Lieutenant Marmari waved at me and gave a thumbs-up. I returned the gesture.

  “OK. That’s the go signal from the lieutenant. Shadow, check the door. Bhaarrt, you’re up once she clears it. Blaze and I will follow right behind you. Ingrid covers our six.”

  “Will….” Bhaarrt gave me a look. “Cut it with the fancy crap and let’s just do this.”

  That drew laughter from several of the onlookers. Shadow was already at the heavy black-iron ring on the door, checking for traps. She gave her own thumbs-up, then tugged. The hinges groaned, but the door swung open without resistance.

  To absolutely no one’s surprise, it opened to a corridor that led inside. Shadow held it open and motioned us forward.

  I clicked on my bodycam and stepped in. Cool, dry air washed over me, smelling faintly of stone dust and old earth. I measured the space ahead with my rangefinder. It’s red laser cutting through the gloom.

  “Corridor, five meters long, three meters wide. T-intersection. Openings to the left and right. Burning torch set at the far wall, centered. All walls made of light gray stone blocks.” I spoke clearly for the record.

  The academics had handed me a voice recorder while we waited, voice activated and clipped to my vest. I used it in tandem with the cam. Ingrid and Blaze each wore one too.

  “Ingrid, see if the door opens again. Tell me what you see.” I sketched short, quick lines across my clipboard, graph paper crinkling under my pencil.

  She pushed and the heavy door cracked open. “It opens…but no one’s there. There should be people in sight.”

  “It looks like we can get out. Whether we can get back in…we’ll find out later.” My voice was flat for the record.

  Shadow STEALTHed, slipping into the shadows with practiced ease. She padded up to the intersection.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [Doors at each end. Turns north on both sides. Nothing visible.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Shadow, peek down each corridor. We’ll move up.]

  I watched her marker flicker on the PARTY MAP as she scouted left, then right.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [About 15 meters each way. Both turn. Left side bends right, door midway down. Right side bends left, also with a door. It’s going around a box.]

  We advanced to the intersection. I took more rangefinder readings.

  “Six meters in both directions. Corridors still three meters wide. Grid size is three meters…or about 10 feet if, like me, you think in Imperial.” I said for the record.

  “Ceiling height is four meters, flat slabs with visible joints set every three. Each slab rests on the on the walls. No gaps visible.” I added after measuring the ceiling height. “It might be a standard like old D&D dungeons.”

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Shadow’s to our right by the door. Check it and we’ll make that our first entry.]

  Bhaarrt set his pack down by the wall, shield and maul in hand, muscles bunching.

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  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [No traps. Opening.]

  Our entry formation was clear: Bhaarrt first, Shadow second, Blaze and I stacked behind, Ingrid covering from the rear. I prepped a MANA SHIELD, Blaze a FIRE BOLT.

  The door groaned open. Bhaarrt filled the frame, CHARGEd forward, shield up. Shadow slid in behind. Blaze darted right. I went left… except a wall blocked that side. I hugged the stone, slipping in just as Bhaarrt’s maul smashed a second Kobold with his backswing. The first was already sprawled lifeless on the flagstones.

  Blaze loosed a FIRE BOLT, and the third crumpled.

  Ingrid stepped through, spear ready. “Well, that was a letdown,” she said once she was inside.

  “It was,” I admitted. “If the whole floor’s like this, even a party of first levels could manage it. I hope it gets harder the further in we go.”

  “Yeah… this is kiddie stuff. It’ll ramp up.” Bhaarrt grunted.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [Second door doesn’t look trapped.]

  The room was a neat square, four by four meters. Another door sat diagonal from our entry. Stone torches burned blue on opposite walls. Kobold scraps lay in a corner…bones, greasy bits of food. Loot was meager: 30 Shields split between the three bodies. The walls were the same pale blocks, cut with unnerving precision. We measured, sketched, photographed. Then moved on.

  It made a four-by-four grid on my graph paper.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Same drill. Shadow, open it when ready.]

  The second room door slammed open. Bhaarrt CHARGEd again, shield smashing into the first Goblin. A Kobold lay dead by the time I slipped in. Blaze’s FIRE BOLT streaked past me. I launched a MANA BOLT, and two more Kobolds dropped hard, smoking. Shadow and Bhaarrt finished the Goblin in a bloody corner.

  This room had no second door. Just torches burning cold blue flame.

  “Another early spawn,” Blaze murmured.

  “Easy stuff,” Bhaarrt confirmed.

  “Will? The other side. Is it likely to be the same things as here?” Ingrid asked.

  “Well, it feels symmetrical,” I told them. “If this holds, and people can leave early, we can predict what’s next. Lower levels could farm here safely if they bail early. Like a full day’s worth of spawns condensed into a couple of hours, if that long.”

  Ingrid hefted her spear. “Then let me try the other side first. Three Kobolds…I can handle that. I need to practice with this. Will made the point yesterday with the President. Sir Andrew showed me the basics. Time to test myself.”

  I chuckled. “Fine by me. Shadow, back her up. Ingrid, do you want MANA ARMOR first?”

  She shook her head. “No. You won’t always be there. Better I learn to face it. I have HOLY SHIELD spell if it gets bad.”

  “Sally, you’re right,” Bhaarrt rumbled, voice surprisingly soft. “I’ll be behind you. Call for help if you need it…otherwise, they’re all yours.”

  She hugged his massive frame, kissed him quick. “Then let’s do this. We’ve got a dungeon to beat.”

  We retraced back to the opposite corridor. Shadow flung the door open, and Ingrid charged. She slipped in behind her.

  Three Kobolds lunged toward her. Ingrid’s first spear thrust dropped one outright. She swung the haft sideways, knocking the second off balance and dislodging the first one’s body. A club smacked into her arm, but she countered with the spear’s blunt butt cap, driving metal into the third’s face. It stumbled back, shrieking.

  The off-balance Kobold swung again, but Ingrid parried with a sweep and buried her point in its chest. On the map, I saw Shadow STEALTHed behind the last one. Ingrid kept fending it off with quick jabs until she slashed the spearpoint across its face. Its scream echoed in the chamber before she silenced it with a thrust through the throat.

  A white glow shimmered around her body as she healed herself. Shadow and Bhaarrt mobbed her, hugging before Blaze and I got there to complete the group hug.

  “Damn girl, you sliced ‘em up good,” Shadow crowed. “Only took one hit, too. You want point from here on out?”

  “Like hell,” Ingrid laughed breathlessly. “I know my limit. For now. I’ll get more training from Sir Andrew. First time I’ve taken a hit since this began. Paramedics get hit by patients sometimes…it hurts about the same.”

  “OK folks. Symmetry confirmed. Next room should mirror again. We’ll take it the same way, then go deeper.”

  The mirrored room went down fast. Blaze and I both unloaded FIRE BALLs and MANA BALLs. All three Kobolds dropped in one volley, and Bhaarrt crushed the Goblin.

  Our haul so far: 180 Shields, two Crude Swords, and a Leather Cap.

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