We stepped through, onto lush forest grass, startling Throttle and Cierin.

  “Grind!” Cierin snapped, grabbing my shoulders. “What took you so long? We were starting to think you’d take the dungeon all by yourself.”

  I started laughing.

  He chuckled nervously.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I said, patting his hands.

  There was a hiss of air, and the portal closed behind us, dimensional space warping ground, before a puff of blue sparks as the fabric of reality settled itself down.

  “So much for that dungeon,” Throttle muttered. “No entrance no entry. Unless that key still works out in the middle of nowhere, which I’m skeptical of, for various reasons.”

  Cierin nodded. “Good riddance.”

  “You’re just upset your ego got pulverized,” Throttle chuckled. “How was babysitting?”

  He ignored her, turning to me. “Hey, Grind, can we talk? About him?”

  “Serenity?” I asked, sitting down on the ground.

  “You knew about this?” He hissed, slumping beside me. “She blew the gate clean off with her bare hands. Forget fighting the boss. We could’ve just sent her in, and she’d have cleared the entire floor.”

  “No.”

  Cierin sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “Sern is immortal. You know that, right? She can’t die. It’s irresponsible to use her.”

  “I can’t die either,” I stated.

  “But this is different,” Cierin said with a sigh. “Look, if Sern dies—and that’s a big if considering how freakily powerful that girl is—she’ll respawn at midnight without memory of how she died. Whatever you go through resets time, and you keep your memory. So, in this timeline, you can only die one, but she can die an infinite number of times, right?”

  “I’m not going to let Sern die,” I stated.

  “Sure, yeah, that’s fine, Grind—to a point,” he snapped. “Throttle almost died. Sern could be our last resort, you know? If things get too bad, then we’ll send her. That way, players we could’ve saved don’t wind up dead.”

  Cierin crossed his arms, leaning against a tree. “I collect weapons, and as much as I like my favorites, the point of a weapon is to be used. Look at it objectively. Sern is built for combat, she’s just wildly inexperienced, so she winds up hurting and scaring herself. With a little training, she’ll get a grip on her powers and save the lives of players, while keeping herself safe.”

  “Training?” I allowed myself to consider it, before letting out a long, slow sigh. “You're missing the point, Cierin. I’m willing to die before forcing Sern to fight.”

  He blinked. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  “Why?!”

  “You really want a little girl fighting your battles?”

  Cierin flushed. “When the little girl has power equivalent to a union trainee? Yeah.”

  “Look at it from my perspective,” I growled. “From yours, she dies, then she’s dead. It’ll only happen once or twice in your lifetime. But I remember each time she dies, and it’ll stick with me, through every single respawn, for as long as I live, which may very well be forever. That’s the kind of thing that’ll stain your soul, Cierin. I care about Sern and how she feels, and I refuse to turn her into the kind of monster you think she is.”

  Cierin groaned. “She’s already a monster, Grind. A nice monster, yes, and I want her safe just as much as you do, but no matter what you do you can’t make her human. I can’t walk into a dungeon, putting my life on the line when everyone with me isn’t willing to do the same.”

  I stood up, staring him in the eye.

  “She’s a frightened twelve-year-old girl. I refuse, and that is final.”

  There was a long period of silence between the two of us, before Sern walked over, carrying an armful of bright purple flowers.

  She glanced up at Cierin, eyes wide, then at me, then at Cierin again.

  “I know you heard all that,” Cierin muttered.

  Sern handed him a flower.

  Cierin looked the other way.

  Then he let out a sigh, and took the flower from her hand. “You’re too cute to be annoying,” he grumbled. “Throttle’s a big ‘ol softie, so she won’t mind, but I’d imagine several members of the party would have a fight if they knew what kind of power you were letting go to waste.”

  “I’m already wasting respawning,” I chuckled. “Add it to the pile.”

  “What will you do when you have to choose between saving her, and saving us?” Cierin asked, his critical tone replaced with one honest, and sincerely worried.

  “You’ll never know,” I stated. “From your perspective, it'll never have happened.”

  “Fair enough,” Cierin stated. He took a sniff of the flower, before bursting into a coughing fit. “This smells horrible!"

  Sern giggled, swishing her dress around.

  “I swear, you’re more goblin than elf,” he grumbled. “Grind, you’re still going to bring her to the two-star dungeon, right?”

  “We don’t have a choice,” I said. “Unless you don’t want me going.”

  Cierin chuckled nervously.

  Throttle clapped her hands. “Now that you two girls are done fighting, we’ve got to get outta this forest. Can't be late to the meeting.”

  Cierin snorted. “When do you care about meetings?”

  “Oh you know how Irion is,” she said. “He’ll assume us dead, sell our stuff, and spend it on gear.”

  “How long were we in that dungeon?” I asked, looking up to the sunrise.

  “Video game time gets a little funny inside a dungeon,” Cierin muttered. “Where’s the map?”

  Throttle frowned. “I thought you had it.”

  “I have it,” I said, taking the map from my inventory.

  It disintegrated on my touch, as my strength had risen substantially in my squabbling with Cierin.

  Fortunately, we didn’t need the map, as the unnamed city was putting out a dreadful amount of smoke and fire, plumes of which rose high, brushing against the clouds. That said, it was only fire, and not a lot of screaming, which meant that things were probably under control.

  Along the way, we stumbled across the patch of Ruptor Shrooms, which I started grabbing.

  “Grind!” Throttle shouted, bolting toward me. “That’s—”

  I twisted the cap, and the bright spots dimmed to a dull red.

  ~Legendary~

  {RuptorShroom}

  [explodes violently in a large area]

  [20-50 Str]

  She blinked. “Oh.”

  I plucked fifty or so off the forest floor. “These might come in handy.”

  Speaking of explosions, one such came from the town, in a vast swath of blue fire, puncturing the dense cloud layer, the aftershock of which blew dirt and gravel into our faces.

  Throttle wiped a layer of soot off her face. “What was that?!”

  “Fire?” I guessed, squinting to get a better look.

  Actually, the blast looked like it came from…from…

  I took off running, with the others close behind.

  Throttle frowned, glaring into the sky as the light faded. “Seriously! What was that?”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “I think that was a dungeon break,” Cierin said, gritting his teeth.

  She frowned. “From inside the city?”

  “They’re incredibly rare,” Cierin muttered, ducking under a passing branch. “I’ve never seen one before, but they’re supposed to be really flashy.”

  “Flashy is right,” Throttle stated. “I was itching for another fight.”

  Cierin glanced toward the fresh scarring and bandages all over her body. “Please tell me you're joking.”

  “I’ve got another twenty health from the rock lady,” Throttle scoffed. “I’ll be fine.”

  Cierin chuckled nervously. “Funny. Very funny. You’re a funny woman.”

  Sern clutched my hand in hers, staggering to keep up with my pace.

  “Grind!” Throttle shouted and waved her arms, getting my attention. “What’s up with you?”

  I blinked, almost running straight into a tree, before I managed to stop myself. “That explosion came from town square.”

  “So,” Throttle asked.

  “Our inn is by town square,” I muttered. “We need to get there before somebody gets hurt.”

  Cierin smiled. “Then what’re you holding back for? We’ll keep an eye on Sern. Just jump over.”

  “Jump?”

  Cierin nodded, and I glanced down at my legs.

  They didn’t look much stronger than normal, but I had gotten a lot of strength from the dungeon. But I’d always kept it held back, so I wouldn’t destroy the ground I walked on.

  Sure I knew what number my strength was, but how strong actually was I?

  “Thanks for the offer, Cierin,” I sighed, letting Sern onto my back. “But she and I have to stick together.”

  “Quest thing?”

  “Yeah. Sern, could you hold on tight?”

  //117 Str//

  The ground bulged outward, forcing crushing grass and moss to a flat stain, breaking stone as my feet sank deep into the ground.

  Then I was in the air.

  Wind exploded in my face, burning exposed skin. Sern squeezed her eyes shut, her arms around my neck.

  Now that I was higher in the air, I could see the full scope of what’d just happened. After only a few minutes of fighting, the town square had been decimated; entire blocks reduced to piles of rubble.

  I lurched, gravity taking hold, and the ground came up to meet me.

  [(-50) 186Hp]

  I gasped for breath, numbness tingling in my legs as they absorbed the shock. Pain or no, I jumped again, leaning forward to jump closer to the ground. The paved streets around the city were much better footholds, and I moved faster, feet skimming over the treetops, before landing on the side of a house.

  Unfortunately, medieval houses aren’t nearly that durable, and I sailed straight through walls of wood and clay, ramming into a stronger stone house, in which I made a crater the size of a small car.

  [(-25) 161Hp]

  “Sern,” I asked, grabbing her hands. “Are you alright?”

  She shook splinters and broken roof tile from her hair, before yawning and snuggling into my neck.

  “That’s a yes,” I sighed, setting her gently on the street. “Stay safe and stick close, okay? This might get dangerous.”

  There was another, small explosion, and I caught a glimpse of a scale, crunching through an apartment complex.

  “Is that?...”

  I swallowed, shoving Serenity behind me.

  A massive silvery claw cracked against the street, lurching forward as another foot stepped beside it, followed by the two front legs of a massive beast larger than a passenger plane, with wings extending high up into the air.

  The dragon growled.

  I was going to fight a dragon.

  I fought back a boyish giggle, pulling Crapsholver out. “I was wondering when I’d get to fight one of you guys.”

  The dragon growled, tensing.

  I braced myself, strength pushed to its limit.

  Then it snapped its head to the side, seeing something in the air. All at once, it lurched back, scrabbling over ruined houses as it backpedaled, away from me, and from the street entrance.

  I blinked. “Huh?”

  A low, cheerful whistle swelled into the air, from just a block over.

  The dragon growled, rising up onto its hind legs, before falling to the ground, wings over its head.

  Dexten sighed. “Now don’t be like that. You ate a couple people, and then you tried to eat me too, so this gentle giant thing isn’t all that convincing.”

  The dragon peeked out from a wing, huffing smoke.

  Dexten shrugged. “Hey, if you’re gonna kill me you might as well be upfront about it.”

  Stone exploded in plumes of dust as the dragon shot forward, gaping maw open.

  “Dexten!” I shouted.

  Before I reached the dragon, it’s face had been snapped to the side, pierced by a hundred bright golden arrows.

  {Lesser Dragon : (-159) -5 Hp}

  It howled, clawing toward him, before the damage registered, and it fell, spilling black ooze over the street.

  “Oh, hey Grind!” Dexten laughed, with a wave. “I didn't see you there!”

  I staggered back from the corpse, more in shock than anything. “What have you been up to while I was gone?” I gagged.

  “Oh, this?” Dexten asked, holding up his bow. “Ah. It’s common, actually, ‘cept for an enchantment that gives me as many arrows as I like, since they’re energy.”

  He demonstrated, shooting a shower of light into the sky. For as fast as he could draw the bow, a thin wisp of light would appear. He could draw the bow really, really, stupidly fast.

  Dexten grinned, snapping toward me. “Pretty good, right?!”

  I poked the dragon. “Is that…the entire dungeon?”

  “Well, no,” Dexten stated, pointing over his shoulder to large groups of shambling monsters; orks, orcs, goblins and a couple ogres. Standard dungeon stuff. Dexten grinned. “I think Mall’s got these guys handled, though.”

  I blinked. “What’s her powers, again?”

  “There were a couple crazy dungeons, so she got some new ones,” Dexten stated. “And a new bow. It’s—”

  A five foot arrow rammed clean through an ogre, pinning its forehead to the ground.

  “---pretty good,” he finished, sitting crisscrossed on the ground. “Has Cierin been getting much stronger?”

  “Not really,” I sighed. “I guess he got some new weapons, but that’s about it.”

  Sern peeked out from behind a building, and I waved her over.

  Dexten nodded. “M’lady.”

  Sern swished the ends of her long silvery dress.

  I smiled. “Dexten, those items I mentioned, have you found anything?”

  He squinted, biting his lip. “Sort of. There’s a potion Irion found, which blocks a lethal blow, and there’s a couple interesting shields in the market, but no, I haven’t been able to find anything that’ll make her invincible.”

  “Not invincible,” I said, clarifying. “I was asking whether there were potions that transferred all the damage she took to me, or to the enemy, or something like that.”

  “Well I couldn’t find anything.” Dexten stretched out on the ground, smiling. “But they’re bound to be something like that somewhere.”

  “Thanks for trying,” I said.

  “Anytime.”

  The Goblins, Orks, Orcs, and Ogres had been all reduced to smouldering husks of Exp, clearing up the street.

  “We ought to get going,” Dexten cackled, jumping up to his feet. “There’s still the core on the loose. It’s only a one-star, but the dungeon was pretty tough, so I doubt it’d be a walk in the park.”

  I nodded, reading myself. “C’mon Sern.”

  Dexten looked me up and down, with a sigh. “Grind, buddy, you look rough. Sure you want to get into another fight?”

  “Of course.”

  “Buddy?” He clicked his tongue. “Since you last took a nap, how many dungeons have you cleared?”

  “Two,” I huffed.

  “Just two?”

  “We fought one floor of a much harder dungeon, and Throttle almost died,” I admitted, with a groan. “So I've been through three dungeons."

  “Get some rest, would you?” Dexten said, patting me on the back. “There’s like seventeen adventure guilds fighting this dungeon. You can take a break. Go do something you want to do.”

  “Fine,” I sighed, turning to Sern. “Would you like—”

  “Nope.” Dexten grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around. “I said do something you want to do. You’ve been caring for Serenity or fighting a dungeon or both since the day we met. Have some real free time, wouldya?”

  “I like spending time with Sern,” I muttered.

  He smacked me on the shoulder, hard.

  “You’re tense as a board, friend,” Dexten sighed, squeezing my muscles. “Take a bath, get a massage, go to a spa—I don't care but you’d better do something not-life-threatening. If you’re wound this tight in the two-star dungeon then you won’t be any good to anybody.”

  I groaned. “Heroes don’t go to the spa.”

  “Well then that’s your problem!” Dexten laughed. “You’re not a hero, you're Grind, a moderately neurotic fellow who’s bitten off way more than he can chew but wants to help everybody anyway and is choking, on the verge of passing out.”

  “I’m not neurotic,” I mumbled.

  “Sure buddy,” Dexten said.

  I frowned.

  “Let’s get an expert opinion,” Dexten said, hands in the air. He squatted down, looking Sern in the eye.

  She tilted her head.

  Dexten smiled. “Miss, you want this here fellow to relax a bit, don’tcha?”

  Sern hesitated, before nodding.

  “I’ve got work to do,” I grumbled. “We raid the dungeon tomorrow and I’m not nearly strong enough to guarantee—”

  “Hey, I don’t make the shots, I just follow m’lady’s orders,” Dexten stated.

  I was going to complain further, a jittering hand in the air. Then I relaxed, I started shaking, and I couldn’t get myself to stop.

  I dropped the hand, with a sigh. “I’m not going to a spa.”

  Sern pulled my hand into both of hers, staring up at me with big wide eyes.

  “I—”

  She stepped forward and gave me a hug. Then started a little sniveling for good measure.

  “You’re not going to take no for an answer, will you?”

  Dexten laughed.

  I let out a breath. “Who knows? This might actually be fun.”