of the gods.

    I''ll play your games for now, Peton thought, but only for a while.

    He smiled in anticipation of completing his grand quest.

    Then comes the reckoning!

 Extra Episode 1 - Hargal Hears a Heroes Call

    Hargal, the court mage, walked through the grand castle courtyard. The sun had yet to rise, but the castle staff already busied themselves with their duties. Farriers tended the horses and maids hung out laundry. The castle guards exercised and drilled in the Bailey.

    Dressed in the blue robes of his station, Hargal walked through the gatehouse where guards saluted him with a fist to their chests. He inclined his head to let them know he saw, and continued on his way.

    Outside the walls, Hargal turned and walked to the large stone building that stood next to the castle, nearly rivaling it in size. The large facade of the stone building contained decorative mosaics and friezes showing the story of the world''s creation by the all-mother. Circular, stained glass windows depicted all seven divines of the pantheon.

    Hargal entered the front doors and a woman dressed in the traditional white garb of the priestesshood bowed to him as he crossed the threshold.

    Hargal was known for his devout nature, and visiting the temple each morning was his custom.

    The king ¨C whom Hargal served ¨C was also a worshipper. If he were not, the gods would not allow him to rule as he did. Yet Hargal''s zealotry rivaled even the ruler of the Canneldorth kingdom. Indeed, that was how he could perform miracles.

    Hargal walked through the grand hall and all the way to the apse where great marble statues of all the gods stood. Three stood on the left, and three on the right. All six of those statues looked toward the center where the statue of the all-mother stood, elevated on a platform.

    Hargal went to his knees before the statue of the all-mother and prayed that he might be able to serve her better.

    As he did, the statue began to glow with golden light.

    Hargal did not see this phenomenon happening, occupied as he was with offering his prayers and praises. His eyes were closed and his hands outstretched to the statue as if he were a child reaching for his mother.

    "Hello, Hargal."

    A voice sweeter than honey and warmer than the rays of the sun at dawn spoke to him. Hargal drew in a sharp breath and answered, still not opening his eyes.

    "All-mother?"

    "Yes, Hargal." The voice answered, "Open your eyes and see for yourself."

    "I dare not let my unworthy eyes gaze upon your visage, my lady!"

    "Nonsense." she said sharply, "If you were not worthy, I would not appear before you."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Ever so slowly, Hargal opened his eyes and beheld the glory of his goddess. He gasped and shuddered upon having her radiant form revealed to him.

    She shone like the sun before him, bathing him in her brilliance. Unlike looking at the sun however, gazing upon her did not hurt his eyes. Her beauty was unlike anything he had ever witnessed, and he nearly broke down in tears upon beholding it.

    The all-mother reached down and grasped his hand, then pulled him to his feet.

    "That wasn''t so hard," she adjusted and smoothed out his robes, "Now was it?"

    "My lady, why have you appeared?"

    "That''s a good question, my child." She smiled at Hargal a smile that made him want to melt, "I have a quest for you."

    "A quest?" Hargal said, "Certainly! I will do whatever you request of me!"

    "You have seen the tower that appeared on the plains of Tolar?" She looked to the east, "The place you call the dungeon?"

    "Yes, my lady!" Hargal nodded, "The craftsmanship of the gods is a sight to behold!"

    "It is," she smiled at him, "but the dungeon was not built by me or my children."

    The all-mother crossed her arms and pursed her lips, "It is the creation of interlopers. Beings from another world who wish to have this sphere for themselves."

    "Truly?"

    "Yes." She nodded, "It is a wicked construction that must be destroyed at any cost, as well as the powerful beings who dwell there."

    Hargal could not have imagined that the dungeon was actually the tool of invading forces. Ever since he first heard of the dungeon, he believed it to be the work of the divines. Of course, it explained why none of the people sent in had yet to return.

    What foul beings could be inside the dungeon, and what evil were they planning?

    "So," the all-mother brought Hargal out of his thoughts, "I charge you with the task of destroying the dungeon. Tell the king of this atrocity and convince him to form an army with which to destroy it."

    "Of course, my lady!"

    The all-mother continued, "I have already sent one of the holy knights inside to learn its secrets. Once he has given us enough information to act on, you will lead the army to bring it down."

    "You wish for me to lead the army?"

    "Yes Hargal," she put a hand on his shoulder, "You are my champion and you have my blessing. When the day of the final battle comes, I and all my children will be beside you. We will all join in the battle and take down the interlopers."

    Hargal could barely believe what he was hearing. Not even the heroes of old had all the divines backing them, much less riding into battle beside them! What the all-mother proposed was something that had never been done before. All the divines and a great army fighting for the future of their world.

    And Hargal would be at the center of it all.

    "Now," the all-mother said, "We have much work to do and many preparations to make. Listen carefully."

    Hargal gave all his attention to the goddess and listened as she laid out the grand plan to bring down the evil fortress. Her plan was well-thought and ¨C if properly executed ¨C would be sure to lead them to victory.

    Or so they thought.

 10 - Putting the Pieces Together

    "[Entangle]!"

    Green light shot out of Bazel''s hand and wrapped itself around the giant. The giant struggled against it but couldn''t move more than a few inches.

    Samara ran between the giant''s legs and used her mace to smash the tendons behind its heels. Empowered with [Boost Damage], her mace easily damaged its tendons and made the monster topple over. Samara ran up to the head and put the giant out of its misery with a few well placed attacks to the skull.

    CRUNCH!

    ¡¶ Congratulations! You defeated a Giant (level 5).

    220 Experience Points have been awarded!

    ¡­

    Congratulations! You leveled up! You are now a Swindler, level 4! ¡·

    "That''s ten so far." Samara said as she cleaned her mace off by rubbing it on the grass, "How many credits does that come to?"

    "It would be fifteen-hundred extra," Bazel said, "but we lost three sheep, so it''s only one thousand, one hundred and fifty."

    "Well," Samara put her mace back into her inventory and looked over at the flock, "at least we haven''t lost anymore."

    After their first encounter with the giant''s, Bazel wasn''t so sure they would be able to handle more. But, once they had a chance to rest and get their aether back, taking on the second wave of giants had been simple.

    The second wave only had two giant''s in it, each coming from a separate direction, but Bazel used [Entangle] and [Mesmerize] to stop them in their tracks while Samara dealt the finishing blows.

    The third wave also had two giants, and the pair dealt with them just as easily. They had just finished dealing with the fourth wave, consisting of three more giants, and it provided little difficulty.

    Bazel watched as Samara put the corpses in her inventory and took them over to the growing pile of dead giants in the riverbed. They hadn''t been sure what to do with the corpses, so they just left them for the moment.

    He found that he wasn''t as sympathetic towards the monster''s as he initially had been after fighting them more. It was clear they lacked any intelligence or self preservation with the way they continued to come ¨C even after what happened to their previous kin. If they had any awareness of the situation at all, it didn''t show.

    If the giants were intelligent, they would have all attacked at once and overwhelmed Bazel and Samara. Luckily for them, the giants waited for hours before sending another wave which allowed them to react and prepare.

    Bazel pulled up his status

    ¡¶ Bazel

    Swindler, level 4

    Rank E

    Health: 60/60

    Aether: 125/160

    Credits: 300

    Stats:

    Strength - 5

    Stamina - 7

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17 ¡·

    Not much changed except for his increase in level. He had hoped his strength or stamina might increase with all the exercise he was getting.

    I suppose it just takes time.

    Bazel heaved a sigh and sat on the grass. At least with the level increase, he was making some progress. He wondered how much experience it would take to reach level five, and wished the interface would show that information.

    The screen changed.

    ¡¶ Bazel

    Swindler, level 4

    Rank E

    Experience: 130/3427

    Health: 60/60

    Aether: 127/160

    Credits: 300

    Stats:

    Strength - 5

    Stamina - 7

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17 ¡·

    Bazel saw the line that showed how much experience he needed and glared at the interface.

    "Why couldn''t you just show me that in the first place!?"

    The interface did not respond.

    "Why are you yelling at your interface?" Samara asked as she rejoined him on the hill.

    "I wasn''t sure at first," Bazel gestured to the floating black tablet, "but now I''m certain this thing is playing with me! It''s hiding information that would be useful to have!"

    "Oh!" Samara leaned closer and inspected his interface, "You got it to show how much experience you need!"

    Samara summoned her own interface and pulled up her status. She sat next to Bazel and put it where they could both see.

    ¡¶ Samara

    Guardian, Level 4

    Rank E

    Experience: 570/3427

    Health: 150/150

    Aether: 75/90

    Credits: 2063

    Stats:

    Strength - 15

    Stamina - 17

    Agility - 12

    Sense - 10

    Intelligence - 9

    Spirit - 7 ¡·

    "I wonder what other things are hidden from us." Samara pinched her chin.

    "Who knows?" Bazel dismissed his own interface and fell backwards onto the grass, "It''s like a game, except we don''t know all the rules."

    "I think the directors did that on purpose." Samara dismissed her own interface.

    "The directors?"

    "The people who run the dungeon," Samara gestured vaguely, "That''s what Chris calls them, anyway."

    "The man-horse?" Bazel asked as he looked up at the sky, "What''s his story?"

    "He''s called a kentauros, that''s the name of his species." Samara said, "He told me he''s worked for the directors his whole life."Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    "Kentauros¡­" Bazel repeated the word, "What language is that? It''s like nothing I''ve ever heard."

    "Me neither. It''s like they''re from some far away land. Maybe across the sea?"

    "Maybe."

    They sat in silence for a while. Bazel kept his thoughts on the topic of the dungeon. Where did it come from? What was its purpose? If it was built by the gods, why didn''t they make it obvious?

    Bazel had heard of places that appeared seemingly overnight ¨C other locations said to have been built by the gods. These places were usually shrines that the faithful would make pilgrimages to in hopes of receiving a blessing. They always had a statue or divine script written on them that made it obvious who built it, however.

    The dungeon had none of those things.

    Bazel didn''t see a single statue of the all-mother or any of the other divines since entering the dungeon. Anything with text was written in common script instead of the language of the divines. Other than the miraculous nature of the place, there was nothing pointing to it being constructed by any of seven divines.

    So what if it wasn''t?

    Whoever built the dungeon, they would have to have godlike powers, that much was sure. But if it wasn''t the gods that ruled over their world¡­

    "The sun is going down." Samara pointed at the horizon, "I wonder if the giants will attack at night."

    "Who can say?" Bazel sat up and watched the setting sun, "Do you have anything to make light with?"

    "We can make a fire." Samara stood up, "I''ll go get some wood."

    Samara collected the wood and made a small campfire. She used a tool she bought in the safe zone called a "lighter" to get it going. Bazel couldn''t even be surprised about the fact that they had a tool that magically created fire with the flick of a switch. It was actually one of the lesser wonders he''d encountered in the dungeon.

    Once the sun went down, the sheep all grouped together and went to sleep. Samara took a blue and white box out of her inventory called a "cooler". Inside, she already had sandwiches in clear bags and drinks in metal cans. Bazel liked the sandwiches ¨C made with thinly sliced beef and vegetables. The drinks had labels on them that said "Grey Sisters'' Magic Brew". It tasted like the coffee he drank that morning, except cold.

    After a couple hours of waiting, it didn''t look like any giants would show. Samara suggested they take turns sleeping just in case, and she took the first watch. Bazel snuggled up to a sleeping sheep and used its wooly coat for warmth and comfort. The animal didn''t seem to mind.

    When Samara woke Bazel up for his watch, she reported that no giants had been spotted. He cracked open another Magic Brew and tended the fire while Samara slept in a huddle of sheep.

    Morning came quickly and Samara woke up to join Bazel. They sat on the hill waiting for more giants as the sheep got back to their grazing.

    Instead of giants, a shepherd appeared.

    Lysander returned about an hour after sunrise and walked up the hill towards them. His face was hard and unfriendly just as it had been the day before. He walked up, planted the but of his spear in the grass and looked over the flock.

    "Good." Was all he said.

    Bazel heard the familiar "ding-dong" and summoned his interface to see the message.

    ¡¶ Congratulations! You completed a job!

    Rewards:

    500 Credits,

    575 Credits (Bonus),

    1000 ExperiencePoints, ¡·

    "Then I guess we''re done here¡­" Samara said.

    Lysander nodded once and pulled two tokens out of his pocket. He gave one token to each of them and dismissed them with a wave.

    "What are these?" Bazel held up the blue metal token.

    "Teleport Tokens." Samara answered, "They''re sold in shops of each safe zone, and you can use them to teleport to the zone indicated by the number on the token."

    Bazel noticed that one side of the token had "SZ-1" on it, while the other had the Aethertech logo.

    "Just activate it the same way you would a skill crystal." Samara gathered her belongings and prepared to go, "Are you ready?"

    "Sure." Bazel nodded.

    They used the tokens and teleported to the plaza near the pizza shop. There were already some people out and about in the plaza and on the main street. Samara led the way and headed back to the job office.

    "We''ll let Chris know we''re done," she said, "It''s always good to report back, even though he already has the details."

    Bazel followed her and took the time to look around at the various shops and restaurants. Luxurious items and food were available in those places that not even the king could enjoy ¨C unless he decided to come to the dungeon himself.

    Yet, the king was favored by the gods. The seven divines ¨C including the all-mother ¨C allowed him to rule over others because of his pious nature and adherence to their precepts. Why would they make a place like the dungeon where beggars could enjoy such things?

    Bazel didn''t even worship the gods.

    They approached the large building with the glass exterior and went through the magically opening doors. A couple denizens were hanging out in the lobby and chatting with each other. Chris stood behind the desk like before.

    "Ah, I see you''re back!" Chris smiled at them as they approached, "How did it go?"

    "It was a little rough at first," Samara answered, "Bazel''s weapon scared the sheep and we lost a few. But afterwards we were able to deal with the giants."

    "Well, Lysander was pleased." Chris said, "he even requested the two of you next time he needs help."

    Samara folded her arms, "Somehow, I have a hard time imagining him saying it in so many words."

    "Eh," Chris shrugged, "That''s just how Laconians are."

    There''s another one of those strange words, Bazel thought.

    "If it''s okay," Samara continued, "we''d like to take a day off before our next job."

    Before Chris could answer, Samara put her hand up, "Something without sheep this time."

    "Sure," Chris chuckled, "I''ll see what I can do."

    "Alright then," Samara gave a polite wave, "We''ll talk later."

    "Have a good day¨C"

    "Actually¡­" Bazel stepped forward and interrupted the conversation, "Mind if I ask you some questions, Chris?"

    "That''s fine." Chris nodded and crossed his arms, "I''ll answer whatever I can."

    Bazel was quiet for a moment. He wanted to consider his words carefully so that Chris would give the best and most honest response. He didn''t think Chris would straight-out lie, but he might obscure information like the interface did.

    "Samara told me the name of your species, kentauros, did I get that right?" He asked and Chris nodded while narrowing his eyes. Bazel continued, "And Lysander is a man, at least he looks like one, and he''s called a Laconian?"

    "Yes," Chris said, "Although for Lysander, that''s the place he''s from. Laconia."

    "I see." Bazel pursed his lips in thought, "What language is that?"

    "It''s called Greek."

    "Bazel?" Samara raised an eyebrow, "Where is this going?"

    "One second." Bazel said.

    Bazel had heard and read about many places, but he had never heard of a place called Laconia. He also never heard of a language called Greek. Not that he was a scholar or polyglot, but he didn''t think anyone had heard of them.

    He looked back up at Chris.

    "Samara told me about the directors too. Are they Greek?"

    "You could say that." Chris nodded.

    That settles it then.

    "Okay," Bazel stroked his chin, "Here''s what I''m thinking. The dungeon was built and operates by the grace of these directors, and they are Greek."

    "Yes." Chris said.

    "The gods, the seven divines that is, they don''t have allegiance to any country or kingdom. They also have their own language, the divine language, and it''s not Greek."

    "And?" Chris tilted his head.

    Bazel continued, "I''ve seen such miraculous things in the couple days I''ve been in the dungeon, things that I could only ascribe to the powers of the gods. But they have nothing to do with it, do they?"

    Chris said nothing.

    "These directors, the ones who actually made the dungeon and everything in it?" Bazel locked eyes with Chris, "They have the powers of gods. But, they aren''t our gods. They aren''t the seven divines."

    "So what are you trying to say?" Chris asked.

    "The directors," Bazel said, "if they aren''t our gods, but they are gods in their own right¡­"

    "Do they mean to make war against the seven divines?"

    Bazel''s train of logic came from the fact that the divines would never allow such a fantastic place to exist in their world unless they had something to do with it.

    But it was there nonetheless.

    Bazel could only conclude that the godlike beings who made the dungeon and caused it to appear did so against the wishes of the all-mother and her divines. But why would they do that? Why would they set up such a place to begin with? Furthermore, why would they grant power and wealth to people who came to the dungeon? It was like they were trying to entice people into working for them.

    It was a colonization effort.

    They were trying to get as many locals as possible on their side. Once they had a good power base and the cooperation of the natives, they would basically be in charge.

    But the divines wouldn''t allow such a thing, right?

    Eventually, the directors would have to either negotiate or fight with the divines to wrest control.

    Bazel looked at Chris and tried to gauge his reaction to the question. The man-horse''s face was impassive. Silence reigned among them for several moments before the kentauros finally spoke.

    "Your conclusion is correct, Bazel." Chris said in a low voice, "The directors do indeed plan to make war against the gods of this world."

    Chris gave a wry smile.

    "And what are you going to do about it?"

 11 - Security Breach

    Cassandra sat at her desk compiling a report for the directors. Using the interface made such matters simple, but it was still tedious. She wished for anything to alleviate her boredom.

    When she was first offered the opportunity to join the acquisitions department, she thought it would be an adventure. Sometimes it was, but usually she found herself stuck in the office doing busy work.

    She yawned and took a sip of her coffee.

    The door opened and a blonde woman in a sharp pantsuit walked in. She stopped in front of the desk and bowed her head.

    "Good morning, Miss Cassandra."

    "Helen." Cassandra nodded at the woman, "How are things going?"

    "Quite well," Helen tapped her interface, "I have a report if you''d like to hear it."

    She could just have Helen send the report over the aether-net, but she welcomed the distraction from her own work. She dismissed her own interface and gestured to one of the empty seats on the other side of the desk.

    "Go ahead."

    "Very well," Helen sat down and started reading from her interface, "As you know, eight knights were sent to the dungeon a little over three weeks ago. Seven of them were regulars under the employ of the local king, while the eighth is part of an order that serves the gods of this world."

    "Yes," Cassandra nodded, "I imagine they are all doing quite well?"

    The knights were perfect candidates for the dungeon. They all possessed high combat skills and a thirst for recognition and power. Once their loyalty was won, they would be great assets in the coming fight against the gods of the world ¨C the seven divines, as they were called.

    "Oh, yes." Helen nodded excitedly, "Most of them have been gaining levels quite steadily. Many of them have started to move up the floors of the dungeon as well. They all excel in combat and have been won over by Aethertech''s offerings¡­"

    Helen frowned at her interface and looked over at Cassandra with a sheepish smile.

    "With one exception."

    "Explain."

    "The holy knight," Helen said, "His name is Peton, and it''s quite clear he intends to do harm to the dungeon."

    "Preposterous." Cassandra waved her hand dismissively, "There''s no way he would ever succeed in that."

    "It''s not impossible," Helen shook her head, "he has a blessing of some sort that wasn''t granted by the dungeon. I think it''s a boon from one of the divines."

    Cassandra tapped her finger on the desk as she thought about that. If one of the divines had granted him a boon, it would be possible for him to do damage. Of course, it all depended on what kind of blessing it was in the first place.

    Unfortunately, they had no way of discerning the blessings of gods outside the pantheon without pouring a lot of time and resources into it. An unknown boon belonging to an enemy already inside their headquarters could spell disaster.

    Cassandra knew she had to tell the directors about it. That was a discussion she did not look forward to. While she enjoyed working for them, they could be difficult to deal with at times. At least they were all considered "minor gods", so their presence wasn''t as terrifying and soul crushingly overwhelming as some of the Olympians. And the head director was actually a very nice man, if not a bit lecherous.

    "Fine," Cassandra sighed, "I''ll tell the boss about it and see what he wants to do."

    "Very well," Helen looked at her interface again, "Next up are the mercenaries. Twelve of them came to the dungeon, and ten of them are still alive after two weeks."

    Cassandra thought the mercenaries would have been even better employees than the knights, since it would be easier to win their loyalty. If all they cared about was wealth, there was plenty of that to be found in the dungeon.

    However, their skills weren''t nearly as good as the knights. While their loyalty was easy to get, their results failed to impress. She knew one of them had even forked over ten-thousand credits to change their class just because she didn''t like the one granted to her. That particular mercenary had to start over at level one and still hadn''t made much progress.

    Helen continued, "Most of the mercenaries are around level seven or eight by now, just trailing behind the knights in terms of performance. One of them is still level four because she did a class change."

    "Hopefully they up their game," Cassandra said, "they could be valuable assets if they would just try harder."

    "I''m sure they will do fine, as long as no more of them die."

    "Only time will tell," Cassandra leaned back in her chair and waved her hand, "who''s next?"

    Helen looked back at her interface and smiled, "The beggars. They are definitely the most interesting group."

    "I''ll say."

    "Twenty-three of them were brought to the dungeon," Helen tapped her screen, "Three didn''t survive more than a day, and one let his contract expire, so he was forcibly terminated."

    What was surprising about the beggars is that their survival rate was nearly as good as the mercenaries. Cassandra hadn''t expected any of them to survive, but they were resilient and determined.

    "Ten of them have non-combat classes." Helen said, "But, of the remaining nine, they are actually doing quite well. They seem to be more willing to take chances than other employees."

    "Good," Cassandra nodded, "Maybe we can use them as wildcards in the future."

    "My thoughts exactly!" Helen beamed, "It will be exciting to see what comes of them if nothing else."

    In this world, the only people who became beggars were the ones shunned from society for some reason. Some of them had "incurable" diseases ¨C which were nonetheless cured by Aethertech products. Others were considered rebels or infidels, and thus could not earn a living. All of them found hope in the dungeon, and Cassandra was curious to see what would become of them.

    "Lastly are the irregulars." Helen said.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    "Irregulars" was a name they gave to employees who wandered into the dungeon of their own accord. They ranged from adventurers searching for treasure to spies from neighboring kingdoms and countries.

    "At last count," Helen looked over her interface, "We have had sixteen irregulars enter the dungeon, of them, thirteen are still alive. One of them actually entered before the knights and has almost made it to the twenty-fourth floor!"

    They would be another group to watch. While their loyalties were all over the place, they were adapting well to the dungeon and making good use of the opportunities it provided.

    "Also," Helen said, "the security division has reported that a wagon train full of prisoners is on its way to the dungeon. It appears that the Canneldorth kingdom is sending everyone they don''t like here."

    "That will only serve us better." Cassandra said with a nod.

    "Indeed." Helen looked at her interface and frowned, "I also have a report here about a security breach."

    "Really?" Cassandra sat up straight, "tell me."

    "Chris, the kentauros in charge of the first floor job office, sent it in this morning. I''ll summarize," Helen squinted at her interface, "It appears one of the beggars, one Bazel the Beggar, asked Chris a series of questions and deduced the true nature of the dungeon. He knows that the directors are gods from another world, basically. Bazel''s partner, Samara the Slayer, was also there for the discussion, so she knows as well. Chris let them go, but asked them to not share this knowledge with anyone else."

    "He let them go!?" Cassandra shouted, making Helen jump in her seat.

    Company regulations clearly stated that anyone who propagated a memetic security breach should be immediately quarantined. Chris should have known better, and Cassandra was furious about it.

    Cassandra summoned her interface, and navigated to Chris'' employee page. She docked his pay for not following regulations and signed him up for a compulsory re-education course that would focus on security regulations. He was lucky he wasn''t being forcibly terminated.

    "Helen," Cassandra turned to her assistant, "Send me that report immediately and tell everyone I''ll be out for the rest of the day. I need to speak with the boss about this."

    "It''s already in your inbox." Helen said, "would you like me to send some officers to quarantine the two employees in question?"

    At least Helen knows the regulations.

    "Please do."

    "Very well." Helen stood and bowed before walking out.

    Cassandra navigated to her communications app and called the boss'' office. A woman dressed in negligee answered the call with sleepy eyes and frazzled hair.

    "Hello?"

    "Is the boss awake?" Cassandra asked the floozy, "I have an urgent matter to discuss with him."

    The woman looked around the room she was in and shrugged, "I don''t see him. He might be in the gym."

    "Find him." Cassandra ordered, "tell him I''ll be there in five minutes."

    "Fine."

    The call cut out and Cassandra dismissed her interface. She leaned back in her chair and frowned at the wall.

    It''s far too early for them to know what our plans are! She thought. She couldn''t help but wonder what Bazel planned to do with the knowledge though. It would be a delicate process to draw him to their side and buy his silence. Otherwise, he could do way more damage than some holy knight!

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    Bazel picked up a piece of pizza and stuffed as much of the slice in his mouth as possible. He chewed slowly while moaning in bliss.

    "I still can''t believe you figured all that out from a couple clues!" Samara said as she picked up another slice for herself, "And seriously, I thought Chris was going to attack us for a second there! He looked mad."

    "Yeah," Bazel swallowed his pizza and took a sip of soda, "Like he said, it''s not something they wanted us to know yet."

    "So?" Samara leaned forward, "What are we going to do about it?"

    Bazel pursed his lips and stared at the tabletop.

    "I told you about my parents, right?" He looked up at Samara to see her nodding, "Well, I should probably tell you the whole story so this makes sense."

    "I''m listening."

    "My father," Bazel glanced up at the ceiling, "he studied the heavens. He loved going out and looking at the stars, moons and even tracking the movements of the sun. He would make maps and diagrams that explained how all celestial bodies moved, as well as how our world fit into it."

    "Sounds like that''s where you got your smarts from." Samara said with a smile.

    "Maybe," Bazel gave a sad smile of his own, "anyway, many of the things he discovered directly opposed the traditions and stories propagated by the church. They cast him out of the city for heresy and my parents were forced to live in the woods nearby. We were really poor, and rarely ever had enough to eat."

    "The church said we weren''t even allowed to hunt in on the king''s land, though my father did so anyway. All the while, he never stopped studying the skies and learning from them. My mom tended a small garden and gave me an education."

    Bazel stopped talking and frowned while scratching at an imperfection on the table''s surface. He stayed like that for a few moments before speaking again.

    "I was about seven years old when the holy knights came." He stopped scratching and clenched his fist, "they barged into our little hut in the middle of the night and dragged everyone outside. Then they ransacked the place and found my father''s material. Everything he had discovered over a decade of work¡­"

    "They burned it all."

    Samara started to reach across the table to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, but stopped halfway and drew back. She placed her hands in her lap and waited until Bazel was ready to continue the story.

    "I managed to escape the knight that was supposed to be holding me and ran into the woods." Bazel closed his eyes, "I hid in a bush and watched as they burned down our home and executed my parents. They said they were infidels and deserved worse. They didn''t even burn or bury the bodies."

    "I''m so sorry." Samara said quietly.

    "It''s not your fault," Bazel shook his head, "it was the law of the gods and the church that branded my father a criminal. It was because of the divines that his curiosity about the world was deemed heresy."

    Bazel took a deep breath and continued, "I went back to the city and snuck inside on a cart. I knew I couldn''t go to the church for help lest they discover who my father was. So I started begging and never stopped. The gods had no sympathy for an orphaned child and never did anything for me."

    "That''s why," Bazel looked up at Samara with fire in his eyes.

    "I''m going to help the directors kill them."

    "Kill the divines?" Samara looked around to make sure nobody had heard him say that, "Is that even possible?"

    "Maybe." Bazel nodded, "At least the directors seem to think it is. If I''m right about their plans."

    "Wow." Samara sat back and pinched her chin, "That''s certainly an ambitious plan."

    "Yes," Bazel agreed, "and most likely foolhardy as well. But my mind is made up."

    "I see."

    "I don''t expect you to risk your own skin, Samara." He said, "I''ll understand if you want nothing to do with it."

    Samara shook her head, "I have no love for the gods myself."

    Before Bazel could ask for an explanation, five men walked up to their table. Four of them carried spears and one had a short sword. All of them wore hard expressions like he had seen on Lysander, and all of them wore the t-shirts with the helmets on them.

    "Bazel?" The man with the sword asked.

    "Yes?"

    "Come with us." He looked over at Samara, "You too."

    The men with spears grabbed their arms and hauled them to their feet.

    "Where are we going?" Bazel struggled against the grips on him.

    "Unhand me!" Samara struggled more.

    The man with the sword said only one word in response.

    "Quiet."

    Without anymore discussion, they were hauled away.

 12 - First Labour

    Samara glanced over at Bazel who was fidgeting ¨C bouncing his leg and wringing his hands while staring at the floor with a worried expression.

    When he confessed his desire to kill the divines, he had been so full of fire and determination that he seemed like a completely different person. Now he was back to being a quiet and nervous beggar.

    They were sitting in a room with white walls and a mirror along one side. The metal bench was all they had to sit on, and their interfaces had been disabled, so Samara couldn''t even retrieve the book she''d been reading. The guards had left them in the room alone and locked the door.

    They''d been sitting there for over an hour.

    Samara wanted to tell Bazel not to worry, but she was worried too. They had discovered something they weren''t supposed to, and now it seemed they would be punished. What sort of punishment would gods from another world give them?

    Samara didn''t want to think about it.

    The door opened and a dark-skinned woman walked in. Her hair was done up in multiple braids and tied back, she wore a black and white suit with wide-legged pants that almost looked like a dress. She was exceptionally beautiful.

    "Miss Cassandra?" Bazel sat up and looked over at her.

    "Good to see you again, Bazel."

    Cassandra made a chair appear from her inventory and sat right in front of them, crossed her legs and put her hands in her lap.

    "Seems the two of you caused a bit of a stir."

    "Sorry," Bazel looked at the ground and wrung his hands some more, "I didn''t mean to."

    "I know." Cassandra looked at Bazel for a moment and sighed, "If it makes you feel any better, you''re not in trouble. Not yet anyway."

    "What do you mean ''not yet''?" Samara narrowed her eyes at the woman.

    "I''m sorry," Cassandra smiled at Samara, "We haven''t been properly introduced. My name is Cassandra, and I''m an assistant to the directors."

    "You mean these gods that want to take over our world," Samara crossed her arms, "right?"

    "Yes."

    "So what''s going to happen to us?" Bazel asked.

    "A couple things," Cassandra summoned her interface and tapped the screen, then nodded to Bazel, "open your interface and read the message. You too, Samara."

    Samara heard the "ding-dong" sound that meant she had a message and opened her interface.

    ¡¶ Aethertech Non-disclosure Agreement

    By accepting the terms of this agreement, the party Samara the Slayer promises to not share or reveal information about the true nature of Aethertech headquarters of world ¦µ-11507-3, or its Directors to any third parties who have not also signed this agreement.

    Penalty for breaking the agreed upon terms can result in punishments up to forcible termination.

    Accept terms?

    Yes / No ¡·

    Samara guessed she didn''t really have an option in the matter, so she pressed the "Yes" option. Bazel looked like he barely even read it before he also accepted the terms.

    "Good." Cassandra nodded, "Now I''m going to tell you some things about the dungeon and explain what you must do to ensure no further actions are taken."

    "Further actions?" Samara raised an eyebrow.

    "Trust me," Cassandra closed her eyes and shuddered, "It''s better that you don''t know."

    "So what about the dungeon?" Bazel asked.

    "Yes," Cassandra turned her interface around and the screen showed an outside view of the dungeon, "This is the dungeon. It is comprised of one hundred and forty-four floors further split into six distinct groups of twenty-four floors each."

    The view zoomed in and showed the bottom floors, "The first twenty-four floors are testing grounds for new recruits. If you can make it to the twenty-fourth floor, then you''re eligible for a promotion from rank ''E'' to rank ''D'', however,"

    The view zoomed in even more to show only the twenty-fourth floor. The walls of the floor disappeared and showed what was inside it. It looked like a bunch of circular arenas around a central arena that was at least four times larger than the others.

    "In order to be promoted," Cassandra continued, "You have to pass the trial set up by the director there. The trial itself is a tournament between employees."

    "I thought you said I wouldn''t have to fight other people." Bazel said.

    "I lied." Cassandra said without hesitation, "It was necessary at the time. Sorry."

    Bazel didn''t answer, but resumed looking at the floor and wringing his hands.

    "The tournament is fought in teams of three, meaning you will have to recruit another member to participate." The screen changed to show three symbols. She pointed to the first one that was a bull''s head, "The first event is a monster battle. Your team will fight increasingly more difficult monsters for up to twelve rounds. If you pass all twelve rounds, you can go on to the next event."

    She pointed to the next symbol that showed a fist holding a sword, "The second event is the team battles, where teams will be pitted against each other in a single elimination bracket-style fighting tournament. Winning that will allow you to move to the third event."

    She pointed to the last symbol, a wreath made of leaves, "The third event is a battle against the director''s champion, in this case, one of his children."

    "Normally," Cassandra put her hands back in her lap, "you don''t actually have to win all three events in order to be promoted. As long as the director feels your performance is adequate and you are at least level twenty-five, you can move on. Furthermore, the third event is entirely optional. Winning it grants you the director''s blessing."

    "However," Cassandra put her finger up, "What we require from the two of you is that you win all three events in order to prove your dedication. If you fail, you will be terminated."Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    "I assume that doesn''t mean we just get kicked out." Samara said.

    "You''re very perceptive, Miss Slayer."

    "Okay," Bazel nodded and looked up, "so if we pass the trial on the twenty-fourth floor and get the director''s blessing, we are in the clear?"

    "Yes." Cassandra nodded, "The head director said that would be enough to prove your loyalty."

    "The head director?" Samara asked.

    "Yes," Cassandra made the image of the dungeon appear again. Each section of twenty-four floors was highlighted a different color, "Remember there''s six different sections? There''s a separate director in charge of each section except the lowest one. The head director is in charge of the top section and the whole operation."

    "So there''s five gods here?" Bazel asked, "Is that enough to fight the divines?"

    "It should be." Cassandra nodded, "While all five of them are considered minor gods, that doesn''t mean anyone can take them lightly. They''ve been around for a long time and are very good at what they do."

    Samara had to take a moment to parse what Cassandra just said.

    In their world, the seven divines were the all-powerful rulers of everything. All natural forces and phenomena could be attributed to the divines and their power. It was said that they sustained all life in the world and could end it with a snap of their fingers.

    Cassandra said that five minor gods could defeat them.

    The thought threw Samara''s mind into disarray. She always imagined gods as immortal and omnipotent ¨C how could something kill them in the first place?

    "They can''t actually kill the divines," Samara asked, "right?"

    "They absolutely could." Cassandra answered, "They''ve done it before on many other worlds."

    Samara was struck silent.

    After learning she could use the dungeon to become a god herself, she knew it was what she wanted. She imagined that nobody could ever hurt a god, but here, Cassandra mentioned it as a matter of course. Not only could they hurt and kill a god, they had done it before.

    So what do I do? Will becoming a god actually grant me any security?

    Samara''s greatest desire now felt like a foolish dream. Even if she succeeded, it might not give her what she wanted. Bazel was right when he said there was always someone stronger, and Samara knew she might never gain the strength she wanted to protect herself and those she loved.

    I have to try though!

    If she gave up now, she could never know the limits of her strength. She wanted to be the strongest, but knew she was far from the goal now ¨C much further than she had originally thought.

    Even if she could never categorically be "the strongest", she could still be much more than she was in that moment. And the first step to gaining that strength was to complete the task set before them.

    We will win that tournament!

    Samara stood up, "Let''s go, Bazel."

    Bazel looked between Samara and Cassandra. Cassandra made a shooing motion.

    "We''re done here, just remember not to speak of the dungeon''s true purpose."

    Bazel followed Samara out of the building which was located next to the plaza on the opposite side from the shops. Samara marched across the plaza with purpose.

    "What are we doing?" Bazel asked.

    "We''re going to get another job," Samara pointed in the direction of the job office.

    "Right now?"

    "Yes." Samara stopped walking and Bazel bumped into her. She turned and crossed her arms, "We need to get levels so we can be powerful enough to win the tournament. We need credits to buy new skills and upgrade our weapons. We also need to improve our stats through training! We don''t have time to waste!"

    "Okay!" Bazel put his hands up.

    Samara heaved a sigh and shook her head, "I''m not mad at you. I''m just frustrated by this situation. We''ve been thrust into a fight we didn''t really want."

    "Yeah, I know." Bazel put his hands down, "And worse yet, even if we''re successful in helping the directors complete their mission, we might just be trading one cruel master for another."

    Samara already considered that. If the directors managed to bring down the divines, then the directors would be the new rulers of their world. They still didn''t know much about the directors, but they knew enough about their organization.

    Aethertech ran like a business, and anyone who had the ability and drive could rise up through the ranks to become part of it. As Cassandra and others said, it was even possible to obtain godhood through the organization.

    In that respect, it differed from how the divines ruled.

    The all-mother and her divines would never allow lowly mortals to obtain that much power. Aethertech not only allowed it, but encouraged it. They even laid out a clear path of how to get there ¨C climb the dungeon, grow in power, show you''re worthy.

    Samara thought that to be the best route. Obtain godhood for herself and be one of the new rulers of the world. Maybe her power could never rival that of other gods, but she would still be high above most.

    She could live with that.

    "We can worry about all that later," Samara clasped Bazel''s shoulder, "for now, let''s just do our best."

    They continued on to the job office. When they arrived, Chris wasn''t behind the counter, and a regular man stood in his place.

    The man''s neatly-combed black hair shone in the light as if he had grease in it. His black and white suit was the same kind Chris wore, with the pants added to the ensemble. He wore a blue tie.

    "My name is Tim." The man stuck out his hand, "How can I help you today?"

    "Samara," Samara shook his hand, "We need a job. Preferably an open bounty."

    "Ah, yes!" Tim looked at his interface, "Since you''re both level four, there''s a perfect bounty on the fourth floor for you. Would you like the details?"

    "Please."

    Ding-dong!

    ¡¶ You have a job offer!

    The ruins of an old city are crawling with poisonous snakes! Scholars want to investigate the ancient site, but can''t get close. Go and thin them out for us would you?

    Reward:

    200 Credits for every Poisonous Snake killed,

    2000 Credits for killing the Poisonous Brood Mother,

    Note: You must return to the Job Office to collect rewards for this job.

    Accept Job?

    Yes / No ¡·

    Samara and Bazel both accepted the job.

    Tim nodded, "Good! Would you like me to teleport you now?"

    Bazel removed the Xanadu from his inventory and nodded at Samara. Samara took out her mace and nodded to Tim.

    Tim smiled as he tapped his interface, "Good luck!"

    The world shifted, and Samara found herself standing in some grassy plains. Nearby were the ruins of an old city ¨C white marble pillars with triangular stones on top and white stone walls with pieces missing.

    Bazel looked around on the ground, "I don''t see any snakes."

    "Let''s search inside the ruins." Samara started walking, "Stay behind me and get ready to fight."

    They stepped carefully between fallen pillars and scattered stones, keeping an eye on any place where a snake could crawl out from. As they rounded a lone-standing column, Samara heard the hiss of one of the slithering fiends. Samara turned to face it.

    A snake crawled out from behind a wall, green scales glinting in the light.

    "I should have expected this." Bazel said.

    "Me too." Samara sighed.

    The snake coiled up a dozen feet away from them and raised its head in the air. it flicked its tongue while staring at them with yellow, slitted eyes. It hissed menacingly.

    Even coiled up as it was, the snake''s head still rose about ten feet high. The thing was big enough to swallow a man whole. It waved back and forth a couple times as if doing a dance.

    Then it struck.

 13 - Lovely Paris

    Samara didn''t have time to activate her protective skills, but she did manage to put [Boost Damage] on her mace. When the snake struck, she dodged out of the way and brought her mace down on the monster''s snout. The snake''s head bobbed out of the way and dodged the attack.

    Samara pressed the attack, grunting as she swung with all her might. The snake kept dodging.

    "[Entangle]!" Bazel shouted.

    Green light wrapped around the snake, but it immediately broke out of the effect and attacked Samara again. She narrowly dodged it for a second time.

    "[Mesmerize]!"

    This time, the skill worked. Red light wrapped around the snake creating an aura. The overgrown reptile swayed back and forth with glassy eyes.

    Samara attacked. Once, twice, then the snake was brought out of its hypnotic state. It''s head snapped to look down at Samara and it hissed loudly. Samara rolled out of the way.

    "Fire!" She shouted.

    KA-BOOM!

    Bazel didn''t hesitate and let loose a barrage of shrapnel at the monster. It coiled up so that its head was hidden and took the attack.

    Realizing the skinny beggar was more of a threat than it first thought, the snake struck at him. Bazel brought the Xanadu up like a shield. The snake bit down on the large gun, but it kept Bazel from being skewered on its massive fangs.

    Samara scrambled back into the fight and tried to hit the snake in the head. Right before she reached it, something came from her flank and hit her.

    The breath left her lungs and she was tossed several feet. She rolled across the rocky ground getting scraped up in the process. Stinging scratches covered her arms and legs.

    She only realized afterwards that the snake had used its tail to hit her. She would have to be more careful of that in the future.

    She looked up and saw the snake rip the Xandadu from Bazel''s hands and throw it aside. He put up his hand.

    "Mesmer¨C"

    He couldn''t finish saying the word before the snake''s tail flicked out and hit him. He too, went flying several feet and hit the ground hard. The snake opened its mouth, extended its fangs and prepared to strike the prone Bazel.

    Samara pushed herself to her feet and charged the monster.

    It flicked its tail at her again, but this time she anticipated it. She dropped to the ground and slid across the loose ground, going right under the tail. She popped back up to her feet and swung at the body of the snake with her mace.

    She only hit it once before the tail whipped back at her again. This time however, it didn''t strike her. The snake wrapped it back half around Samara faster than she would have thought possible.

    With the body of the snake wrapped around her, she couldn''t move no matter how much she struggled. Her bones creaked under the strain and she found she couldn''t inhale. She opened and closed her mouth like a dying fish, but couldn''t draw in any air.

    The snake''s head came around and stared at her with those emotionless slitted eyes. It opened its mouth at her again, but this time left its fangs retracted.

    It''s going to eat me!

    Samara looked into the wide pink maw of the snake as it drew closer. Her head became fuzzy and her vision started to darken. At least she wouldn''t be conscious when it ate her.

    KA-BOOM!

    The sound of the Xanadu firing echoed all around the ruins. The snake''s head jerked to the side and it released its grip on Samara, dropping her to the ground. She lay in the dirt and sucked in as much air as she could. Her whole body hurt after being nearly crushed by the monster, but being able to breathe again felt great nonetheless.

    "[Mesmerize]!" Bazel shouted.

    The snake began swaying back and forth again. Samara could see multiple wounds all over its body from Bazel''s attack, seeping dark blood down its green scales.

    A few seconds later, Samara heard the gun load again and Bazel took another shot immediately.

    KA-BOOM!

    The snake spasmed and fell to the ground with a thud.

    ¡¶ Congratulations! You defeated a Poisonous Snake (level 6).

    260 Experience Points awarded. ¡·

    Samara crawled on her hands and knees to join Bazel who was sitting against a large square stone. She sat next to him.

    "That was pathetic."

    Samara turned and saw a woman standing nearby. She had long blonde hair and wore a green suit with white stripes down the arms and legs.

    "Who are you!?" Samara asked.

    "Just a girl goin'' for a walk." She smiled and tilted her head in a cutesy way.

    "Keep walking."

    "Samara!" Bazel bent to look around her at the woman, "Sorry, my friend here was being rude."

    "I probably deserved it." The woman walked around so she was standing in front of them and put her hands on her hips, "My name is Paris."

    "I''m Bazel."

    "Samara."

    Samara frowned at the woman. There was something she didn''t like about Paris, but couldn''t put her finger on it. Maybe it was because she was drop-dead gorgeous, but also had a strong presence coming from her. Samara reflexively touched her face where the large scar was.

    "Cool," Paris smiled, "You guys want some help?"

    "You''re going to help us?" Samara raised an eyebrow at her.

    "If you want." Paris folded her arms, "Maybe I should explain. I work for Aethertech in the training department. My girl Cassandra told me you two might need some help."If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    So Paris'' appearance wasn''t random, and Cassandra wasn''t as much of a bitch as Samara assumed. The fact she would send someone to help them train proved she had a heart at least.

    "I didn''t know Aethertech had a training department." Samara said.

    "Why not?" Paris shrugged, "It might be hard to believe since we put you guys in deadly situations on the daily, but we do want you to be successful. What better way to ensure success than training?"

    "This is something available to everyone?" Bazel asked.

    "Sure is!" Paris nodded, "Free of charge, too!"

    Bazel looked over at Samara, "We should take her up on this."

    He was right. There were so many things they didn''t know about the dungeon and the powers granted to them by Aethertech. On top of that, they almost died to a giant snake only a couple levels above them a few minutes earlier. If Paris could help, then they should take advantage of that.

    "As much as I hate to admit it, I agree." Samara got up to her feet and held out her hand, "Very well, Miss Paris, please train us."

    Paris shook Samara''s hand, "I would be my pleasure!"

    The trainer turned to walk out of the ruins and beckoned her two new students to follow her. They walked out into the grasslands where she found a rock to sit on. Samara and Bazel stood in front of her.

    Paris summoned her interface and looked at it for a moment, then looked back at Samara.

    "You''re a Guardian?"

    "Yes."

    "You should use a shield," she held out her hand and a round brass shield popped into existence, "here you go. It''s not the best, but it will work for now."

    Samara took the shield and used the leather straps on the back to attach it to her arm. She usually found shields to be cumbersome and not worth the trouble in her line of work, but she had no qualms about using one in the dungeon. It would have been helpful against the snake. She pulled up its description.

    ¡¶ Heroes'' Shield, level 3

    Blocks 45-77(8) damage (blunt, slashing)

    Requirements:

    Level 3-9

    15 Strength

    10 Stamina

    "All the classic heroes have shields! This chunk of brass may be heavy, but you''ll be glad you brought it along when you''re pitted against a horde of monsters! *A product of the Hephaestus Hero Armory" ¡·

    "Thanks." Samara said.

    "No problem!" Paris said in her overly enthusiastic way. She pulled two crystals out of her inventory and handed them to Bazel and Samara, "These are crystals for the skill [Analyze]. It''s a general skill that doesn''t require a specific class and can be used to gain information about your opponent, whether they are a monster or another person."

    "I didn''t even know there was such a thing." Samara held up the crystal.

    "Most new employees don''t." Paris said.

    Samara activated the crystal. It shattered and turned into swirling blue motes of light that entered her body.

    ¡¶ You have acquired the skill [Analyze]!

    [Analyze] - Shows basic information about your opponent. 15 Aether

    Accept skill?

    Yes / No ¡·

    Samara accepted the skill and it showed up in her skill list.

    "Now, another thing you didn''t know," Paris stood and looked over Samara''s shoulder at her interface, "By default, the interface only shows a simple view of your skills. Turn on the ''detailed view''."

    Samara projected the thought at her interface, and the screen changed. It still showed all her skills, but there was more information attached to them.

    ¡¶ Skills:

    [Ablative Sphere] - Creates a sphere of protective aether around you or your allies that reduces attack damage.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost: 25 Aether</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Reduction Amount: 10 points</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Duration: 5 minutes</li>

    </ul>

    [Agitate] - Makes your opponent prefer to only attack you and ignore your allies.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost: 15 Aether</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Duration: 1 minute</li>

    </ul>

    [Analyze] - Shows basic information about your opponent.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost 15 Aether </li>

    </ul>

    [Boost Health] - Increase your or your allies'' health for a period of time.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost: 15 Aether</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Boost Amount: 10 points</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Duration: 5 minutes</li>

    </ul>

    [Boost Damage] - Increase the damage of any weapon you or your allies use for a period of time.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost: 15 Aether</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Boost Amount: 10 points</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Duration: 5 minutes</li>

    </ul>

    [Reflective Sphere] - Creates a sphere of reflective aether around you or your allies that reflects a portion of attack damage.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost: 25 Aether</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Reflection Amount: 10 points</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Duration: 5 minutes ¡·</li>

    </ul>

    Samara remembered how Bazel discovered that the interface could show how much experience they needed to get to the next level, but only if they asked it to display that information. She wondered why they needed to go through all that trouble, shouldn''t it just show them these things in the first place?

    Still, seeing the exact details of their skills was nice. Samara wasn''t as good with numbers as Bazel was, but she could do some basic calculations. Having the specific amounts and times would help knowing which skill to use and when.

    "That''s why [Entangle] doesn''t work on the snakes!" Bazel blurted out.

    Samara looked at his screen and saw the detailed readout of the [Entangle] skill.

    ¡¶ [Entangle] - Slow your opponent''s movement for a time.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost: 15 Aether</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Duration: 1 minute</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Resist Skill: Agility ¡·</li>

    </ul>

    "Because the snakes have high agility." Samara finished his thought, "That actually makes sense."

    "Yeah," Bazel pointed at the screen, "[Drain Strength] can be resisted by high Spirit, and [Mezmerize] can be resisted by high intelligence. I assume the [Analyze will show us what the enemy''s highest skill is?"

    "Bingo!" Paris said, "That way you know which skills you can use on an opponent and don''t waste your aether."

    Paris sat back down on the rock and crossed her arms under her bosom, "Now, let''s talk for a moment about your stats. Right now, they are pitifully low."

    "Samara," she looked over at the woman, "the amount of aether you have to use is too low for your class. Your aether is based on an average of your Sense, Intelligence and Spirit, times ten. You should be able to get all of your stats to twenty by level twenty-five, meaning you would have twice as much aether to use."

    Samara understood what she was saying, but how was someone supposed to increase things like their senses, intelligence, and spirit? For physical improvement, exercise worked just fine, but increasing spiritual and mental abilities was beyond her.

    "How exactly do I do that?" Samara asked.

    "There''s various things we can do." Paris waved her hand back and forth, "Intelligence can be increased by studying new things, spirit can be increased through meditation. The five senses are a bit more difficult, but doing activities like cooking and music can help. Also, playing games."

    "Of course, physical abilities can be improved through different types of exercise," She looked over at Bazel, "So we are going to have a full regiment consisting of all these things."

    "You''re going to teach us music and cooking?" Bazel asked.

    "Among other things," Paris nodded, "yes. Just like Chiron taught Achilles all kinds of stuff to make him so awesome, I will mold you into warriors and scholars."

    "The ''Aethertech Advancement System''," Paris pointed at their interfaces, "used to grant people points they could spend on their stats instead of spending time training. However, the directors discovered that people didn''t know how to use what they had properly and changed it. Now, you have to increase those stats through hard work."

    "But if you stick with me," Paris used her thumb to point at herself, "I''ll make sure you guys are all kinds of buff. You''ll win that tournament no problem!"

    "You know about that, huh?" Samara crossed her arms.

    "Yes, Cassandra told me."

    "Okay," Bazel said, "So what do we do first?"

    Paris pointed back to the ruins and smiled.

    "Go kill twenty snakes before sunset!" She wagged her finger in the air, "If you fail, I''ll punish you!"

 14 - Scoping Out the Enemy

    Bazel watched as Samara braced her feet and raised the shield up. The snake struck at her, its head blurring as it shot forward. Samara used her shield to stop the attack, then batted away the head with the large round piece of brass. She immediately followed up by hitting the snake in the nose with her mace.

    "Nice block and counter!" Paris said from her perch on a stone block nearby, "Are you ready, Bazel? Use your words, buddy!"

    Bazel already used [Drain Strength] on the snake and hit the switch to load his Xanadu. Just as Paris finished speaking, it emitted the now familiar "cha-chunk" sound to indicate it was ready to fire.

    "Ready!" Bazel shouted.

    Samara hit the snake across the nose one more time making it reel back in pain. At the same time, she skipped backwards and to the side so she would be out of the line of fire. As soon as his partner was clear, Bazel pulled the trigger.

    KA-BOOM!

    Smoke and fire bellowed out of the gun and the force made Bazel slide back a couple feet. Blood sprayed off the snake''s head as it whipped backwards from the impact.

    "Good!" Paris shouted, "Your aim is getting better and you''re doing more damage as a result! Get back in there Samara, don''t give it a chance to retaliate."

    Samara jogged up and took her position between the snake and Bazel. He could tell his partner was getting tired with the way she held the shield too low. He was getting tired as well, despite the fact that [Drain Strength] was still active.

    While Bazel waited for his gun to reload, he pointed at the snake and used [Analyze].

    ¡¶ Poisonous Snake, level 6

    Health: Waning

    Effects: Bleeding

    High Stats: Agility, Sense

    Attack types: Piercing, Poison,

    Resistances: Poison ¡·

    "Waning" health didn''t indicate anything specific, but after fifteen battles, it told Bazel enough. "Waning" was less than "Half", but more than "Low". Once he got used to the words used to describe the monster''s state of health, it was easy to know how much more it would take to bring it down.

    One more shot ought to do it.

    The effect "Bleeding" was from his Xanadu Gun. It made the monsters bleed profusely and helped to bring down their health even when not attacking them. The fact that his weapon could inflict such an effect was a huge help and contributed greatly to their victories so far.

    CHA-CHUNK!

    Bazel heard the sound of his gun loading and prepared to fire again. Paris drilled them on their teamwork during every battle, so he had the routine down well.

    "Ready!" He shouted.

    The snake tried to hit Samara with its tail, but she dodged out of the way and rolled across the ground. As soon as she was clear, Bazel pulled the trigger.

    KA-BOOM!

    The snake thrashed around for a moment before going limp and falling to the ground. Its large body made a loud thud and threw up some clouds of dust.

    ¡¶ Congratulations! You defeated a Poisonous Snake, level 6.

    260 Experience Points awarded.

    ¡­

    You have increased your stats through training!

    Strength increased from 5 to 6,

    Stamina increased from 7 to 8, ¡·

    Bazel didn''t expect his stats to increase so soon, so the message was a pleasant surprise. He forgot about how tired he was and waved at Samara.

    "Samara, look!" He pointed at his interface, "My strength and stamina went up!"

    Samara walked over and looked at the screen, then patted him on the back, "Good work, partner!"

    Paris walked up behind Bazel and looked over his shoulder, "Nice!" She said, "Your health should have increased with that as well."

    Bazel pulled up his status screen and saw that she was right.

    ¡¶ Bazel

    Swindler, level 6

    Rank E

    Experience: 4869/8800

    Health: 70/70

    Aether: 160/160

    Credits: 1375

    Stats:

    Strength - 6

    Stamina - 8

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17 ¡·

    His health had gone from sixty to seventy, and while ten points didn''t seem like much in the long run, it could mean the difference between life and death if he took an attack head on.

    Samara rolled her shoulders and looked at the snake corpse, "What is that? Sixteen now?"

    "Yeah," Bazel gazed out at the horizon where the sun was dropping awfully low, "I don''t think we can kill four more before sunset."

    "Seriously," Paris put her hands on her hips, "I had no expectation that you would be able to kill twenty of them in the time limit."

    "So you gave us an impossible task?" Bazel frowned at her.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "Yup!" Paris smiled like a precocious child, "Although I''ll admit you guys did way better than I thought you would."

    "So what''s our ''punishment'' then?" Samara asked.

    "Hmm¡­" Paris tapped her chin as she thought, then smiled, "I want you to kill the Brood Mother!"

    Bazel remembered the name from the job offer, though he didn''t know exactly what it was. He assumed it was similar to the rat he killed when he first arrived ¨C just a larger, meaner version of the regular type of monster.

    That wasn''t exactly a comforting thought though.

    The "snakes" they had been fighting already were fifty to sixty foot long monsters that only resembled snakes. He shuddered to think of what a larger version of those was like.

    "Do you think we can do it?" Samara asked.

    "Probably," Paris nodded, "and if it looks like you''re about to die, I''ll step in."

    "Okay," Bazel looked around the ruins, "Where is the Brood Mother? I haven''t seen anything that would fit the description."

    They had walked all over the ruins while hunting the regular snakes and never saw anything else except them. Even regular animals steered clear of the area.

    "She''s inside the large building at the center of the ruins," Paris pointed in the direction, "but before you guys run over there, I should give you a quick rundown on what you''re up against."

    Paris tapped her interface and turned it around so they could see the screen. On it was a crude drawing of a snake next to a similar drawing of a much larger snake.

    "In the dungeon, there are two kinds of monsters." She pointed to the small snake, "the normal ones are all similar in appearance and abilities. You probably noticed by using [Analyze] on them that all their traits were identical. This also makes them predictable and easy to defeat if you already know how."

    "Next up are the Dynas," she pointed to the larger snake, "These are mutated and more powerful versions of their counterparts. They are usually much bigger and can have abilities not seen in the regular kind. Sometimes, they can look drastically different as well."

    As she said that, the large snake grew two more heads and shot a ball of green stuff from one of its mouths.

    "Never take a Dyna lightly, and never rush into battle with one. The best thing to do is scope it out on the dee-el and make a plan before getting too close." Paris dismissed her interface which disappeared with a pop, "Also keep in mind that Dynas are usually more intelligent than the lesser types. They can have strategies of their own."

    "I get it." Samara pinched her chin and furrowed her brows, "So we sneak in and [Analyze] it, then retreat and come up with a plan to defeat it."

    "Exactly!" Paris crossed her arms and nodded, "Don''t be afraid to use things in the environment to your advantage either. When you scout the Dyna, also take a look at the location and see if there''s anything that can be used to give you the upper hand."

    With that, the three of them set off towards the building Paris indicated. It looked like all the other buildings around it, except it was in better condition. It was almost a perfect cube around two hundred feet on each side and around sixty feet high. Large marble columns stood in front of the building and supported a triangular piece of stone above them. Some of the columns had fallen over, making it difficult to get to the front entrance.

    When they got close, Paris put her finger to her lips to indicate they should be quiet. Bazel stored the Xanadu in his inventory so he could move easier and walked in a crouch.

    At the entrance, Bazel and Samara stood on opposite sides and pressed themselves against the walls. Ever so slowly, they peeked around the corner and looked into the dark interior.

    Somehow, the building''s roof was mostly intact. Only a couple holes let in steamers of orange light and glinted off golden statues lining the walls. Large piles of rubble took up most of the interior ¨C fallen pillars and interior walls that obscured parts of the space in darkness.

    Bazel didn''t see any snakes.

    He glanced over at Samara and put his hands up, silently asking "Where is it?"

    Samara frowned and shrugged in a way that said "How should I know?"

    He looked over at Paris standing a couple dozen feet from the building. She used two of her fingers to point at her own eyes and then pointed at the building.

    I did look! Bazel grumbled to himself as he gazed back into the dark interior, I don''t think it''s here¨C

    Between a couple pieces of ruble, something moved. At first Bazel thought it might be a trick of the light, but as he focused on the area, he saw it again.

    Green scales.

    [Analyze] he thought as he focused on that area.

    ¡¶ Poisonous Brood Mother, level 9

    Health: Full

    Effects: None

    High Stats: Agility, Sense, Intelligence

    Attack types: Piercing, Poison, Aether

    Resistances: Poison ¡·

    Bazel also looked around the room to see if there was anything he could use to their advantage. The things which stood out the most were the pillars and statues. Most of the ones still standing looked like they could topple over any moment. Maybe with just a push¡­

    Bazel signaled Samara to fall back and they walked a distance away from the building with Paris. Once they were far enough, Paris gestured to Bazel.

    "What did you learn?" She asked.

    "It''s a level nine monster with above average intelligence compared to the other snakes, so I won''t be able to use [Entangle] or [Mesmerize] on it." He thought about what he saw when he analyzed it, "It also said it can attack with aether? I don''t know what that means."

    "Aether attacks are usually some sort of projectile or area-of-effect thing," Paris said, "They can manifest stuff from aether and use it as a weapon."

    "It''s a good thing we found that out ahead of time," Samara said, "It would be bad to get caught off guard when it starts spitting fireballs or whatever."

    "Most likely not fireballs," Paris rolled her eyes, "the Analyze should have told you what it would use however."

    "Poison," Bazel answered, "I''m pretty sure the piercing attacks are from its fangs, so the aether attacks must use poison."

    "Very good!" Paris gave a thumb up, "Of course, that doesn''t tell you how it will be used. It could shoot blobs of poison or breathe a cloud of poison gas. You have to be ready for anything."

    "Do you know what it will do?" Samara asked Paris.

    "Yes, but I''m not going to tell you." Paris stuck her tongue out, "Now you guys think of a way to kill it."

    Bazel and Samara talked it over for a few minutes and came up with something they thought had a high chance of success. They took Paris'' advice and thought of a way to incorporate the environmental hazards inside the ruined building ¨C of which there were many.

    Once they had it all worked out, Bazel retrieved his gun from the inventory and they walked back to the entrance of the building.

    "One more thing," Paris whispered as she held up an orange device in her hand, "It''s getting dark, so I''m going to use this to light the area up, it''s called a flare gun."

    The sun was already touching the horizon and most of the sky was turning a darker shade of blue. The inside of the building would be too dark to see well within minutes, so Bazel was happy she thought of something to help.

    "Okay." Samara said and locked eyes with Bazel, "You ready?"

    "Yes." Bazel gave a single nod.

    Samara brought her mace and shield up and jogged into the building. She stopped a couple dozen feet in. Bazel took a position a few feet behind her and waited for the Brood Mother to appear.

    Twilight streamed into the space through the holes in the ceiling and refracted off of pieces of marble and the golden statues. The ground shook slightly as something moved into the darkness.

    A loud hiss echoed through the building.

    A shadow rose up from the rubble and loomed over them, but in the failing light it lacked any particular shape. Samara used her shielding skills and [Boost Damage] on herself, causing her body to be enveloped in a red and blue aura.

    Paris aimed the flare gun in the air and pulled the trigger.

    A ball of shining light arced through the ruined building, immediately illuminating everything inside. The form of the Brood Mother was made clear.

    Before them was a three headed snake ¨C much larger than the others ¨C and all three heads were bearing their wicked fangs at the small humans.

    "Get ready!" Samara shouted.

    The Brood Mother attacked.

 15 - Bringing Down the House

    As soon as the flare revealed the terrifying form of the Brood Mother, Bazel knew every moment would count. He immediately used [Drain Strength] on the beast and pressed the switch to load his gun.

    "Get ready!" Samara held her shield up in front of her face.

    All three heads of the Brood Mother attacked simultaneously. Two of them converged on Samara while the third one went around her and attacked Bazel.

    Bazel barely had time to react before he was staring into the pink maw of the mouth, and the long curved fangs dripping with venom. He swung the Xanadu around and pulled the trigger.

    Nothing happened.

    In his fright, he hadn''t realized that it wasn''t loaded yet. The mouth of the creature opened even wider, as if it had a second hinge on its jaw. The fangs swiveled out ¨C aimed right at him.

    Bazel knew he wouldn''t be able to retreat fast enough to escape being pierced by the fangs. All he could do was stand there and wait for it to come. The head shot forward and turned sideways to grip its prey.

    CHA-CHUNK!

    Bazel pulled the trigger.

    KA-BOOM!

    Blood and chunks of flesh flew across the room. What was left of the head flopped to the floor with a wet smack.

    "Are you okay!?" Samara shouted as she used her shield to bat away the two remaining heads.

    "Yeah!"

    Bazel pressed the switch to load the Xanadu and turned back to face the remaining heads. They were attacking one at a time now, giving Samara the opportunity to block them in turn.

    A sharp pain made itself known in Bazel''s shoulder. He turned his head to look and gasped at what he saw.

    A piece of fang was stuck in him, going in the back and sticking out the front.

    He wanted to pull it out, but his hands were full and the fight needed all of his attention. He didn''t know if he had been poisoned, but he didn''t feel anything except the pain of being skewered.

    Samara batted away the head attacking her and countered with a strike from her mace. The head she hit recoiled in pain and the other one struck down at Samara. She managed to fend off the coordinated attacks, but she wouldn''t be able to keep it up forever.

    "I''m going to do it!" Bazel said, "keep them busy!"

    "Okay!" Samara said as she blocked the incoming head.

    Bazel ran to the side of the room where a statue stood next to the wall. It depicted a woman holding a horn, but Bazel couldn''t guess as to who she was. Part of her legs were missing as if a lumberjack had tried to chop her down in the past. He wedged himself between the statue and the wall, then used the wall to brace himself while he pushed the statue.

    He didn''t know if he was strong enough to push the thing over, it was supposed to be Samara''s job. However, it became clear that she wouldn''t be able to fend off both heads and knock over the statue, so Bazel made the call.

    Leaning against the statue with his good shoulder and pushing against the wall with his feet, he strained to make it budge. At first, nothing happened.

    Then he heard a cracking noise.

    The whole statue creaked and Bazel knew it would fall if he could just put a bit more oomph into it. He bent his knees slightly, then kicked back out at the wall with everything he had.

    The statue moved.

    He felt it give way, only an inch or so, but he was doing it. He strained even more, beads of sweat forming on his face as he pushed.

    Almost. There!

    Just then, the boost to his strength ran out. He looked around the statue at the monster and used it again. Red light swirled out of the Brood Mother and flew into Bazel. He felt bigger and more powerful.

    With his strength renewed, he pushed at the statue again as hard as he could.

    It finally toppled over ¨C a couple tons of gold fell into the center of the room with a crash. A cloud of dust and debris was kicked up as it hit the ground and the whole room vibrated from the force of the impact.

    Bazel turned and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the plan had worked. Stuck under the statue were both of the remaining heads of the Brood Mother. Both heads snapped and hissed at Samara, who still stood before them, but they couldn''t reach her.

    Samara used the advantage and started to pummel the closest head with her mace. Wet crunching sounds echoed through the structure as she mercilessly beat the Brood Mother. It didn''t take long for that head to perish as well.

    Bazel hefted his gun and grit his teeth to bear the pain of the fang still stuck in his shoulder. He would take out the last head himself.

    The light produced by the flare flickered a couple times and went out, plunging the room into darkness.

    Paris shot another flare into the room. As it traveled a parabola into the area, it cast moving shadows against the walls, and one of those shadows belonged to the headless neck ¨C a neck that was now rising into the air.

    Bazel paused and watched as the headless neck moved. Blood spurted out of the stump, then something white began to grow out of it.

    Bone?

    The bone grew until it was in the shape of a skull. Tendons and muscles grew out of the bloody neck and attached to the bone. Skin began to form over the whole thing and then the head was back.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    The whole process took seconds.

    "That''s not fair!" Bazel whined.

    "Shoot it!" Samara shouted.

    Bazel pointed his gun and pulled the trigger. The now familiar blast of the Xanadu echoed through the room accompanied by smoke and fire from the barrel. The newly formed head whipped back as fresh blood sprayed off of it.

    The rest of the Brood Mother pulled back to extricate its other two heads from under the statue. The whole body of the beast undulated and flailed about, finally managing to remove itself from the debris.

    The center head was still out of commission ¨C that being the one Samara had smashed with her mace. The right head was bleeding, but still in the fight, and the left head hardly had any damage at all.

    The injured head attacked again. Samara intercepted it with her shield as Bazel waited for his gun to reload.

    "What do we do?" Bazel jogged up behind Samara.

    "I''m not¡­ sure!" She grunted the last word as she blocked another attack from the left head, "Maybe kill both at the same time?"

    "Okay," Bazel heard the sound of his gun loading, "I''ll take the left one!"

    "Got it!"

    Bazel ran to the side, away from Samara''s protection and got the attention of the left head. He skidded to a stop and swiveled to point the gun at it. The head opened its mouth and shot forward at Bazel.

    KA-BOOM!

    The head ¨C mere feet away from Bazel ¨C blew apart in a gory mess. Blood, flesh and bits of bone splattered against a nearby wall.

    Bazel turned to see Samara finishing off the last head. She pinned it against a pillar while beating it with her mace. It wouldn''t last much longer under her assault.

    But she didn''t kill it quickly enough.

    The center head started to reform. The collapsed section of its skull popped back out and covered itself with flesh and skin. Just as Samara delivered the final blow to the head she was attacking, the center head reared up.

    Samara turned and saw it, "Seriously!?"

    Samara took up a position in front of the last remaining head, Bazel got behind her. The mouth opened and the neck of the creature convulsed as if it were about to regurgitate something.

    A swirling green ball formed in its mouth.

    The ball shot out of the monster''s mouth and hit Samara''s shield. What at first looked like a swirling ball of energy gained substance and turned into a liquid. While most of the liquid was deflected by the shield, some of it got on Bazel''s arms.

    His skin started to turn black.

    Everywhere the liquid touched him, black spots emerged. It looked like some sort of disease.

    Bazel could already feel the effects of it too. It felt as if his blood were boiling inside his body ¨C a painful sensation only rivaled by the large fang still stuck in his shoulder.

    "We have to take it out before it does that again!" Samara warned.

    Bazel didn''t know how long it had been since he used [Drain Strength], but he did it once more just to be safe. The Xanadu was already loaded, and all he needed was one good shot.

    Point-blank range would be preferable.

    Yet, the head didn''t try to come at them, and kept its distance. It opened its mouth and began convulsing once more, preparing to shoot another ball of poison.

    Bazel saw something that might help and decided to try it. He aimed his gun ¨C not at the monster ¨C but the pillar next to it, and fired a shot.

    KA-BOOM!

    The whole roof of the building shook, and collapsed inward. The broken pillar that Bazel fired at snapped and brought down the rest. Brick shingles and old wooden beams rained down from above, crashing into the Brood Mother.

    Bazel and Samara moved back and got as close to the wall as possible. Samara held her shield above her head to keep both of them from being hit by falling debris. Bits of brick and wood made ringing sounds as they collided with the brass disc.

    The Brood Mother got the worst of it. She was buried under a pile of rubble and collapsed to the ground. The only part of the monster still visible was its last remaining head.

    A quick [Analyze] showed exactly what Bazel hoped he would see.

    ¡¶ Poisonous Brood Mother, level 9

    Health: Low

    Effects: Stunned

    High Stats: Agility, Sense, Intelligence

    Attack types: Piercing, Poison, Aether

    Resistances: Poison ¡·

    The monster was gravely injured and momentarily stunned from the collapsing roof. There wouldn''t be a better time to finish it off.

    Samara must have come to the same conclusion, because as soon as it was safe to move, she rushed forward and started beating the head poking out from under the debris.

    Bazel heard the sound of his gun load and called out, "Ready!"

    Samara jumped back and Bazel fired at the head from only a few feet away. It ¨C like the others ¨C made a bloody explosion.

    ¡¶ Congratulations! You defeated a Poisonous Brood Mother, level 9.

    1,499 Experience Points awarded! ¡·

    The effect of the [Drain Strength] disappeared, and with it went Bazel''s ability to stay standing. He dropped to the ground and took a few deep breaths.

    His whole right arm was in so much pain he could barely move it, and his shoulder was equally sore from having the fang stuck in it. He didn''t know why he had been able to hold his gun up to that point.

    On top of the pain of his injury, he also felt a strange burning sensation through his whole body. His vision was blurring and he couldn''t even speak.

    Samara took a bag from her inventory, opened it and pulled out a few glass tubes. Two of them had green liquid inside while the third had golden liquid. She took one of the green ones, pushed a button that ejected a needle and jabbed it into her leg. She took the other green tube and repeated the process, only putting it in Bazel''s leg instead.

    "This is antidote," she said, "it will stop the poison."

    She then walked around behind Bazel and put a hand on his back while gripping the fang with her other hand.

    "I''m going to pull this out on three. One¨C"

    "Gah!"

    Bazel cried out in pain as the object was pulled out of him. Blood poured out of the open wound and it all made him feel faint.

    Samara pulled some gauze out of her bag and wadded it up on the bleeding areas. She took the tube of golden liquid and ejected the needle, then stabbed it into Bazel''s stomach. He didn''t even have the strength to complain.

    "Lie back," Samara guided him to a supine position, "The ambrosia will heal up the wound in a bit."

    Paris walked over and crouched down beside Bazel, "You did pretty well considering you took that injury so early in the fight."

    "Thanks." He croaked.

    "Probably the adrenaline rush that kept you going." Paris tapped her chin as the thought of something, "It might be a good idea to get you some armor. You''re a bit squishy."

    "Squishy?" He wasn''t familiar with the term.

    "Easily hurt," She said, "and trust me, there''s lots of things in here that can hurt you worse than this."

    "I dunno," Bazel gave a half smile, "This hurts pretty bad."

    "You''ll be fine!" Paris slapped his good arm, "Even if Samara didn''t have antidote and ambrosia on her, I always carry medical supplies with me."

    "Speaking of," Samara sat on the ground beside Bazel, "That''s the second ambrosia I''ve wasted on you. You owe me big time."

    "I''ll buy you a pizza."

    Samara tried to frown at him, but she couldn''t keep a straight face. She chuckled while shaking her head.

    "Deal."

 Extra Episode 2 - Meanwhile, at the Divine Palace...

    High above the plains of the Canneldorth kingdom, about a day''s journey west of the dungeon, an island floated in the sky. On top of the island sat a palace made of marble and gold ¨C its size rivaling anything built by man. On the balcony of the palace stood a woman with long blonde hair wearing a dress that seemed to be spun from gold.

    The All-mother sighed as she looked across the plains from her perch on the balcony. Even from this distance she could see the dungeon. The top of the structure even broke through the clouds.

    The dungeon vexed her. For eons, she ruled as the god and queen of the entire world, and now someone had come to claim what was rightfully hers.

    "Everyone''s here, mother."

    The All-mother turned to see a young man wearing a leather jerkin over his red satin shirt. The cuffs and collar had frills on them that gave him a noble air. It was fitting since he was a god after all ¨C the god of celebration and cheer.

    "Thank you, Dugan."

    The All-mother walked into the adjoining room, a lavish dining area with a long wooden table as the centerpiece. Gathered around the table were the other five gods.

    "Is it time to crush the interlopers!?" Asked a heavily muscled man wearing only leather pants.

    "No, Jongar," The All-mother frowned at him, "and what have I told you about going shirtless at the table?"

    "It''s not like we''re here for supper!" Jongar threw up his hands.

    "No," a redhead wearing blue robes said, "we''re here to discuss what to do about those other¡­ gods."

    She spoke the last word while twisting her face in disgust. She was the goddess of wisdom, Faranel.

    Jongar rolled his eyes and slammed a fist down on the table, "What''s there to talk about!? Let''s just go over there and wreck them!"

    Of course he would think that was the only solution to their problem. Jongar was the god of battle and strength.

    "Calm yourself, Jongar," a silver-haired woman in a white dress said, "We still don''t know what we''re up against."

    That was Zareel, the goddess of purity and healing.

    The All-mother clapped her hands together and everyone quieted down. She took her seat at the head of the table and leaned forward on her elbows.

    "It''s too early to attack them outright," she said while making eye contact with Jongar, "We still don''t know enough about them. In light of that, I''ve gathered everyone so we can talk options."

    A gloomy girl with black hair wearing a black dress raised her hand. The All-mother pointed at her.

    "Yes, Chanee?"

    "Didn''t you already make plans with that mage?" She asked, "the one that works with the king of Canneldorth?"

    Chanee was the goddess of death and mourning among other things. She rarely spoke up, but the All-mother was glad to see she was making an effort.

    "Yes," the All-mother nodded, "I told him to gather an army five million strong and prepare for an all out assault."

    "Now we''re talking!" Jongar roared.

    "But," the All-mother held up a finger, "I have no expectation that will be enough to destroy the dungeon. They will simply set the stage for what we must do."

    "And what''s that?" Dugan asked.

    "First," the All-mother swept her hand to indicate everyone at the table, "can anyone tell me what our most valuable resource is?"

    A man in simple merchant''s clothing smiled. He was Bolar, the god of wealth and trade.

    "Is it gold, mother?" He asked, "It is quite valuable, and it''s luster is just the¨C"

    "No," Faranel interrupted him, "It''s not gold, you simpleton."

    "Oh?" Bolar crossed his arms and glared at the goddess, "care to enlighten me miss know-it-all?"

    "Of course." Faranel nodded, oblivious to Bolar''s insult, "The most valuable resource we can have as gods is the worship of the people."

    That was the correct answer. Even the All-mother herself didn''t know the exact mechanics behind it, but when people worshipped them, it gave them power. Because of that, the divines worked hard to make sure as many people as possible worshipped them daily.

    All throughout the world were shrines, altars and other holy sites where people could make pilgrimages and receive blessings. Every nation had its own version of a church where the divines were worshipped, and one day a week was even set aside for that very purpose.

    The faithful would be blessed and gain rewards based on which God they worshipped. Sometimes a person would be healed of an incurable sickness, or a withered crop might spring back to life. All these things were works of the divines who held ultimate power in the world.

    But they only had that power because of their worshippers.

    "You''re right, Faranel," the All-mother nodded to the goddess, "our power comes from their worship. But, what if everyone stopped worshiping us? Would we instantly lose our power?"

    "Not at all," Faranel answered, "We have thousands of years worth stored away for such an emergency."

    "Right again."

    "You''re talkin'' about the big rocks?" Jongar asked.

    The "big rocks" Jongar spoke of were actually crystals. The crystals were solidified magic power, collected over thousands of years.

    The truth was, the divines had so much power, they didn''t even know what to do with all of it. The metaphysical exchange that happened when a single person worshipped the gods didn''t amount to much. But when there''s nearly a billion people worshipping every day, it became more than the divines needed to do their jobs. Instead of letting all the excess energy go to waste, they stored it.

    The stored magic was put to use as well ¨C the island their palace sat on was dependent on the crystals for power that it used to float in the air. Still, they were always receiving more power than what they used.

    If the All-mother''s scenario happened, and people stopped worshipping them, they would still have lots of power to draw from to remedy the situation. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    "Yes, Jongar," the All-mother answered his question, "I''m talking about those."

    The All-mother waved her hand to indicate the palace in which they sat.

    "This island is held aloft by magic energy we have stored in those crystals. If we didn''t have them, one of us would have to constantly supply our own power to make it work, and that would just be tedious. Now consider the dungeon."

    She held up her fist.

    "One moment, there was just an empty plain, then," she opened her fist and wiggled her fingers, "poof! It just appeared. The dungeon came from who-knows-where, tore through space and time itself, and ended up here."

    "I see," Bolar nodded, "You''re saying the dungeon must have a power source like we do. Their own crystals, as it were."

    "That makes sense," Faranel steepled her fingers, "We know the whole thing is guarded by powerful magic. They call it aether, but it''s the same magic we use. In order to be able to travel between worlds and put up such strong barriers, they must be using something similar."

    "So?" Jongar punched the air, "Let''s run in there and smash them to pieces!"

    "Idiot!" Faranel glared at Jongar, "Did you miss the part about the barriers? We can''t even get close to the place!"

    "We may not be able to," Zareel said, "But mortals can."

    "Like your pet?" Faranel raised an eyebrow at Zareel.

    "He''s not a pet!" Zareel crossed her arms and frowned, "His name is Peton the Light Bearer, and he''s my most faithful servant!"

    "What makes him so special?" Faranel asked.

    "Well, if you must know, he swore a vow of lifelong chastity to me," Zareel looked away and smiled as her cheeks reddened, "It was a very powerful act of worship."

    "Do you like this man?" Dugan asked.

    "Of course I like him!" Zareel smiled, then she realized what she said and waved her hands around, "I mean, I don''t like, like him! He''s just very loyal, and honorable, and, and¨C"

    "Handsome?" Faranel asked with a wry grin.

    "Ugh, fine!" Zareel threw her hands up, "so maybe I do have a thing for him!"

    "This is some juicy gossip!" Bolar leaned towards Zareel, "Tell me more!"

    "Falling in love with a mortal," Faranel shook her head, "How illogical."

    "Good for her," Chanee muttered, "and I''ll probably be alone forever¡­"

    "Oh!" Dugan jumped to his feet, "We should have a wedding! With singers and dancers, too! And a grand feast!"

    "A wedding!?" Zareel looked horrified, "It''s too early for all that!"

    "Children!" The All-mother clapped her hands together, getting their attention, "We''re getting off-topic, let''s try to stay focused."

    All six divines answered in unison.

    ""Yes, Mother.""

    "On the subject of Zareel''s boyfriend," the All-mother smiled as she watched the goddess'' embarrassed reaction, "that is exactly how we are planning to deal with whatever power source they have."

    The All-mother nodded towards Zareel for an explanation. The flustered goddess took a deep breath.

    "Yes," Zareel cleared her throat, "since Peton is so faithful, I have given him a blessing that allows him to wield powerful magic in my name. I told him to find the dungeon''s power source, or core, and destroy it."

    "And then we can run up in there and destroy¨C" Jongar stopped talking when he saw the way the All-mother was looking at him. He cleared his throat and put his hands in his lap, "Sorry, Mother."

    "However," The All-mother said, "even if Peton is successful and the barriers go down as a result, we still don''t know what else we might face. What other threats might be waiting for us inside?"

    "My attempts at scrying haven''t been too successful," Faranel said, "but I have learned there''s only five of them in there. I even heard someone say they''re minor gods."

    "Be that as it may," Zareel held up her hand, "We still know nothing about them. Maybe in the world they''re from, the gods are more powerful than us."

    "Hmm," Bolar stroked his chin, "I have a couple followers in there, maybe I can use them as spies."

    "That''s a good idea," the All-mother nodded, "in fact, we should all follow Zareel''s example and send as many people to infiltrate the dungeon as is possible."

    "Will that work?" Dugan asked, "I mean, they could just kill whoever we send."

    "They already know about Peton," Zareel said, "They know what he''s trying to do and haven''t stopped him yet, although I can''t say why."

    "Maybe they''re too weak!" Jongar said with renewed vigor.

    The All-mother didn''t think that was the case. She kept thinking about how worship empowered herself and the rest of the divines; maybe it held true for these other gods. If that was the case, then they wouldn''t go killing the mortals of the world they were trying to take over.

    No, they would get them to change sides.

    "They think they can turn Peton," the All-mother said, "That''s why they haven''t killed him."

    "He wouldn''t!" Zareel looked aghast, "He would never be unfaithful to me!"

    "Everyone will disappoint you in the end¡­" Chanee muttered.

    "I''m sure you''re right, dear" the All-mother tried to comfort Zareel, "but they will test him all the same. They will test everyone we send in, which is why we should only choose the most loyal servants for the task."

    "So that''s it?" Faranel asked, "We just send servants in and hope they get us some information we can use?"

    "Unless you have a better idea," Bolar smirked, "goddess of wisdom."

    Faranel sneered at Bolar.

    "Well?" The All-mother looked around the table, "Does anyone have any other ideas?"

    "Challenge them to a fight!" Jongar roared.

    "Set up a blockade?" Bolar suggested, "We could keep more people from going in."

    "Have we tried putting a curse on them?" Chanee asked, "I know some especially nasty ones."

    "I should double my scrying efforts," Faranel said, "It''s sure to yield results."

    "Wait!" Dugan held up his hand, "There''s one thing we haven''t thought of yet!"

    Everyone turned to look at him.

    "Hear me out," he held up both hands and grinned, "What if we throw them a welcome party?"

    There was a long moment of silence, then the room exploded with noise.

    Everyone at the table started talking over each other to tell Dugan how horrible of an idea that was. Everyone except Chanee, who folded her arms on the table and buried her head. Even the All-mother was about to tell him it was a silly idea. Why would they welcome people who came uninvited in the first place?

    But, the All-mother realized that while everyone was voicing their disapproval, Dugan''s smile just continued to grow. It was as if he knew something they didn''t.

    And that made her curious.

    "Quiet!"

    The All-mother rarely raised her voice, but when she did the effect was immediate. Everyone stopped mid-sentence and whipped their heads around to face her.

    "Let''s hear Dugan out like he asked." The All-mother gestured to the still smiling god, "Go ahead and explain, dear."

    Dugan bounced on the balls of his feet and rubbed his hands together.

    "Okay, we''ll send them an invitation to a grand party that we are throwing to welcome them to our world¡­"

    For the next fifteen minutes, Dugan outlined a plan that would become the centerpiece of their operation to oust the invading gods from their world. It was actually quite devious, and the All-mother was surprised that a sweet boy like Dugan could hatch such a scheme.

    But, the more she heard, the more she was convinced it would work.

 16 - The Third Prince

    Bazel, Samara and Paris appeared in the plaza of the first floor safe zone.

    After defeating the Poisonous Brood Mother and giving Bazel''s wounds some time to heal, they returned to get some well-deserved rest.

    But first, they had to collect their earnings for the job they''d just completed.

    Bounty jobs differed from the normal ones in one respect ¨C that being you could keep doing a bounty as long as you wanted. The job wasn''t considered "done" until you returned to the job office. So the three of them headed to the office to complete the job.

    As soon as they walked inside, Bazel''s interface made its "ding-dong" sound, informing him of a message.

    ¡¶ Congratulations! You completed a job!

    Rewards:

    2,700 Credits, ¡·

    "That''s not bad for a day''s work!" Samara said as she looked at her interface.

    It was over twice what they made on the previous job guarding the sheep, so Bazel was happy.

    They went back out to main street and Samara guided them to a restaurant that served something called hamburgers. The sign out front claimed the food was made with all beef however, not ham.

    As soon as they walked inside, Bazel saw someone he knew. Bazel jogged over to the table where the man was sitting and waved.

    "Hey, Jardan!"

    The mustachioed man looked up and frowned at Bazel, but the frown quickly transformed into a smile as he stood up and put out his arms.

    "Bazel? Bazel the Beggar!" He gave Bazel a quick hug and then held him at arms length to look him over, "I barely recognized you!"

    Bazel pointed at his feet, "Yeah, look! I got shoes!"

    "Well those are some fine shoes, Bazel!" He looked over at Paris and Samara, "Who are your friends?"

    Bazel introduced everyone and told them about how Jardan had brought him and the other beggars to the dungeon. Of course, Bazel remembered Jardan for another reason ¨C he was a man who showed kindness to a beggar.

    "By the way," Bazel spoke to Jardan, "I didn''t think you were too keen to come in here yourself. What happened?"

    "Ah! Well," Jardan rubbed the back of his neck, "Thing is, I was tricked."

    "Somebody tricked you?" Bazel frowned, "We''ll, That''s not nice!"

    "I would agree," Jardan smiled, "However, this place is actually growing on me, so I''ve decided to stick around. They gave me the Artificer class, so I don''t have to fight, I just build things."

    "That''s good," Bazel said, "still, I can''t believe someone tricked you into coming here. Will you tell me about it?"

    "Sure," Jardan took his seat and gestured for Bazel to join him, "It happened right after the last time I saw you. I went back to the city, and I was approached by a man¡­"

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    Jardan returned to the barracks owned by his merchant company and stabled the horses after unhitching them. It had been a long day ¨C taking the beggars out to the dungeon ¨C and he was looking forward to getting some rest.

    As he headed inside to the barracks proper, a man in an overcoat approached him.

    "Excuse me, merchant."

    The man spoke in a low voice that was clearly an affect so that nobody could recognize his normal voice. The hood of his overcoat covered his face enough that he couldn''t be identified.

    "Name is Jardan," Jardan crossed his arms, "not Merchant."

    "Apologies," the man bowed his head, "I meant no disrespect."

    "So? What do you want?"

    "I''m in need of a ride out to the dungeon."

    "I just returned," Jardan used his thumb to point behind him at the stables, "I''m not leaving again until morning."

    "That''s fine," the man said, "But allow me to request a wagon to myself. Just you and me, no one else."

    "That''ll cost a bit more¨C"

    "I can pay." The man reached Inside his coat and pulled out a bag, he handed it to Jardan, "Would this suffice?"

    Jardan looked inside the bag to find it stuffed with gold crowns, "This is a year''s worth of wages! No, two!"

    "Please, sir!" The man held out his hands, "I would like this transaction to be discreet!"

    Jardan narrowed his eyes at the man, "This isn''t something illegal, is it?"

    "Not illegal," The man said, "I just don''t want anyone to know I''m going there."

    Jardan knew he shouldn''t involve himself. Even if no illegality was involved, it was still shady. But then there was the fact the man was willing to pay him so much for nothing more than a ride.

    "Meet me back here at daybreak." Jardan said.

    "Thank you, sir."

    The next morning, Jardan awoke early to get the horses ready and hitch them to the wagon. He had just completed preparations as the sun was rising, and went to meet the man.

    He arrived right on time, still wearing the overcoat to disguise himself. He only carried a small bag and a cutlass.

    On the way out to the dungeon, Jardan tried to engage the man in conversation. He had no interest in discovering the man''s identity, but the half-day journey was boring and there was only one person to talk to.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    The man didn''t want to talk though. He only sat in the back of the wagon and held his hood so it wouldn''t get blown back by the wind. His attempts to hide himself only made Jardan more curious as to who he was.

    Once they got close enough to clearly see the massive structure, Jardan called out to the man, "Hey, if you wanna see it, the view is great right now."

    The man clambered up to the front of the wagon and looked across the plains to the dungeon. It stood on the flat landscape and dominated the horizon ¨C a wreath of clouds hovered about three-fourths of the way to the top. The white marble and granite structure sparkled in the sunlight.

    "Amazing!" The man said, forgetting to disguise his voice.

    Just then, a wind swept across the plains and pushed the man''s hood off. Jardan couldn''t help but look at the face of his customer, and immediately wished he hadn''t.

    "Your highness!?"

    Indeed, the man next to him was none other than the third prince of the Canneldorth kingdom ¨C Risken Halamburd Gottel, first of his name. Jardan had never met the man before, but he''d seen him in parades and his likeness drawn on pamphlets. There was no mistaking the young man with fiery red hair for anyone else.

    "Damn!" The prince frowned, "I truly wish you had not gazed upon my fair visage."

    "Feeling is mutual!" Jardan pulled the reins and made the horses stop, "What are you doing, going to the dungeon?"

    "Because my heart desires it!" The prince put his fists on his hips, "Such a magnificent place full of splendor, why would I not want to see and experience it all myself?"

    "But it could be dangerous!" Jardan looked around, "Speaking of, shouldn''t you have guards with you?"

    "I do not have need of them! They would only hinder my progress!"

    "You mean they would prevent you from coming?" Jardan threw up his hands, "Of course they would! I assume your father doesn''t know?"

    "Certainly not!" The prince shook his head, "If the king had knowledge of where I was, his heart would freeze in terror!"

    "You know he''ll find out eventually¨C"

    Jardan stopped and his eyes went wide.

    That''s right! The King will find out where the prince went and he''ll find out that I aided him! I''m dead!

    "Do not fret, Master Jardan!" The prince stuck his nose in the air, "I will not speak to anyone of your involvement."

    "That doesn''t mean they won''t find out!" Jardan glared at the prince, "The king will have my head for this! Especially if you were to get hurt or die in there, I would be held responsible!"

    The prince jumped out of the wagon without another word and began walking towards the dungeon. Jardan stared after him for a moment before urging the horses forward. He pulled up beside the prince.

    "Please stop, your highness!"

    "I will not!" The prince kept walking, "I am resolved in this matter! And when a man resolves himself, he must see it through! Otherwise may he be called a man?"

    "Talk as fancy as you want!" Jardan shouted, "I''m not gonna let you walk in there!"

    "Or¡­" The prince grinned, "You could come with me!"

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    Jardan shrugged, "He actually made a good case, full as it was with fancy words. If I returned to the city, he wouldn''t be there to vouch for me. If I ran, I would look guilty. I wasn''t happy about it, but accompanying him was the best option."

    "You don''t seem so upset about it now." Paris pointed at him.

    "Well, I have a non-combat class," Jardan said, "so it''s not as if I''m in too much danger here. But also, I''m starting to like this place!"

    "Still," Samara pinched her chin, "to think the prince would come here. Did he say why he wanted to?"

    Jardan looked over at the door and pointed, "Ask him yourself."

    Walking through the door was a man that Bazel thought must be close to his own age. He had wild red hair and bright blue eyes. He wore a colorful shirt with pictures of flowers on it and some jeans.

    "There you are, Master Jardan!" He strutted to the table and struck a gallant pose, "Behold the finery I discovered in a tailor''s shop! It is called an ah-lo-ha shirt!"

    "It''s quite fancy, your highness." Jardan''s words lacked enthusiasm.

    "I have instructed you prior to call me Risken and dispense with the honorifics!" He looked at the other people sitting at the table, "And who are these people? Acquaintances of yours?"

    "This is Paris, Samara and Bazel the Beggar." He gestured to each one in turn.

    "Oh?" Risken leaned forward and looked at Bazel closely, "You are arrayed splendidly for one who is called a beggar."

    "Thanks! Samara got them for me," Bazel said, then put a finger in the hole in his shirt and frowned, "but I think I''ll need a new shirt."

    "Then I shall buy you an aloha shirt!"

    "Really? That would be neat!"

    "Bazel!" Samara leaned over, "You can''t just talk casually to the prince like that!"

    "Why not?" The question came from the prince in question, "I take no offense to anything he said. Besides, in here, I am only Risken."

    "Well it''s a pleasure to meet you Risken." Bazel put his hand out.

    Risken shook the proffered hand, "And a pleasure to meet you, Master Bazel! We should be friends!"

    "Okay!"

    "Is this actually happening right now?" Samara asked with a horrified look on her face.

    "Seems that way," Paris nodded.

    Risken pointed to Bazel''s shirt, "How was your garment damaged so?"

    "We fought a giant three-headed snake!" Bazel said excitedly.

    "Is that so? Please regale me with the story of how you vanquished such a foe."

    "I used this!" Bazel made his gun appear from his inventory and held it up for Risken to inspect, "It''s called the Xanadu Gun and it''s really powerful!"

    "Quite a fearsome weapon indeed!"

    "I suppose," Bazel put it away and shrugged, "It takes a few seconds to be able to fire it though, and the snake bit me before I could kill it."

    "Are you still afflicted by injury?" Risken asked with concern on his face, "If so, my class allows me to apply healing magic."

    "I''m okay," Bazel said, "Samara used an ambrosia on me."

    "Those are expensive, it would be better to have a healer with you." Risken said.

    "Maybe you could come along on our next job?"

    "Hmm¡­" Risken folded his arms and tapped his foot, "I am looking for a team to adventure with, my class is not suited for facing the dangers of the dungeon alone."

    Samara jumped to her feet, "Wait!"

    Everyone looked at her. She was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of Risken joining them. In fact, she looked like she would rather be anywhere else rather than in his company.

    "Wouldn''t it make more sense for you to go search out some of the knights?" She crossed her arms, "they do work for you."

    "I am afraid you are mistaken, Lady Samara." Risken shook his head, "Those oversized tin cans ply their trade in the service of my father, not the lowly third prince. Furthermore, they have all forsaken their duties to the crown to chase their own fortunes inside the dungeon."

    "But," Samara looked around the table for help, "You wouldn''t want to be seen with commoners like us, would you?"

    "Station is of no import to me!" Risken stretched out his hands and place them on Bazel and Jardan''s shoulders, "Unlike other members of my bloodline who engage in such segregational snobbery, I find it a joy to associate with the lower class!"

    Bazel thought Risken was a nice guy. He remembered Jardan as one who showed kindness to a beggar, but Jardan was just a common man. Here was a prince who not only showed kindness to Bazel, but wanted to be his friend!

    "Please Samara?" Bazel asked, "I think Risken would be great to have along, and we need a third member anyway."

    Samara was quiet for a few moments as she made eye contact with Bazel. Finally she sighed and looked away.

    "Fine," she said, "he can tag along for now."

 17 - Rebelling Against Authority

    "So Risken," Bazel walked beside the prince, "What is your class, anyway?"

    "They have given me a most prestigious profession as is only fitting for a man of my stature," Risken flourished his hand, "I am a Poet!"

    Samara nearly tripped, then looked over her shoulder, "I''m sorry. Did you say you''re a Poet?"

    "Indeed!"

    "Neat!" Bazel said, "How does that work?"

    "Poet is actually a very powerful support class." Paris said as she walked next to Samara, "They have skills just like every other class, but the skills are enhanced if they recite poetry ahead of using them."

    "The lady Paris speaks true," Risken nodded, "Give me enough time to recite a whole stanza and my power becomes nigh overwhelming."

    "But wait," Bazel stroked his chin, "How would you use that to fight?"

    "It is not a simple matter," Risken shook his head, "I have been using my cutlass to cut down foes, only assisted by my class skills. Two skills in particular are of great use. One called [Vicious Word] makes the enemy hesitate to attack, while [Song of Hermes] increases my Agility and therefore my attack power."

    "That''s a clever way to use those skills," Paris said, "since a cutlass is a slashing weapon, using a skill to up your Agility makes it do more damage."

    "We''re here," Samara pointed to the apartment building in front of them and turned around, "I don''t have enough room for all of us, though."

    "I would not dream of troubling you with such a thing, my Lady," Risken pointed to the building next to hers, "and as it so happens, I have my own apartment. Master Bazel can stay with me."

    "Really?" Bazel asked.

    "Of course!" Risken slapped Bazel''s shoulder, "Not only shall we be friends, but bunkmates as well!"

    "Looks like it''s all settled." Paris turned to Samara, "Mind if I crash on your couch?"

    Samara glared at Risken for a moment, then turned and walked towards her apartment, "Fine."

    "Good night guys!" Paris said before jogging after her.

    Bazel followed Risken up the stairs to the second floor of the building and to his apartment. Inside, it looked almost identical to Samara''s, except for a different color scheme in the decoration.

    "You can have the bed, Master Bazel," Risken gestured to it, "I''ll take the couch."

    "Oh, okay."

    Bazel was glad he met Risken, but something was bothering him about the prince. Not one to mince words, Bazel decided to come right out and ask him about it.

    "Why are you being nice to us?"

    Risken sat on the couch and started removing his shoes, "Why not? Is it not common decency to be kind to others?"

    "I suppose so," Bazel pointed to himself, "but I''m a beggar, and Samara is a mercenary. Not really the kinds of people royalty should associate with."

    "That is the problem, right there," Risken finished removing his shoes, put them at the end of the couch and leaned back, "In my life, people are always telling me what I should or should not do. It rarely has any bearing on what is right or wrong, and is always calculated behavior based on my station."

    Bazel lifted an eyebrow and Risken quickly caught on that he was confused. Risken nodded and indicated that Bazel should sit with him.

    "You are a beggar," he said as Bazel sat on the other side of the couch, "so I suppose you do not care much about how others view you?"

    "There aren''t many people that have a high opinion about me anyway," Bazel shrugged, "so I do my best to ignore them."

    "That does make sense, although I find it to be a bit sad. In my world, it is the only thing people care about, that is, what others think of them." Risken stretched out his arms, "It is so tiring to always have to curry favors with others by appealing to their tastes!"

    Risken shook his head, "Do not misunderstand, I am a sociable person, but I just want to be myself, not what others expect me to be."

    "So you felt trapped by their expectations?" Bazel asked, "Is that why you ran away and came to the dungeon?"

    "Indeed!" Risken smiled and nodded, "My father and older brothers cannot bother me here, and I am free to pursue my own path."

    In many ways, that''s the same thing Bazel was doing. His life had been dictated by others for as long as he could remember. He was never allowed to hold a job or chase his own passions, because he was forced to live a particular way. He couldn''t even have friends, because it was socially unacceptable to associate with beggars and outcasts.

    However, in the dungeon, everyone was equal. They all needed to do the same things and advance in the ranks based on their talent and ambition. The only thing that could keep someone from success in the dungeon was themselves.

    "So, you ask why I am nice to you?" Risken said, "It is because I want to be. My family would not even allow me to have friends if they were not other members of royalty. I am expected to treat everyone below me as dirt, and that has never sat well with me. I will judge others by their merits, and I have judged you as someone worthy of my attention."

    "So you truly meant what you said about wanting to be my friend?" Bazel scratched his cheek, "Even knowing what I am?"

    "Of course I meant it!" Risken nodded, "You seem like an interesting fellow, and I hope we can be friends for many years to come."

    Bazel didn''t know how to respond. He found he was happy to be acknowledged by Risken. It had nothing to do with the fact he was a prince ¨C Bazel never cared about political standing like that. But, it was more to do with the fact that Risken just seemed like a good guy.

    "Now let us get some rest," Risken said, "Lady Paris said she will work us like beasts of burden tomorrow."

    "She''s not all that bad," Bazel shrugged, "but I am pretty tired."

    Bazel walked over to the bed and fell on it face first. The events of the day made him more tired than he could ever remember being. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    It had been a very long day, but it ended well.

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    Samara walked over to her bed and fell on it face first. The events of the day had made her very tired.

    It had been a long day, and it ended terribly.

    "Something bothering you, girl?" Paris asked from the couch.

    Samara mumbled into her pillow and punched the headboard, making it rattle.

    "I didn''t understand what you said," Paris leaned over the armrest and kicked her feet behind her, "but I''ll take that as a ''yes''. Do you want to talk about it?"

    "No." Samara rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, "It''s just of all the people we could meet in here, why him?"

    "Risken?" Paris asked, "Yeah, I noticed you weren''t into him. I think he''s nice, if a bit strange with how he talks. He''s kinda cute, too."

    "He''s the third prince!" Samara put an arm over her eyes and groaned.

    "So you have a problem with him because he''s the prince?"

    "Yes!" Samara groaned again, "Well, no. It''s not him, it''s other people in his family. I never met him until today, but I always thought the whole royal family was rotten to the core and I hated them for it."

    "But Risken¡­" Paris urged her to continue.

    "He''s just so nice!" Samara all but growled, "It''s infuriating!"

    Samara sat up and sat cross-legged on the bed and scowled, "He''s even making friends with common people like merchants and beggars! For the gods'' sakes, he calls me Lady! Do I look like a blasted lady to you!?"

    "Okay, there''s clearly something you''re not telling me," Paris pointed at the angry woman, "why all this hatred for the royal family?"

    Samara looked away and sighed. She didn''t ever share about her past, and hadn''t planned on doing so now, but she felt like she needed to get it off her chest.

    "Well, it''s mostly just his brother." She said, "The first prince. He''s the bastard that killed my sister."

    "Oh, really?" Paris got off the couch and sat next to Samara on the bed, "Spill it. What happened?"

    Samara put her hands in her lap and fixed her gaze on them, "I come from a small town in the mountains to the north. My father died in a hunting accident when we were really young, and my mom passed from a coughing disease a few years later. From then on, it was just me and my sister, Tessa."

    "The people in town looked after us, so we never went hungry or anything. When I turned twelve, I got a job working a loom for the tailor. My sister got a job at the tailor''s shop as well, but she actually helped with the sewing. She was really good at it."

    Samara brought her hands up and covered her face, "Tessa had just turned fifteen when the prince rode through town. He had been on a trip in the mountains and tore one of his shirts, so he brought it to the shop. Tessa mended it for him and that''s when he made a move on her."

    "He said he wanted her to be his concubine, but she had no interest in him. The bastard became furious like he had never been told ''no'' before, and stormed out of the shop."

    "We thought that was the end of it, but later that night, he came to our house with his guards and tried to take her by force."

    Samara balled up her fists and punched the mattress, "Tessa was never very strong, so she couldn''t resist them, but I could. I tried to fight them off and actually hurt a couple of them. That made the prince even more furious."

    Tears began forming and rolling down Samara''s cheek as she remembered the events, "The spiteful bastard wanted to punish us for defying him. He said he wanted to ''teach us a lesson'', so instead of taking Tessa¡­"

    "He killed her." Paris put her hand on Samara''s back, "I''m sorry."

    "He¨C he said he didn''t want to kill me because it was more fun to make me suffer for my insolence." Samara shook her head, "I even tried to fight them more in the hopes they would kill me, but all I got was this scar."

    Samara ran her hand down the scar that dominated half of her face. It went from her forehead, over her eye and down to her chin. It was a reminder of her weakness, of her inability to protect those that she loved.

    It was also a reminder of her hatred for the royal bastard that killed her sister.

    Like a child who was told he couldn''t have another child''s toy, and then broke the toy so no one else could play with it. He never cared about Tessa, he just wanted to own her.

    The worst part of it was that she had no recourse against the prince. His family made the rules, and they were blessed by the divines. Nothing they did could be considered "wrong", so they could do whatever they pleased.

    Samara vowed she would never let something like that happen again, and she made herself strong enough to fight people like him. She didn''t concern herself with politics or religion ¨C if someone tried to hurt the innocent, she would hurt them.

    When Risken had approached them earlier, all the feelings of hate and anger welled up in her again. She had been prepared to strike him down where he stood if he so much as looked at her wrong.

    She wanted him to be like his brother so she could have an excuse.

    But he wasn''t like his brother. The third prince was a genuinely nice person, and that only frustrated her more. He instantly made friends with a beggar of all people, and offered to help them. And he didn''t act like he was better than any of them, either.

    Just knowing who he was made Samara angry. Just being near him made her want to hurt someone.

    "I don''t know if I can work with him," she said.

    "I get it." Paris continued rubbing her back, "So why did you say he could join you guys?"

    "Bazel." Samara chuckled despite how she felt, "He looked so happy to make a new friend, and I didn''t want to take that away from him."

    "Still, who would think a prince would be so quick to befriend someone like that?" Paris shook her head, "I guess you can''t judge someone by their upbringing."

    "Maybe not." Samara went back to scowling at her hands.

    "You should tell him." Paris said, "If Risken knows his presence makes you uncomfortable, he would probably just leave on his own."

    But then I would be the bad guy.

    Samara knew Paris was right. If she explained things to Risken, he probably would leave them alone, but then she would deprive Bazel of a friend, and he needed friends.

    Or worse yet, Bazel might decide to go along with Risken.

    Samara still felt an urge to protect Bazel. She felt that if she could protect him, she would make up for failing to protect her sister. She didn''t want Bazel to go, she wanted him to be dependent on her. She would never admit it to anyone, but she was aware enough to see it herself.

    "No," Samara shook her head, "I''m not going to tell him. And I would appreciate it if you didn''t either."

    Paris sighed, "I''ll keep my mouth shut, but if it becomes a problem¨C"

    "It won''t."

    Samara didn''t think she could ever bring herself to like Risken knowing what scumbags his family were. But she was sure Risken was going to make it difficult by being insufferably nice.

    Why does he have to be like that!?

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    "Why does he have to be like that!?" Tarken roared.

    The first prince had just discovered that his brother ¨C the third prince ¨C was missing. Tarken knew where Risken had gone, however.

    "He went to that blasted dungeon!" Tarken shouted, "He''s been obsessed with that place!"

    Hargal nodded, "That was my suspicion as well. What will you do?"

    "I''m going to go get him, of course!" Tarken said as he put on a coat, "I''ll drag him back kicking and screaming if I have to. I won''t allow him to make us look bad."

    "What should I tell your father?" Hargal asked, "If he finds out¨C"

    "Don''t tell him anything." Tarken put on a cap to hide his red hair, "Just keep him busy with building this army of yours and leave it to me."

    "Very well, your highness." Hargal bowed.

    Tarken walked out of the castle and took the fastest horse from the guard stables. Under the cover of night, he fled the city and made his way to the dungeon to retrieve his rebellious little brother.

 18 - Chance Encounters

    "I think this one will suit you nicely, Master Bazel."

    Risken held up the aloha shirt in front of Bazel. The bright red flowers against a blue background were quite catching to the eye. The tag said it was a "hibiscus" print, whatever that meant.

    "If you say so." Bazel took the shirt and held it in front of him while he looked in the mirror, "It''s very bright."

    "And it shall bring feelings of cheer upon whoever sees it!"

    Risken liked fashion, and the things on display in the dungeon shops would be the talk of the town if worn back in the city. Never before had he seen such fine craftsmanship on clothing. Best of all, most garments cost between ten and twenty-five credits, meaning they could afford to splurge.

    "Now," Risken looked around, "Lady Paris said we should invest in armor, but I think we will need to patronize another shop for that."

    The racks in the shop they were standing in only displayed regular clothes. Risken surmised there must be a shop specializing in armor as well.

    "Oh!" Risken put his finger up, "I shall ask Master Jardan! I am sure he knows."

    Risken summoned his interface and pulled up the communication feature. He chose Jardan''s name from the list and waited. After a few beeps, Jardan''s face appeared on the screen.

    "Risken?"

    "Good morning, Master Jardan." Risken gave a small bow, "Would you perchance know where myself and Master Bazel could procure armor?"

    "Well, you could come by my shop," Jardan rubbed the back of his neck, "I am an Artificer after all. I would be happy to make you guys some armor."

    "Very well," Risken nodded, "We shall head over post haste."

    Risken ended the call and turned to Bazel who was looking at him with a surprised expression.

    "What was that?" Bazel pointed at the interface.

    "It is the interface''s communicatory function," Risken raised an eyebrow, "were you unaware of it?"

    "Yeah." Bazel pulled up his own interface, "How does it work?"

    Risken took a few moments to show Bazel the friends list and how to use the communicator. Of course, Risken added himself to Bazel''s friend list so they could stay in touch if separated.

    Risken enjoyed seeing the childlike wonder in the eyes of his friend. Bazel was like the little brother he never had, and he resolved himself to treat Bazel better than his own brothers treated him.

    They both ended up buying a couple new shirts as well as suits similar to what Paris wore. They were called tracksuits, and they both got green ones to match Paris''.

    "So, Jardan has his own shop here?" Bazel asked as they walked out of the clothing store.

    "No," Risken shook his head, "He is an apprentice to the man who owns the shop. He just works there."

    "I didn''t even know that was an option!" Bazel said with a slight pout, "I thought we all had to fight monsters."

    "Oh?" Risken looked over, "Do you wish to take a non-combat class and work in a shop?"

    "Nah," Bazel shook his head, "At first, fighting monsters was frightening, but I think I''m actually starting to enjoy it."

    "Ah, yes!" Risken said, "The joy of overcoming a foe in a life and death struggle! There is nothing quite like it."

    "Samara said something similar." Bazel chuckled.

    "Fear not, I feel the same way, my friend. I did not think I would revel in battle, but I find it to be very satisfying. Perhaps we are men cut from the same cloth, Master Bazel."

    The pair made it to the Artificer shop ¨C a small and unassuming building placed on a side street. They went inside and immediately spotted Jardan by the counter. The mustachioed man fiddled with some small device.

    "Hey guys!" Jardan put down the device and walked over to them, "So you''re looking for armor, eh?"

    "Indeed, Master Jardan," Risken nodded, "We are in your care."

    "Well, I already gave it some thought." Jardan beckoned them to follow him into the back of the shop, "I picked out some things you guys might like."

    The back room contained all sorts of machines and tools for making equipment. Risken couldn''t guess as to what any of it actually did, but it interested him.

    In the center of the room were two mannequins with pieces of heavy clothing draped on them. One had a long trench coat over a cuirass, while the other had a green gambeson.

    "This is for you, Bazel," Jardan pointed to the cuirass and trench coat combo, "The body armor will protect your vitals while the heavy leather coat can help keep your limbs intact. They are made from light materials, so it shouldn''t hinder your movement too much."

    Risken used his interface to identify the pieces.

    ¡¶ Armor-weave Trench Coat, level 5

    Blocks 33-61(6) damage (slashing, piercing)

    Requirements:

    Level 5-11

    "The lowest grade Armor-weave clothing available. Trades protection for ease of maneuverability, perfect for people who don''t have high stats."

    ¡­

    Carbon-Fiber Cuirass, level 5

    Blocks 42-70(7) damage (slashing, piercing, blunt)

    Requirements:

    Level 5-10

    5 Strength

    5 Stamina

    "A light-weight alternative to metal armor, but also doesn''t protect as well. Good for people who don''t want to be encumbered by heavy armor." ¡·

    "These are great!" Bazel said as he checked out the armor, "How much is it?"

    "Fifteen-hundred for the set." Jardan said, "It''s a good investment if it keeps you alive."

    "I think so too!" Bazel used his interface to pay for it and started putting the pieces on.

    "The gambeson is for you, Risken." Jardan pointed to the other piece, "It''s a thousand credits, and another fifty if you want the color changed."This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    "No, I quite like the color." Risken said as he inspected the armor.

    ¡¶ Medium Gambeson, Level 5

    Blocks 40-73(10) damage (slashing, piercing)

    Requirements:

    Level 5-10

    5 Strength

    5 Stamina

    "A light-weight gambeson perfect for someone on the move. The design won''t hinder movement and still protect vital areas. Available in a range of colors!" ¡·

    Risken paid for the armor and put it on. He turned to see Bazel adjusting his own armor. Bazel was really skinny, but with the armor on, it was difficult to tell.

    "Thank you very much, Master Jardan." Risken gave a quick bow to the man.

    "Yeah, thanks!" Bazel added.

    "Hey, no problem." Jardan waved his hands in front of him, "I should be thanking you guys for bringing some business! Make sure you come back if you need it repaired, okay?"

    "Of course." Risken nodded and turned to leave.

    As they were walking into the main part of the shop, Risken stopped and put his arm out to stop Bazel from walking any further. Standing in front of them was a knight in full plate armor. He held his helmet in the crook of his arm, and his blonde hair flowed over his shoulders.

    "Prince Risken." The knight said, "I wouldn''t have expected to see you here."

    "Likewise, Peton." Risken narrowed his eyes, "Aren''t there any innocent women or children in need of murdering? Why would you be here?"

    "I''ve never hurt an innocent," Peton gave a sly grin, "I''m injured by your accusation."

    "Of course," Risken said, "They were all infidels, right?"

    "That''s correct," Peton nodded slowly, "It is my sworn duty to uphold the law of the divines. Anyone who breaks those laws is deserving of death."

    "Oh?" Risken drew himself up to appear larger, "Then why have you not turned your sword against me?"

    "Then you admit that you have broken divine precepts?"

    "You would like that¡­"

    "Yes." Peton put his hand on the pommel of his sword and grinned a murderous grin.

    "Unfortunately for you," Risken grinned, "I have not broken any divine laws by coming here, have I?"

    "I suppose not," Peton sighed and let go of his sword, "but it''s only a matter of time before you slip up. Your father won''t be able to protect you in here."

    "From what I heard, you have bigger things to worry about right now."

    Risken had overheard Hargal talking about the dungeon a few days prior. He claimed that it was built by gods who wished to make war on the divines, and the old mage had convinced the king to assemble an army to fight it. He also mentioned that there were already agents of the divine inside with the intent of sabotage.

    Of course, Hargal didn''t want Risken to know these things. His status as the rebellious son of the king was well-known in the court, and well-deserved. He always questioned why the divines controlled so much of their lives and impeded scientific progress, and spoke out against the holy church on more than one occasion.

    While the king did his best to hide Risken''s antics, rumor and gossip spread that he might be an infidel. In truth, he was, but because of his place in the court it never came to light. Also, being a member of a family "blessed" by the divines made him immune to prosecution by the church.

    Risken felt it was his duty to speak out against the church and the totalitarian rule of the divines. People would listen to him, and that was a powerful tool he could use to his advantage. His true hope in coming to the dungeon was that he could align himself with these invading gods and secure their help in exposing the divines for what they really were.

    "Yes," Peton said, "I am busy right now, so how about you run along, Risken."

    "Of course," Risken tugged on Bazel''s coat, "Let us be on our way, Bazel."

    Risken almost made it to the door before Peton spoke again, making him stop.

    "You know what this place is, don''t you?" Peton asked, "I sure hope you aren''t planning on seeking help with your cause here. If you were, that would be a clear violation of divine law."

    The threat was clear. Peton knew that Risken wanted to deliver a blow to the divines, and that he had come to the dungeon with that goal in mind. Risken couldn''t say how Peton knew, but he did.

    "I''ll be watching you." Peton said.

    Risken walked outside while dragging Bazel behind him. Bazel didn''t resist, but he kept looking back at the shop.

    "Was that a holy knight?" Bazel asked, "I mean, I knew he was here, but¨C"

    "Stay far from him, Bazel." Risken said without slowing down, "He is trouble in its truest form."

    "Says the guy that was picking a fight with him!" Bazel tugged his sleeve out of Risken''s grasp and stopped walking, "What was that all about?"

    Risken stopped and turned to face Bazel, "Perhaps I allowed my ire to overcome my common sense, but I refuse to be intimidated by that man. He is nothing more than a violent thug."

    "Which is why we shouldn''t make him angry." Bazel said, "Maybe you should apologize to him?"

    "It would not make a difference." Risken shook his head, "Besides, I feel no remorse for anything I said to him."

    "Okay." Bazel looked back at the shop and turned to face Risken again, "And what was that he said about knowing what the dungeon really is?"

    "Oh, well¡­" Risken looked away.

    How much should I tell him? Could he be in danger if I speak the truth?

    Risken didn''t want to put Bazel in a position where he couldn''t feign ignorance of the dungeon''s true purpose. He was sure that most of the people inside had no clue they were working for invading gods, and he didn''t plan on telling them. Yet.

    "I think Peton was just being paranoid," Risken said, "That is probably it."

    Bazel looked at Risken with a blank expression. That blank expression turned to one of shock as Bazel''s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

    "You know!" Bazel pointed at Risken, "You know what''s actually going on here!"

    Wait¡­ does Bazel know?

    Bazel grabbed Risken by the shoulder and hauled him over to a nearby alleyway. He then summoned his interface and called someone named Cassandra.

    "I''m sorry, Risken," Bazel waited for the person on the other end to pick up, "We have to tell Cassandra about this."

    "Are we in some sort of trouble?" Risken asked.

    "Not yet," he shook his head, "but you''re stuck with us now."

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    "Please come again!" The mustachioed man waved at Peton.

    Peton walked out of the artificer shop and started heading back to the job office. He still hadn''t found any hint of where the dungeon''s core could be, and needed to search more. He guessed it was on a higher level that he didn''t have access to yet.

    In order to gain access, all he could do was keep gaining levels.

    As he walked, he couldn''t stop thinking about Risken. Surely the king didn''t know one of his children was in the dungeon, much less trying to gain the favor of the interloping gods. Peton didn''t have proof that''s what Risken was doing, but he felt it in his gut.

    As he passed the plaza, Peton saw another person he recognized ¨C the first prince Tarken.

    Is the whole royal family here?

    Peton walked over to the man and stood before him.

    "Let me guess," he said, "you''re looking for Risken."

    Tarken folded his arms and raised an eyebrow, "Have you seen him?"

    "Just a little while ago," Peton pointed over his shoulder, "as I was going to get my armor repaired."

    "Can you help me find him?" Tarken asked, "I would like to retrieve him and return home as soon as possible."

    "You want a troublemaker like him at home?" Peton asked.

    "Honestly?" Tarken sighed and shook his head, "I would love to see him perish of his own stupidity, but father dotes on the boy."

    "That''s too bad," Peton pouted, "I was hoping I would finally be able to oust him for the heretic he is."

    "Oh?" Tarken seemed to consider that for a moment, "But we would only be dragged through the mud with him. You don''t want to bring down our whole family, do you?"

    "Perish the thought!" Peton shook his head, "but maybe there''s another way to rid us of him¡­"

    Tarken frowned and looked like he would refuse Peton''s offer, but then he pursed his lips and thought for a moment. After a few beats, Tarken looked up and smiled at Peton.

    "Let''s talk about this over a drink."

    "Sure," Peton turned and beckoned Tarken to follow, "I know just the place."

 19 - Food Preservation

    Risken looked over the "Non-disclosure Agreement" that the woman Cassandra demanded he accept. The people running the dungeon ¨C the directors ¨C seemed to be quite serious about security.

    Risken could understand why they needed to handle things with care. If they just announced to the whole world who they were and what they wanted, chaos would ensue. But, at some point they would have to reveal themselves. They wouldn''t be able to keep it secret forever regardless of how many court documents they had people accept.

    Which side would people join when that time came?

    There was no shortage of people who had been persecuted by the holy church, and many others who felt that the laws of the divines were unfair. But those were common people, ones who couldn''t fight against superior powers. How could they hope to stand against the divines and their people?

    Maybe that''s what the dungeon is all about, Risken thought.

    The dungeon allowed anyone to come inside and prove themselves. Those who passed the myriad tests were given great power. Even a beggar and an outcast like Bazel could become a powerful warrior. Did the directors expect to get their loyalty through those means and then use them to fight against the divines?

    If so, it was a solid plan.

    Bazel and Cassandra explained to Risken what they had to do in order to be cleared of suspicion. The three of them ¨C Bazel, Samara and Risken ¨C had to win a fighting tournament.

    "Do you understand everything I''ve told you?" Cassandra asked.

    "I do." Risken nodded, "I also have some more questions if you would permit."

    "Go ahead."

    Cassandra crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in her chair. They were in her "office", which was an audience chamber more grand and lavish than even the king''s own.

    "The directors," Risken pointed up, "can we meet them? I came here to make an alliance with them after all."

    "I can pass on the request for a meeting," Cassandra said, "but I can''t promise anything. They likely won''t make time for anyone unless they are deemed worthy first."

    "I see." Risken stroked his chin.

    If he needed to prove himself worthy of their consideration, then that''s just what he would do. Maybe the directors weren''t exactly the same as the divines, but they were still gods. Like all gods, they didn''t just grace anyone with their presence ¨C only those who were worthy to be champions.

    "Then I will endeavor to do my best," Risken nodded, "However, I feel my family may try to make trouble while I''m here."

    "Yes," Cassandra looked at her interface, "Your brother already arrived, Tarken?"

    "My eldest brother, the first prince."

    "That''s good to know," she tapped her interface a few times, "It looks like he made fast friends with the holy knight, Peton."

    "That could be a problem." Risken shook his head.

    "Wait," Bazel put his hand up, "Peton seems to know what the dungeon is too. Why are you guys letting him stay?"

    "That was the head director''s call," Cassandra sighed and waved her hand back and forth, "I suggested we terminate his employment, but the boss wanted to ''wait and see'' what he would do. He''s definitely a liability, probably more so with the first prince joining him."

    The door to the office crashed open and Samara marched in wearing copper armor and a helmet with a red plume. Paris walked in right behind her, still wearing the green tracksuit.

    "I leave you alone for a couple hours," Samara pointed at Bazel, "and you tell him everything?"

    "I didn''t tell him!" Bazel put his hands up, "he already knew about the dungeon!"

    "He did!?" Samara looked over at Risken, "How?"

    "Hargal, the court mage," Risken waved his hand, "He was given a task by the divines themselves who also disclosed to him the true nature of this place. I overheard him talking to my father about it."

    "Oh," Samara pinched her chin and looked at the ground, "I see."

    Cassandra spoke up, "I already had him agree to the same terms you and Bazel are bound by. Risken will be the third member of your party for the tournament."

    "Great." Samara said. Although the look on her face said something else.

    Risken was aware of Samara''s dislike. He didn''t know why she held a grudge against him, but it was clear to him that she did. He had resolved himself to prove to her that he wasn''t a bad person, as well. He didn''t want her to hate him.

    "Now, I''m busy," Cassandra made a shooing motion, "You guys can see yourselves out. And Paris?"

    "Yes, ma''am?" Paris stood at attention.

    "Do your best to see that they don''t cause any more trouble."

    "Of course, ma''am." Paris bowed.

    Samara led the way out of the building and back through the safe zone to the job office. She didn''t speak as they marched down the street to the glass and steel building.

    Once inside, they went up to the counter where a half man, half horse creature stood. Risken had seen this particular creature before and even received a few jobs from him.

    "We need a bounty job, Chris." Samara said.

    Chris looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped himself when he noticed Paris with them. Instead, he pulled up his interface and tapped it a few times.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "Here''s a good one," he said with a final tap, "tell me if it works for you."

    ¡¶ You have a job offer!

    A small mountain town is being bothered by harpies! The winged women constantly steal food and vandalize the farms, then fly away before anyone can retaliate. Find the lair of the harpies and kill ''em all!

    Rewards:

    250 Credits for every Harpy killed,

    5000 Credits for killing the Eyrie Queen

    Accept Job?

    Yes / No ¡·

    "That one should give you guys some good team practice." Paris said.

    Samara accepted the job without a word, Bazel and Risken followed suit.

    "Should I teleport you guys?" Chris asked.

    "Please." Paris answered.

    "Very well, stand by."

    Chris tapped something on his interface, and a few seconds later, the world changed. Risken, Bazel, Samara and Paris stood on a road outside a small town in the foothills of some mountains. Fields of wheat lined the road, the golden grains waving gently in the breeze.

    "Should we talk with the townspeople first?" Bazel suggested.

    "That would be prudent." Risken nodded.

    Samara said nothing and started walking towards the town. The bronze armor paired with the large round shield and her mace made her look terrifying enough, but then she was frowning on top of that. Risken felt he shouldn''t bother her too much, but he wanted to make sure she was okay.

    "Lady Samara," Risken jogged up beside her, "I am terribly apologetic for any concern I may have caused, it was not my intention¨C"

    "It''s fine."

    "Are you sure?" He tried to look her in the eyes as they walked, "I do not want discord among¨C"

    "I said, it''s fine."

    Samara began marching faster and Risken gave up trying to keep up. He slowed down so he was walking with Bazel and Paris. Paris patted his shoulder.

    "Just give her some space, she''ll be fine."

    "Yeah, I don''t think she''s really that angry," Bazel said, "probably just frustrated."

    "I understand." Risken said.

    The town looked like any normal mountain town, though the buildings were a bit fancy as things in the dungeon tended to be. The construction materials consisted of stone and wood, but all the buildings had glass windows and large porches. People walked around in clothing that was common in the dungeon, like jeans and t-shirts. Some of the women wore dresses, but even they looked more modern and well-crafted than anything seen outside.

    As soon as the group walked into town, a man wearing what looked like a bedsheet approached them. His head was shaved as well as his face, but the wrinkles belied his advanced age.

    "You must be the heroes sent to us!" The man said, spreading his arms wide, "Please allow me to introduce myself. I am the mayor of this town, Alexander."

    Samara bowed her head, "I am Samara, these are my associates, Bazel, Risken and Paris."

    Alexander nodded excitedly, "Good, good, follow me."

    The old man led them through the town while constantly glancing at the sky. The building they went to was larger and more boxy than the others around it. Men with spears and bows stood guard outside the building and opened the doors for the group to go inside.

    The inside of the building had wooden floors polished to a near mirror shine. Brightly colored lines were painted on the floor in geometric patterns that seemed to delineate boundaries and measure distances. Two boards were lifted up on poles on either side of the large room, and each of the boards had a small fishing net hanging from it.

    Piled all along the walls were boxes and bags of foodstuffs. Wooden crates full of vegetables, bags of grain, and ice boxes which probably contained meat.

    "The gym is the most secure place in town to keep food," Alexander waved a hand at the stockpiles, "unfortunately, it also gives the harpies a single target to focus on."

    "Can they get in here?" Samara asked while looking around the room.

    "Given enough time," Alexander nodded, "especially as their numbers continue to grow. Every time they attack, there are more of them, and they always take more food. At some point they might just overwhelm us."

    "Which is why we need to go to their lair," Samara said, "and make sure we eliminate as many as possible."

    "Precisely." Alexander said, "I can show you how to get there, but our people aren''t equipped to fight a horde of monsters."

    "Leave it to us." Samara put her hand on Alexander''s shoulder.

    Risken raised his hand, "Pardon me, Master Alexander, what exactly is a Harpy? The only description I have seen calls them women with wings."

    "That''s more or less accurate," Alexander shrugged, "but they are more animal than anything else. They use no reason or logic, and are only driven by their appetites."

    Outside the building, people began yelling and shouting. Another sound, like the screeching of birds, could be heard as well.

    "They''re here," Alexander looked to the door, "I hope you guys are ready."

    Samara already had all her gear on. The bronze armor, round brass shield and long mace made her look like a warrior of legend.

    Bazel summoned his large gun from his inventory and held it at his side. The strange weapon paired with the dark leather trench coat gave him the air of a highwayman, but Risken decided not to tell him that.

    As for Risken, all he needed to do was remove his cutlass from his inventory. He already wore the green gambeson he bought earlier that day and felt prepared to face the enemy.

    Paris gathered everyone together and gave them a few pointers.

    "Harpies are airborne enemies, so they won''t be easy to take down with melee weapons." She pointed at Samara, "Samara, make sure to keep your guard up for the other two, don''t let them stray too far."

    "Bazel, you''ll be the main attacker." Paris squeezed his shoulder, "Just make sure you look before you fire."

    "Got it." Bazel nodded.

    "Risken," Paris turned to the prince, "Don''t worry about fighting too much, just use your skills to support everyone else."

    Paris held out her hand and made a bow materialize from her inventory, as well as a quiver of arrows. She put the quiver on over her tracksuit and turned back to the group.

    "I''ll help make sure the townspeople don''t get hurt." She faced the door, "ready?"

    ""Ready"" They answered in unison.

    Samara led the group as they went back outside through a pair of double doors. Bazel was close behind her, and Risken brought up the rear.

    Outside was chaos. The winged creatures flew in swooping patterns that made them hard to track. Most townspeople were running for cover rather than fighting the harpies, but the harpies tried to chase them down anyway.

    While the harpies were attacking people, they didn''t seem interested in only that. They also picked up rocks in their talons and hurled them at windows, or dropped them on roofs, trying to break into the houses.

    The creatures were agile, and they dove into the streets at high speeds and dodged arrows shot at them by the guards. Their legs were replaced by the talons of birds, and their arms by wings. The faces of the harpies were twisted in rage and hunger, their stringy hair only growing in patches. They wore no clothing, and their bodies were dirty.

    Risken watched as Bazel used a skill on one of the harpies. Red light swirled out of the monster and entered him, then he turned his gun towards the sky and prepared to fire.

    Paris took a few shots with her bow, and unlike the town guards, she hit her mark. One of the harpies went spiraling towards the ground.

    Risken heard the screeching sound of the monster''s and turned to see three of them diving towards the group. He patted Bazel''s shoulder and pointed at them.

    "Got it!"

    Bazel swung the gun around and aimed at the attacking creatures. He didn''t hesitate to fire at them, and their first battle with the harpies had started.

 20 - Hero Skills

    Bazel felt Risken tap his shoulder, he looked back and saw him pointing at some incoming harpies.

    "Got it."

    Bazel swung the Xanadu around and aimed at the gross creatures flying towards him. They were all flying in a close formation. He heard the sound of his gun load and pulled the trigger.

    KA-BOOM!

    The Xanadu rocked Bazel back with its recoil. Fire and smoke bellowed out, obscuring the view of their enemies. Risken jumped back with a shocked look, obviously not expecting the gun to be so loud.

    ¡¶ Congratulations! You defeated a Feral Harpy (level 7)

    300 Experience Points awarded

    ¡­

    You defeated a Feral Harpy (level 7)

    300 Experience Points awarded

    ¡­

    You defeated a Feral Harpy (level 8)

    340 Experience Points awarded ¡·

    All three harpies thudded on the ground about ten feet away from them, their bodies mangled beyond recognition. Feathers rained down from the sky.

    "That weapon is quite loud!" Risken shouted.

    "Sorry," Bazel gave his friend a sheepish smile, "I probably should have warned you."

    "What!?"

    Samara nudged Bazel, "Eyes front, we have more incoming."

    Two more harpies were diving towards the group, their cries an uncanny mixture of bird screeches and human screams.

    "I''m not loaded yet!" Bazel said.

    Samara didn''t say anything, but put her shield up, and corralled Bazel and Risken behind her. They all ducked down as the harpies struck the shield in an attempt to claw at the humans with their taloned feet. Their claws clanged against the brass disc.

    The harpies continued their flights and gained altitude. They circled around, preparing for another strike.

    "How long does it take to prepare the gun?" Risken asked.

    "Ten seconds." Bazel spoke over his shoulder.

    "I may be able to help." Risken turned to Paris standing a few feet away, "Will the [Song of Hermes] decrease that time, Lady Paris?"

    "Yes," she pulled her bow back and loosed an arrow, "It''ll decrease the cooldown speed of all items and skills."

    "Very well."

    Bazel was more than a little excited to see Risken''s skills in action. He couldn''t fathom how poetry made things work faster.

    Risken stood up straight and put his arms out, "Beset on all sides by flying horrors!"

    Bazel heard his gun load and aimed it at the two harpies coming back around for another attack.

    "Grotesque merging of woman and wing!"

    Bazel pulled the trigger. Two more harpies died in an explosion of feathers and blood. Risken didn''t pause in his speech.

    "The hero Bazel stood firm against the monsters, and the blood curdling songs they sing!" Risken pointed at Bazel, "[Song of Hermes]!"

    Bazel felt a rush of adrenaline. He felt lighter and faster, despite the weight he was carrying. Also, as soon as Risken finished using the skill, the Xanadu reloaded. Samara must have heard it, because she pointed to another group of three harpies coming in for an attack.

    Bazel pointed his gun and fired. Three more harpies perished.

    "Let''s move!" Samara began walking.

    As a group they moved towards the main street running through the town. The bulk of the harpy invasion seemed to be focused there. The monsters were breaking windows and flying into the buildings in search of food.

    As they passed a shop, Bazel looked inside and saw a mess. The harpies had turned over furniture and broken shelves looking for something to eat. Merchandise littered the floor.

    Bazel thought it strange that the harpies had enough intelligence to figure out that breaking into homes and businesses might score them food. Yet, they seemed to not realize that the townspeople had moved the food, and ransacked each building in their search.

    A scream behind them made Bazel turn. He saw one of the harpies trying to carry off a grown man, flapping her wings while clutching his shoulders. The harpies were the size of a normal person, there was no way they could carry things heavier than themselves.

    "I will assist him." Risken said.

    He ran over to the harpy and used his cutlass to slice one of her wings. She let go of the man and cried out while trying to claw at Risken. He easily dodged her attacks ¨C stepping lightly from side to side and turning his upper body, as if dancing. He waited for an opening and ran his sword through her chest.

    The man Risken had just helped shouted a quick "thank you!" and ran back inside. Risken jogged back over next to Bazel.

    "You think they would try to eat people?" Bazel asked.

    "It seems a possibility," Risken nodded, "if they are truly desperate."

    "Look out!"

    Samara pushed both of them out of the way and got her shield over her head. Something clanged off of the brass disc and hit the ground beside her. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    It was a rock.

    While the harpies might not be able to carry off an adult human, they could still carry heavy things. The rock would have crushed the skull of whoever it hit, and neither Bazel or Risken were wearing helmets.

    Bazel looked up and saw more of the harpies flying towards them carrying large stones.

    "We should run!" Bazel shouted.

    Everyone ran down the street as the harpies flew in overhead and dropped the stones. They crashed into the brick street making small impact craters, and sending debris into the air. Bazel weaved side to side as he ran hoping the monster''s couldn''t predict where he would be. Stones fell in front of and behind them as they ran.

    The three of them rounded a corner and pushed themselves against the wall of the building. A couple more rocks impacted the street near them, and then it stopped. Bazel looked up expecting to see the harpies circling the town, but the skies were clear. The screeching of the monsters faded into the distance.

    "They''re retreating," Samara said, looking to the sky.

    The main street was devastated. Rocks littered the street, and broken glass was everywhere.

    The group walked through the town to make sure all the harpies were actually gone. The buildings along the main drag were heavily damaged, but that was the extent of it. A few people caught up in the attack had been hurt by the creature''s large talons, Risken gathered a group of the injured together in the street.

    "The winged menace did not fail," Risken held his hand out with the other pressed to his chest, "to leave the town in ruins, but though the damage there was great, the people were whole and hale. [Soothing Song]!"

    Green light flowed out of him and enveloped the whole group of people ¨C about a dozen in all. They watched in amazement as their wounds healed before their eyes and then talked over each other to offer their thanks to the prince. He bowed and excused himself.

    "That was pretty neat!" Bazel said as Risken approached.

    "The skill?" Risken nodded, "It is quite useful, but difficult to use in the midst of battle. It takes time to get anything useful from my skills."

    Samara crossed her arms, "How does that work, anyway. The reciting poetry, I mean."

    "The normal skill does not do much, [Soothing Song] only heals four points. But every line of poetry I say before using it doubles the amount, so¡­" Risken stroked his chin trying to work out the math.

    "Sixty-four," Bazel said, "with four lines, it would double four to eight, eight to sixteen, then thirty-two, and finally sixty-four."

    "Ah!" Risken clasped Bazel''s shoulder, "Yes, you are correct Master Bazel!"

    "And all your skills work like that?" Samara asked.

    "Yes," Risken nodded, "all of them are weak by themselves, but as long as I take the time to make up a few lines of verse, they become strong."

    "That''s great!" Bazel said, "What other skills do you have?"

    "Have a gander." Risken summoned his interface and turned it around so they could see.

    ¡¶ Skills:

    [Song of Hermes] - Boost the agility of you and your allies. Also makes items and skills refresh faster.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost: 25 Aether</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Boost Amount: 4 points, doubles for every verse spoken or sung</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Refresh Reduction: 1 second, plus one second for every verse spoken or sung</li>

    </ul>

    [Soothing Song] - Heal nearby allies with a song. Does not remove status effects.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost: 25 Aether</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Healing Amount: 4 points, doubles for every verse spoken or sung</li>

    </ul>

    [Vicious Taunt] - Stun your enemies by ruthlessly taunting them.

    <ul>

    <li>Cost 25 Aether </li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Stun duration: 1 second, plus one second for every verse spoken or sung</li>

    </ul>

    <ul>

    <li>Resist: Intelligence ¡·</li>

    </ul>

    Bazel noticed that the [Song of Hermes] cut the reload time of his gun in half. If Risken had made up four more verses, it could have gone as low as one second. He decided to keep that in mind for later. While Risken''s skills may not have seemed impressive at first glance, they could be powerful given the right opportunities.

    Thinking about the balance of their team, Bazel realized something. Both him and Risken needed time to be of any use, and they had to rely on Samara to protect them until then. Bazel couldn''t fire the Xanadu repeatedly without her protection and Risken couldn''t speak while under assault.

    Bazel liked being in a team with Samara, but he also wanted to be able to do things on his own.

    "Hey Risken," Bazel put his hand up, "How were you fighting by yourself with just those skills?"

    "With this." Risken made his cutlass appear from his inventory, "I am well-versed in the art of swordsmanship, having been trained by experts since my youth. This is my personal sword, but the dungeon recognizes it and it has its own description."

    Risken changed the screen on his interface to display his sword''s statistics.

    ¡¶ Fancy Cutlass, Special

    42-63(3) damage (slashing)

    Causes bleeding effect

    Requirements:

    Level 1-10

    10 Agility

    10 Sense

    "This sword was made by expert craftsmen, probably for a noble." ¡·

    "I discovered that my agility stat made the damage increase and used the [Song of Hermes] to make it do more." He shrugged and put the sword away, "I had to dance around like a fool while making up verses until I could activate the skill, then I would stun the enemy using [Vicious Taunt] and strike a decisive blow."

    So Risken used his natural skills and the ones granted to him by the dungeon in concert. Being quick on his feet allowed him to evade his enemy, while being eloquent allowed him to quickly make up verses. Once the [Song of Hermes] activated, the agility bonus would allow him to do an extra one hundred and ninety-two damage with even a simple sword. The [Vicious Taunt] skill could make the enemy stand still for a second, and that was all he needed to take them down.

    But I don''t have anything like that.

    Bazel didn''t have any skill in combat, and wasn''t strong enough by himself to do much. The [Drain Strength] allowed him to wield the Xanadu, but it would still take ten seconds for him to be able to use it.

    Using [Mesmerize] or [Entangle] could give him the time he needed, but they didn''t always work against opponents.

    "What are you thinking about?" Samara asked, leaning close to Bazel.

    Bazel snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Samara.

    "I was thinking about how I could do better in combat. I don''t mind relying on you, but I should be a little more self-sufficient, I think."

    Paris walked over and put her fists on her hips while nodding, "It''s good to recognize your shortcomings. We can use that as a base for your training."

    "What can I do?" Bazel asked.

    "Let me see¡­" Paris tapped her chin while thinking, "You don''t have much combat experience to begin with, and I don''t want to spread you too thin, but it might behoove you to think about a secondary weapon. Also, your class has a lot of skills that can be used to render the enemy useless, mostly the drains."

    "There''s more than just [Drain Strength]?" Bazel asked.

    "Yes," Paris nodded, "There''s a Drain for every stat except Spirit, and also one that drains health. Swindler is mostly a skill based class."

    Bazel considered that. If he could obtain all the drains, then he could remove the advantages that any enemy might have over him. That, combined with the manipulation skills like [Mesmerize] and [Entangle] could hobble his opponents quite a bit.

    Like Paris said, they would be useless.

    "But you will still have to train your body as well," Paris pointed to him, "Even with those skills, you need to be able to dodge attacks."

    "Let''s talk about this later," Samara pointed towards the gym building, "I think the mayor wants a word with us."

    They turned to see Alexander approaching from that direction. He looked worried.

    "Thank you for the help, heroes." The old man put his hands together, "We have been dealing with attacks like that often, and they seem to be increasing in frequency lately."

    "The harpies nest is growing," Paris said, "and with it, the amount of food they need."

    "Indeed," Alexander nodded and pointed towards the nearby mountains, "which is why we need you to exterminate them at the source."

    Samara walked over and put her hand on the man''s shoulder, "Don''t worry, sir. Well do whatever it takes to destroy their nest."

    Alexander bowed his head.

    "Thank you."

 21 - The Roles We Play

    Climbing up the mountainside took all of Bazel''s endurance. The trail was thin and many parts were rock ledges cut into stairs, making it difficult to find good footing. Bazel just wasn''t cut out for this kind of physical exertion ¨C sweat poured down his face and his clothing under the armor he wore was soaked.

    Everyone else chatted amongst each other without a care.

    After the harpy raid back in the town, Alexander told them how to get to the harpies'' nest. He made it sound like a simple walk up a mountain trail, but Bazel thought it was torture.

    The conversation continued from when Bazel asked about how to better utilize his skills. Paris got on a roll talking about all kinds of tactics and different ways of training that could help them. She really enjoyed teaching if her cheery demeanor was anything to go by.

    She''s not even sweating! Bazel realized as he looked back at her, how does she do that?

    "We need to consider your team dynamics." Paris said, "Every class has things they are good at, and they can usually fulfill more than one role. We just need to figure out what roles each of you should do."

    "What''s a role?" Samara asked.

    "A role is a position that someone takes in a team," Paris pointed at Samara, "Take yourself for instance. Your class is Guardian, they excel in defense, but can also deal damage when needed. The role they generally take is that of the tank."

    "What manner of thing is a tank, Lady Paris?" Risken asked.

    "It''s a motorized vehicle and weapons platform with treads and armor plat¨C" Paris saw everyone''s vacant expressions and smiled sheepishly, "That''s not important, I guess. For this discussion, a tank is the person who stands on the front lines and takes damage, giving their teammates a chance to attack."

    "Woah!" Samara stopped and turned around to face Paris, "You''re saying I should intentionally get hurt just to buy time for everyone else?"

    "Sort of?" Paris stuck her hand out and tilted it side to side, "But, with all your armor and the shield, you won''t actually be injured too badly. Also, you have skills that are specifically geared towards negating any damage that gets through all that."

    "Huh." Samara started walking again while pinching her chin in thought.

    "It''s the same thing you did when you and Bazel were fighting the snakes." Paris playfully punched the air, "Remember how you blocked their attacks while Bazel set up to deliver the final blow? You were able to take out, what, fifteen of them in a couple hours?"

    "Six¡­ teen." Bazel spoke between heavy breaths.

    "That''s pretty good!" Paris pumped her fist, "The two of you were already fulfilling roles without even knowing it."

    "Lady Paris," Risken tapped her shoulder as he walked behind her, "What other roles exist?"

    "Ah!" Paris held her hand up and began counting them off with her fingers, "There''s the tank, which I already mentioned. There''s the dealer, who''s responsible for actually doing the damage, controllers who keep the enemy at bay or lead them into position, and various support roles, like healers and buffers."

    "I am afraid we will need further explanation." Risken said.

    "Well, like I said," Paris waved her hand in Samara''s direction, "Samara here is a Guardian, so she can fulfill the role of a tank or a dealer. For this lineup, I would suggest sticking with tank and buying skills that support that role."

    "Bazel," she pointed to the back of the formation where he was struggling to keep up, "is a Swindler. They are really good at being controllers, but as you''ve probably noticed, they can be dealers as well. I would suggest leaning into the role of dealer, especially if you''re going to use firearm type weapons. Although, you might look into getting more skills that allow you to be a controller if the situation requires it."

    "Finally, Risken." Paris nodded to the prince, "You''re a Poet, and they are generally a support class. You can fulfill the roles of a healer and a buffer by using your skills to increase the abilities of your teammates and keeping their health up."

    Bazel thought he was starting to see how it all might work. The way Paris suggested it, Samara would be in charge of facing the enemy head on, keeping himself and Risken safe. Bazel would be in charge of attacking the enemy with everything he had, while Risken could enhance both of their abilities to do so.

    The only problem with the whole thing was that it had a point of failure. If one of them were to be taken out of a fight, it would be much harder for the other two to survive a difficult battle.

    Maybe that''s why she mentioned each of us fulfilling more than one role¡­

    Bazel already learned that Risken could fight on his own using his skills in concert with his abilities. Even though his class was meant for a support role, he could do a lot of damage as well, given the right circumstances.

    Samara was probably the best suited for combat, having almost equal ability to defend and attack. If Bazel and Risken both fell in battle, she still might be able to handle the enemy on her own.

    But, as for himself, Bazel didn''t think he could match what they were able to do. He already knew he was capable of dealing lots of damage using the Xanadu, but there were drawbacks as well. The time it took to load the gun and fire it was only ten seconds, but a lot could happen during that time. Sure, Risken could use his skill to reduce the wait, but that took time as well, and he might not have it if they were facing a powerful opponent.

    Earlier, Paris suggested that Bazel might want to try using another weapon. Now he seriously considered it.

    The Xanadu was chosen as his weapon by Samara, and she only thought about it after learning that he could boost his strength by stealing it from the enemy. Bazel thought it might not be the best thing for him, now. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    However, it was easy to use.

    The other consideration that made the Xanadu a good weapon for him was its simplicity. Point and shoot ¨C that''s all he needed to do.

    Bazel never learned how to use a weapon before, as a beggar had no reason to fight. He doubted he could handle a sword with grace and precision like Risken, or a mace with strength and brutality like Samara did. In that sense, something like the Xanadu was perfect for him, except for its ridiculous size.

    Maybe there''s smaller versions?

    Samara pointed ahead at the trail, "There''s an alcove. You want to take a break, Bazel?"

    "Please."

    They walked up to the area Samara indicated ¨C a wide, flat portion of trail with a small rocky overhang. A ring of rocks and some ashes showed that someone had used it for a campsite in the past.

    "This is good," Paris nodded as she looked around, "Maybe we should just stay here for tonight and go to the nest in the morning."

    "I, for one, would not be opposed to that idea." Risken said while finding a spot to sit.

    "I brought some sandwiches," Samara made her blue cooler appear from her inventory, "There''s some drinks in there, too."

    Bazel sat on the ground and tried to catch his breath. Maybe he was imagining things, but it felt like breathing became more difficult the higher they went. Not only that, but Bazel remembered that each floor of the dungeon was only a couple hundred feet high, much less than the height of the mountain they were climbing. It was possible that the mountains took up more than one floor, or there was magic that made everything inside the dungeon bigger.

    Who can say when gods are involved?

    Paris and Samara made a fire with some wood they found lying in the alcove. It wasn''t enough to keep it burning all night, but it was something. There were still a couple hours until sunset, but Bazel was glad for a chance to rest and recuperate.

    Bazel retrieved a couple sandwiches from the cooler and offered one to Risken, who happily took it. He also got a couple cans of "Grey Sisters Magic Brew" from the cooler. The cold coffee was somehow refreshing, and despite not liking it much the first time he tried it ¨C the taste was growing on him.

    Samara and Paris also got some sandwiches and drinks for themselves. Everyone sat around the small fire eating in silence for a few moments. Once Bazel had scarfed down his sandwich, he asked Paris a question.

    "Can you tell me if there are other weapons like the Xanadu?" Bazel made the large gun appear from his inventory and held it in his lap, "Maybe smaller ones?"

    "There are smaller ones," she nodded, "but maybe I should explain what they are to begin with."

    "I am also intrigued by the nature of Master Bazel''s weapon," Risken pointed at the gun, "it is most unusual."

    "Maybe in this world," Paris said, "but where I come from, they are pretty common."

    "Oh yeah," Samara looked at Paris with her head tilted, "I keep forgetting that you came here with the dungeon."

    "That''s right," Paris nodded, "I''m from another world, one called Olympus. Olympus is where the gods live¨C well, my gods anyway. But they have many worlds under their control. Anyhow, that''s not really important right now. What is important to this lesson is your world, or rather the level of technology in your world."

    "We do not study or advance technology here," Risken said, "the divines do not allow it."

    "Yes," Paris gave Risken a strange look, "I''d like to hear more about that later. For now, let''s just say that the world I come from, as well as all the worlds under the control of the pantheon are very technologically advanced."

    "Long ago," Paris looked distant, "people from the same world that my gods are from invented something called firearms. They were an easy to use weapon that combined aspects of chemistry, simple mechanisms, physics and metallurgy. The science behind them is actually pretty fascinating, but we can save that for another lesson.

    Paris summoned her interface and used her finger to draw something on it. She turned the interface around so everyone could see it. The crude drawing she made was a tube with a handle and a trigger.

    "The basic concept for a firearm is this. The tube, or barrel is used to guide a projectile called a bullet, or sometimes round." She drew a small ball in the back of the tube, near the handle, "The bullet goes here, and behind it is an explosive material called gunpowder."

    Somehow, Paris made the drawing come to life, and a silly looking explosion shaped like a ball of smoke appeared, pushing the bullet out of the tube.

    "The gunpowder ignites and propels the bullet out of the barrel." She pointed at the animation playing on a loop, "What Bazel has works on this principle in its most basic form. In fact, the Xanadu Gun is the name of the first gun to ever be invented."

    "Normally," Paris dismissed her interface, "using a gun would require you to load the gunpowder and bullet yourself by either stuffing them down the barrel or using special mechanisms built into the gun. We took this a step further by using aether."

    "All the firearms available in the dungeon use aether to create the materials inside the gun." Paris waved her hand and shook her head, "The process is a bit much to explain, but just know that the gunpowder and bullets are real, and they were created using your own aether."

    "As for the Xanadu," she pointed at the gun on Bazel''s lap, "it is considered a heavy weapon, and it''s actually much less common than the regular firearms. Since it uses so much explosive material and heavy ammunition, it requires a lot of strength to use. Also, I''m sure you''ve noticed that the recoil on it is ridiculous."

    "You mean how it pushes me back when I use it?" Bazel asked.

    "Exactly!" Paris nodded with a smile, "All of that requires strength to use, strength that you don''t naturally possess. But, there are smaller firearms that don''t require strength. Instead, they are considered to be Agility and Sense weapons."

    Bazel summoned his own interface and looked over his stats.

    ¡¶ Bazel

    Swindler, level 6

    Rank E

    Experience: 7689/8800

    Health: 70/70

    Aether: 160/160

    Credits: 3,575

    Stats:

    Strength - 6

    Stamina - 8

    Agility - 7

    Sense - 15

    Intelligence - 18

    Spirit - 17 ¡·

    "That would probably work better," Bazel nodded as he looked at the screen, "My Agility is only seven, but my sense is fifteen."

    "Agility is an easy stat to raise," Paris said, "If you factor in buffs you can use like [Drain Agility] or Risken''s [Song of Hermes], you can have much higher Agility than strength, which would make normal firearms do more damage."

    "I never thought of that," Samara said, "honestly, we bought the Xanadu on impulse just so Bazel could have a weapon to use."

    "It makes sense," Paris shrugged, "I mean, with the ability to drain strength, I can see why you went for it. Maybe after this job, we can look into getting him a regular gun, and he can use the Xanadu as backup."

    "But," Bazel pointed at his screen, "I still need to get my Agility up."

    Paris smiled at him. It wasn''t her normal, friendly smile, but one that conveyed a predatory hunger directed right at him. It made him shudder.

    "Lucky for you," she said, "There''s a trainer here who can whip you into shape in no time!"

 22 - Theres Something About Paris

    "No!"

    Bazel cried out in pain and fear.

    "I''m going to break!"

    Paris stood with one foot on his back while holding his arms back.

    "Quit being a baby!" She looked like she was enjoying inflicting pain on him, "Even if you do break, Risken can just heal you right up."

    She pulled his arms further back.

    "Aah!"

    Risken didn''t revel in other people''s suffering, but he couldn''t help but laugh at the sight in front of him. When Paris suggested they do stretching exercises to help limber Bazel up and make him more agile, this wasn''t what anyone thought she would do.

    It looked like some new form of torture.

    Paris actually came up with training for all three of them to do for the rest of the day. She said they shouldn''t waste any time and sit around, then gave them assignments.

    Samara''s task was to meditate, which was supposed to increase her spirit and eventually give her more aether reserves. She sat cross-legged on the edge of the flat area where they were camped ¨C which was basically a cliff. She held her hands out to the side with her thumbs touching her middle fingers.

    She had a frustrated look on her face, and Risken suspected she wasn''t having an easy time "clearing" her mind like Paris told her too.

    Risken''s task was much easier than those of his comrades; Paris told him to exercise. He did alternating sets of push-ups and crunches while watching the comedy unfold before him.

    Paris was now twisting Bazel''s leg in a direction it didn''t look like it was supposed to go.

    "Please!" Bazel shouted, "I''m begging for mercy here!"

    "And you shall have none!" Paris threw back her head and laughed like a maniac.

    Risken couldn''t help but wonder about Paris. She admitted she was from another world ¨C a place called Olympus ¨C and she clearly possessed great knowledge and power. He wondered if she was really the normal person she pretended to be.

    There''s something¡­ strange about her.

    He didn''t realize it the first time he met her, but after spending a couple days in her presence, Risken noticed something.

    Paris didn''t have the normal reactions of a human.

    Where most people would be scared or anxious in some situations ¨C like the harpy attack earlier ¨C she always had a cheerful expression. She didn''t seem to have any sense of danger or caution, either.

    When the harpies had started bombarding them with rocks, Risken remembered seeing her smiling as she pranced through the falling stones ¨C like it was a fun game. Meanwhile, everyone else had been a bit more frightened by the danger. And it didn''t stop with her emotional reactions, her physical ones weren''t normal either.

    She didn''t sweat or get tired, and for that matter she didn''t even show signs of exertion. Where a normal person would have a little trouble climbing up the mountain path, she bounced along as if it were nothing.

    There were other things, too.

    Paris was exceptionally beautiful, her angelic face rivaling any noble Risken ever met. Her long blonde hair looked like spun gold, and her skin didn''t have a single blemish on it. Her figure was perfectly proportional as well, with an hourglass shape and perfect roundness on her breasts and backside.

    She almost looked like depictions Risken had seen of the All-mother, except younger.

    And that was strange in itself. If she was actually the age she looked ¨C around eighteen ¨C then how was she so knowledgeable and strong?

    There was a presence about her too, like she was the biggest person around despite being a head shorter than Risken himself. Neither Bazel or Samara had brought any of this up, but he couldn''t imagine they didn''t feel it as well.

    Paris let go of Bazel''s leg and he flopped to the ground, prone. He groaned a bit and looked like he might pass out. Paris slapped her hands together as if dusting them off and looked at him with a satisfied smile.

    Risken stopped doing crunches and sat up.

    "Lady Paris?" He held up his hand to get her attention, "If it is not too presumptuous of me, I would like to inquire about your person."

    "I''ve got nothing to hide!" She stood with her feet shoulder width apart and put her hands on her hips, "What do ya wanna know?"

    Risken didn''t believe that for a moment, she was definitely hiding things.

    "I mean no offense," he pointed at her, "but how is someone of your stature so powerful?"

    "Ah," she grinned and winked, "looking for the secret to being buff? Well, I exercise quite a bit, it''s kind of a family tradition to stay in peak physical condition. Me and my siblings are a bit obsessed with it actually. Any free time I have is spent building myself up."

    It didn''t escape Risken''s notice that her answer was a slight deflection. As a noble, he had lots of experience in navigating conversations with people who were trying to hide information. Basically, she turned his question around and made it seem like he wanted the information to better himself instead of fishing for details about her.

    Interestingly, she offered up some details he didn''t ask for as well.

    "You have siblings?" He asked, "Are they here?"

    "In the dungeon? Yes." She nodded, "I have two brothers and a sister."

    "Still, you are quite young to be as strong as you are."

    "You think so?" She tilted her head and batted her eyes at him in a cutesy way.

    She didn''t admit to being young, only asked him if that was what he thought. It was another deflection.

    Risken was only getting more suspicious of the woman. At first, he suspected she was someone who had been empowered by the magic of the dungeon, but now he thought it might be more than that.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    First, he would need to determine if the dungeon could make a person like her.

    "So, realistically," Risken continued, "How high can we get our stats? If we are to continue training as much as you do, what will the limit be?"

    "For now, you can only increase them to twenty," she crossed her arms, "but, if you rank up, you will be able to increase them to forty."

    "That is, rank ''D''?" He asked and she nodded, "Then, achieving higher ranks opens up a new limit as we progress through the dungeon?"

    "Exactly." She said, "Each new rank will give you a new cap for your attributes. The aether technology we use inside the dungeon has the ability to change your body and make it better, elevating you above what a normal human can be."

    That information was new. If each rank raised the bar another twenty, then achieving rank "A" would allow a person to raise all of their stats to one-hundred, and there might be ranks above that.

    Risken couldn''t do math as well as Bazel, but he suspected there was some sort of exponential increase with each new rank. With the little experimentation he had already done, it seemed that a person''s number indicated exactly how good that stat was.

    For example, if a person with ten strength could lift one-hundred pounds, then a person with twenty could lift two-hundred. So, the person with twenty strength was exactly twice as strong as the person with ten.

    But what about a person with twenty-one strength?

    According to what Paris said, the dungeon did transform people in some magical way. Even though she called it technology, it was far beyond anything he could comprehend and might as well be magic.

    "What rank are you, Lady Paris?"

    Paris winked and stuck her tongue out.

    "I''m not telling!"

    Yes. She''s definitely hiding something.

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    Peton sat on a log next to the fire that Tarken had just started. They were on a job to kill something called a Gorgon, and find a person it had kidnapped. However, before they could deliver justice to the creature or rescue its hostage, they had to find its lair.

    The part of the dungeon they were in was the thick forest that Peton had a hard time navigating. Tarken fared a little better since he didn''t have much armor, but Peton was encumbered to the point that it made it hard to walk through the underbrush.

    On top of all that, the sun was going down and the light was failing. Long shadows were being cast over the whole forest, and soon the fire would be their only light.

    Since they were stopping for the night, Peton had removed his armor and now sat by the fire in a plain brown tunic.

    "Are these tasks necessary to destroy this place?" Tarken sat at the other side of the fire and stretched, "I find it tedious. Plus, I don''t see how this will help solve the problem with my brother."

    "These tasks are only necessary in the respect that they give us more power," Peton explained, "It is that very power that I will use to destroy this foul place."

    Peton still found it surprising how easily he had convinced Tarken to accompany him. He didn''t really care much about the prince, and found him to be a man lacking in faith, but he was happy for the help.

    Initially, Tarken just wanted to find his brother and leave, but Peton suggested that they could simply eliminate Risken and destroy the dungeon at the same time. He guilted Tarken into going along with it by telling him that it was his duty to do the will of the divines ¨C as someone who was blessed by them from birth.

    The fact that someone like Tarken could be blessed by the divines grated on Peton, though. He was an arrogant and self-centered man who never had to work for a single thing in his life. The blessing that the All-mother gave to royal families was automatically passed down through generations, but it was clear to Peton that Tarken took that for granted.

    Maybe I''ll kill him after we deal with his brother, Peton thought, surely the divines know he is an unworthy vessel.

    "You still didn''t say how this pertains to Risken," Tarken whined, "is all of this necessary to deal with him?"

    "Like us," Peton looked into the fire as he spoke, "Your brother is gaining power in here. Do you think you can simply walk up to him and run him through?"

    "I suppose not," Tarken leaned back and ran his hand through his red hair, "Do you know what sort of class he has?"

    "No," Peton shook his head, "I haven''t been able to find out. I asked around for information on him, but the heretics who live in this place are tight-lipped about other employees."

    "Ha!" Tarken laughed, "They sure do have a strange way of talking about things, don''t they? They make it sound like this whole place is a merchant company."

    "They do treat it like a business. It''s very queer."

    "I''ll say!" Tarken sat up quickly and looked into the trees, "What was that!?"

    Peton heard it too, a twig snapping under someone''s foot. It would have been hard to distinguish it from the crackling of the fire, but Peton was always on high-alert for such things.

    Peton summoned his sword from his inventory and turned to the noise, "Who''s there?"

    A man stepped out of the shadows with his hands held up on either side of his head.

    He was huge.

    Peton himself was a big man ¨C standing over six feet tall and weighing nearly three hundred pounds. Most of that weight was muscle, too. But the man approaching them was even bigger.

    He stood at least six inches taller than Peton and had more muscle than he thought was possible for a person to have. He wore a simple sleeveless tunic and the skin of a wildcat around his shoulders. His short brown hair stuck up in places like a kid who never combed. He had a friendly smile, and was quite handsome.

    "Woah there!" The man said in a sonorous voice, "I just saw the fire and thought to warm myself. If it''s okay?"

    "Who are you, first?" Peton asked.

    "My name is Fyto," he shrugged, "I''m just one of the guys that was suckered in by this place."

    "What do you mean, suckered in?" Peton didn''t lower his sword.

    "I mean," Fyto waved his hand around, "I thought this was a place made by the divines to bless the faithful, but it''s really run by demons."

    "You know?" Peton lowered his sword a little, "How?"

    "I''ve always been faithful to the All-mother and her divines," he said, "and always relied on their guidance."

    Fyto dropped his hands and looked around at the forest, "I just don''t feel their presence here, if that makes any sense."

    Peton lowered his sword completely and nodded, "It does, brother Fyto. I am a holy knight, more in tune with these things than most. I cannot feel their presence here either."

    "A holy knight?" Fyto raised an eyebrow, "Why would you remain here?"

    "I have my reasons."

    "Peton?" Tarken looked over, "Are you sure about this guy?"

    Peton put his sword back in his inventory and sat back down on the log.

    "I have a good sense for who''s faithful or not," Peton looked over at Fyto, "I think he''s trustworthy."

    "He looks like a vagrant." Tarken sneered.

    "I''m a bit rough from living in the wild, I''ll admit." Fyto said as he looked down at his simple clothes.

    "Pay no mind to him," Peton said to Fyto, "Please, have a seat and tell me about yourself."

    "Thank you."

    Fyto walked over and sat on the log close to Peton, "So, what do you want to know about me?"

    "You''re a man of faith, so we could talk about that." Peton smiled, "Who do you pray to?"

    "The All-mother of course!" He said with a chuckle, "But I also give thanks and blood offerings to Jongar. I believe one should always value strength."

    Peton barked a short laugh, "Yes friend. I can see Jongar has blessed you greatly."

    Fyto flexed one of his ridiculously muscled arms, "You think so?"

    Peton already liked Fyto''s company more than Tarken''s. Tarken didn''t like talking about matters of faith like that. Maybe he could convince the large man to help him as well. If he truly was as faithful as he seemed, he would agree to help.

    Maybe the divines sent him to me, Peton thought, that certainly seems like something they would do, sending in more people to help destroy this place¡­

    Peton offered a quick prayer of thanks to all the divines for guiding Fyto''s steps. He looked over at the man and held out his hand.

    "I like you Fyto, I''m Peton."

 23 - Taken Away

    "Everyone up!"

    Paris clapped her hands together as she roused everyone from their sleep. She had taken the last watch of the night, and woke the others just as the sun was rising.

    Bazel felt like a boneless piece of flesh, barely able to move with how sore his whole body was. The stretching exercises Paris put him through the previous evening were nothing short of torture. Although, he did gain a point of Agility during the session, so it wasn''t all bad.

    He slowly got up and stumbled over to the cooler to retrieve a couple cans of magic brew. He drank both cans quickly and gently stretched his sore muscles.

    Once everyone was ready, they set off and began walking up the trail. Their destination was visible at points ¨C a part of the mountain with caves. They could see harpies flying around the area of the nest from a distance. They looked like small black specks zipping back and forth.

    "It''s called an eyrie," Paris pointed up at the craggy peak, "the harpy nest, I mean."

    "Have you dealt with these creatures before, Lady Paris?" Risken asked.

    "I''ve had to fight them in the past." She said.

    "What can we expect?" Bazel asked.

    "A lot of what happened back in town," she mimicked dropping something from her hand, "they''ll fly around and try to drop things on you, or dive bomb you and attack with their talons."

    "In that case," Samara stopped and looked back at everyone, "make sure you guys stay close to me so I can shield you."

    "Okay."

    "Very well."

    The last couple miles of the trek up the mountain trail were the worst. At some point, the trail went from being a graded path to a route meant for climbing. The "trail" was marked by colored flags tied to rocks, but it could only be traversed by using hands and feet to climb up the increasingly vertical slope. It never got to the point of being a wall, but it came close.

    Everyone had a hard time climbing the trail, everyone except Paris that is. Bazel watched in amazement as the woman hopped around on rocks and jumped half her height to reach some ledges. She didn''t seem to fear falling, and she was the only one of them that didn''t even break a sweat during the climb.

    Seriously, why doesn''t she sweat!?

    Bazel struggled the most during the last leg of their journey. Not only were his arms and legs still sore from Paris'' training the previous day, but it was his first time having to climb like that. He remained acutely aware that if he fell, he could easily roll half way back down the mountain before being able to stop.

    One wrong move could kill him.

    As he climbed, Bazel found himself being jealous of Paris. He was sweating profusely, and it was causing problems. The cool air carried by the wind hit his wet skin and made him cold. His sweaty hands kept slipping whenever he grabbed onto a hold, nearly causing him to lose his balance a few times. Progress slowed even more since Bazel had to constantly wipe his hands on his clothes to dry them before moving forward.

    He soon fell into a rhythm however ¨C left hand, right foot, right hand, left foot. Every time he moved one of his limbs, he looked to make sure he had a place to move to. He would then reach out or step and test the area. Only once he was satisfied it was safe would he finish the movement.

    "We''re almost there." Samara called out.

    She had to raise her voice to be heard above the wind, which was now whipping against the mountainside. It seemed the higher they got, the worse the wind became.

    Bazel looked ahead and was happy to see she was right. The trail leveled out only a few dozen feet further, and he would be able to rest. His excitement helped him move a bit faster, though he still exercised caution.

    Just as Samara was about to reach the top, they were attacked.

    The horrid screeching noise was heard first. A combination of a bird''s screech and a screaming woman echoed against the rocks. A Harpy dove out of the sky and struck Samara with its talons. Samara didn''t look like she was too badly hurt from the attack ¨C if at all ¨C but she nearly lost her grip.

    Bazel heard another screech near himself, and flattened his whole body to the ground. The talons hit his back, but the body armor and his trench coat kept him from being hurt.

    "Keep moving!" Samara called back.

    Bazel got back up to his hands and feet, then kept working his way up the rocky slope. He listened for the incoming harpies, and stopped to lay flat whenever he heard the screeching getting too close.

    "Bazel!" Risken shouted, "Rocks!

    Bazel looked up and saw the rock hitting the ground near where Samara was, dropped by one of the harpies overhead. Both Risken and Bazel had to scramble to the side to avoid it as it rolled down the trail.

    Samara and Paris were both at the top now. Paris stood to the side with her bow, occasionally sniping a harpy. With them providing a little cover, both Bazel and Risken crawled to the top as fast as they could.

    Bazel felt extremely exhausted already and wanted nothing more than to flop onto the ground and take a nap. Unfortunately, many more harpies were circling overhead and looking for chances to attack.

    The flat area of ground where everyone was standing wasn''t very wide, and it was flanked by large rock outcroppings. Further up was one of the caves ¨C a tunnel large enough for the harpies to fly through.

    Samara took the lead and put her shield up as she moved to protect from any attacks coming from the tunnel. Risken got right behind her and held his sword just in case. Bazel brought up the rear and took the Xanadu out of his inventory. Paris stood to the side, not interfering with them.

    "Prepare to fight, Master Bazel!" Risken slapped Bazel arm, "I shall sing the [Song of Hermes]!"

    Bazel nodded and pointed at the closest harpy flying overhead. He used [Drain Strength] and watched as the red light swirled through the air towards him.

    Risken held his sword up, "The winged beasts circled round their heads, the skies filled with screams of ire! Bazel fought them in a draconian rage, billowing smoke and fire! [Song of Hermes]!"This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    As soon as Risken finished the poem, the Xanadu made a "cha-chunk" sound to indicate it was ready to fire. Samara began walking forward and the others followed. Bazel walked backwards to cover their rear.

    Risken tapped on Bazel''s shoulder, "To the left!"

    Bazel turned in that direction and saw two harpies diving towards them. He pulled the trigger and took both of them down with a single shot.

    Samara blocked another diving harpy, then hit its wing causing it to tumble to the ground right next to them. Risken ran it through with his sword before it could get up again.

    More harpies were coming in at the rear of the formation. Bazel aimed and waited for his gun to load, as soon as he heard the sound, he pulled the trigger and blasted three more of the creature''s out of the sky.

    Like that, they continued to slowly move towards the cave while taking out any harpy that dared to attack them. Once they made it to the tunnel entrance however, the harpies began to attack even more.

    Three of them dove towards Bazel, he shot the Xanadu, but only hit two of them. The third one flew to one side right before he pulled the trigger, then continued its attack.

    Are they learning?

    The harpy that evaded Bazel''s attack slammed into him and grabbed his arm with her talons. She started beating her wings in long, powerful strokes to pull him away from the cave entrance. Another harpy dove down and grabbed his other arm. Together, they started dragging him away.

    "Master Bazel!"

    Risken broke formation to help get the harpies off his friend. He swung his sword, trying to hit the wings of the creature''s without accidentally hitting Bazel.

    "Ack!" Samara cried out.

    Bazel looked back and saw the harpies had managed to tear her shield out of her grasp. Two of the monsters were attacking her, and she couldn''t get enough room to swing her mace at them. They pinned her to the ground.

    The harpies didn''t have arms like a normal human, but wings in their place. However, there were large claws halfway down the wings they could use to swipe at things. They were using those claws to attack Samara as they stood on top of her.

    Paris was nowhere to be seen. Bazel couldn''t remember seeing her walk away from the formation, but she wasn''t there anymore.

    Yet another harpy flew up by Bazel, but this one targeted Risken. It grabbed him and wrestled the cutlass from his hand. Another couple harpies came down and pinned both Bazel and Risken to the ground.

    With the harpies standing on Bazel''s back and legs, he could barely move. He still struggled against them hoping he could get free, but he didn''t get very far. He could see Risken and Samara struggling as well, but everyone stayed pinned under the talons of the creature''s.

    Bazel wondered why they were just holding them down and not trying to kill them. He thought for sure that they would murder the humans given a chance, and he fought them with that thought in mind. But these harpies didn''t seem to want to cause injury to anyone.

    Then, to everyone''s surprise, the harpies began to speak.

    "Strong humans!" One screeched.

    "Yes!" Another agreed.

    "Will make good mates!"

    Wait. Did she say mates!?

    Risken groaned, "I sure hope they are not saying what I think they are saying¡­"

    "Uhh," Bazel craned his neck to look at the nearest harpy, "You got the wrong guys, ladies! We''re actually really weak!"

    "Self-deprecation?" Risken said, "Good thinking, Master Bazel!"

    "I''m not even a man!" Samara shouted.

    "No more words!" One harpy screamed.

    The harpies began dragging them further into the tunnel. Everyone struggled against them, but with two or three of the monsters handling each person, they didn''t have much success.

    They were dragged down the tunnel, turned into another tunnel and stopped. The light was so dim here, Bazel couldn''t even see the walls. The harpies that were holding onto Bazel wrenched his arm hard, making him cry out in pain.

    While he was focusing on the pain in his arm, the harpy pushed him and he fell backwards. Instead of hitting the ground, he felt his foot slip on the edge of a pit and he tumbled down into the hole. He hit some rocks on his way down, driving the breath from his lungs and scraping him up in the process.

    Bazel hit the ground at the bottom of the pit and squirmed in pain while trying to catch his breath. He was only slightly aware of Risken and Samara landing on the ground beside him. After a few moments, Samara spoke.

    "What the hell!" She sat up, "Are they really going to save us for breeding stock!?"

    "I am quite horrified to know it is even possible," Risken said, "helping those creatures reproduce is not how I imagined my first time."

    "Risken?" Bazel reached out and tugged on his shirt, "Can you heal me, please?"

    "Oh, certainly!" Risken helped Bazel sit up, "Lady Samara, you should come close so you may be healed as well."

    "Right." Samara stood up and walked over to them.

    Risken put his hands on their shoulders and began to make up a poem.

    "Captured by the foul and monstrous fiends, the three friends were brought to ruins, sitting in a lightness pit, and left to lick their wounds. [Soothing Song]."

    Bazel instantly felt better, as if he hadn''t even been hurt in the first place. He was still tired though, so he flopped back onto the ground and closed his eyes.

    "So how do we get out of here?" He asked.

    Samara took a small bag from her inventory and pulled out a coin that she handed to Bazel. It was a teleport token.

    "Oh yeah!" He turned the blue metal coin in his hand, "I forgot about these!"

    "Well have to leave our weapons behind," Samara shrugged, "but at least we can leave."

    "What about Lady Paris?" Risken asked.

    "Ugh," Samara shook her head, "I have no idea where she went. She teleported away during the battle."

    "Why would she do that?" Bazel asked.

    "I''m not sure," Samara frowned, "But her and I are going to have a talk about it when I find her."

    Bazel gripped the teleport token in his hand and tried to activate it. Nothing happened. He frowned at the token and tried it again. Still, nothing.

    "Hey Samara," Bazel held the token up, "It''s not working."

    "Neither is mine." Risken said.

    Samara concentrated on her own token for a few seconds before growling.

    "Damn!" Samara threw the token on the ground, "We could really use Paris'' help right now. Where is she!?"

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    A blond woman in a green tracksuit appeared inside an office, teleported there without warning. Many of the people in the Dungeon would recognize her as Paris, the head of Aethertech''s training department, but she was actually a goddess; the goddess of victory, Nike, to be precise.

    Not many people could force a goddess to teleport against her will, but the man sitting behind the large mohagany desk was one of them. He was a mountain of muscle with a youthful face and a perpetual smile ¨C and the master of the Dungeon.

    "Boss?" Nike looked around, "Why did you teleport me?"

    The muscled man nodded, "Sorry about that. I was with the holy knight and the prince myself when I got the message."

    "What message?" Nike tilted her head.

    The man summoned his interface and turned it around so she could see.

    "It seems the divines want all the directors to attend a party." He said with a smile.

    "It''s clearly some sort of trap." Nike crossed her arms.

    The man shrugged, "Maybe. But I never turn down a party. So, get ready to go. Your siblings should already be preparing."

    "Fine," Nike shook her head and started to walk out, "I just hope the kids will be okay on their own."

    She knew that Bazel, Samara and Risken could probably deal with the harpies on their own, but she was still a bit worried.

 24 - Party Time!

    Bazel put his arms out to steady himself as Samara lifted him up on her shoulders.

    "Woah!" Bazel cartwheeled his arms.

    "At least try to keep your balance!" Samara said.

    Bazel found his balance and stood up straight.

    The pit they were in was only about twenty feet deep, which they thought was escapable. Samara came up with a plan where she would lift Bazel up from her shoulders and see if he could reach the ledge.

    "Here I go!"

    Samara grabbed Bazel''s feet and extended her arms to push him as high as possible. He couldn''t reach the ledge, but he grabbed onto a small rock jutting out from the wall of the pit.

    "I think I can climb out from here!" He called down.

    "Good job, Master Bazel!" Risken answered with encouragement.

    Bazel gripped the rock and began pulling himself up. Samara pushed up as much as she could before Bazel''s feet left her grasp. He reached up for another handhold, but the grip he had on the first rock started to slip.

    "Aah!"

    Bazel lost his grip and fell back down. Samara caught him with one arm under his knees and another behind his back. Bazel smiled at her.

    "My hero!"

    Samara rolled her eyes and dropped him to the ground.

    "Ouch!" Bazel got to his knees and rubbed his sore back, "That was mean!"

    Samara growled in response.

    "Well, it was worth the attempt." Risken looked up at the ledge, "Maybe we can make a tower with all three of us?"

    Samara sat on the ground and kicked a rock away from her, "Maybe."

    They had been left alone in the pit for a couple hours already. Both Risken and Bazel tried to contact Paris with their interfaces, but she wouldn''t answer.

    "Seriously though," Bazel sat next to Samara, "where could Paris have run off to?"

    "Who knows?" Samara shrugged, "Probably had some emergency to deal with. It''s not like she would just leave us to go to a party."

    "Yeah," Bazel nodded, "You''re probably right."

    ¡ö¡ö¡ö

    Dugan made sure everyone was in position and ready to receive their guests. The All-mother stood front and center by the balcony of the palace with the other five divines behind her. Dugan stood to the side and waited.

    He had been surprised when the messenger they sent to the dungeon came back and said that the five "directors" would be there later that day. He expected them to accept his invitation, just not so quickly.

    Nonetheless, he had the servants scramble to make the place ready. Golden bowls of oil set on stands burned brightly and illuminated the interior decorated with tapestries and a crystal chandelier. Entertainers were on standby, and the table was set with the finest food and drink.

    It was going to be a great party if nothing else.

    Of course, it was also a way for them to possibly be rid of the intruding gods once and for all. He had the preparations for that plan in place as well. Faranel had to help with the finer details, but everything was set.

    "Here they come," Zareel pointed outside with her chin, "I think."

    Dugan looked out past the balcony and saw something unexpected ¨C a whole bunch of winged men flying towards them. Men and women, he realized as they got closer.

    Each of them was a normal person with two arms and two legs, but they had enormous wings sprouting from their backs that they used to fly. They were dressed in flowing, white robes that had no sleeves, and they all held musical instruments like lyres and horns.

    The winged people landed on the balcony, forming two lines facing each other. The ones with the horns raised them to their mouths and blew, making a loud sound that went up in pitch almost an octave before stopping. Then the people with the lyres played a pretty sounding chord in unison.

    One of the winged people turned to the divines and spoke.

    "Presenting," he swept his hand to the side, "The directors of Aethertech headquarters!"

    A woman with blonde hair and golden armor landed on the balcony. She also had large white wings, but as soon as she landed, they dissolved into golden motes of light. She was exceptionally pretty, and had a smile on her face. Dugan thought she looked like a younger version of Mother.

    "The lady Nike!" The herald shouted, "Personification of victory!"

    Nike did a respectful curtsy with the white skirt attached to her armor and stepped to the side.

    She seems well composed, Dugan thought, I wonder if there''s a way to fluster her. If there is, she might lose that cheerful demeanor.

    As soon as she was out of the way, another person landed on the balcony.

    This time, it was a man in minimal leather armor. He didn''t have any wings, so Dugan wasn''t sure how he managed to fall out of the sky like he did. The man''s bare upper arms were huge, possibly bigger than Jongar''s and even though the rest of his body was covered with clothing, it was easy to tell that his whole body was heavily muscled and toned. His face had hard, angular features, but he was still handsome. He had short brown hair.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    "Master Kratos!" The herald shouted, "Personification of strength!"

    Kratos flexed both of his arms while glaring at the divines, then stood to the side, opposite Nike.

    He looks like he would be easy to provoke, Dugan sized up the man, maybe I should just leave it to Jongar.

    The next person to fall out of the sky and land on the balcony was a woman with loose brown hair. Like Kratos, she was wingless. She was just as beautiful as Nike, but her slightly harder features made her look like she could be Kratos'' sister. She wore a sleeveless white dress that showed off her ample bosom.

    "Lady Bia!" The herald cried, "Personification of power!"

    Bia nodded to the divines and went to stand next to Kratos.

    She doesn''t look like the type to suffer fools, Dugan smiled, I can definitely use foolishness to lower her guard.

    The next person to land on the balcony had wings again ¨C big white ones like Nike had. When he landed however, he just folded the wings up behind him instead of making them disappear. He wore a white toga and sandals. His long blonde hair was just as beautiful as Nike''s, and his face had some of the same characteristics as her. Unlike her, he looked sad.

    "Master Zelus!" The herald shouted, "Personification of¨C"

    The herald stopped talking as Zelus shot him a death glare. He gulped hard and stayed quiet.

    Zelus looked at the ground and regained the depressed expression he had worn before, then walked over to stand beside Nike. Nike rubbed his shoulder and smiled sadly at him.

    So his domain is a sore point for him, the wheels inside Dugan''s head began turning as he tried to think of what it could be.

    The herald cleared his throat and put his hand out in a dramatic gesture.

    "Now behold!"

    The horns blared once more.

    "The son of Olympus! Bane of the gods and defender of mortals¡­"

    A man landed on the balcony with a crash, down on one knee with his fist on the ground and his head bowed. He wore a tuxedo that looked like it barely fit over his massive frame. He was so muscular, he almost didn''t even look human.

    "Master Heracles!"

    The horns blared a couple more times as Heracles stood to his full height ¨C just over seven feet tall. His face was young looking, which contrasted with his overly-muscled physique. In fact, even Dugan had to admit Heracles was an incredibly attractive man, and he didn''t swing that way at all. However, what Heracles wore on his head made it difficult to take him seriously.

    It was a hat that looked like a lion''s head.

    Not a real lion''s head, though. It was clearly made from cloth, and looked a bit fluffy. The eyes of the lion-head hat had pupils that spun around whenever Heracles moved and made it look even more silly. It seemed like something a child would wear.

    Dugan wasn''t sure what to think of him.

    "Hey everyone," Heracles smiled and waved at the divines, "Good to meet you all, and thanks for inviting us!"

    The All-mother stepped forward and held out her hand, "I am the All-mother, or just ''Mother'' if you prefer. It''s a pleasure to finally meet you, Heracles."

    Heracles shook her hand. It looked like a bear shaking hands with a child, and Dugan was a little worried that he might accidentally break her, but he appeared to be very gentle.

    The All-mother pulled her hand away and used it to indicate all the divines, pointing at each one as she spoke, "These are my children, Dugan, Faranel, Jongar, Bolar, Zareel and Chanee."

    Heracles bowed, "A pleasure."

    "Now," the All-mother clapped her hands together, "Dugan gathered the best chefs and entertainers in the whole world to make a feast for you, so let''s all enjoy ourselves. Okay?"

    "Sounds good to me!"

    Heracles followed the All-mother into the grand dining room, followed closely by Nike, Bia, Kratos and Zelus. Musicians on a stage began playing soft music to set the mood, and everyone took their seats.

    The divines sat on one side of the long table while the directors sat on the opposite side. The All-mother took her usual place at the head of the table and gestured towards the offerings.

    "Please, help yourself."

    Kratos wasted no time in grabbing some turkey legs and a whole pie. A servant filled his glass with wine and he drank it down in a single gulp.

    "Ah-ha!" Kratos said with a piece of turkey hanging out of his mouth, "this is some good stuff!"

    Bia smacked Kratos on the back of the head, "Don''t talk with your mouth full, you brute!"

    What followed was a flurry of commotion as the divines and the directors loaded up their plates with food. The only two people who didn''t move to get food were the All-mother and Heracles. Zareel fixed a plate for the All-mother and set it in front of her. Heracles only took an apple from the center of the table and bit into it as he watched everyone else.

    Nike and Zelus sat next to each other. Once they had their plates in front of them, Zelus looked at Nike''s plate with an expression of longing. After a few seconds, he grabbed her plate and set it in front of himself, then pushed his plate over to her.

    "Seriously, bro?" Nike looked at Zelus with an exasperated expression.

    Zelus nodded, "Yours looked better. I wanted it."

    Nike clicked her tongue and shook her head, then realized that Faranel and Bolar were watching the whole exchange. She shot them a sheepish smile.

    "He''s always like this." She pointed at Zelus with her thumb.

    Dugan watched and tried to pick up whatever he could about their personalities and ticks.

    Kratos seemed to be very similar to Jongar ¨C a man who only cared about strength and using that strength to dominate others. Dugan found it strange that Kratos deferred to Bia though, because she didn''t look nearly as strong.

    As for Bia; the herald said she was the personification of power, but that didn''t seem to be synonymous with strength. Her mannerisms told Dugan that she was a very serious person, and cared for appearances greatly.

    Nike had a bubbly personality and looked like she could get along with anyone well. Dugan thought that she might have a darker side, however. While nobody specifically said so, he was almost certain that her and Zelus were related. She doted on the sad-looking winged man at every opportunity.

    Zelus was a strange one. His attitude was that of a person deep in depression, and whenever he looked at someone or something, it was with eyes of envy and longing. The herald never did mention what Zelus'' domain was, and Dugan didn''t have enough clues to figure it out yet. He thought Zelus might open up to someone like Chanee since they had a lot in common.

    The one person Dugan couldn''t get a read on was Heracles.

    Heracles carried himself like he was the greatest person in the universe, but he also had humility. He had to have a sense of humor if he was going to wear such a ridiculous hat, but he didn''t look like a fool either. Nothing about his actions gave away any weaknesses, and that was a problem.

    Probing the directors for weaknesses was the primary goal of having the party, after all.

    The All-mother smiled and spoke to Heracles, "Are all of you related? You seem quite familiar with each other."

    "These four are siblings," he pointed to the four people sitting to either side of him, "I''m just their boss. They actually work for my father, but I guess I''ve inherited some of his authority."

    "I see." She took a sip of wine and smacked her lips, "By the way, the herald never mentioned what your domain is, Heracles."

    "Me?" Heracles grinned and made his eyebrows bob up and down, "I''m the god of heroes. Cool, huh?"