A few minutes later, Lana’s voice shook me from the dazed healing stupor I’d fallen into.

  “You have to heal him!”

  “I’ve tried everything.” Tomas sounded tired, his voice gentle, caring, but firm. That was his doctor voice, the one he used when sharing bad news to patients or grieving loved ones.

  Damn.

  I shifted to one side to look past Ruby and only then realized my legs had finished regrowing. And my lower half was totally naked. Flushing, I willed my Silkspinner Leggings on, and thank god, they popped into place on my legs. I’d need to go find my Phantomstep Breeches.

  Focus, Lucas.

  I might be healed, but my mind was still all over the place, probably the result of the not-so-minimal trauma of getting literally bitten in half. I might be able to ignore most injuries, but that one had hurt me at a fundamental level.

  Didn’t matter. I was healed, so time to move on. Whining about an injury that was already gone was counter productive.

  Rolling over, I knelt up and managed to see Scott. It wasn’t pretty. Tomas had cut off his armor and shirt and opened up his chest. In a unique melding of Earth surgery and Arasha death world magic, he’d poured a healing potion into the chest cavity after he’d finished stitching up whatever he’d done in there. Unfortunately, the potion just dripped out, pink from Scott’s blood.

  Tomas was leaning back on his heels. He looked shot. He’d thought for a moment he’d just seen me get killed, then fought to save Scott’s life without having access to all his Earth surgery equipment. He might have chosen a different path with his class, but he was still a doctor, and he took every failure to heal deeply to heart.

  Poor Scott looked totally shattered. That blow had been severe, and his Constitution was just too low. If I’d gotten hit with that tail swipe, it would have hurt, but wouldn’t have knocked me out of the fight, let alone kill me. Ruby had taken an even worse hit from those claws, and she probably would have survived, even without the extra energy from Soul Feed or my bracelet.

  Her Battle Bio Morph extra defense and higher Constitution made so much difference. Scott had taken a chance, and his luck had run out. If our party hadn’t gotten separated, he probably would have survived, but dungeons were dangerous. Even more than I’d realized.

  Ruby placed a comforting hand on Lana’s arm. She turned an anguished gaze to her. “There’s got to be another potion you can try.”

  “Lana . . . I tried everything. There’s nothing more.”

  Lana leaped to her feet, threw her head back, and screamed with overwhelming anger and grief.

  “We’re coming!” Steve’s voice echoed from the stairs just before he, Jane, and Andy barreled into the room, weapons up.

  They looked battered, armor torn, faces bloody. Steve only had 3 clones left. It looked like finishing off the Melded Battle Shards and those Radiant Guardians had pushed them to the limits. At least they’d all survived.

  Nigel leaped from Jane’s arms and rushed to me, jumping onto my shoulder and rubbing against the side of my head, purring loudly.

  “I smell a lot of blood.”

  “I’m okay,” I told the little guy, petting him as the others rushed up. They stared in awe at the body of the remaining Drake. No one had bothered to loot it yet. The cavern was trashed, with blood and gore and shattered crystals everywhere.

  Then they saw Scott’s body. Steve and Andy stopped in their tracks while Jane rushed to Lana and wrapped her in an embrace. Lana sagged against her, weeping.

  “Is there anything . . . ?” Steve asked, softly.

  Tomas rose and shook his head. “No.”

  “He saved my life,” Ruby whispered.

  She’d healed, but still looked more dead than alive, her clothing hanging in tatters, blood covering most of her body. Realizing how bad she looked, she wrapped herself in her cloak and changed back to her Ruby Roundhouse crop top and short shorts.

  “I really hate this outfit,” she said with a sigh. “When we get back, I’m burning it.”

  Good. She could afford more spares. I handed her a Laundry Day potion. She used it, her reaction muted this time, but she did close her eyes for a moment to savor the cleansing routine.

  I looked better than I should, all things considered. My Crash Test Dummy jacket was shredded along the bottom, but was already starting to repair. I was soaked in blood and gore, both mine and from two of the Drakes, so I took another Laundry Day Potion too.

  “Thanks,” Ruby said as she returned my Tesla Coil bracelet. Did she mean the bracelet or the cleansing potion? Didn’t matter.

  “Is that your sword, Lucas? And, um, are those your pants in that bloody mess?” Steve asked, looking from me standing on two legs, wearing my other pants to the gory pile that had been my lower half.

  “Yeah. Thanks for the reminder.” I scooped up Echo and tossed it into my inventory. Trying to pry the shredded remains of my Phantomstep Breeches away from the wreckage that had been my legs would have definitely qualified as nightmare-inducing work. Thankfully I was able to will the pants into my inventory, leaving the pile of meat behind.

  My boots looked barely scratched, so I tossed them and my socks into my inventory, then willed them back on. My socks were a bit bloody, but I’d clean everything again later. More importantly, I suddenly realized I was an epic idiot. I’d been wearing those pants, which meant I’d had Phantom Step available and a charge in my orange bonus power pool. I could have phased through the Drake Overlord’s snout and totally avoided getting bitten in half.

  I thought about that while I searched for Scalebiter. I loved Phantom Step, so how could I have forgotten about it?

  Sure, I’d been in a berserker rage, but was that all? No, probably not. For one thing, Cyrus had driven home the need to avoid using my spells so hard, I hadn’t even considered it. Linking my ability to that bonus pool of absorbed magic was cool, but too new to remember in the heat of that fight.

  Also, I loved Harvest and getting to try out new spells all the time, but maybe I’d just run afoul of one drawback of my build. Most spells, no matter how amazing, didn’t last long before I ran out of uses. I never had time to truly integrate new spells into my core battle strategy. That lack had come back to bite me quite literally. I couldn’t afford to keep making mistakes like that.

  I wasn’t sure how to resolve the issue, but now that I was aware of it, I could come up with something. I spotted my other sword, so pushed my worries aside for now.

  I picked up Scalebiter, then unleashed a bizarre string of composer names as I tried to swear up a storm and Cyrus changed every word. That stupid Overlord had indeed bent the pommel.

  “How did your swords end up all over the place and your pants . . . Never mind. I don’t want to know,” Steve said.

  “Good. I’m not ready to share that story yet.”

  Tomas approached, his torso covered in Scott’s blood, his gaze haunted and distant. He stopped near me, noticed the sword, and extended a hand. In a tired, hollow voice, he said, “Let me see that.”

  Wordlessly, I handed it over, still muttering curses. I hated losing good swords. That was becoming a really bad habit. And I was just starting to really understand the true potential of Scalebiter.

  Tomas hefted the blade, then spun, striking out with it, as if against an invisible enemy, despite how the blade extended from the pommel at an awkward angle. With a pop and a metallic thrumming, the blade snapped straight. Tomas sighed and managed a hint of a smile.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “How?” Then I remembered his class spell Reconstructive Strike. It allowed him to repair damaged or broken armor or weapons after a fight. I should have remembered it after he repaired Jane’s armor. It was proving incredibly useful.

  “First time I got to try that class spell on a sword,” Tomas said softly.

  “That is super cool,” Steve agreed.

  Tomas sighed again his gaze haunted. “At least I could heal a sword.”

  Scott’s death had affected him more than I’d realized. I placed a comforting hand on my brother’s shoulder and squeezed softly. “You did all you could. His Constitution was just too low.”

  “Maybe, but what if I’d chosen a different class? Lucas, I’m a surgeon, but I didn’t choose a healer class. If I had, I might have been able to save him.”

  Tomas met my gaze, his face a mask of sorrow and doubt. In a way, he was right, but not entirely. “Maybe, but if you’d been a healer, you might not have survived that first drake. Then you both would have died.”

  “Maybe, but—“

  He was interrupted by Jane rushing up and colliding with him so hard, he staggered. She hugged him, then grimaced. “Tomas, you’re a mess.”

  She produced a Laundry Day potion and uncorked it over him. Tomas tried to stop her, but the waves of cleansing power washed away all traces of Scott and the intense fight Tomas had endured trying to save him.

  “Better,” Jane said, then leaped at Tomas again, hugging and kissing him. She seemed almost frantic and not like herself at all.

  Tomas kissed her for a moment, then gently pushed her back. “Jane, now’s not a great time.”

  “Sure it is,” she laughed, trying to pull him close again. “We just killed a ton of monsters. We won, Tomas!” She laughed again, her eyes glowing with flickers of power.

  Tomas grasped her arms, holding her away and spoke to in a gentle but firm tone. “Jane. Jane, focus. Your class is still affecting you.”

  “No. I’m fine,” she insisted, trying to lean in for another kiss.

  “How hard did you push your Phoenix Force Aura?”

  “To the limits,” she laughed, struggling in his grip.

  He nodded. “Remember how much it stirs up your emotions? It’s the aura still lingering that’s making you feel so passionate and enthusiastic.”

  “Don’t be so boring!” she cried and Tomas floated off the floor from her telekinesis. He held on and kept calling her name softly.

  I drew closer, ready to intervene. I hadn’t realized our spells could affect our behavior so much. Well, actually, as I thought about it, of course they did. That lycanthropy spell had shoved a lot of wolf instincts into my head that I still wasn’t totally over. Looked like Jane’s Phoenix powers did similar things, kind of like the X-men character that inspired her build.

  It took only a few seconds before Jane blinked and sagged, dropping Tomas to the floor. He held her close and she leaned against him.

  “Wow, that was a rush,” she breathed.

  “I know. You’re back, though, so it’s all okay,” Tomas assured her.

  Jane took a deep breath and straightened, pulling away. “Sorry, love.”

  “It’s okay. Under other circumstances, that could have been fun.”

  I patted her on the shoulder. “You okay?”

  She nodded. “The fight got intense, but we got it done. Wish we could have freed you up a bit sooner.”

  “Me too,” I said softly. I’d arrived in time to save Ruby from the one drake, but that Overlord had caught us all by surprise.

  Well, maybe not entirely. I didn’t like to admit it, but if I hadn’t let myself get distracted by Ruby right after killing that first drake, I might have noticed the Overlord before it struck. Maybe not, but maybe. The doubt crept in and I had to consider it.

  My entire focus had been to save Ruby. I’d let myself get distracted, then fell into that berserker rage after seeing her get wounded. If I’d attacked the drake smarter, I might not have gotten nearly bitten in half.

  Why had her danger triggered me so much? Nothing else had mattered. It had been reckless and nearly got me killed. I glanced at her, relieved anew to see her standing, healed and healthy.

  Pondering the hard questions, I watched Tomas repair most of everyone’s wrecked armor. Then I followed the others back to the somber group. Andy now held the still-weeping Lana. Her face was a mess and she was not handling the situation well.

  It totally sucked that we’d lost Scott, but she seemed to be overreacting. Sure, she and Scott were teasing each other with maybe becoming a thing, but to my knowledge they hadn’t exactly hooked up. So why look so shattered? We’d all fought as hard as we could. Scott had made a choice to weaken his Constitution and it cost his life.

  Was I a jerk for not feeling more grief for longer?

  Ruby came over and with a sigh, leaned against my chest. I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and just held her. Nigel leaped to my shoulder and draped himself across both of us, purring loudly. Steve stared, one eyebrow raised, but resisted the urge to make whatever wise crack he wanted to. For that, I owed him one.

  I savored the moment as we comforted each other and just enjoyed the fact that we both still lived. Many questions flickered through my mind, but I refused to acknowledge them. After a moment, Ruby looked up to meet my gaze and gave me a soft, little smile that melted me from the inside.

  “When we get out of here, we need to talk,” she said softly so that only I could hear.

  “I think that’s wise.”

  She pushed away, and I savored the feel of her hands pressing against my chest. It was the little things that made life worth slogging forward.

  “What are you two smiling about?” Lana snapped, glaring at us.

  “Just taking comfort in being alive,” Ruby said.

  “Scott’s dead,” she said, her voice breaking. “You’re just moving on?”

  “We have to move on,” I responded as we all assembled around Scott’s broken corpse. Tomas had found a white sheet somewhere and draped it over the body. “We mourn him, but he died fighting and saving Ruby. That’s a hero’s death.”

  “This world is insane!” Lana shouted.

  Andy patted her shoulder. “We’re stuck here. We have to deal with it.”

  “Lana, do you want to loot him?” I asked.

  With a banshee scream, she launched out of Andy’s arms, hands raking like claws at my face.

  I caught her hands out of pure reflex. She struggled mightily, screaming and thrashing against me. I just held her as gently as I could, not moving, not yielding, repeating her name in a calm voice until she quieted into an intense glare.

  “Are you ready to tell me why you just tried that?”

  “Have you no respect for the dead, Cafaro?”

  Not familiar with that composer, but I got the point. “Actually, I believe it’s the ultimate sign of respect. Would he not want us to use anything he has to improve our chances of survival?”

  Still glaring, she took a step back. Nigel jumped from my shoulders and she reflexively caught him. He licked her face and she couldn’t help the tiniest smile before hugging the little murder kitty to her chest so tight I worried she might crush him. Nigel didn’t seem to mind, but somehow rubbed his head against her neck without ripping out her throat with his fangs.

  I added, “There’s another reason we should use loot.”

  “Why?” she demanded, but her tone was softer.

  “It’s better if you see.”

  “I’ll do it,” Jane said. “He was on my team anyway.”

  Lana took a deep breath, then nodded. A dark cloud enveloped Scott’s body. Lana stiffened, probably fearing he was going to disappear, just as I had the first time I looted a fallen human. The cloud dissipated, leaving Scott looking emaciated, but whole. With an exclamation of surprise, Lana dropped to her knees beside Scott and caressed his shrunken face.

  “I had no idea,” she whispered through a fresh wave of sobbing. I opened my mouth to respond, but she suddenly plopped back onto her backside and screamed again, long and loud and despairing.

  Ruby and Jane dropped to their knees beside her, hugging her from both sides. Her scream faded to a sobbing wail that eventually petered out. Finally she sniffled deeply and whispered, “I can’t do this any more.”

  They comforted her for a few more minutes, then helped her stand. I exchanged a glance with Tomas and nodded toward Lana. He was the doctor, far more experienced handling difficult situations than I.

  Tomas placed gentle hands on Lana’s shoulders, forcing her to meet his gaze as he spoke softly but firmly. “We mourn together, but we cannot lose hope.”

  “Why not?” she snapped, looking on the verge of collapsing into another screaming fit. “We’re all going to die.”

  “Perhaps, but if we don’t keep fighting, everyone on Earth dies. This is not a situation any of us wanted. It’s a Bach job, but there’s no one else. We have to do this, and we will do it. Together.”

  He held her gaze for another moment until she sniffled again and nodded.

  “What are we going to do with Scott?” Andy asked.

  I looked to Jane. She was his teammate. She considered it before saying, “Let’s carry him out of this hellhole and make a funeral pyre. I don’t want to bury him just for some monster to dig him up.”

  Tomas looted the Drake he and Lana had fought, then our somber group headed to the final door that had appeared at some point in the far wall. I doubted there were any more monsters, not after we defeated the boss Drake Overlord, but we remained cautious. I was in no mood for delays, and either we’d killed everything, or any remaining monsters were wise enough to stay hidden.

  Ruby looted some of the huge crystals that had fallen from the ceiling, but then discarded them with a sigh. “Description says they’re worthless.”

  As soon as I touched the slightly glowing silver door set into the wall at the back of the cavern, Eva’s voice boomed across the huge space.

  “Congratulations! You have defeated the Plateau Dungeon. Bonus experience gained for completing the first dungeon on the second stage.”

  Seven platinum chests appeared along the wall, each labeled with one of our names. Wordlessly, we moved to our respective chests and opened them. They flashed with light, and loot was dumped straight into our inventories.

  For once, I didn’t care too much about it. I was too busy playing the battle over and over in my mind, trying to figure out how I could have gotten there just a few seconds sooner, or how I could have stopped the Drake Overlord before it struck down Scott. I didn’t find any answers, and that just made me angry.

  I was strong. So strong! And yet, I was still too weak to protect everyone. Wasn’t that the entire purpose for fighting and hunting so hard?

  Ruby stopped beside me, her expression grave too. She whispered, “Lucas, how do you keep going? I feel like I’m failing. I wasn’t strong enough to keep him safe.”

  I pulled her to me and she allowed me to wrap her in my arms for a moment. Hearing her echo my own worries comforted me somehow. “We’ll get stronger. We have to.”

  But my mind was racing. Yes, we needed to get stronger, but maybe Burns was right. We needed teams of elites who could tackle the stage-2 bosses and lead the charge up to stage 3. Getting everyone to the minimum level would still leave too many too weak to win the battles that really mattered.

  Our dungeon diving team were among the strongest people, but the dungeon had proved some of us weren’t strong enough. We had to fight to get strong, but fighting was dangerous. Those who made foolish choices like Scott had would fail. We couldn’t let that stop us, though. We were only on the second stage. Far more powerful monsters waited.

  Andy pulled me out of my thoughts when he shouted, “Six levels?”