It turned into a half-hour meal and rest break. Shadow made the expected cracks about the Meals Rarely Eaten, as Bhaarrt called them. That was one of the more polite names. I didn’t think mine tasted bad. I had the beef ravioli. Bhaarrt scarfed down two MREs and a pair of Blaze’s meat biscuits. I tried one of those…still fairly fresh, but I knew they’d harden like bricks by the end of the day.

  Once we’d eaten, I tested DETECT MANA inside a room. The answer was simple: everything around us. Walls, torches, items, all of it radiated mana. It didn’t penetrate far beyond stone, but it did go through doors into the next room. I cursed myself for not trying it sooner. More interesting… the spell picked up something behind that odd wall I’d marked earlier.

  “Shadow, my DETECT MANA is showing something behind that wall I’ve been wondering about. Want to help me search it?”

  “Sure. I’m done eatin’.” She shook her empty MRE packet. “I could make these thangs taste a hell of a lot better. Next time, I’ll bring spices.”

  “They’re not the tastiest, but I wouldn’t waste them,” I said.

  “I would!” Bhaarrt bellowed, then laughed. “Didn’t think I’d ever eat these things again. Least they keep changin’ ‘em. Never had the sausage and veggies before.”

  “Well, you’ve got enough variety to see if you find something new.”

  We searched the blank stretch of wall. About two meters across.

  “Tryin’ my DETECT TRAPS…and you was right,” Shadow said, pointing at a block near the lower right side. “Right there.”

  “Okay. How do we open it safely?”

  “Hell, if I know. I just detect ‘em right now. Another level, maybe I’ll tell you. Poke it with a stick an’ find out.”

  I raised an eyebrow. She still had her mask down from eating, and the grin she wore told me she was baiting me.

  “Good idea. I’ll poke it with a stick.”

  “You ain’t got no stick. Will, you makin’ fun of me?”

  “Nope.” I pulled one of the Shaman staves from my INVENTORY. “Everyone stand back. I’m going to poke it with this stick. Just remember…whatever happens, it was Shadow’s idea. Twenty feet back. I’ll shield us.”

  They retreated. I set a MANA SHIELD in front of them, then another between me and the wall. Shields allowed me to cast and strike through them…or poke.

  Deep breath. Exhale. Another. I prodded the block. Nothing. I jabbed harder. It shifted slightly.

  “Houston, we have movement,” I called, the variation on an old joke drawing a few chuckles.

  I pressed harder until the block gave way, sliding inward and dropping with a hollow clatter. A small wooden chest pushed forward through the gap, wedged so it didn’t fall to the floor.

  There was a metal ring on the end of the box, like something you’d hold to move it. I saw the lid seam about an inch or so from the top. It had a shallow lid.

  “Shadow. Check it for traps again.”

  She strolled over, scanned the box, then crouched. “Yep. Still trapped. Can’t tell what, but it’s there.”

  “I’m guessing when we pull it out, it goes off.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I’d do.” She dusted off her hands and backed away. “Tell me when you figure it out,” she told me on her way back behind the shield with the others.

  I laughed despite myself. So did the rest of our party.

  I tested the ring handle with the end of the staff. It lifted without setting anything off. Sliding the staff through the ring, I lashed a thirty-foot length of rope to it. Shield up again, I crouched behind my shield, rope in hand. A tug pulled the box free. It dropped to the stone floor.

  A jet of fire roared from the wall. It slammed against my shield and drained a quarter of its strength before dying out. Without the shield, it could have been fatal. A tongue of flame caught the rope near the end. I stomped it out.

  “Okay, Shadow. Do your thing again.”

  She checked the hole and chest. “No traps left. Box looks clean.”

  “Do you want to do the honors of opening it, or shall I?” I asked while putting the staff back in my INVENTORY and recoiling the rope.

  She shrugged and opened it. Four vials. Two red, two blue.

  “Healin’ an’ mana,” Bhaarrt rumbled, lumbering closer.

  Casting a REVEAL MAGIC on them, he was right. Two 10-point Healing potions and two 10-point MANA potions. “Nice.”

  I passed them to Ingrid.

  “You need these more than anyone. Keep yourself alive and keep us up. REVIVE too, if it comes to that.”

  “Thank you.” She tucked them into her INVENTORY. “Hey… they stack. Two to a slot.” The box disappeared.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “It’s handy. I’ve seen that with other things. I don’t know the stacking limits yet. Let the eggheads in town figure it out.”

  We shifted into strategy talk. Blaze suggested shielding against the Hobgoblins and blasting the Shamans. Shadow circling for a BACKSTAB. Everyone agreed.

  “They’ll hit you two with CURSEs,” Bhaarrt added. “Ingrid can heal you. Too bad we don’t have a shield that will stop CURSEs.”

  “Witches and Necromancers are the only ones I’ve found with a shield against CURSEs. I don’t know that Morticia’s up to this dungeon yet. Later on, she’ll be really popular.” I told them.

  “I know her Tanks love her when she’s one of their casters and they’re fighting Shamen.”

  We moved on to the duplicate room on the other side. Blaze’s idea worked and the fight went cleaner. FIRE BALLS, MANA BALLS, Shadow darting in to finish what survived. Loot was lean, one staff from the Shamen, but the Hobgoblins dropped two Poor Swords, a Buckler, a leather poncho, and a crude cap. Plus 250 Shields. Two Moons fifty.

  As expected, the room had the same hidden compartment. Using the rope and staff again, we doubled our potion supply. Ingrid stored them with the rest.

  I suggested checking the pair of nearby rooms before moving deeper. The symmetry made them predictable.

  Dungeon corridors reminded me of mall walking for some reason. At least when I was at the mall with someone else. Plenty of backtracking, except here the background noise was echoes of boots on stone and the faint acoustics of voices carrying along the walls.

  We set up outside the next door. My DETECT MANA showed five signatures…two stronger than the rest.

  “Another pair of Shamen,” I groaned. “Same plan. Ingrid pre-HOTs, Shadow behind.”

  Inside, it was three Orc Warriors and two Goblin Shamen. Fire and MANA filled the room. Blaze’s FIRE STREAM arced like a flamethrower across the Orcs. Shadow dove into the room, then shifted to the side before she carved into one Shaman while I CHARMed the other, ordering it to CURSE its own side. The fight ended quickly.

  Loot was better: 80 Shields from the Shamen, 1 Moon each from the Orcs. Our first silver coins. A Poor Ax, Poor Shield, and a Thief’s dagger from the chest. REVEAL MAGIC showed +1 to Hit, +5 Damage, double BACKSTAB.

  After I read out the stats on it, I asked, “Anyone object to Shadow getting the dagger?” We were unanimous in saying it was hers. Handing her the dagger, I said, “It is all yours. Use it well.”

  Shadow bounced with excitement. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She hugged us all before sliding the new blade beside her old one in her sash.

  We were a happy bunch of dungeon crawlers.

  A few minutes of recovery time later, we left the room and set up in front of the door across the hallway. DETECT MANA showed the same number as in the last room.

  “I wanna try my new dagger,” Shadow told us. “If it’s Shamen again, I’ll take the one on the left. Hit them twice and that’s enough time for me to get there. Then I’ll get outta there.”

  “Stay away from the fighters at the shield.” Blaze told her. “I took FIRE STREAM the last time I leveled, and I keep forgetting to use it. I want to try it on them.”

  “If we’re going to try new things, how about I try a CHARM MONSTER on the Shaman on the right? If I can get it to attack its own people, they’ll go down faster. Anyone else got anything new they want to try?” I asked

  When I got no answers, I said, “Let’s do this.” She VANISHed and Bhaarrt opened the door. Blaze and I shielded the doorway. I got the CURSE on me before I could charm a Shaman. The one on the left screamed as they got BACKSTABbed, and I hit the other with a CHARM MONSTER. It registered as CHARMED to me.

  “Curse the Orcs,” I yelled and fired a MANA BOLT at the one Shadow had BACKSTABbed.

  Glancing to my right, Blaze was swishing her wand back and forth with a steady stream of fire and hitting the three Orcs trying to break through her FIRE SHIELD. The first Orc went down and another of them hit my shield before Bhaarrt, who’d been waiting, screamed, “Bhaarrt Smash!” and finished it off. Blaze and I finished off the charmed Shaman. The other was already dead.

  “Good work, guys. The new tactics worked. We have options we can use.” I told them.

  “I love this dagger. It did as much damage as my sword in the BACKSTAB.” Shadow wiped the blood off it and kissed it, before sheathing it. “I love it, I love it.”

  That got me wondering how much I should worry about her. She was becoming more the Ninja, and less the college sophomore to be.

  The second mirrored room went the same way. Blaze used her FIRE STREAM; I charmed a Shaman. Fights were fast, coordinated. The monsters were down in a minute.

  This room was the same as the last, including the chest. In the chest were two potions plus a ring. REVEAL MAGIC said it was a +2 Ring of Wisdom. Two points of WISDOM for any caster, mentalist or healer is a good thing. Everyone pointed to Ingrid without debate.

  We added another Shaman Staff to the collection, a Leather Cap and a Buckler. No bags this time.

  Once we had everything together, I asked, “Do you want to rest a while, or go over to the other side and repeat the two rooms there?”

  After regrouping, we started toward the other side of the dungeon. That’s when Shadow leapt back from the intersection.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [Got somethin’ coming towards us from the right.]

  She VANISHed.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [Looks like 3 Goblins, 1 Orc. All fighters. Not sure if they saw me or not.]

  We heard the sound of several barefoot people running towards us from the corridor to our right.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [NVM. They did.]

  I threw a MANA SHIELD across the hallway.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Shadow. Go far side. Stay down.]

  We formed up. Bhaarrt in front, Blaze and me behind him, Ingrid behind us. The enemy rounded the corner.

  “Level 5 Orc Warrior,” I reported.

  “Level 3 Goblins,” Blaze added.

  “We got this! Bhaarrt Smash!” Bhaarrt roared, TAUNTing them.

  “Just shut up and kill ‘em already,” Ingrid snapped.

  Blaze’s FIRE SHIELD bloomed in front of mine. I launched two MANA BALLs. Her FIRE BALL followed, firelight reflecting red across stone. Screams filled the corridor.

  Bhaarrt’s maul smashed the middle Goblin flat. The rest fell to our spells. The Orc staggered…and Shadow’s Ninjatō slid between its ribs from behind. Bhaarrt finished it with a crunching overhead strike to its face.

  The fight was over. Searching the bodies, we recovered ninety Shields and one Moon. We also collected two Crude Swords and a Leather Poncho from the Goblins. A Poor Ax came from the Orc. Also, another small pouch.

  “Even the wanderers are tougher,” Bhaarrt muttered. “Next section’ll be worse.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “Let’s clear the next two rooms and rest before pushing on. No need to zerg it.”

  “Zerg?” Blaze asked.

  “It’s a rush through as fast as possible strategy. From the StarCraft game. It comes from a tactic the Zerg race players use.”

  “Oh, OK, I guess. I’ll learn these terms eventually,” she told me.

  “They’ll stick,” I told her. “Shadow, from now on, always STEALTH on point. Spot them before they spot us.”

  “Thought about that just after they saw me,” Shadow said. “Once is enough. I learn quick.”

  “Yes, it is. Ready? We’ve got rooms to search and monsters to kill. Maybe we can finish this place by dinner.”

  “I hope so,” Bhaarrt rumbled. “Not sure we brought enough food for days. I’m startin’ to get hungry again. Almost very hungry.”

  We all laughed.

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