A roaring choir of scuttling reined in more and more droves of different gem-type gem ants to climb the large pillars protruding from the massive sinkhole section of the magic dungeon. On the lone pillar with its top devoid of ants, Zalroth held his hand up with a bright ball of fire mana floating above his palm and glanced at his surroundings.

"Seems I took a wrong turn and a hop.". Zalroth gazed at the path he took before uttering a confused exhale, "Make that hops.".

Zalroth involuntarily twitched an eyebrow before he swung his free arm to the side and fired a fireball. The fireball zipped through the air until slamming into the end of the room, briefly illuminating the door close to where the fireball struck. Zalroth readjusted his hand and he repeatedly fired fireballs at the top of the pillars to scare the gem ants away.

Zalroth easily parkoured his way across the pillars before jumping and drop-kicking his way through the battered and weathered door, only for Zalroth to be greeted by an emotionless/half-hearted girly scream. Zalroth unamusedly blinked as he glanced down at the super short luevion (humanoids with rabbit ears and a rabbit tail) with an oversized hood.

(the girl has the appearance of a thirteen-year-old teen. She has trailing knee-low pure white hair with pitch black ends, pale pink eyes with pitch black scleras, ash grey skin, slightly toned thighs and legs, and a super large and poofy black rabbit tail which looks like a cloud)

(the girl is wearing a black from the neck down full body jumpsuit with white palms and soles, and a white hoodie with super large fake rabbit ears on the oversized hood, and the section of the hoodie from the chest down is removed)

"... was that a fake scream?" Zalroth asked. The luevion shook her head before placing a hand on her chest.

"One is Luthera," Luthera stated with a neutral voice.

"Zalroth.". Luthera nodded, swaying her arms back and forth as she kept a neutral expression on her face.

"So, what brings The Zalroth to this dungeon?".

"A sinkhole opened up on the surface and I sensed the Magic Dungeon was in its instance state, so I figured I should deal with it before it is completed.".

"Understandable, One shall help you," Luthera stated.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"One?".

"... Master referred one and their comrades by that," Luthera explained.

"So, it's sort of a habit for you?".

"Sorta.". Zalroth itched his head and sighed.

"Whatever... do you know where the Dungeon Boss might be?". Luthera nodded before she spun around. She swing-kicked the nearby wall and shattered it effortlessly. The wall crumbled to dust, revealing a passage, and Luthera pointed down the passageway.

"How conv-". Zalroth paused and glanced around to see the many craters in the hall, "or not.". Zalroth rubbed his head before following behind Luthera as she skipped down the revealed passageway.

After minutes of non-stop walking, the duo arrived at a massive stone door surrounded by two towering bulky iron golems beside the door. Luthera waddled over to the door and pushed her hands against it before running on the spot as she tried to open the door. As Luthera continued to try and force the door open, Zalroth glanced around at the two golems before he spotted the sign dangling from one of the golems' hands.

"Think that's important?" Zalroth asked as he pointed at the sign. Luthera glanced back at Zalroth but as Luthera tried to stop running her foot slipped, and she fell flat on her face. Zalroth shook his head and reached down to pick Luthera up. As Zalroth's hand drew close to her head, Luthera's body shivered before she covered the top of her head.

"Did you hurt your face?" Zalroth asked. Luthera murmured as she pushed herself to her feet and turned to Zalroth with an oddly-shaped key tangled in her fringe.

"I have a feeling you solved the puzzle by accident," Zalroth remarked with a tinge of amusement in his overwise serious voice. Luthera remained unphased by Zalroth's comment before she removed the key from her hair and handed it to Zalroth. Zalroth raised a finger to the dangling sign and fired a mini wind mana (green energy) sphere. The mana sphere knocked the sign out of the golem's hand, and Luthera raised her arms to catch the falling sign.

"The way forwards is the path itself," Luthera read aloud, "What appears to be the door is but a falsehood and only the victor will see the end.". Luthera scratched her head before she tossed the sign away.

"I assume the first part was referring to the key... but I guess that means this thing isn't a door," Zalroth remarked as he stared at the large fake door. Luthera gazed up at Zalroth with a blank stare.

"Do you know what the key is for?". Zalroth was silent as he narrowed his eyes at the key and hummed.

"Not a clue, this is Chronia's area of expertise," Zalroth remarked as he shrugged.

"Phooey...," Luthera murmured. Luthera crouched to the ground and began etching a grid into the floor with a jagged rock. Zalroth watched as Luthera drew a chess board before carving rocks into various chess pieces and placing them on the board.

"Wanna play chess until The Chronia finds us?". Zalroth softly exhaled as he sat opposed to Luthera and waited for her to finish making the chess pieces.