A short time later, we left the room and crossed a few meters of corridor to the door opposite. Shadow messaged that she’d glimpsed something slipping around the corner where the hall turned, but whatever it was hadn’t seen us.

  We slipped into what had become our standard formation for this dungeon. Shadow VANISHED, ready to run in behind their forces. Bhaarrt took point at the door, Blaze and I close behind, with Ingrid holding the rear.

  “As long as it works, keep using it. Until it doesn’t.” I decided a while ago.

  When we were ready for another run like the last room, Shadow VANISHed. Bhaarrt opened the door, I dropped my MANA SHIELD across the frame, and Shadow darted through.

  A Shaman, two mages, and four Goblins waited three-fourths of the way down the chamber. My first spell CHARMed the Shaman, forcing him to lash out at a mage and keep CURSEs off us…well, off everyone but me. Ingrid already had the HOT rolling on us. This time, we were up against an Ice and a Wood Mage. I CHARMed the Ice Mage and turned it against the Wood Mage while the Shaman piled on curses against them both.

  By then, Shadow had circled and BACKSTABbed the Shaman. Her sword and dagger, a deadly pair when her skill doubled the damage, cut deep. She hit him again while he shrieked from the first strike.

  It wasn’t a BACKSTAB ability that time, but it was still from behind. Then she slipped her arm around his throat and opened it with the dagger.

  Shadow was small, but she fought to kill, and kill fast. I didn’t know if she or Bhaarrt tracked their kill counts, but she could have been ahead of him. Her VANISH made her lethal…she got behind an enemy, and lower-leveled monsters often never had a chance.

  Blaze’s fire came close to that kind of destruction. She didn’t get the BACKSTAB double damage, but she could sear multiple targets at once. Me…I mostly shielded, sometimes CHARMED, and when I had a chance, dropped the occasional MANA BOLT or BALL.

  Ingrid alternated between healing Bhaarrt and stabbing Goblins with her spear. It took us less time than the previous fight. We were getting sharper, faster…or at least more efficient.

  I hoped Ingrid would level again soon. Her REVIVE was still capped at ten minutes after death. She had to get to the body in time…and then heal whatever had killed them.

  This fight, I managed to fire off two MANA BOLTs into the Goblins before the last one fell and I let the shield drop. We gathered loot before the bodies dissolved. Same haul as before: 350 Shields, a staff, two leather ponchos, and a Poor Dagger. No bags this round, no robes to tease Blade with. The chest gave up two Level 1 potions, 100 Shields, and a magical item…a Necklace of Defense +2.

  “Anyone want to change how we’re doing this?” I asked.

  “As long as you keep takin’ out the mobs in the back, I can hold the front,” Bhaarrt said. “Last one was so easy, even Ingrid got a kill. She’ll get her Spear skill up the hard way. Make a fighter out of her yet, I will.”

  We chuckled, and Ingrid did too, which was lucky for him.

  “We’re levelin’ fast in here,” Shadow said. “Could get a level every day or two if we keep at it.”

  “I agree. A few hours a day will push us up real quick,” Blaze said. “How many of us can do that besides Will?”

  “Hey, I’ve got work too. I just do it from home. And I’m behind.”

  Blaze grinned. “Yeah, but if this all goes to shit, you might not have any work at all. I’ll be drowning in it. So there.”

  “She’s right,” Bhaarrt rumbled. “I can work faster now, but the shop’s gettin’ less work. And I keep gettin’ called out to save your asses and do stupid things like this.” He paused, staring like an ogre trying to solve a riddle. “I think everything’s goin’ to hell. But I hope it holds off awhile. At least I’ve got skills that’ll be needed when it does. Not everyone does.”

  “Dunno ‘bout that,” Shadow said. “People always gotta eat. So long as we got food, I can fix it.”

  “We’ll survive,” I told them. “It’s not just luck we leveled early. Sure, it helped us solo spawns, but it’s because we work together. We know how to work together now. After this dungeon, we’ll be ahead of almost everyone else. People know we handle problems. Theirs, ours, doesn’t matter. That’s why they come to us.”

  “Will, you got us through that battle,” Blaze said. “You called your friends, and they came. You made more friends from it, and now they’ll come again if you ask. Even if you don’t ask, if they think you need help. Hell, you got the President of the United States to show up. Most people can’t do that.”

  “The agency already told people to follow you and be Mana Mages if they haven’t picked a class,” Blaze added. “They want more with your skills. Your way of doing things. I’ve never seen them move this fast.”

  “They shocked my uncle,” She said. “He emailed me that his old friends are calling him, thinking he can ask me what to do. Matt’s been pushing me to write down every detail when I’m with you all…especially now that we’re doing this.”

  “Not the things you two do when you’re alone?” Ingrid teased.

  “The only things we do at home are eat, talk, and sleep…and not together!” I shouted. Blaze blushed while the rest burst out laughing. They laughed again when I added, “And laundry.”

  Standing, I said, “OK. If you’re gonna be that way, let’s hit the next room, recover, then the last one. Then we’ll see if that’s the Boss room, or if it’s the one down where we came in.”

  We packed up. Shadow led us down the hall to the middle door of the three. Inside, an Orc Warrior led the group. I shielded the doorway first thing, then sent a CHARM MONSTER at the Orc. That gave the Shamen enough time to CURSE Blaze and me. Their Air and Earth mages hammered us with a concussive blast and a spray of golf-ball-sized rocks.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  CHARMing the Orc, I ordered the Orc to kill the Shaman on his left. He knew which side, fortunately. Shadow finished the other Shaman and VANISHed again. I CHARMed the Earth Mage next. The Shaman tried CURSEs, but they didn’t slow the Orc down.

  When the Orc’s sword struck back, the Shaman sure felt it. He staggered back. The Orc stepped forward and killed him with one more blow.

  Shadow BACKSTABbed the Air Mage, nearly killing it in one strike. Casters in cloth had no chance up close. I lobbed a MANA BALL into the Goblins in front of me. One fell instantly.

  On my command, the Orc CHARGEd into the others. Blaze dropped a FIRE BALL on him and the last two Goblins.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Shadow. Mage!]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [Roger that.]

  The Earth Mage fell after Shadow’s blade nearly decapitated him. Blaze and I peppered the Orc with BOLTs while he killed the final Goblin. Then Bhaarrt CHARGEd through our shield wall and slammed the Orc back, almost into Shadow’s blade. She dodged, slashed, and the Orc crumpled.

  Looking at my map, I said, “Nineteen down, one or two rooms left. Probably two. Let’s loot, rest, and top off our MANA before the next. Unless we missed a secret door, this is all we can reach until a second level appears.”

  The coins were a little better. Six Silver Moons, 50 Shields total, plus 5 Moons from the chest. That put us just past half a Gold Sun so far. Two more Level 1 potions. Better yet, two INVENTORY bags. I handed one to everyone and equipped one myself.

  I was running out of space. Ingrid distributed two Level 1 MANA and Healing potions each. “Hang on to these. We may need them for the Boss room.” I double-checked with her; she still had the Level 2s.

  The loot pile grew: another caster’s robe, a staff, two Crude Swords, a buckler, and an ax. The chest also held a Ring of Strength +2. We kept it aside, maybe for Sir Andrew or Gar-Kosh. Both of them are Tanks and can use it.

  Except for Bhaarrt, no one took damage this fight. Just more CURSEs, which barely registered anymore. I hoped the next fight went the same. We sat down, tore open more MREs, and let ourselves breathe.

  We wanted to be ready to go and push through to the end of the Dungeon and get out of here.

  We took just over half an hour to rest, recharge, and talk. I kept quiet about the book and athame I’d hidden…and the unofficial quest tied to them.

  We compared notes on STORE quests. Shadow considered dropping the Goblin Totem quest. No one had seen a camp or a totem. I reminded her that if she’d finished the first one, she had to finish the second one too.

  Blase added that, “If it’s mentioned in the game, it will be here.

  Since we’d spotted patrols before, Shadow led carefully, checking corners before moving us to the last room of this section. If it mirrored the other side, we’d face another Orc Warrior, Shaman, two mages, and Goblins. And more loot.

  The plan: I’d CHARM the Orc, Shadow would handle the Shaman, then she and the Orc would eliminate the mages. Bhaarrt, Blaze, and Ingrid would mop up Goblins. Once the casters fell, we’d all turn on the Orc. If my CHARM broke early, the Orc became our top priority.

  “And you know what they say about plans, mice, and men,” I muttered.

  Shadow reported no patrols. A few steps later, we were at the door. Ingrid put HOTs on me and Bhaarrt, and Bhaarrt kicked the door open. Shadow slipped inside. My shield sealed the doorway, and Blaze’s FIRE BALL arced into the room. We had the routine down cold.

  The enemies were as expected, but the Orc broke formation, charging through his casters. Shadow pressed on toward the Shaman, who needed to be silenced. I CHARMed the Orc and ordered him to attack Goblins.

  “Blaze, casters! Ingrid, heal Shadow!”

  Blaze and I blasted the Shaman and mages while they returned fire. They split it between us and the Orc tearing into his own fighters. For a heartbeat, the mages hesitated, unsure whether to strike at us or Shadow behind them.

  That heartbeat cost them. Shadow finished the Shaman. Both mages, Ice types, launched ICE BALLs at where she’d been…but she rolled forward and their shots hit empty stone wall.

  She wasn’t fast enough to avoid our spells clipping her. Her health bar dropped by half, then climbed by a quarter. Ingrid had her covered.

  “Take the left one!” Blaze shouted, flinging FIRE at the right mage. I hit the left. Shadow appeared behind mine and BACKSTABbed both weapons. The Ice Mage collapsed instantly. Very dead.

  That’s when the Orc broke free of my CHARM. Bhaarrt caught the shift, slammed him with his maul, and weathered the counterstrike on his steel breastplate. Bhaarrt barely budged. His SHIELD BASH rocked the Orc back. Two steps forward and he smashed the Orc’s shield with another maul swing.

  Blaze and I burned the last mage down, then focused fire on the Orc. He fell just before Shadow reached him.

  “You coulda let me hit him first,” Shadow complained into the sudden silence. She sounded annoyed. “I wanted to finish him off.”

  “Well, we got them anyway. Let’s loot, then take a break,” I said.

  The haul matched the other room: one Moon and 50 Shields from the Orc, one Moon from the Shaman, 75 Shields from each mage, and 50 each from the Goblins., Six Moons total.

  The chest held five Silver Moons, two Level 2 potions, and a One-Handed Mace, +2 Attack and Damage.

  “Nice mace. Anyone know a fighting cleric who’d want one?” I asked.

  “How about P-46?” Ingrid suggested. “Nice gift.”

  “Yeah, after Will enchants the hell out of it,” Blaze said. “I think she’s got something for him she hasn’t talked about.”

  “That’s the President of the United States you’re talking about. She’s married. And she hasn’t said anything since she left,” I shot back.

  “I don’t think she’s forgotten you. Or you releasing the Kraken on her,” Blaze teased.

  “OK, OK, maybe not the best move, but she thanked me afterwards,” I reminded her.

  “I saw you sweating on that stage when she was praising you,” Ingrid said, reminding me of a time I almost wanted to forget.

  “What else did they have?” I asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

  “The Orc’s shield looks magical. So does his ring,” Bhaarrt said.

  Checking both, I saw the shield was +1 Defense. The ring was even better: -1 Damage.

  He suggested the shield go to Gar-Kosh. We agreed, and I tucked it into my INVENTORY for him. The ring went to Bhaarrt. Game gear resized to fit, no matter the wearer. That ring would fit Bhaarrt’s massive fingers or Shadow’s tiny ones.

  We also picked up another poncho and a crude cap. Not much normal gear, but decent magic items. Sometimes it went that way.

  Five Silver Moons total, enough for all of us to pick up supplies and Good Beer, with food, at the STORE.

  I checked the chest contents again with DISPLAY MAGIC. Level 2 MANA and Healing potions, 20 points each. “Nice. More healing per drink.” I gave them to Ingrid. Finally, five silver coins.

  “How long before we hit the Boss room?” Blaze asked.

  “Once everyone’s rested and full of MANA and hit points. Then we do it. If another level opens, it’ll be harder. We don’t have to push deeper if we can clear this floor, get out, and repeat it for experience.”

  Blaze nodded. “We’ve been here almost eight hours with breaks. Next run’ll be faster.” Everyone agreed.

  We just had to find out if there was a Boss room…and what waited in it.

  The potential room back near the entrance was waiting for us.

  Tennessee Ernie Ford - 16 Tons

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