Quinn looked around as they entered the dungeon, breathing out a sigh of relief as everything appeared to be normal. Well, not normal. They were in a tunnel made of a mix of rocks, plants, and man-made structures, a few doors leading to potential rooms, and Quinn's expression twisted as she saw the tunnel slope down into a pool of water, but she didn't see anything dangerous. She just hoped it'd stay that way.

"This is trippy." Greg muttered, as he placed a hand on the wall, feeling where the rock, plants, and structure merged seamlessly into a solid whole.

"Yeah, dungeon spaces can be weird." Andrew nodded. "I kinda regret adding caves, actually… it would have been neat to see this whole thing spreading out all around us."

"Well, you added in plains as well… there should be some open spaces around, right?" Thomas commented.

"And hills and mountains as well." Chris nodded. "There should be many types of terrain here."

"Well, then, let's get exploring!" Greg clapped his hands, sending out his fairies to scout again as the five of them spread out and began opening doors, ignoring the water for the moment.

"What the hell is this?" Thomas asked incredulously as he pulled a twisted mix of wood and metal that looked almost like a spoon that had grown a field in the bowl.

"Dungeons make random items based on what supposedly should exist inside them." Andrew explained. "I guess this one thinks utensils filled with vegetation are appropriate."

Thomas looked between Andrew and the spoon with a frown. "Dungeons are weird." He muttered as he tossed the spoon away.

"No argument here." Andrew agreed.

"Aren't they supposed to be interesting?" Greg asked skeptically. "I mean, isn't that your job? To find interesting things in dungeons and record them?" Greg turned to Quinn.

"The key word there is 'find'." Quinn replied. "Dungeons are all random chance, and a lot of it is crap. Even with my skills, I need to do twelve to sixteen hour delves for maybe an hour or two of content, and most of that-" She froze. "Uh, most of that is my own personal flair, not the dungeon itself." She coughed awkwardly. "My skills ensure there's always something to see, but the truly unique finds are always rare."

"Fair enough, I suppose." Greg shrugged, before pausing as the dungeon suddenly rumbled. "Well that's interesting…"

"Guys, our exit is gone." Chris commented, gesturing back towards the portal, which was indeed gone.

"What?!?" Quinn exclaimed, rushing towards the portal. "Fuck! Shit, this isn't- if we're trapped-"

"Whoa, hey, calm down." Chris stopped her. "We don't get trapped. We have portals of our own."

Quinn blinked. "Oh. Right."

"The real question is why did the dungeon close the portal?" Thomas wondered aloud, staring at where the portal used to be.

Andrew frowned. "It didn't. The portal is still there, the walls simply… closed around it?" He suddenly started paying a lot more attention to the walls. He'd noticed they were full of aura, but he'd dismissed it because plants usually had aura. However, if the walls were moving. "Do you guys think this dungeon might be alive?"

"Please don't even joke about that!" Quinn shuddered. "If we somehow created a Ruin…"

"A what now?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A dungeon that is itself a creature." Chris replied absently as he went through Quinn's memories on the subject. "Pretty much impossible to kill in an instance, so a dungeon break is almost inevitable. Once it's out, it becomes a sort of spawning ground for creatures, and operates a lot like a dungeon. The more things die inside it, the stronger it grows. Ruins are generally either eradicated as soon as they appear or turn the entire area into a danger zone."

"So exactly the sort of thing we'd end up making during a random outing." Greg chuckled.

"Pretty much." Chris shrugged.

"This isn't funny!" Quinn snapped. "If a Ruin appears on the outskirts of Nobilis-"

"It'll be destroyed. There are more than enough people powerful enough to take care of it." Chris waved dismissively.

"And everyone who entered this dungeon in the past month will be investigated to discover how this insane Ruin was created! Which means me! Which means they'll discover you, because I can't stop their mind mages from digging out every secret I know!" Quinn retorted.

"Which is annoying, but not really an issue." Chris shrugged. "Besides, what can we do about it? Almost impossible to kill, remember? We'd have to practically burn this place down around us, turn the rocks to slag, and break space itself, or the thing will just regenerate. I don't doubt we'll have that ability someday, but we don't have it today, so there's nothing we can do."

Quinn hesitated, before letting out a groan. "We're so screwed."

"Maybe… maybe if we can find the core, I can do something about this?" Andrew offered tentatively. "Even if this thing can regenerate from nothing, it can't live without a core."

"It'll probably be in the center of all this…" Greg muttered. "Center of mass. That's where the core usually sits, according to Narita."

"Couldn't hurt to try." Chris agreed.

"Guys, this is a Ruin!" Quinn interjected. "You think it's limited to just closing off a portal?!? It can rearrange itself to send us in circles, separate us, create traps, and take us out one by one!"

"How do you keep forgetting who we are?" Greg asked, giving her a weird look. He pointed at Chris. "Portals." He pointed at Thomas. "Map." He gestured to himself. "Barrier destroyer." He waved at Andrew. "Core fucker. We may or may not be able to kill this 'Ruin' but it sure as hell can't stop us from trying."

*

"This is acid." Greg frowned down at the pool of water blocking their path, which his fairy had recently had a very poor experience with.

"Well that's just rude." Chris muttered, shaking his head. "Can you do something about it?"

"Usually, yes, but-" Greg sent some smoke into the pool, dissolving a large portion, which was immediately replaced. "I guess this thing can just replace whatever I take. Plus, I don't even get any new smoke out of it." Greg frowned.

"That's probably because the dungeon is a spatial anomaly. The things it makes aren't actually real, they're spatial constructs. Probably the same reason you can't get smoke out of my world." Chris commented, clicking his tongue in disappointment.

"Well, it makes our job a lot more difficult… kinda regretting my little speech back there." Greg sighed.

"I got nothing for acid either." Thomas frowned.

"I could probably get through… my carapace, plus aura healing… should be fine." Andrew muttered. "I could take something from Chris as well so we can use a portal to get the rest of you across."

"Except we don't know where the other side is." Quinn pointed out. "You could spend hours down there, going in circles!"

"Also, does your aura healing cover breathing? Cause I don't think breathing acid will be very good for you." Thomas added.

Andrew blinked. "Those are very good points."

"I can send some smoke down to scout." Greg offered. "Make sure there is another side."

"And I can give you an air tank." Chris offered. "Shouldn't be an issue to keep you supplied for as long as you need since I can keep replacing it with air from my world." He paused. "Which doubles as the object I can use to make a portal, I suppose."

With the plan settled, Greg sent some smoke into the pool. "Oh shit." Greg groaned. "It's a fucking maze."

"I'm beginning to think this Ruin might be beyond our current capabilities." Chris frowned. "This is only the first obstacle."

"Hold on, gimme a minute." Greg frowned, splitting his smoke as he explored the various branches. "It's only got four splits. From the right you go down the second, first, fifth, then fourth paths."

"Two, one, five, four." Andrew muttered. "Got it."

"I'll keep an eye on the splits and let you know through the system if anything changes." Greg assured him.

Andrew nodded as he put on the air tank and covered himself in his carapace, before jumping into the pool. The acid immediately began to eat into his carapace, but flexing his aura every few seconds was more than enough to overcome the damage. Still, he swam as fast as he could down the tunnels, which were longer than he thought, and twisty. But just like Greg said, there were only four splits, which he navigated according to Greg's advice, making his way to the other side before surfacing and quickly jumping out of the pool… only to have the ground collapse beneath him, sliding down a tunnel with a yelp, only avoiding the waiting spikes by quickly turning into an ant and taking flight, narrowly avoiding a falling boulder, before landing on the other side. Unfortunately, he lost the air tank when he transformed and it'd gotten crushed underneath the boulder, leaving no space for Chris to open a portal large enough for the others. "Fuck!" Andrew cursed as he turned back into his human self, staring down at the pit in frustration.

"Wow… this Ruin is not playing games, now is it?" Greg commented, forming out of smoke next to him. He glanced over at Andrew. "You know we need to get that out of there, right? Otherwise you're trapped in here."

Andrew hung his head. "Fuck."

The next fifteen minutes were spent trying to dig and squirm their way into the pit, which the Ruin continually prevented by reverting anything they changed. Then they managed to figure out a strategy where Greg would dissolve a pocket that Chris would immediately fill with something before the Ruin could, which would give him a new object to create portals from, and they finally managed to create a portal between the two sides. "I think it would be best if I connected what I can of you to my world now." Chris commented as he stepped out of the portal, gesturing for Andrew to enter. "This all could have been avoided."

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

"Yeah, probably." Andrew sighed in agreement, stepping into the portal. Chris quickly connected his body and energy to his world, though as he suspected, there was no mental connection, and Andrew stepped back out. "Just don't disappear my body on me, okay?"

"I'll do my best." Chris nodded.

"Well, hopefully that'll make the next obstacles easier to get around." Thomas commented. "And hopefully we'll find something to actually fight. Waiting around while you guys deal with obstacles is pretty boring."

"Dealing with the obstacles is pretty boring." Greg grumbled. "Particularly when this stupid Ruin keeps erasing any progress we make!"

"This isn't supposed to be fun, guys." Chris shook his head. "We've created a problem and we're working to solve it. It isn't entertainment, it's work."

"Hey, just because something is work doesn't mean you can't have fun with it." Greg retorted. "I'm not saying we should expect it to be fun, but we can still complain when it isn't, and still look forward to the things we do enjoy. That's just how people work."

Chris cocked his head, considering the point for a moment, before shrugging. "Fair enough. Let's keep going then. I have some ideas for our next fight myself."

They continued to make their way through the Ruin. It seemed to enjoy twisting tunnels, which were peppered with traps, mainly consisting of spikes and falling rocks since the Ruin still had to work with the materials provided. Andrew hadn't added any traps, so all the Ruin had to work with was the terrain. It made them wonder where it'd gotten access to the acid… maybe some kind of mutated plant? Stomach acid? Speaking of environmental obstacles, the Ruin didn't limit itself to pools of acid. There were more pitfalls, quicksand, overgrown vines that grasped at them as they passed, rock walls to climb, tight crevices to wiggle through, cramped offices to navigate, a weird section full of fences they had to jump over or crawl under, and so on, the Ruin mixing every type of terrain it'd been given to… not bar their path, but to make them struggle for every step.

"You'd think it'd just close the tunnels around us, right?" Thomas wondered aloud. "Trap us so we couldn't move."

"Not that that'd stop us." Greg commented. "Since me and Chris could still just work our way through the walls using our dissolve and replace trick. Not that it wouldn't still be annoying."

"Maybe it can't?" Andrew offered. "Obviously it has limits, or it'd just flood everything with acid… maybe it's stuck in its original layout?"

"So the dungeon was already this twisted, jumbled mess?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the dungeon would have turned into a Ruin as it formed." Quinn commented, her brow furrowing in thought. "It would have been able to influence the layout as the dungeon grew, but once it was formed, everything would have been set."

"So it created all this, but it can't do it on a whim." Thomas nodded slowly. "So we probably don't have to worry about things changing around us for no reason."

"Maybe…" Quinn muttered, before shaking her head. "I know they can, but it could be something they develop after the break."

"Well, they'd lose the ability to instantly replace any damage we do by then, so maybe it's a trade off." Chris commented.

"My question is where all the mobs are." Thomas frowned. They had yet to run into any creatures, despite traveling for a few hours already. "Do you think they're all grouped together somewhere?"

"They shouldn't be, but… I wouldn't be surprised." Quinn replied. "If the Ruin had this much control as the dungeon formed, the mobs could be anywhere. Probably in the worst place possible, because why the fuck not."

"Well, we should be getting close to the center." Chris pointed out. "If nothing else, we should be able to take care of the Ruin. The mobs are a secondary issue."

Quinn nodded in agreement as they continued to make their way forward, eventually emerging into a… clearing? They found themselves in the middle of a field, surrounded by rocky cliffs, full of holes leading to even more winding tunnels, and in the center was an elaborate mix of a mansion and a farmhouse on a small hill, the type of thing you might see on a plantation or something. Quinn looked around the field, covered in tall grass and crops that swayed and shifted to a nonexistent breeze. "I don't like this." She muttered.

"I'd put money on that being the center." Greg commented, pointing at the building.

"I really don't like this." Quinn repeated, stepping away from the field.

"Yeah, there are definitely mobs in there." Andrew nodded, his expression twisting. "And traps. And probably a whole lot of other nasty things."

"Sounds like a challenge." Thomas chuckled, rolling his shoulders and pulling out his knives. "Who doesn't enjoy a good challenge?"

"This isn't a challenge, it's a deathtrap!" Quinn retorted. "This type of environment ends normal dungeon delves, let alone a freaking Ruin!"

"Well, sure, but they're only level seven creatures." Greg pointed out. "Not that much of a threat."

"It doesn't matter if they stab you in the back before you even know they're there!" Quinn snapped back. "Being at a high level doesn't mean you can survive without a heart!"

"You can survive without a heart though." Greg explained for the umpteenth time. "You are immortal! Stop being so fucking scared all the time!"

Quinn blinked back at him, before flushing. "I- it isn't something you just adjust to! Do you know how long I've spent having it drilled into me that you treat every dungeon with respect?!? That you take precautions at every step, go slow, never take on more than you can handle, so you don't die and cause the dungeon to grow, or even worse, break!?! I can't just… switch it off! Who just accepts they're immortal and automatically adjusts to it?!?"

"Well, I did." Greg shrugged.

"Me too." Chris nodded.

Quinn glared at Chris. "You don't count." She turned to Greg. "And you… were you even scared of death to begin with?"

Greg paused. "Hm. Fair point. But still, we'll be fine. Dying a few times will be annoying, but you won't lose anything and we lose a few days at most. Well, Andrew would lose a few weeks, but still."

"Though if you're going to fight, you might want to switch your Class." Chris added.

Quinn hesitated, before letting out a groan. "I better not hear any comments." She grumbled, glaring at them as she shifted her Class, before… sashaying into the grass.

Greg opened his mouth, before turning to raise an eyebrow at Chris, who shrugged. "She's an Exotic Battle Dancer. Gives her a… unique fighting style. Speaking of, we should go help her. She just got ambushed." He gestured, before disappearing as the sounds of fighting began to sound out from the field.

"Shit!" Andrew cursed, rushing to help, Thomas and Greg quickly following after, both looking more eager than worried. They quickly arrived to find Chris flashing around the battlefield, arrows acting as portal anchors as he shot them into the ground and ape-rats alike. However, they barely paid him any mind as they caught sight of what Quinn was doing. Her hips gyrating in a mesmerizing motion as her legs rose and fell in elegant arcs. Even the mobs seemed to be entranced, falling into a daze before one of those elegant arcs crushed their chest or took their head off.

Chris appeared in front of the three stunned boys. "Stop gaping and help." He chastised them, before disappearing again.

The three of them shared a look, coughing awkwardly before joining the fight, each taking a direction as they fought the mobs that seemed to stream endlessly out of tunnels hidden in the field, protecting each other's backs as they focused on the enemies in front of them. Andrew shifted into his leaping terror form, covering himself in carapace as his legs flicked out in a much more brutal dance than Quinn's, though equally deadly as he crushed the mobs beneath his feet. Thomas parried, slashed, and stabbed with his daggers, unable to crush the mobs like Andrew and Quinn, but more than capable of keeping the creatures at bay as Chris picked them off. Greg fought more defensively, erecting shields and barriers using his smoke, any damage quickly disappearing as the mobs struggled to break through. Occasionally he'd swing a hammer and crush an arm, or head, but he mostly focused on keeping the mobs occupied.

As the battle continued, injuries began to build up. Thomas was the first to go down, a lucky swipe getting through his defenses, breaking his flow. More hits landed as holes opened in his defenses and the ape-rats piled on him, sending him to the floor with a curse and a scream as they tore into him. Quinn went next. Her dance didn't just daze the mobs, but it also drew them in, forcing her to fight more than twice the enemies the others did, and as her stamina waned, mistakes began, and she fell under the weight. Chris brought her back a moment later, but for some reason, she wasn't nearly as effective, and she fell again. And again. And again, because Chris didn't stop bringing her back. Greg didn't die, but he encased himself in a metal shell, so there was nothing he could do to help, while Andrew and Chris were forced to finish the rest of the mobs off themselves, Andrew's carapace and healing making the mobs attacks ineffective, while Chris never stayed in one place long enough to get hit.

Finally the last mob fell, and Quinn immediately rushed at Chris and began hitting him. "You bastard! You told me I wouldn't lose anything! And why did you keep bringing me back to die again and again!" She screeched at him.

"I didn't know you would lose anything." Chris replied, easily fending off her attacks as he now had both the advantage in stats and experience. "And even weak, you provided a good focus point for the mobs, which let me kill them faster."

"I am not your bait! You don't leave me to die again and again just to make your life easier!" Quinn screamed, before falling to her knees in exhaustion. "It fucking hurts!" She spat in a voice on the verge of tears.

Chris paused, blinking down at her, before kneeling down next to her, and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. I won't do it again." He assured her.

Quinn froze, staring at him for a moment, before sighing and shaking her head. "Forget it. It's like being mad at a toddler."

*Hey, can someone fix my body?* Thomas sent through the system. *This is not a comfortable experience.*

"Chris-" Quinn began, before Greg cut her off.

"Wait, let me try." He interjected, sending some smoke at the pile of corpses Thomas was under, removing the mobs bodies before covering Thomas's body in smoke, dissolving damaged sections and recreating them, until his body was fully intact again. "Good?" He asked, looking down at Thomas.

*I think my brain is dead.* Thomas sent. *Can you fix that?*

Greg blinked. "Maybe?" He replied hesitantly, before sending some smoke at his head, dissolving it and recreating it, and Thomas immediately took a breath and sat up.

"Fuck that was uncomfortable." Thomas groaned, twisting his neck with a grimace. "My body was dead, but I was still there! Just… existing!"

"Hey, at least you weren't dead dead." Greg shrugged.

"Yeah, but I'm still back to being a level one scrub." He grumbled, his expression twisting as he checked his status. At least he still had his points.

"Eh, you'll get it back in a few days." Greg waved dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah." Thomas sighed.

"I think rushing in was a bad idea." Andrew commented. "We knew they were probably waiting in here, that they'd try to swarm us. We should have set up a defensive position and had Greg or Chris lure them in."

Quinn flushed. "I- I wasn't thinking… and he told me I wouldn't lose anything!" She pointed accusingly at Greg.

"What did you lose?" Greg asked, looking at her weirdly.

"I'm level one again!" She snapped at him. "All my levels, all my stats, just gone! All I have left is the few stats I gained using his system!" Quinn gestured angrily at Thomas.

Greg turned to frown at Chris. "I thought you said your subordinates don't lose anything when they die."

Chris shrugged. "They usually don't. I've had several subordinates die in my World, and they've kept everything."

"It could be about base states." Andrew commented thoughtfully. "Like your form, remember? If your subordinates' base states include their abilities, then they keep them, if they don't… then they don't. That's how it works when I die, at least, so it'd make sense for you as well."

Chris cocked his head. "Possibly…"

"We can figure it out later." Thomas injected as he got to his feet. "Let's finish off this Ruin before it throws anything else at us."