Their large but now smaller group of adventurers approached the central plaza from the direction of the 5th gate. Teams had broken off to carry away their dead and wounded while others began to search the nine other routes that led off from the foot of that gate.

  It was now late afternoon and Franco was getting tired but it had been an interesting day. He had gotten to know Summer and Faye better, while Kara had remained aloof. The twins were skilled adventurers if not what he had expected.

  A worry over the last few hours had creeped up on him. He knew he wouldn't level from the fight they had, he didn't expect that but he was worried that it might be a lot harder in general.

  He was a new Bronze ranked adventurer and with his new gear and spell he felt he could have taken on all those skeletons by himself. Well maybe not he thought but most of them.

  Just weeks ago three Bone Giants and a hundred skeletons or so had almost wiped his team. It was amazing what just a few levels and Legendary artifacts could do to you. He laughed at the thought.

  “What's funny?” Summer asked next to him as they walked down the long boulevard that was leading to the central Plaza.

  “Oh just thinking about the fight and how much has changed from just a month ago. I was thinking how much stronger I’ve gotten thanks to my skill and levels, and then I remembered the real reason” He said as he slapped the saber at his side.

  “Feel like you're a new man from where you were a month or so ago” Summer said with a hint of mirth in her tone.

  “Yes, yes I know I'm a different person after getting my head crushed but I was more thinking about how my team almost got killed by three Bone Giants and a hundred skeletons a month ago but now we could have handled all those skeletons and Bone Giants in that fight today.

  “200 or more skeletons and elven Bone Giants is no joke for a Gold team but you think your new Bronze one could handle it” Kara said with no mirth in her voice from behind him.

  “Now it sounds like bragging but I laughed because I do and it's not because of me or what my team has become, it's because of our gear, I’m serious and a little worried.”

  “Well as long as you don't try and live up to that gear yet. You saw how easy it is to get killed by a high level threat even with Gold rated gear and a hundred or so years of experience.” Kara said somberly.

  Nine adventurers had died because of the fight. Eight during the fight with one more not living through the trauma of their healing. For what they had faced it was still a fair trade but none of the team members of the lost would think it worth it. That said the city had been cleared and all the gates had been located and were being secured.

  Sir Allen had explained the plan to lock most of the Gates from the inside so they could keep control of the remaining entrances. Less likely for Denezians of the Deep to creep their way into the dungeon and ambush adventurers. Give it a few more months and this top level would be relatively safe. Depending on what the other levels of the dungeon held of course and how you could reach them. Desanigh the city of infamy might be reoccupied as an adventurer town in the near future.

  They finally reached the central plaza and it was unlike any other place in the dungeon so far. Twice as big as any of the other plazas it also looked to be a place that was left intact from before the fall of the city. The boulevard they had come from connected to a huge road that went around the large square plaza in the center, helping to make the place feel huge. In the center of the plaza was a large but low hanging arch that dominated the middle of the plaza with large carved reliefs.

  As they actually got into the plaza Franco guessed that the place had been some kind of park as there seemed to be large flowerbeds or other clearly defined dirt fields that had little to no growth in them now, which seemed very strange for a long abandoned city but their group followed a clearly marked out path. Adventuring teams had cleared the area and several adventuring symbols or marks showed where traps had been or where piles of enchanted bones had been piled up. This last was surprising because there was a lot of bone as they got closer to the arch in the center. The bones must have been all over the place but now they had been gathered in clearly marked off spaces that had wards around them drawing off the death attuned Mana from them. Those wards would turn the Undead bones back into normal ones that would then degrade in time.

  They reached the center where a good size group of adventurers were looking over the arch. Franco moved past the others in his group who took seats off to the side to eat or just to get off their feet as he was more interested in the arch. It was at least six feet thick and it looked to be no more than ten feet tall at its peak but covered a good forty feet in length. Detailed reliefs covered the arch telling the story of the city. Franco couldn't see all of it as he got closer to it and the group of adventurers who were inspecting it but he could tell by the master work of sculpting that each panel was a moment in the history of the city. It showed mining and battles. One looked to show a lava or Rock Mother being slain in a cave. Almost all of them had Kimber in them but towards the middle there were what looked to be dwarfs in some.

  Franco realized as he got close that he knew some of the adventurers standing around and as he got near one waved at him. Cid the Harekin saw Franco and waved him over. He was standing with Jax and Daggron and a group of adventurers he didn't know.

  “Hey Franco it's me Cid from Wrath of Pele” Cid said as he moved from foot to foot.

  “I remember Cid. You’re more famous than me.” Franco said, shaking the Harekins hand.

  Cid’s ears twitched and he wrinkled his face. “I don’t know about that, but were you part of that group up by the 5th gate? How was that fight? It looked like a big one from here.”

  Franco smiled at the rapid fire questions.

  “I was, my team is not here so I teamed up with Seasons End and the Atwood Axes thanks to you. It was a big fight with lots of skeletons, Bone Giants, Mages, an Ivory Knight and two Bone Abominations. We lost nine adventures in it, even a Gold.”

  Jax had come up while he was talking and shook his hand.

  “That sounds like a rough fight if a little better than you would expect” Jax said looking towards the 5th gate.

  “ Yea, honestly it was about what you expect but now they are saying the city is secure or at least soon to be since we found all the Gates” Franco said.

  Cid scoffed “That we know about it. It's a dungeon. I bet there are a hundred more entrances we don't know about.”

  Franco just shrugged in agreement. “What are you folks looking at?” He asked in the lull in the conversation.

  “Oh come and see. Everyone thinks it's the way to the next floor” Cid said, waving him to follow.

  Franco followed Cid over to the group that was watching a lone Mage inspect a section near the base of the arch on its western side. There something clearly had replaced the stone relief and in its place on the base was some new mechanism. The Mage inspecting it blocked his view a little but there was clearly a text there with nine slots beneath the texts. All about three inches big and two across and they were in a loose arch shape below the text with eight of the nine slots filled with stones of different colors. They evoked something from Franco’s memory. He thought he had seen their like before, but from where he thought.

  After a few minutes the Mage moved and Franco could see the text fully.

  Nine by Nine as things of old.

  A grave was a city

  Now a dungeon built

  The way below is simple if you but Add

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  The forges of Desanigh held true

  The maze of wealth always led deeper

  For what we lost we hate you

  For the slaves that brought the city down

  Take what they built and spit on their graves

  Franco read and reread the plaque. It wasn't a poem or at least he was pretty sure it wasn't in any style he knew but did it hold some secret meaning, maybe? It just seemed like random statements with just a bit of knowledge.

  Franco knew what that demon had said in the temple and what he had alluded to. So former slaves turned into Minotaurs by dealing with ancient demons really built this place? Could that all be true. Was this really a demon dungeon or something else. It had to be something else if centuries of work went into building this place.

  He got closer and no one stopped him as he got within a few inches of the plaque and its words. He read them again and again before he looked over the nine slots and the eight stones that filled them. He knew them and as he sensed a faint bit of magic in them he knew what they were. They were huge compared to Frazier’s thumb nail size ones.

  “Probably shouldn't touch them” Someone said from next to him.

  Franco realized that he had his right hand up and was only inches away from touching one of the stones with his right pointer finger.

  He stepped back a little embarrassed.

  The mage that had been inspecting them earlier looked at him.

  “Seems like you might know what they are” The man asked in a way that demanded an answer.

  “I might” Franco said, getting his back up at the man's tone.

  “Hey Franco,” Cid said introducing everyone and calming both of them down. “This here is Captain Finnegan of The Barrens, a Gold ranked team. He is an amazing Mage and who they put in charge of figuring out this puzzle, Oh and Captain Finnegan this is Franco Young of the Stone Eaters. The group that went down and opened the Jade Temple.” Franco stuck his hand out towards the captain. An older man, maybe in his mid forties, hesitated just a second before he took it in greeting.

  “Nice to meet you Franco, I have heard of your team. One of the reasons we decided to take the chance and come here”

  “Oh really, well it's mostly rumors,” Franco said, now a little embarrassed. What rumors were out there in the world about him, he wondered.

  “Well, that's not important now. It seemed you had an insight when looking at these stones” Finnegan said pointing out the one Franco had almost touched.

  The pale skinned shorter older man with his dark red hair and striking brown eyes looked like he wanted to shake Franco to get an answer out of him.

  “Well it says, the way below is simple if you but Add. And I think these are Adder stones. Brother Zif was telling us about them in the Temple. Some early days of the world magic that was common thousands of years before the fall of Desanigh. Magic stones that everyone used in that day but were rare and valuable by the time Desanigh fell. They could inherit aspects of attuned Mana. Like this red one is probably a fire attuned Adder stone and this blueish one is probably water or wind.”

  Finnagan got closer and closer to the stones as Franco talked. So much so his nose was only an inch away or so from touching it by the end. Franco smiled at the man's intensity.

  “What is this?” Cid asked as he stepped closer to Franco.

  “Yeah Zif was saying it was the basis of the world's magic for thousands of years until their source dried up but I think they are just used as keys here but very expensive ones. They are huge compared to the ones Zif showed us.” Franco said, pointing at the eight stones.

  “Are these Adder stones by any chance” Cid said as he held up a handful of little stones.

  Before Franco could get a close look at them Frinnagan spun around and enclosed Cids hand with both of his as he pushed the Harekin back.

  “Back, get back,” Frinnagan said in a snarl.

  Cid ripped his hand free from the grip but hopped back a few feet.

  “Wow what's going on?” Cid said, frustration in his voice.

  Franco followed but he thought he knew why the Mage was upset.

  “Back, get back further you idiot. We have no idea how it will respond if those are these Adder stones.”

  Franco heard Daggron and Jax chuckle at their teammate as his ears twitched in frustration but he turned around and walked back to stand by his team members. Franco noticed that Faye, Summer and Kara were also standing by watching.

  Cid opened his hand and showed it to Franco when he got near. Finnagan was there also. There were six stones there and they were near the size of the stones that Frazier gauntlet used. Franco needed to buy some for her if these were actually Adder stones.

  “Well they look like Adder stones and they look like the ones there on the Arch but I’m not sure”

  “We need to test these, do you know what they do or who we can find out if these are the same”

  “Honestly I don't know how to test them compared to what is there. Brother Zif could tell you by just looking at these in your hand and the ones in the Arch but I don't think we could get him to leave the temple.” Franco said.

  Then an idea hit him that might work out in his team's favor.

  “I do know how to test the ones you have Cid, well If they are the right size but they look it. Meet up with me and my team tonight and we can see if these are Adder stones.”

  “Really” Cid said as he looked over the ones in his hands.

  After a few seconds he pulled out a few more stones from a pouch on his belt and handed Franco a pale white one and a purple one. He had two more of the colored stones.

  “I’ll let you test these but I expect these back” Cid said as Franco took them.

  Looking at it closer it really did look like the same type of stones as Frazier's shooting aid and the larger ones on the Arch.

  Frinnagan held his chin with his right hand in thought as he looked over the stones in Cids hand without touching them.

  “Well if these are the same kind of stones, if we use the right type will we unlock the way to the second floor. That is what the words suggest but what stone.”

  “This white one,” Cid said, picking the stone from his hand and holding it up with his other.

  “The eight stones there already match the ones I have and more, besides this white one and I got these stones off the arrow traps on the bridge room before the Lizardkin village. Each arrow had a different effect, fire, ice and shock but this one just had a hollow white light that clearly hurt what it hit but didn’t leave any markings. It even killed Lizardkin or Spiders in one hit sometimes but never left a mark. I have been wondering what it was.”

  At his words Franco’s hand reached out to touch it and his bare finger type brushed against the white stone Cid was holding. Pain flashed in Franco’s mind as he felt his soul moving in his body and mind as he fell to the ground as memory overtook him.

  ***

  “Oh Franco, what did you expect? We are just Copper ranked adventures.”

  Franco turned and saw the girl there. She was almost as tall as he and the smile on her lips was light and kind on her fair features but it made anger run through him. She had won and he would marry her even if he had never wanted to. His poor parents had felt bad with how much pressure they had put on him, but he understood why. What House Anderson had offered their family could not be turned down. Franco made himself take a deep breath before he answered her. He could not show his frustration and he didn’t hate her. They had been friends for years and he had long known her feelings for him, but still he had not thought she would push her father and him so hard. Hard enough that they would soon be married and he did not want to yell at the future mother of his children because he was frustrated at her teasing.

  He smiled. “But love how can I show off my manly virtues without some brave deed to impress you”

  She rolled her eyes at him and gave him a slight push as they stood watching this stone tunnel hardly big enough for the two of them to stand next to each other.

  “I was at the Old World too, even if I wasn't special enough at the time to be part of your team. I saw what you did there Franco.” She said both with a hint of jealousy and admiration.

  “I’m sorry I didn't invite you into my team then. I didn't know you would be so willing to go on adventures with me then like I do now” He said keeping a fake smile on his face.

  He turned and looked forward, down the tunnel and its bare stone that had been dug out by Stone Scarabs and Rock Slimes over thousands of years. Real anger surged in his blood.

  His frustrations with her these last few days had turned him angry and moody and he didn't know why. Well he knew why to be honest with himself. He didn't want to marry her, that simple but he was surprised how mad it was still making him. They had been friends for years, he couldn't let his feelings go but he needed to or she would be hurt in his temper tantrum.

  He had accepted this, he had and it was going to be fine.

  Suddenly she grabbed her head with her free hand, her rapier rising in her right hand.

  “Something is wrong, something bad is about to happen” She said.

  Suddenly worried, Franco grabbed her.

  “Eloise are you alight?”

  “Something just pulsed like a heart beat. My Soul sense is screaming danger to me Franco” She said in a pained mumble.

  “My lady, we should go now,” her guard said behind her, worry in her voice.

  Someone shouted from behind them, from the main tunnel.

  “What was that?” Franco asked the two guards behind them.

  “They said they are opening the doors now,” Thomas said. The look at his guard said it all to Franco.

  The two things were related and they were in real danger.

  “Grab her and get moving, we have to get back now” Franco said, abandoning the position they had been given to watch.

  They turned and made it to the main tunnel when the screaming started.