Grand Game 10-19 (Patreon)

Chapter 10: The Dungeon

I chose the portal that I had seen the lowest number of large groups go through, and stepped in front of its door.

I studied the shimmering curtain of white in the doorway, suddenly nervous. “Ready Gnat?” I asked.

The skeletal bat snorted. “Of course.” The familiar eyed me sideways. “You on the other hand, don’t appear to be so sure anymore.”

I shifted from foot to foot. Gnat was right. Now that the moment had arrived, I felt fear stir within me at the thought of deliberately putting myself in a life and death situation.

No doubt about it: I was scared. The fear is natural, I told myself. I would be a fool not to be scared. But even knowing all that to be true, I still couldn’t force my feet forward.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Thus far, I hadn’t questioned too closely anything the Master had said, or the circumstances I found myself in. Mostly, because I was afraid I wouldn’t like the answers.

I had just kept moving forward because so much of what I had been asked to do seemed so familiar, and because it was easier to do as I was told rather than fight against the tide. But, I thought, if I survive what comes next, that has to change.

I wasn’t sure I trusted the Master.

I had many unanswered questions about who he was and what he asked of us. Yet, here, in what appeared to be the heart of his domain, I didn’t think I would find the answers I desired. But in the dungeon… There, I would be out from under the Master’s thumb, and perhaps I could forge my own path.

Either way, whether to follow the Master’s path or create my own, I have to enter the dungeon.

I opened my eyes. Right. Enough delaying. Exhaling a heavy breath, I stepped forward through the portal.

~~~

You have entered sector 14,913 of the Endless Dungeon. This area has been previously explored and is presently under the control of the Axis of Evil. This sector is a closed region, cordoned off from the rest of the dungeon. It was last populated 8 hours ago by denizens of the Dark.

Recommended player levels: 1 to 20.

Recommended party size: 4 to 6.

You have been allocated a new task: Escape the Dungeon. Your objective is to fill all 3 of your Class slots. Once you have done so, the way out will be revealed.

Coming out of the portal, I dropped down into a crouch. A swift glance revealed I was in a small chamber. Moving quickly, I padded away from the entrance and into the room’s darkest corner.

You and your familiar are hidden.

Safely concealed, I took stock of my surroundings once more. Large cobwebs draped the room’s ceiling and walls. Other than the still-glowing portal, there was no other light source in the chamber. The floor was paved with granite flagstones and the walls were formed from rough-cut bricks. There was an open door at the room’s far end, and beyond it, I spied a long corridor extending away.

Most gratifying of all, the room was empty.

The tension in my shoulders eased as I realized this. Rising to my feet, I unwrapped my fingers from the hilt of my shortsword.

I was safe. For now.

I glanced at my familiar. All this time, he had not moved from his roost on my shoulder. He had kept his presence so still and small I had almost forgotten about him. Only belatedly did it occur to me to wonder if my sneaking skill would apply to Gnat, but it had worked to cloak his presence too—which was a relief.

My relief was short-lived though as another worrying thought occurred to me. “Gnat, I used my sneaking skill to hide, didn’t I?”

“You did,” the bat confirmed.

I frowned. “Then why didn’t my skill improve? Surely at my low level, even a single successful use should’ve been enough to advance it?”

“Skills only advance in level when employed in combat, or when used in the presence of hostiles,” Gnat replied.

“Oh,” I said, my lips turning down. It had been in the back of my mind to try training my skills before engaging in combat, but that didn’t seem possible.

Seeing my disappointment, Gnat laughed. “You didn’t think levelling would be that easy, did you?”

Ignoring my familiar’s amusement, I returned my attention to the surroundings. I walked to the center of the room and spun in a slow circle. Nothing further of interest revealed itself. Alright then, I thought. Time to move beyond.

Hunching down, I tiptoed to the room’s only exit and peered cautiously around the doorway. The corridor extended for a hundred yards before ending at another wooden door, which appeared ajar, but from this distance, I couldn’t be certain.

The corridor itself appeared empty of threat. Firelight blazed golden from the torches affixed to the walls along both sides of the passage. I grimaced. As brightly lit as the corridor was, I doubted I would be able to conceal my presence once I stepped down its length.

Even though the corridor appeared safe, at equidistant intervals between the torches, doorways gaped open. Anything could be in the rooms they led into. But the only way I was going to find out what lay inside them was by venturing down the passage.

I shifted restlessly. Entering the corridor will be dangerous. I almost snorted in amusement at the thought. This is a dungeon, Michael. You didn’t think it would be safe, did you?

Alright, alright, I thought and shifted forward. Then paused, as a thought occurred to me. I glanced at my familiar. “Gnat, how silent can you be?” I whispered.

The skeletal bat eyed me suspiciously. “Why?”

I gestured to the first door on the right side of the corridor. It was less than ten yards ahead. “Go scout that room.”

My familiar stared at me for a long moment, seeming to search for a reason why he shouldn’t or couldn’t do as I asked.

I waited.

Eventually, Gnat rose wordlessly off my shoulder. Flapping hard, he winged his way to the ceiling before gliding silently along its length and into the room I had picked out.

Clenching my sword hilt tightly, I counted off the doorways in the corridor while I waited for Gnat’s report. There were thirteen in total.

It did not take the bat long to emerge from the first room. Flying swiftly, Gnat shot out of the chamber, but instead of returning to my shoulder, he flew into the next doorway. A few seconds later, my familiar reappeared before disappearing again into another room.

Understanding what Gnat was about, I waited patiently for him to be done. Shortly thereafter, the skeletal bat flew out the last of the passage’s doorways and dropped onto my shoulder. “They’re all empty,” he reported laconically.

I waited for him to go on, but when he didn’t, I prompted, “And?”

“And it looks like a few candidate parties have already been through the rooms,” Gnat answered.

My eyes narrowed. “How can you tell?”

Gnat shrugged. “Go see for yourself.”

Frowning at my familiar’s non-answer, I rose to my feet, intent on doing just that.

Chapter 11: Moving On

On entering the first room, I immediately realized what Gnat meant. The stink of death hung heavily in the room. Four corpses were strewn across the floor. All appeared humanoid. One in particular caught my attention.

It was a candidate.

Fighting back the sudden heaving of my stomach, I stepped closer and crouched on my haunches next to the slim body. It was a dead elf.

The candidate’s flimsy cotton clothes had been ripped to shreds and three gaping holes marred his torso, exposing his innards and spilling blood everywhere. It was a ghastly sight.

I closed my eyes and breathed in and out rapidly through my mouth. When I had my nausea under control, I asked, “Gnat, why is this body here?”

I felt my familiar study me. My eyes were still closed. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Didn’t you say we had three lives? Surely this candidate couldn’t have died his final death in this room: the very first in the dungeon?”

Gnat chuckled. “You do have three lives, but you still die as you would normally each time, leaving behind a corpse and all your belongings. Players are only reborn after their spirits manage to escape their prison of rotting flesh. This can take anywhere between a few hours to a day.” He paused. “I told you: dying will not be pleasant.”

I swallowed. To be dead for a few hours—or even days—sounded horrible. “Where would this elf be reborn? Back in the Master’s domain?”

“No,” Gnat answered. “There will be a safe zone with a rebirth well somewhere in this sector of the dungeon. The candidate would be reborn there.”

I opened my eyes and glanced at my familiar. “So the elf would be separated from his party?”

Gnat shrugged. “Most likely. Unless they all die too, of course.”

Harsh, I thought. It seemed that even in a party surviving the dungeon would not be easy. I bet all those players who gifted their tokens to their party-leaders are regretting it now. I rose to my feet, and moved to inspect the other corpses close by.

The three other dead appeared to be of another species. They were uniformly green-skinned and small, with the largest being no more than three-feet-tall. The creatures had sharpened teeth, filed to gleaming points, and hardened black talons on their fingertips.

They were all also naked.

It seemed the surviving candidates had stripped their kills of their belongings, leaving the dead with only their small clothes. “What are these creatures?” I asked Gnat.

“Goblins,” he replied.

I stared at him, considering his response. “Are they real?” I asked finally.

Gnat tilted his head to the side and studied me curiously. “Of course, they are real. Why would you ask that human?”

I shook my head, not sure myself what had made me ask the question. “How did the goblins get here? Or do they live in the dungeon?”

Gnat snorted. “No one wants to live in a dungeon, not even goblins. Although there are rumors of strange tribes in some of the more remote and unexplored regions of the Endless Dungeon,” he admitted. “But as to your question, this sector of the dungeon was cleared and claimed by the unholy alliance long ago. For this trial, the Master would have populated it as he saw fit. The goblins and any other creatures you encounter will all have been teleported in by the Master’s servants.”

I nodded thoughtfully. So this sector of the dungeon is part of the Master’s domain too. From Gnat’s explanation it sounded as if the Master controlled it fully. I would do well not to forget that. I swept my gaze across the room again.

Like the dungeon’s entry chamber, the room was mostly unfurnished. Against one wall of the room, I spotted a wooden chest. Eagerly, I peered inside. It was empty. Disappointed, I turned my gaze upon the rest of the room. There didn’t appear to be anything for me to loot. “Do you see something of use here, Gnat?”

“No,” he barked. “Your fellows have done a good job stripping the room bare.”

I sighed. “Alright, let’s get moving,” I said, and slipped out of the room.

~~~

I explored each of the other rooms as meticulously as I had the first. After entering the sixth room, I became well inured to the smell of death, and my stomach stopped heaving at the sight of butchered corpses and bloody entrails.

The first twelve rooms that I investigated—six on either end of the corridor—contained nothing remotely valuable. I imagined a whole host of players had searched them before me and stripped them of every useable item.

The rooms had all been configured in a similar fashion. Each contained only one piece of furnishing: an empty wooden chest. The scenes of violence depicted in the chambers did not vary much either. In each room, there were between one to three dead goblins, and in rare instances a single dead candidate as well.

I drew some comfort from that.

For the level one and nearly naked candidates to defeat the goblin squads with so few losses meant the creatures were not exceedingly dangerous opponents. It boded well for my own chances.

The thirteenth chamber though—the one at the end of the corridor—was wholly different from the other rooms. For one, it was three times as large, and for another, it contained plenty more corpses.

Stopping in the room’s open doorway, I studied its interior intently. An open archway, situated on the right wall, led to another corridor and what I took to be the next section of the dungeon.

Heaped in the middle of the chamber were eight hacked up corpses. All goblins. From blood spatters on the wall and the copious amount of blood on the floor, it seemed like a violent battle had raged in the room. Nor were the goblins the only ones that had died in the room. Near the dead goblins was a smaller pile of four white clothed candidates—equally savaged.

Another two dead candidates were in the far left corner of the room. The pair were human and of similar size. More interestingly, unlike the other dead in the room, the two humans’ bodies were not riddled with wounds.

How did they die then?

I studied the layout of the room again. The two dead humans were separated from the slain goblins and candidates in the chamber’s center by a good few yards.

They didn’t die fighting the goblins then, I thought.

Stepping carefully into the room and giving the heaped corpses in its center a wide berth, I knelt beside the human corpses. There was a tiny glint of metal in the neck of each.

Darts, I realized. Each gleaming length of metal—no wider than my finger—was lodged deep in its victim, but the darts themselves looked too tiny to have killed the candidates. Frowning, I reached down to pull out one of the projectiles for closer inspection.

Only then did I notice the wooden chest lying beyond the corpses. It was closed. Some buried instinct cried out in warning at the anomaly. Why was this chest closed? All the others I had encountered thus far had been opened and looted.

Halfway to touching the darts, I pulled back my reaching fingers. Sitting back on my haunches, I inspected the tableau again. Given the candidates’ proximity to the closed chest, they had likely been attempting to open it when they had died.

Of course, I thought, suddenly understanding what had happened to the pair. They had triggered a trap. The darts were probably coated with poison—a particularly virulent one, too, to have killed the two so quickly. Good thing I didn’t touch the darts.

Is the chest still trapped? I wondered. I eyed the chest askance. Considering it was still closed, it likely was. But why had the other candidates not tried opening the chest after the first failed attempt? Unless…

I rubbed at my chin. I was assuming that both humans had died at the same time. But what if they hadn’t? Did the two corpses represent not one, but two separate attempts to open the chest?

I was sure one failed attempt would not have been enough to deter the other candidates from trying to loot the chest. Two failed attempts though… that likely had frightened even the most foolhardy amongst them.

I frowned as another thought occurred. “Gnat, why is this chest trapped?”

“I don’t understand your question, Michael,” he replied.

“All evidence suggests the chests in the other rooms weren’t trapped, so why was this one?”

“Ah,” the bat replied. “By all appearances, this room contained the final encounter of the first leg of this dungeon sector. Such encounters are usually designed to provide a tougher challenge.” Gnat paused. “Also, the Master will have configured the dungeon to become progressively more difficult.”

I winced. “Does that mean further areas of the dungeon will contain more powerful foes?”

“Undoubtedly,” Gnat replied.

I sighed. I was hoping he wouldn’t say that. It meant I couldn’t walk away from the chest. Even considering the risk of triggering its trap, I could not ignore the potential loot the chest contained. I would need every advantage I could grab to survive further on in the dungeon.

So how do I go about opening the chest? I wondered. And preferably without killing myself.

Chapter 12: Trapped Games

“I don’t suppose you could open the chest Gnat?” I asked.

“No,” the skeletal bat replied curtly.

“Why not?” I persisted. “I mean it’s not like poison should affect an undead, right?”

Even though he had no face, Gnat managed to convey the impression that he was scowling. “Our Pact does not allow me to aid you in that manner,” he said grumpily.

I scratched my head. I didn’t recall seeing anything in the Pact that forbid the bat from aiding me in out of combat situations. Still, I had no means of forcing Gnat to help me.

Letting the matter lie, I turned my attention back to the chest. Like the ones in the other rooms, the chest was a simple top-lidded box with no locking mechanism. My gaze drifted to the two corpses. The poison darts had been driven upwards into the humans’ necks, which suggested the darts had been fired from below.

The trap must have been triggered when they lifted the chest’s lid. I bit the inside of my lip. Assuming that was how the trap mechanism worked, it should be simple enough to defeat it.

But if I am wrong…

I quelled my doubts and got to work. First, I grabbed the humans by their legs and gingerly dragged them away from the chest. Then I set about removing the poison darts from their necks.

I did not do anything so foolish as use my bare fingers, of course. Stripping off both candidates’ white shirts, I cut them into long strips with my sword.

With my hands wrapped in my makeshift cotton gloves, I removed the two darts and wrapped them securely in cotton strips of their own. Given how potent the darts’ poison must have been to fell their victims so quickly, I was betting that some of the poison still remained on the darts. Which if it was true, would make them very useful indeed.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I completed my work and had both darts secured in rolls of cotton cloth.

You have acquired two used darts coated with an unknown toxin.

I smiled at the Game’s confirmation of my suspicion. “Good,” I breathed. With the first half of my labor completed, I set about the second half of my plan.

Removing my thief’s cloak, I lay flat on the floor with my back pressed against the ground. I wrapped the cloak around my right arm, shielding my bare flesh as much as possible in its thick layers of fabric.

Then I drew my shortsword and inched closer to the trapped chest. Placing myself to the chest’s left—and hopefully out the dart’s line of fire—I slowly extended the sword in my right hand and wedged it under the lid. The sword tip slid into place without resistance.

I held my breath, waiting.

Long seconds passed and nothing happened. Tentatively, I pushed my sword in deeper and forced the lid to open an inch further.

I stopped again, waiting.

Still the trap did not trigger.

Growing bolder, I angled the sword in my hand downwards and gradually levered the lid open further.

A second passed. Then another. And just as I began to think the trap was no longer active, a metallic ping echoed resoundingly loud in the silence.

I froze. Moving slowly, I turned to study the room’s far end. That was where the sound had come from. After a moment, I spotted the gleam of a dart on the floor. The sound I had heard was the dart impacting against the chamber’s stone walls.

I grinned. I had done it. Pushing down on my sword again, I flipped open the chest’s lid all the way. Two more pings echoed through the room as a pair of darts flew across the chamber. I gave it another minute before rising to my haunches and peering warily into the chest.

Congratulations, Michael! You have successfully opened a booby-trapped chest without falling victim to its lethal toxins and have gained experience.

You have reached level 2!

You have 1 attribute point available.

My grin split into a broad smile. “Well, well, isn’t that nice,” I murmured. I hadn’t expected to gain any experience in the process of opening the chest, but I would take it. Turning my attention downwards, I studied the chest’s contents.

It held only a few items. Reaching inside, I removed them one at a time.

You have acquired 2 minor healing potions. Each item restores your health by: 10%.

You have acquired a backpack. This item can hold up to: 10kg.

You have acquired a pack of six field rations. This item can be consumed to replenish stamina slowly over time.

You have acquired one flask filled with water. This item can be consumed to replenish stamina slowly over time.

The loot was slightly disappointing, but useful nonetheless. Holding up one of the healing potions, I studied it. The potion was in a stoppered stone vial that looked like it could survive hard use. The water flask looked similarly durable.

Next, I inspected one of the field rations. Opening the foil-like wrapping covering it, I sniffed at the ration’s contents delicately. It was odorless.

I only hope it is not tasteless as well. While I felt no pangs of hunger at the moment, I hadn’t eaten since arriving on this world, and I knew sooner or later, I would be grateful for having the rations.

Lastly, I inspected the backpack. It was a plain brown leather bag of sturdy construction that I could carry easily across my shoulders. Handy, I thought.

~~~

It took me only a few minutes to store all the loot in my new backpack. When I was done, I moved to the right side of the room, and studied the corridor leading away from it.

Like the first passage, the new corridor continued unerringly straight and was interspersed with rooms on either side. But the second corridor did not terminate in a room. Instead, at its far end, I made out what appeared to be a four-way intersection.

I didn’t step into the second corridor immediately. I placed myself in the right corner of the room and sat down cross-legged. Rubbing at my chin, I pondered what I had seen of the dungeon so far.

Goblins and traps.

I still had no idea how I would fare in combat against the goblins—and I wasn’t exactly eager to find out—but what worried me more than the goblins was the thought of encountering further traps. With the goblins at least, I would have enough forewarning, but with a trap? Would I fall prey to one and die just as suddenly as the two victims claimed by this room’s trap?

“Gnat,” I asked after a moment’s thought. “How do I spot traps?”

“There are skills and abilities that let you do so,” the skeletal bat replied.

“But I don’t have any of them,” I protested.

Gnat chuckled. “Then you are out of luck, I’m afraid.”

I sighed.

“You can try to look at things really hard,” the bat suggested unhelpfully.

I ignored his poor attempt at wit. “What about Perception?” I asked.

“What about it?” Gnat responded.

“Will it allow me to detect a trap before I trigger it?”

“Not normally, no,” Gnat said. “Perception will help you spot oddities in your surroundings, but on its own the attribute will not give you the knowledge necessary to determine the source of the strangeness. Although,” the bat admitted, “all skills required for trap detection are Perception based.”

I frowned. Noticing an oddity, but not being able to divine its source did not sound all that helpful. Still, doing so would at least provide me with some forewarning of danger. And some warning is better than none.

My new level had given me an attribute point to spend, and at the moment, investing it in Perception seemed the wisest course. “How do I use my available attribute point?” I asked.

“Simply will your request to the Adjudicator,” Gnat said succinctly.

I grunted. Of course, I thought. How else? But before I finalized my decision, I needed to inspect my profile in more detail. Closing my eyes, I willed the Game to display my player data.

Player Profile: Michael

Level: 2. Rank: 0. Current Health: 100%.

Stamina: 100%. Mana: 100%. Psi: 100%.

Species: Human. Lives Remaining: 3.

Attributes

Available: 1 point.

Strength: 0. Constitution: 0. Dexterity: 2. Perception: 0. Mind: 0. Magic: 0. and Faith: 0.

Classes

Primary Class: Scout (basic).

Secondary Class: None.

Tertiary Class: None.

Traits

Undead familiar: +1 to necromancy rank.

Nimble: +2 Dexterity.

Skills

Available skill slots: 3.

Dodging (current: 1. max: 20. Dexterity, basic).

Sneaking (current: 1. max: 20. Dexterity, basic).

Shortswords (current: 1. max: 20. Dexterity, basic).

Abilities

None.

Equipped

1 common thief’s cloak (+3 sneaking).

1 basic steel shortsword (+10% damage).

Backpack Contents

6 x field rations.

1 x flask of water.

2 x used poison darts.

3 x unused poison darts.

2 x minor healing potions.

I took a moment to study the information the Adjudicator provided. Everything appeared fairly self-explanatory, and I saw nothing inconsistent with the various explanations I’d been given thus far.

Without delaying further, I willed my Perception to increase.

Your Perception has increased to rank 1. Your level cap for perception-based skills has increased to: 10.

I opened my eyes and looked around. The world appeared different. The change was nearly imperceptible, but somehow the room’s shadows seemed less deep and the details on the bricks on the far wall less blurred. My eyesight has grown sharper, I thought.

I wrinkled my nose. Was it my imagination or had the stink of the corpses worsened? No, my smell has improved, too. One by one, I inspected my other senses and noticed a change in them too. I smiled in satisfaction and rose to my feet.

Feeling better equipped to face the dungeon’s challenges, I stepped into the second corridor.

Chapter 13: Side Trip

The second leg of the dungeon had twenty rooms. Disappointingly, despite searching each chamber diligently, I failed to find any useable items in them.

Gnat’s prediction proved correct too. As evidenced by the corpses in the many rooms, the dungeon’s encounters had grown more difficult. In this section, the candidate parties had faced off against goblin squads sized between three and six.

It caused me to worry afresh. Would the size of the goblin parties keep growing? And if that happened, would I be vastly under-levelled when I fought my first skirmish? I was growing increasingly certain that that would be the case, and in hindsight, I regretted my decision not to join the first rush of candidates into the dungeon.

Still there was little I could do about my decision to lag behind the others. All I could do now was try not to fall too much further back.

But despite the new urgency that gripped me, I did not let myself grow incautious and rush my investigations. Using my sneaking skill, I concealed myself each and every time before entering an unexplored room. I did not want to fall victim to a trap due to carelessness, nor did I want to miss any potential loot.

Still, I was none the richer when I reached the crossroads I had spied earlier. Standing in the intersection of the four passages, I studied the three unmapped corridors.

The first passage continued straight ahead and was seemingly unchanged from the corridor I had just explored. The passages to my right and left were both smaller and darker. No torches lit their depths, and where the corridor ahead was nearly four yards across, the ones to the right and left were barely two yards wide.

Briefly, I debated whether I should explore the darkened passages, but in the end didn’t see as to how I had any choice. If I wanted to be better prepared to face the threats that undoubtedly still lurked in the dungeon, I had to gain more levels, even if it meant taking dangerous risks.

Dropping into a crouch, I ventured into the right corridor.

You and your familiar are hidden.

~~~

To my surprise, it was not pitch black in the side passage. Ten yards in, as I waited for my sight to adjust to the darkness, I noticed the ceiling was glowing.

At first, I had thought my eyes were mistaken, but after long minutes when the ceiling retained its shining cast, I realized that I was not imagining things and that there really was a light source on the roof.

Luminous crystals, I thought, finally identifying what I was seeing. They provided enough light to see by, but not enough to beat back the darkness. Turning my gaze forward, I studied the side passage again. The shadows concealing its depths had assumed enough definition for me to make out that the darkened holes to my left and right were open doorways.

So, despite its lack of light, the passage’s configuration is much the same as the main corridor. Cautiously, I advanced further in. I paused on the threshold of the first room and listened, but nothing jumped out at me, nor did I hear anything. I slipped inside.

Even in the darkness, I could make out that the chamber was empty. Really empty. The room didn’t contain so much as a looted chest. There weren’t even any dead bodies on the floor. I frowned. As empty as the chamber was, I couldn’t figure out its purpose.

I spent a few fruitless minutes searching the room, but didn’t uncover any clue as to what it had contained. The next room was just as empty. As was the next, and the next.

It was baffling.

What possible purpose can the empty rooms serve? I wondered. I was no closer to figuring out the mystery when I reached the end of the side passage—an abrupt cul-de-sac. Scratching my head in confusion, I studied the blank-faced wall in front of me. “Right, this was a complete waste of time,” I muttered.

My back and knees were killing me from the sustained half-crouch I had maintained while exploring the side passage. I hadn’t dared leave hiding the entire time, but now having confirmed the emptiness of the passage, I began to rise to my full height.

Your sneaking has increased to level 2.

Mid-motion, I froze.

What the—? My thoughts raced as I studied the Game message in my mind.

Your sneaking has increased to level 3.

There was only one explanation, I realized. Something was in the passage with me. Something hostile. I dropped fully back into my crouch. The agony in my overstrained limbs was forgotten, banished by a sudden surge of adrenaline. Maintaining my still posture, I strained my ears, and listened intently.

Nothing.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 4.

Cautiously, I set my hand to the hilt of my sword and ever-so-slowly began to draw it. What is out there? I wondered. The creature—whatever it was—was nearby, although it had obviously not been this close all along.

My gaze slid to the last room I had just exited. Had the creature been hiding in there? But no, that couldn’t be, otherwise my skill gains would have triggered when I had entered the room, not after I left it.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 5.

The creature was clearly hunting me now. I imagined it drawing closer and pictured it striking unseen, concealed by the darkness. Like an assassin. A bead of sweat dripped down my forehead and my grip tightened around the hilt of my blade. What had I done to attract the creature’s attention?

My voice, I realized. The careless words I had spoken. I was suddenly sure that they were what had drawn the creature to me. It must hunt by sound.

I was assailed by sudden fear and had to bite back the urge to run and flee for the safety of the main corridor. No! That’s what it’s waiting for. Cautiously, I backpedaled and placed my back against the wall.

However, even that slight movement nearly proved my undoing.

A hostile entity has detected you! You are no longer hidden.

I don’t know if it was the whisper of my cloak’s fabric or something else that the creature sensed, but somehow my motion gave it a fix on my location.

I held my sword before me and with wild eyes scanned the darkness. A clot of blackness, darker than the rest drew my gaze. My foe. It was ten yards away, and between me and the crossroads. In an odd sort of swaying gait, the creature crept along the floor towards me.

If I had to hazard a guess, I would have said the approaching menace was oval-shaped and no more than knee-high in height. But despite how much I strained my eyes, I couldn’t make much more of the creature.

As I watched with mounting fear, the creature continued its unhurried approach. Did it not know I had spotted it? I was gripped by sudden indecision. Should I try to cut past the monster? Or duck into one of the side rooms? Or wait for it close the distance?

Before I could resolve how to act, the decision was taken out of my hands. A smaller blotch of darkness separated from my foe and hurtled towards me.

More by instinct than conscious thought, I ducked. The mass of darkness sailed overhead and with an audible splat collided with the wall. With rising dread, I eyed the still-hissing trails of darkness slide down the wall behind me. Bloody hell! What was that thing?

I had no choice but to close the distance myself, I realized. I couldn’t give the creature a chance to launch another projectile at me. But my limbs were locked in place, frozen motionless by the debilitating fear coursing through me.

I was going to die here.

I knew it with bone-deep certainty.

Whatever horror threatened me, I just knew it was a damned sight worse than any goblin. I’m not ready, I stuttered. I can’t face—

“God damnit, Michael!” I screamed, breaking free of my downward spiraling thoughts. “Stop thinking and move!”

Surprisingly the yelling worked. The sudden sound—shockingly loud in the silence—unlocked my frozen limbs. Screwing up my courage, I howled. Then charged.

I weaved an erratic path, with the vague notion of making it harder for my foe to hit me with a second projectile as I closed the distance to it.

One step. Two. Three. Then I was in range. My sword whipped downwards.

The blob rose off the floor and surged upwards.

Sword and darkness met, and blade sliced through with barely a hitch. The creature’s body offered little resistance. It was like cutting through jelly.

But jelly doesn’t strike back.

Despite being nearly sliced in two, the twin halves of the creature flowed around my blade and wrapped themselves around me.

A level 5 young black slime has critically injured you!

I screamed, and not for courage this time. Everywhere the slime’s body made contact with my naked skin, cold suffused me. Cold so deep, it burned. My legs trembled then gave way under me, and I collapsed to my knees.

A young black slime has injured you!

I howled again and felt the grip on my sword slacken. No! I protested. I will not die like this. With an effort of will, I tightened my hold on my blade and raised it to slash down. This time, I hacked off whole bits from the slime. It didn’t stop the rest of the creature from continuing its attacks though.

Gritting my teeth, I ignored the burning cold spreading throughout my body and kept hacking. It was kill or be killed. And I was grimly determined that I would prevail.

My sword rose and fell, even as black globs of the creature continued to spread over me in a seeming attempt to encase me within itself. But I did not give up. Yanking off bits of slime with hands grown numb, I slashed onwards and sliced my foe into smaller and smaller pieces.

Eventually, nearly at the end of my tether, the message I had been hoping for, and that I had begun to believe would never come, arrived.

You have killed a young black slime.

I collapsed to the floor in an exhausted heap. It was over. I had won.

Warning! Your health is dangerously low at 5%. Death imminent.

Too tired to care, I let unconsciousness claim me.

Chapter 14: Still Alive

I awoke in darkness.

For a moment, I didn’t know where I was or how I came to be lying on my back on cold hard stone. Then the pain riddling my body made itself known and it all came rushing back: the slime was dead and I had survived—if barely. Seemingly in response to my thoughts, a message from the Game dropped into my mind.

Warning! Your health is dangerously low at 5%. Death imminent.

I lifted my head to take stock of my surroundings and gasped as even that slight movement caused new jolts of agony to rip through my body. Bloody hell, it hurts. But I had to move.

Stretched out on the floor, with my health hovering at nearly zero, I was a sitting duck. What if another slime comes to investigate? That dire thought was enough to spur me on. Panting with the effort, I rolled onto my side. “Gnat,” I croaked. “Where are you?”

I heard the flap of bone wings from above and felt the bat alight on my arm. “I’m here, Michael.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“You won,” he replied. He chuckled. “Although you don’t look so good anymore.”

I was in too much pain to muster a retort. “Why aren’t I healing?” I asked, focusing instead on the matter that concerned me most.

Gnat tilted his head to the side and studied me. “Why would you?”

I glared at him. “Isn’t this a game? Aren’t players supposed to recover after every encounter?” Something told me they should.

The skeletal bat snickered. “I don’t know what games you’ve been playing, Michael, but that is not how things work in the Grand Game.” He paused. “In the Forever Kingdom, your injuries won’t mend of their own accord. You will have to find a means to heal yourself.”

What sort of wretched game is this? I wondered, staring at my familiar aghast. But complaining would do me no good. Wriggling my arms, I managed to unhook my backpack, though not without suffering multiple bouts of agony.

I dragged myself to a nearby wall and, pulling the backpack into my lap, searched feverishly for the healing potions. With trembling hands, I un-stoppered the lid of the first and downed its contents.

The effect was instantaneous.

Ripples of soothing energy flowed out of my stomach and into my much-battered body. Damaged tissue was mended, torn skin grew back, and cuts and abrasions healed before my eyes. “Wow,” I exclaimed, overcome by momentary euphoria.

You have restored 10% of your lost health with a minor healing potion. Your health is now at 15%.

A second later the comforting waves of energy faded and the pain returned with a vengeance. “Well, it was nice while it lasted,” I mumbled through gritted teeth. Without hesitation, I pulled out my second—and last—healing potion and drank it too.

You have restored 10% of your lost health with a minor healing potion. Your health is now at 25%.

I eyed the Game message unhappily. Twenty-five percent health wasn’t much, but it was still a darn sight better than five percent. “I’ve got to find more of these potions,” I muttered. I rose gingerly to my feet and packed away the empty vials. I had a vague idea of how to make use of them in the future.

My head pulsed suddenly, forcing me to lean on the passage wall for support. What the—? The moment I concentrated on the sensation, I felt more messages from the Adjudicator unfurl in my mind.

Congratulations, Michael! You have successfully defeated your first opponent and have gained experience. You have reached level 4!

You have 2 attribute points available.

Your dodging has increased to level 2.

Your shortswords has increased to level 7.

A smile broke through my grimace of pain. At least, the encounter had yielded some meaningful benefits. I tottered over to my slain foe.

The Game had called it a black slime, and in death that was truly what it looked like. Very little remained of the creature. Its soft, gel-like body seemed to have decomposed further, leaving behind nothing but puddles of sticky, black ichor.

Glancing down at myself, I saw that much of my white tunic and shorts had been ripped and torn away. The bits that remained were streaked with black, more of the slime’s remains. Ick, I thought, my face twisting in disgust. My thief’s cloak, at least, seemed to have survived the encounter relatively intact, for which I was grateful.

“You were lucky,” Gnat said, interrupting my musing.

I turned to him. “Hmm?”

“If it had hit you the first time around, you would not have survived,” the bat replied.

I glanced at the wall at the end of the passage where the slime’s opening salvo had landed. “What did it shoot at me?”

“A paralytic,” Gnat replied. “Slimes use them to stun their prey before they consume them.”

I shuddered. Was that why the slime had wrapped itself around me? To eat me? “Well, it’s dead now,” I said.

Gnat nodded.

“Pity there is nothing salvageable in this mess,” I said, glancing at the creature’s ruined remains.

“There will be a lair,” Gnat said confidently. “And a chest.”

My brows rose in surprise. “Really?”

The skeletal bat bobbed his head. “The Master designed this sector as a trial, remember. There will be a reward. You only need find it.”

I nodded thoughtfully. It made sense. Every room I had been to—besides those in this side passage—had contained loot chests after all. I swept my gaze over the darkened passage. I had already been over every inch of the area. If the slime’s lair was here, I was sure I would have found it already.

I sighed. There was nothing for it but to search again. Wincing in pain from my injuries, I hobbled deeper into the passage.

Chapter 15: What Lies Beneath

To my surprise, it did not take me long to find the entrance to the slime’s hideout. In the first room of the side passage, out in plain sight, was a wooden trapdoor.

I eyed the hatch suspiciously. It had definitely not been there before.

Seeing my look, Gnat said, “It must have been hidden. By an illusion most likely. The slime’s death would’ve caused it to be revealed.”

I hobbled a careful circuit around the closed trapdoor. There was a simple metal handle to lift it, but I made no move to touch it. “Is it trapped?”

Gnat shrugged. “I don’t know.”

The answer was not unexpected, but still less than helpful. Narrowing my eyes, I studied the hatch intently and tried to spot anything out of the ordinary.

After a minute of fruitless staring, I was forced to admit I sensed no danger emanating from it. But of course that could have just been because my Perception was too low. With my health as low as it was, I was not going to take any unnecessary chances. Stepping back from the hatch, I closed my eyes and willed my intent to the Adjudicator.

Your Perception has increased to rank 3. Your level cap for perception-based skills has increased to: 30.

My senses grew sharper and my awareness expanded, revealing previously unseen details in my surroundings. I inspected the hatch again. The grains on its wooden slates snapped into focus and the streaks of rust on its metal handle were clear to see. But once again, I detected no hint of strangeness.

Alright, maybe it really isn’t trapped, I thought. Standing as far away as possible, I raised the closed hatch with my outstretched tip of my sword.

The trapdoor creaked open.

To my relief, no trap triggered. After a drawn-out moment, I peered inside the open hatch. It was darker inside the slime’s lair than in the passage, but with my recently enhanced sight, I had no trouble picking out the shapes hidden in its shadows.

A wooden slide had been placed against the edge of the hatch and extended to the floor. That had to be how the slime got in and out. The lair itself was small, less than a few yards in diameter. Alongside one wall, I made out a heap that my eyes failed to identify.

My nose, though, had no problem divining what they contained, the remains of the slime’s victims. Dead bodies. I clamped a hand over my nose and mouth. The smell was sickening, and made me reluctant to enter the lair, but something else drew my attention, a closed chest sitting at the bottom of the slide. Now that I cannot ignore, I thought.

Gingerly getting onto the slide, I entered the lair.

~~~

As I had suspected, the pile in the lair contained the liquified remains of the slime’s victims. Nothing remained of their bodies except bleached bones sucked dry and bits of torn cloth. From the pieces of fabric, it appeared that the slime had preyed solely on candidates.

I had wondered why none of my fellow candidates had not ventured into the side passages, but it seemed that at least some must have. Yet none had managed to kill the slime. It should not have been difficult for a group of candidates to defeat the slime—once they had been alerted to its presence.

I frowned. Or had none of the candidates been able to find the creature? The slime appeared to have been a skilled hunter, and one suited to stalking its victims in the dark. If the creature had only preyed on stragglers, it would have not been hard for the slime to conceal its presence while it devoured its chosen quarry.

I shuddered. I had narrowly escaped such a fate myself. When my half-hearted poking through the pile revealed no salvageable gear, I turned my attention to the true source of my interest: the loot chest.

I spent a good five minutes inspecting the chest before daring to open it. I had been sure it would’ve been boobytrapped, but to my surprise found it free of any traps. Inside, I found two items.

You have acquired an advanced ability tome: a summon lesser wight spellbook. You cannot learn this ability. You do not have the necessary skill: necromancy rank 3, or slots available in the required attribute: Faith. The ability tome is a single-use item.

You have acquired 1 full healing potion. This item will fully restore your health.

“An ability tome?” I murmured studying the thick tome bound in black leather in my hands.

“They are the means by which you acquire abilities,” Gnat said from my shoulder. The skeletal bat peered curiously at the book in my hands. “The spell this one holds is quite useful, but it’s worthless to you of course. Too bad you didn’t choose the path of the caster.”

I nodded absently. “Too bad,” I said echoing his sentiment, although as a caster, I doubted I would have managed to survive against the slime. I stored the spellbook in my backpack. While the tome was of no immediate use to me, it could still prove valuable in the future.

I turned my attention to the healing potion. It alone made my descent into the lair worth it. Without hesitation, I downed the elixir.

You have restored yourself with a full healing potion. Your health is now at 100%.

“Ah, much better,” I said, smiling in pleasure as all my injuries miraculously healed and left me blessedly free of pain. Feeling far more encouraged about my chances in the dungeon now, I climbed up the slide.

It was time to explore the left-side passage.

~~~

I snuck into the second side corridor with all my senses extended and looking for the slightest sign of danger. The left corridor was also shrouded in darkness. After only a cursory examination, I concluded its configuration was identical to the passage I had just been in.

Given that similarity, I padded quietly back into the corridor’s first room and scrutinized the floor. Sure enough, after a few seconds I spotted an oddity in the right corner of the chamber. I studied the suspect patch of ground.

Something about the flagstones covering the area in question appeared not quite right. They’re too smooth, I realized. Too perfect and without any of the scratches marring the other flagstones. The difference was subtle, but noticeable now that I had identified it.

No doubt about it, I thought. That’s a hatch covered by an illusion. My emotions were mixed on discovering the trapdoor. On the one hand, it was likely another opportunity to gain experience and earn more loot. On the other, it likely meant facing off against another slime, which I was not at all looking forward to.

But this time I have a plan, I reassured myself.

I had thought long and hard before venturing into the left side passage, and had come up with a way of defeating any slime it contained with minimal risk, but it all hinged on my assumptions being correct. I had no way of testing them before the battle. Either I was right or not. Besides, if the worst happens, I can always hack the slime to death again. I only need to avoid its paralytic projectiles.

Moving in a half-crouch, I placed myself in the corner of the room furthest away from the trapdoor. I looked down at the elven finger bone I held in my hand, testing its weight. I had taken it from the dead slime’s lair.

Right here goes, I thought and tossed the small bone towards the fake flagstones. My aim proved true, and the bone clanked noisily over the unseen wood of the hatch. Holding myself still, I readied my weapons.

I didn’t have long to wait. After only a few seconds, the hatch began to yawn open.

Chapter 16: A Second Stab

A puddle of liquid black took form around the open trapdoor. This time around I was able to easily pick out the slime from the surrounding darkness.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 6.

I felt some of my rigid tension fade at the Game message. I hadn’t been sure before this if I would be able to escape detection by the slime. I watched the creature pool upwards, almost as if it was tasting the air. Listening for me? I wondered.

Recalling how the creature had found me last time, I didn’t dare move. As the seconds ticked by and the creature failed to find me, another Game message entered my mind.

Your sneaking has increased to level 7.

I smiled grimly. Increasing my sneaking in this manner was part of my plan, too. Hiding from the slime was the only means I had found for training my sneaking, and even though I knew I played a dangerous game, it was a risk I had to take.

The seconds turned into minutes and advanced my skill further, but still the creature did not move from the open hatch.

Your sneaking has increased to level 8.

Your sneaking has increased to level 9.

Schooling myself to patience, I waited. Eventually the creature broke its stillness and crawled out the room—to search the rest of the passage for me I assumed. I gave it a minute, then took a single step forward. I waited another full minute to see if my motion had been detected.

When I was certain I remained concealed, I followed the slime out of the room.

Your sneaking has increased to level 10. Congratulations, Michael! Your skill in sneaking has reached rank 1.

Your skill learning rate in sneaking has decreased. Learning rates are inversely proportionally to your rank and will decrease at each new rank you attain.

I paused on the chamber’s threshold as the latest Game alert dropped into my mind. This one was slightly different, but I didn’t have time to give it much consideration.

Dismissing the message from my awareness, I padded after the slime. It was slowly making its way deeper into the passage, stopping at every room to search inside. I kept a good few yards between myself and the slime, but made sure to always keep it in my sight. All the while, my sneaking skill gradually ticked upwards.

Your sneaking has increased to level 11.

Your sneaking has increased to level 12.

…

I continued my dangerous game, tracking the slime up and down the passage, until eventually my sneaking maxed out.

Your sneaking has increased to level 20. Congratulations, Michael! Your skill in sneaking has reached rank 2, your current level cap. To improve your sneaking skill further increase your Dexterity rank.

That was easier than expected, I thought, pleased that the skill had trained so quickly. But given the game’s latest message, it was clear that it would become progressively more difficult to advance my skills.

With the first part of my plan completed, I moved onto the next stage: killing the slime. I took a second to confirm the slime’s location. It was in the passage moving further away from me and towards the next room. Perfect.

Palming a second finger bone into my hand, I flung it as hard as I could at the far end of the passage. The sound of the bone clattering against the hard flagstone floor echoed resoundingly loud in the silence.

Not unexpectedly, the slime reacted instantaneously. Firing one of its paralytic projectiles in the direction of the noise, the creature pulled itself down the passage at a fast crawl.

Pleased with the success of my ploy, I withdrew one of the used healing vials—empty no more— and gripped it in my right hand. Hurrying forward, I narrowed the distance between myself and the slower moving slime. When I judged I was close enough, my hand whipped forward in an arc and sent the contents of the un-stoppered vial unerringly towards the still oblivious slime.

You have struck a level 5 slime with a poison dart. A hostile entity has detected you! You are no longer hidden.

The slime began turning around and I dropped the empty vial. Making no move to draw my sword yet, I backpedaled quickly and pulled a second vial from my belt.

I held the vial at the ready as I watched the slime warily. Predictably, the creature fired another projectile at me. I was expecting the attack and danced aside easily.

You have evaded a slime’s attack. Your dodging has increased to level 3.

The slime was still showing no ill effects from the dart. I had no idea if the dart’s toxins would actually affect the creature. Still, I had considered using the dart worth the gamble. My biggest concern with the whole venture had been making sure I struck the creature. But in the end, the slime’s soft skin and the guided trajectory provided by the vial’s narrow length had made scoring a successful hit on my target a trivial exercise.

Now to see if my gamble pays off. Wondering how long I should wait before throwing the next vial, I kept retreating.

I was nearly out of the side passage and at the crossroads when the slime suddenly collapsed and its gelatinous mass shriveled into near-nothingness.

You have killed a young black slime and have gained experience. You have reached level 5!

I stumbled to a halt in surprise. “Well, Gnat,” I said, unable to conceal my grin, “that was almost too easy.”

~~~

I paused at the slime’s corpse. Like the first one I had killed, nothing useable remained of it, but glinting faintly amongst its remains, I spotted my dart. Bending down, I fished it out from slime.

You have acquired a used dart.

Then I made my way to the creature’s lair. I took the same precautions as before and ensured the slime’s loot chest was not boobytrapped before opening it. What I found inside gave me renewed cause to smile.

You have acquired an advanced skillbook: two weapon fighting. This skill is compatible with your slotted Class and may be learned. The skillbook is a single-use item.

You have acquired 1 full healing potion. This item will fully restore your health.

Gnat peered at the items in my hands. “Well, Michael, it appears you’ve finally gotten lucky.”

I nodded. “I have indeed.”

Chapter 17: Crossroads

I made my way back to the crossroads and finding a clean spot, sat down to think. I was intrigued by the skillbook I had found, but before I decided whether or not to learn its skill, I needed to ponder my course first.

“So, Gnat,” I asked, “how do skillbooks work?”

The skeletal bat shifted on my shoulder. “In much the same manner that Class Stones do. You will acquire its knowledge directly.”

I pursed my lips. “Permanently?”

“Permanently,” Gnat confirmed. “Once learned, a skill cannot be unlearned.”

I ran my hand over the skillbook in my lap. It was bound in brown leather and engraved with silver text on its cover. A tiny flap on the right kept the tome sealed, but it would be a simple matter to unlock it. Making no move to open the book yet, I read its Game description again.

Two weapon fighting: this skill is compatible with your slotted Classes and may be learned.

The message implied that the skills I could learn were predetermined by my Class, but I wasn’t certain yet which skills I would have access to as a scout. Still, I could guess. “Can scouts learn magic skills, Gnat?”

“No,” the familiar replied, confirming what I suspected.

“So what skills can a scout learn?” I asked.

The bat shrugged. “The list is too large for even me to remember. The scout Class is dexterity-based and as such can learn most skills governed by the attribute. Many perception-based skills are also available to scouts.”

I nodded thoughtfully. I would have liked to see the full list of skill options available to me before learning any new skills, but I didn’t have that luxury, and truly, I couldn’t pass up the chance of learning the only other skill I had found—and an advanced one at that. Besides, the skill would complement my existing light weapon skill nicely, and even after learning it I would have two my skill slots available.

Decided, I opened the skillbook.

The pages of the tome were filled with long lines of sliver script, which to my surprise, I could understand. Almost involuntarily, I began reading.

~~~

I blinked, awareness returning slowly. I had been so enthralled by the tome, I had lost track of both time and my surroundings.

I glanced down. The skillbook was gone. Before I could panic, a pulse in my mind alerted me to a waiting Game message.

Looking inwards, I perused its contents.

You have acquired the advanced skill: two weapon fighting. You may now dual-wield weapons in combat. As you increase this skill, the penalty you incur by wielding two weapons simultaneously will be reduced. Note, not all weapons are suitable for use in your second hand.

You have 2 of 6 scout Class skill slots remaining.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. Seemingly while lost in my trance, I had finished reading the skillbook and acquired its knowledge. “Gnat, how much time has passed?”

“Less than a minute, Michael,” he replied.

I shook my head, amazed at how quick the process had been.

“Shall we get moving?” Gnat asked.

“One moment,” I replied. “I have another matter to attend to.” Closing my eyes, I communicated with the Game’s Adjudicator again.

Your Dexterity has increased to rank 3.

This time, I chose to use my new attribute point to increase my Dexterity. It would allow me to keep improving my sneaking. To verify the changes to myself, I called up my player data.

Player Profile: Michael

Level: 5. Rank: 0. Current Health: 100%.

Stamina: 70%. Mana: 100%. Psi: 100%.

Species: Human. Lives Remaining: 3.

Attributes

Available: 0 points.

Strength: 0. Constitution: 0. Dexterity: 3. Perception: 3. Mind: 0. Magic: 0. and Faith: 0.

Classes

Primary Class: Scout (basic).

Secondary Class: None.

Tertiary Class: None.

Traits

Undead familiar: +1 to necromancy rank.

Nimble: +2 Dexterity.

Skills

Available skill slots: 2.

Dodging (current: 3. max: 30. Dexterity, basic).

Sneaking (current: 20. max: 30. Dexterity, basic).

Shortswords (current: 7. max: 30. Dexterity, basic).

Two weapon fighting (current: 1. max: 30. Dexterity, advanced).

Abilities

None.

Equipped

1 common thief’s cloak (+3 sneaking).

1 basic steel shortsword (+10% damage).

Backpack Contents

6 x field rations.

1 x flask of water.

3 x used poison darts.

2 x unused poison darts.

3 x empty potion flasks.

1 x summon lesser wight spellbook.

1 x full healing potion.

I nodded approvingly at my player profile. Undoubtedly, I was getting stronger. I rose to my feet. It was time to move on.

~~~

I tiptoed into the main passage with my sword out and my gaze flitting from side to side. I had tried hiding, but even with my sneaking skill at rank two, the corridor was too brightly lit for me to conceal myself.

The first part of the corridor was identical to the other main passages I’d ventured into: filled with dead goblins and looted chests, and I moved rapidly beyond them. Presently, the corridor opened out into a large circular chamber.

I paused on the threshold and warily scanned the interior. By all appearance, the room had contained the final encounter of the dungeon’s second leg. I could spot no movement, but saw plenty of corpses.

Slipping into the room, I sidestepped through the grizzly remains while I counted the dead. Two dozen deceased goblins littered the room, and nearly as many candidate corpses. In the chamber’s center, where the carnage was the worst, the goblin dead were distinctly different from the rest of their fellows.

I frowned. “Gnat, what’s wrong with these goblins?”

The skeletal bat looked at six corpses I was studying. “They seem normal to me,” my familiar replied.

“They’re not,” I argued. “They’re bigger.” At just over five-feet-tall, the corpses in question were about the height of a short human.

“Ah,” the bat said. “I understand your confusion now. Those goblins,” Gnat said, gesturing to the six with his chin, “are warriors. Low level fighters most likely.” The familiar swung his head around. “Those goblins are workers.” He spat. “Worthless civilians.”

I chewed over my companion’s words. “I’m guessing then, that from now on I can expect to see more goblin warriors in the dungeon?”

Gnat snorted. “Of course.”

I sighed. “Right.” I returned my attention to six dead goblins. Scattered around them were twice as many candidate corpses as in the rest of the room. From this, I gathered that the warriors represented a measurably greater threat than the workers.

The warriors were also notably more muscular than the other goblins I had encountered. I assumed that they had been better armed and armored too, but since the corpses had been stripped bare, I couldn’t tell if that really was the case.

The hacked and battered remains of a wooden chest lay in the center of the corpses. I sighed again. It seemed that the other candidates had found their own way around the chests’ traps. I would likely not be finding any un-looted chests anymore.

I raised my gaze to scan the perimeter of the room. There was only one other opening leading away from the chamber: a large archway on the northern end. It had to be the entrance to the dungeon sector’s third leg.

Sheathing my sword, I slipped through the archway and continued onwards on my journey.

Chapter 18: Choices

The dungeon’s third leg was nearly identical to the first, except this time the rooms were all populated with warriors and not workers. But to my relief, the number of goblins in each room had reduced again to three, a more manageable group for me to square off against on my own.

I made my way through the third leg in silence. Once more, I spotted no one else. It made me wonder how far ahead the other candidates were and how quickly they had cleared this section of the dungeon. I wondered too at the dungeon’s design. Would it remain this repetitive throughout the sector?

It was only as I entered the final chamber of the third leg that I noted a change in the dungeon’s configuration: there were three exits leading away from the room. The corridors beyond were all similarly sized and dimly lit.

My brows drew down. So which one led to the fourth leg and which two were mere side passages? Thus far I hadn’t encountered any true branches in the dungeon. There had only been one path to follow. Was that about to change?

I walked to the mouth of one of the tunnels and peered within. Right away, I noticed another difference. Unlike the other passages I had ventured through so far, the one stretching away from the chamber’s exit had an unpaved gravel floor and rough-cut rock walls. More correctly speaking, it was a tunnel. I inspected the other two exits and found the tunnels leading from them to be identical.

“Gnat,” I asked, turning to my familiar, “any explanation for the sudden change in the dungeon’s demeanor?”

The bat chuckled. “It must mean the training phase is over.”

I stared at him blankly. “What?”

“It seems that the Master chose to keep the first phase of his trial relatively… tame and uniform,” Gnat said. “You’d be wise to assume that is no longer the case.” The familiar gestured to the dark tunnel. “Expect things to be more difficult and varied through there.”

That’s just great, I thought, my lips turning down. If I understood Gnat correctly, the encounters beyond this point would be more random in nature, which could be either good or bad. Still, weak as I was, I much preferred predictable challenges. Those at least, I could prepare for.

Well, there is no help for it. Picking the left tunnel at random, I ducked through it.

~~~

The tunnel meandered left and right, narrowing in places and widening at other times. I tiptoed through it, treading as stealthily as I could on the hardpacked gravel surface. The tunnel’s lack of lighting served me well in that respect. Not once, did I lose my concealment.

The tunnel, though, was not truly pitch black. In places, luminous crystals relieved the darkness, and in patches glowing mushrooms grew. They provided me with enough light to see by, while still leaving me enough shadows to slip through unseen.

I had tried picking a few of the mushrooms, thinking they would make a good portable source of light, but after only a few minutes of being unearthed the mushrooms lost their glow and shriveled up into dry husks. Abandoning the idea, I continued my journey.

After ten minutes, I came across the first sign that others had also been this way. A dwarven corpse lay in the middle of the tunnel. His white cotton clothes were cut to ribbons and deep gouges had been carved through his skin.

Studying the body from the shadows, I scanned the surroundings. There was no sign of what had slain the candidate. When nothing jumped out at me after a few moments, I slipped past the body and continued my journey.

But only a few dozen yards later, I came across another dead candidate. This one was a gnome who had likewise been ripped to shreds. Feeling my trepidation grow, I kept going down the tunnel.

A little later, I stopped once more. The tunnel had widened into a small cave full of large rocks. Strewn amongst the boulders were three more bodies. Again, they were all candidates.

This time I ground to a halt. My instincts were screaming at me to turn back. Narrowing my eyes, I scanned every inch of the cavern. There was still no sign of whatever foe—or foes—had killed the candidates. “Any idea what did this?” I asked Gnat.

“No,” my familiar replied, sounding unwontedly serious. “But I’d advise turning back.”

I closed my eyes for a second and pondered my options. Turning back did seem the wiser course, but I had already gained greatly by venturing where other candidates had feared to tread.

Why not go on? I wondered. As long as I remain concealed, I should have little to worry about.

I wavered for a moment, weighing the potential rewards against the risks. But the thought of exploring virgin territory was too tempting to ignore. I press on, I decided. Slowing my advance to a near crawl, I crossed the cavern and continued into the tunnel beyond.

I had ventured only a little way farther when an unnatural noise caught my attention. I stilled instantly. Straining my ears, I waited to catch the sound again.

Grrrr… nnnch... aarrgh.

My breath caught. This time there was no mistaking the noise. It was coming from farther down the tunnel. Somewhere ahead a creature waited. And it sounded close by.

I studied the darkness in front of me again, but found no answers there. Only a few feet away, the tunnel curved sharply to the right, hiding the source of the sounds.

Unconsciously, my hand dropped to the hilt of my sword. To go on or not? But I’ve already come this far. What’s a few more paces?

Mustering my courage, I padded forward and braced my back against the tunnel wall. I inched around the bend, double and triple checking my footing before each step.

I don’t know how long it took me to navigate those few yards, but eventually I turned the corner and caught sight of what lay beyond.

I stifled my sharp intake of breath. The tunnel had widened into another cavern. This one was covered in a field of glowing mushrooms that bathed the cave’s interior in a gentle blue light. Sitting in the center of the mushrooms were two nine-foot-tall figures.

The creatures looked scrawny and half-starved, with their bones showing sharply beneath their olive-green skin. The pair’s teeth had been filed to points and their filthy black hair fell to their shoulders. Both creatures wore nothing more than a small loincloth.

Yet it was not the sight of the green-skinned pair alone that caused my eyes to widen in horror. No, it was what they were doing. In the clawed hands of each monster was a… limb. A pale, soft-flesh limb that had been clearly torn off the human at the pair’s feet.

I swallowed convulsively. The creatures were eating the candidate. The noise I had heard was the sound of the monster’s teeth grinding down on human bones. As I watched one of the creatures spit out a small bone and blood drip unheeded down the chin of the other, my stomach heaved and I took an involuntary step back.

A pebble shifted under my foot.

The monsters paused in their incessant chewing and as one their gazes swung to the tunnel mouth concealing me.

I froze.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! A hostile entity has failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 21.

Idiot! I cursed myself. I kept my eyes glued to the two creatures. They were still watching the tunnel entrance intently and I dared not move an iota. A bead of sweat trickled down my face.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! A hostile entity has failed to detect you!

A heartbeat passed, then another. I was petrified, but poised to flee too. If either of the creatures made any move to rise, I would break cover and run. In my scan of the cavern, I hadn’t failed to notice the other dead amongst the cavern. At least a score of candidates had died here.

If that many of my fellows had failed to kill the two monsters, there was no way I was going to risk entangling with the creatures unprepared. But to my intense relief, as the seconds ticked by and no enemy revealed itself, the creatures’ suspicions abated and first one, then the other returned to its feeding.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! A hostile entity has failed to detect you! Your sneaking has increased to level 22.

Not letting my shoulders sag, or allowing myself another betraying slip, I edged away with carefully controlled movements.

Chapter 19: Dead Ends

I didn’t stop retreating until I was back in the third leg’s final chamber. I flung myself to the ground and exhaled a pent-up breath as my rapid pulse finally begin to subside.

“What the hell were those things?” I asked.

“Trolls,” Gnat replied succinctly.

“Trolls?” I repeated. “And they eat people?”

Gnat shifted uncomfortably. “Trolls eat anything. Even undead.”

My face twisted in disgust. “Really? Whatever for?” Gnat opened his mouth to reply, but I waved him off. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.” I rubbed my face. “What I do want to know,” I murmured rhetorically while I considered the matter, “is how I can go about killing them.”

“You can’t,” my familiar said.

I snorted. “Anything can be killed, Gnat. Granted it won’t be easy. Given how many candidates those monsters killed, taking them down must be tough. But I only have to—”

Gnat shook his head. “No. I mean you can’t.”

I paused. “What do you mean by that?”

“Trolls can only be killed by magic,” Gnat said.

I blinked. Alright, this could be a problem. “So, I can’t even hurt them?”

Gnat shrugged. “You could. You could even incapacitate them—assuming you are able to inflict damage fast enough—but trolls possess superior regenerative properties with which they can heal themselves from almost every type of damage. The only wounds that a troll cannot recover from are those inflicted by magical flames.”

I bit my lip as I considered that. “How strong do you think those trolls are?”

“Trolls are rank two creatures,” Gnat replied. Seeing my blank look, he explained further. “That means that even the lowliest and weakest troll is level twenty.”

I whistled soundlessly. “Well, damn,” I muttered. I had spied an exit at the far end of the mushroom cavern and had been hoping that once I dealt with the trolls I would be free to explore an as yet untouched region of the dungeon. That possibility had been ruled out now, though.

As brightly lit as the cavern had been, there was no way I could sneak past the trolls, and considering the creatures’ levels, I doubted even my poison darts would do much more then irritate the trolls.

I let my gaze drift to the other two tunnels leading away from the chamber. I sighed and clambered to my feet. “I guess its time to explore another tunnel,” I said and slipped down the middle exit.

~~~

The second tunnel snaked up and down, far more so than the first one. Maintaining a careful pace, I followed the passage’s tortuous twists and turns. After only a few hundred yards though, a niggling worry began to worm its way through my thoughts as I noticed that the darkness around me was growing.

The farther I ventured into the tunnel, the more barren it became. Even the rare patches of luminous crystals and glowing mushrooms had grown less frequent, making it harder for me to see. I frowned in concern. If the light kept deteriorating, I would be soon forced to retreat and find a light source before continuing. My worry about the worsening light so preoccupied me that I almost failed to see the trap until too late.

But whether through luck, or as a result of my three ranks in Perception, when my gaze passed over a distinctly darker patch of ground, I knew there was something odd about it and I crashed to a halt.

Staring at the ground at my feet, I realized I was standing at the lip of a ditch. A very deep ditch. Carefully, I dropped to my knees and felt out the empty void of space where the ground should be. My reaching fingers found nothing but air.

I gulped. If I had fallen into the ditch I would have been seriously injured. If not worse. How deep is the hole? I wondered.

Lying flat on the ground, I stretched my hands into the void as far as I could reach and still couldn’t find the ground beneath. Sidling along the lip of the ditch, I tested its depths at regular intervals, but at no point could I find solid ground.

Frowning, I rose back to my feet and stared down the tunnel and tried to measure the length of the ditch, but my eyes failed to penetrate the darkness.

“Gnat, fly along the floor,” I said, “and tell me how far this ditch extends.”

The skeletal bat scowled at me. “I cannot fly if I can’t see.”

I blinked. “Aren’t you a bat? Don’t bats fly in the dark?”

“I’m an undead bat,” he groused.

What difference did that make? I sighed. He really was no help.

Why did the Master give me such a worthless familiar? I wondered despondently. But no, that’s unfair. As little use as Gnat had been in exploring, he had been a font of information on the Game itself, for which I was more than grateful.

“Alright,” I said, another idea occurring to me. “Let’s head back.”

~~~

I made my way back to the nearest patch of glowing mushrooms and wrenched them all out. With my precious cargo in hand, I hurried back to the ditch. Panting slightly from my exertions, I drew to a stop at its edge.

Knowing that I had less than a minute before the light from the mushrooms died, I threw a handful into the ditch, then waited in anxious anticipation. The mushrooms fell a long way before coming to a rest. And when they did, the scene they revealed caused the blood to drain from my face.

The bottom of the ditch was a long way away.

More properly speaking, the hole in front of me was a trench—a twelve foot deep one riddled with wooden stakes that had been sharpened to lethal points and angled upwards to catch any falling body.

A tumble into the trench would have been fatal.

Indeed, from the bodies already in the trench, I saw that it had already claimed more than its fair share of victims.

“Good thing you spotted that trap before you fell in,” Gnat said.

I nodded wordlessly. Good thing.

Gnat’s words recalled me to the other mushrooms in my hands. I knew how deep and deadly the trench was now, but I still didn’t know how far it extended. Winding my arm back, I began flinging more mushrooms into the hole, sending each one farther away, until one of my flung projectiles did not tumble downwards, but rolled to a stop on ground roughly on the same level I stood on.

Squinting, I measured the distance in the already fading light of the mushrooms. Six yards. The trench was too wide to try jumping across.

Another dead-end, I thought as the tunnel was once more plunged into darkness.

~~~

I spent a good five minutes sitting at the edge of the deadly trench pondering a way to cross it. And though I managed to come up with a few half-decent plans, they were all fraught with peril.

While the wooden stakes riddling the bottom of the trench were plentiful, they were not so abundant that I could not pick a careful path between them. Assuming of course, I could get secure enough light to see by, and reach the bottom of the trench safely.

My half-caught glimpse of the trench’s far wall also led me to believe I would be able to climb out once I got there. There had appeared to be enough handholds for a nimble person, but again, I had caught only a single glimpse and couldn’t be sure there was a viable way out.

It’s too risky, I decided. With a sigh, I rose to my feet. I knew what I had to do, explore the third tunnel. If it too proved a dead-end, I would return and try crossing the trapped trench.

Who knows, maybe I will find something as handy as a rope. I didn’t hold out much hope of that, though.