The roar of the bear was loud and terrible. My heart skipped a beat and my body became paralyzed for a moment. "Status: FRIGHTENED. -100% Movement. DURATION: 5 seconds." Suddenly, I felt my hand being grabbed.

"Don't worry, master! I will protect you!" she proclaimed and pulled my hand.

The movement broke my spell and my legs started moving of its own accord. I saw that the person pulling my hand was Bila! As I ran toward the cave with the cat girl, I turned my head and looked back. I saw that Rijana was also being pulled along by Bjoukia. Apparently, she, too, had suffered from the frightened status effect.

The bear was long gone by the time we reached the mouth of the cavern. It was dark and stank--of death.

My mind clear now, I cast a Light sphere to illuminate the entrance. "Light SUCCESSFUL. +25 XP."

Van took the lead and entered the cave first. A few seconds later, he announced, "All clear!"

Bila entered behind him and I followed her inside.

The cave had a small opening that bear-ly fit the bear (pun intended). The cave was oval shaped and approximately 12 feet wide. On the left side were a pile of bones, presumably the bear's victims. On the right side, there were some twigs and leaves on the ground; presumably, the bear had used them as bedding to sleep on. Further back into the cave, there was another opening. This opening, however, was much narrower, perhaps 4 feet wide.

I created another Light sphere and commanded the ball to enter the opening. "Light SUCCESSFUL. +25 XP." The ball continued forward and eventually moved out of my line of sight. "The tunnel isn't straight," I observed.

"I'll scout ahead," Bila volunteered. "I'm much smaller. If there are monsters, I can run back here quickly."

I nodded my assent. "Please don't take unnecessary risks," I cautioned her.

"I won't," Bila grinned. The cat girl entered the tunnel.

While we waited, Kalistra returned. "Why are you guys still here?" she hissed. "The bear is going to return soon!"

"There's a small opening in the back. Bila is scouting ahead," Van explained.

The newcomer shook her head. "Unless you feel like fighting an angry bear inside its den, we have to go in now!" Kalistra grabbed my hand. She entered the tunnel and pulled me along with her.

"I'll take the rear guard," Van volunteered.

Bjoukia, Rjiana, Sanhewa, and Bjoukin entered the tunnel in that order.

The tunnel curved as I expected. However, about 20 feet inside, the tunnel gave way to a passageway made of a metal which reminded me of the Ph'laen Ruins near the Balmore Farms. The corridor eventually widened to 10 feet across. The first Light sphere I created stood at this location. Apparently, Bila had gone ahead without illumination. Since she had night vision, it was not a problem for her.

As we waited for Van to exit the tunnel and enter the passage, Bila returned to us. She was running on all four paws. "I thought you guys will be waiting in the cave," she commented.

"Not with the bear returning to the cave shortly," Kalistra shook her head. "It was safer to wait here, instead."

Bila's whiskers twitched. "If you say so," she shrugged and rose to her hind paws. "This corridor leads to a staircase. At the bottom is a door that I can't open. Thankfully, there are no monsters here," she reported.

Kalistra and I exchanged looks. It was likely that the door could only be opened by a person from another world, such as myself. That I had expected. What I didn't expect, however, was the lack of monsters, such as large slimes, patrolling the area.

Our party walked slowly through the passageway, ever wary of hidden traps. In fact, Rijana, Sanhewa, and I did a rotation in casting the spell, Detect Traps, every 5 feet. In addition, we took breaks every hour in order to replenish our mana. Eventually, we reached the end of the passageway, which emptied into a balcony. On the left side was a set of spiral stairs leading down.

Rijana sent her Light sphere further up and we saw that there were no bats or other creatures hanging over us. There was a light breeze, though, meaning that there was a small wind tunnel somewhere above us.

I dismissed my in-game notifications. I had received 250 XP for spamming Detect Traps. Taking a cue from Rijana, I decided to send my Light sphere over the balcony and downward. I stepped to the edge of the balcony and looked down. *CRACK* Suddenly, the floor crumbled under my feet! "Dexterity check FAILED." Before I knew it, I was airborne and falling!

Kalistra jumped after me. She twisted her body and straightened her arms and legs. Like a speeding bullet, the daredevil soon reached my position. She grabbed hold of me and threw me against the wall.

*SPLAT* I slammed, face first, into the wall, slid down, and landed on the staircase. I could not move at all. "-20 Health. Status: Stunned. Duration: 30 seconds."

Once I was safe, the cat girl focused on her own predicament. Exerting perfect control of her body, Kalistra spun her body as if she was flipping a coin. Her outstretched limbs created some drag in the air and she managed to slow her descent. When the cat girl saw that she had almost reached the ground, she relaxed her body. *BOOM* She landed perfected on all four paws. However, the fall had fractured her paws and limbs. "Ow," she moaned in pain and gingerly laid down on her chest.

Rijana also jumped down. She cast Feather to slow her descent.

When the mage landed, Kalistra turned her body so that her back was on the ground. She looked at the newcomer and said, "There's an Elixir in my potions bag. Please take it out and feed me the potion. My arms and legs are broken."

Rijana opened the pouch at the cat girl's belt and pulled out the golden-colored glass vial. She opened the stopper, lifted Kalistra's back gently, and slowly poured the precious liquid into the cat girl's mouth.

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Once Kalistra swallowed the potion, she felt heat radiate from her stomach and spread throughout her entire body. Her limbs and paws burned with fire as they slowly mended. Ten seconds later, the pain was gone. She saw a hand in front of her. The cat girl accepted and pulled herself back to her hind paws.

While I was still stunned, Bila had reached my position on the staircase. She gently carried me in her arms and walked down the stairs.

By the time we reached the bottom, my stun duration had expired. I jumped to the ground and hugged Kalistra. "Thank you for saving me," I said.

The cat girl allowed the hug for a few seconds and then poked her claw in my right shoulder. "You need to be more careful," she admonished me.

"-1 Health." "Yes, master," I said and bowed deeply.

"Of course, you'll be reimbursing me for the Elixir of Health that I needed to use," Kalistra added and held out her paw.

I rolled my eyes and opened my sacks. I took out 100 gold coins and gave them to her.

The cat girl grinned at the sight of the coins and quickly stored them in her sack.

"Wow, I thought you were a goner!" Bjoukia interrupted us and hugged me.

"It was very brave of you to jump after Brother Mulligan to stop his fall," Van praised with admiration. The paladin saluted the heroine. "May the Gods of the Law and Order bless you for your valor!"

"I guess Kalistra used up one of her nine lives," Bjoukin teased.

"Are you able to move now?" Bila asked. She couldn't help but admire her senior's bravery and dedication to me.

In response, Kalistra casually stretched her arms and hopped lightly on her legs. "I'm fine," she demonstrated.

Sanhewa observed the gathering quietly while standing on the staircase. She was ashamed of her cowardice; she couldn't jump from the balcony like Kalistra and even Rijana. While it was true that the mage was sent by the Magic Guild to be an observer and report on the mission, if I had died then there would have been severe repercussions from her higher-ups. Frankly, she could have jumped after us and cast Feather on myself and Kalistra. But her fear of heights had turned her into stone and she couldn't make the leap.

I walked over to the wall and brought the Light sphere with me. There was a doorway, which was blocked by a slab of stone. There was writing on the stone that read as follows: "Only one not of this world may lead the way." I looked at the right side of the doorway. Next to it was a gemstone. I walked over to it and pressed my palm against the stone. *Click* Two panels slide over the stone and trapped my wrist. I slowly turned the stone clockwise and the stone blocking the doorway slowly lifted. When the slab of stone was completely embedded within the ceiling, the panels released my wrist. I turned back to my companions and said, "Let's go!" I walked in and saw a hallway.

There was a big, black sphere on the ceiling. Unlike last time, however, no beam of light shot at me from the sphere. It appeared to be inactive for some reason. When I visited the ruins near the Balmore Farms, the black sphere on the ceiling brought my mind to another world and I had to win a "game" in order to return. Nonetheless, I was thankful that I didn't have to play another game this time.

Having experienced the sadistic games firsthand, Kalistra stared at the black sphere apprehensively for several seconds while standing outside the doorway. But eventually, she mustered the courage to enter the hallway.

The rest of the party entered and the slab of stone slammed down, blocking the doorway again.

I looked around and at the ceiling for signs of monsters, but the corridor was empty. On the other side of the corridor, I saw the stone on the wall next to the blocked doorway and I was anxious to reach it. However, Kalistra abruptly pulled on my arm and prevented me from taking another step forward.

"Look on the ground, you fool!" she hissed.

Sheepishly, I did as told and I immediately understood why she was upset with me. There was a modified game of hopscotch! There were 10 squares. The first two squares were adjacent, the third square was solo, four through seven were split into triangles, square eight and nine were adjacent, and the last square was solo. Before those squares, there was another square with the word, "START," colored in red. On the other side, there was an additional panel labeled, "END," also in red.

"What are we supposed to do?" Rijana asked while staring at the floor.

I sighed. It was so DEVIOUS of whoever laid down this trap. To play this game, the participant had to be from my version of Earth because otherwise, the player wouldn't know the rules of the game. I turned around and explained the game to my party. "This game is from my country. It's called 'hopscotch.' The object of the game is to hop on the numbered squares sequentially on either one foot or two feet. If a stone appears, you are to skip over that panel. Now, come closer and look at the board."

My companions stepped closer to examine the hopscotch board.

"Squares one and two are side-to-side. So you need to put one foot in each square simultaneously. Square three is a single, meaning that you use one foot to step on it. Okay, the next four squares are a bit trickier. You need to step on squares four and five, and then six and seven. After that, step on square eight and nine simultaneously. Finally, put one foot on square ten. Normally, you would turn around and come back. But this game seems modified in that you need to step on the "START" and "END" squares. So I don't think you need to return back to START," I explained. "I'll start the game." I stepped on the "START" square.

A flash of light burst in the room. When I looked at the board, I saw that there were additional instructions on the squares. In square one, I was instructed to "Snap finger." In square three was the word "Skip." In square five, I was instructed to "Wave hand." In square six, I had to "Pinch nose." In square ten, I was instructed to "Turn around." "There are new instructions for this game," I announced. "I'm going to follow them exactly." I took my time and followed the instructions carefully. With my back turned on square ten, I took a big step backward and landed on "END."

Bila clapped her hands and the others followed her lead.

"So who's next?" I asked.

Kalistra pushed everyone aside and played the game. Then Bila, Rijana, Bjoukia, Bjoukin, and Sanhewa played the hopscotch game without trouble.

However, Van had a problem--he was wearing plate mail armor! The armor was cumbersome and made this game of agility nearly impossible for him to complete. The first time he tried it, he stepped on square four and five by mistake. The black sphere emanated a beam which latched onto him and pulled him back to the "START" square. The paladin tried to play the game again but stepped on square five and six by accident. Exasperated, Van removed his greaves and sabatons. He tossed them to us and then played the hopscotch game. His bare feet allowed Van to play the game perfectly, and the paladin finally reached the "END" square.

As Van sat on the ground to put on his armor, I walked over to the doorway and pressed my palm against the gemstone on the wall. Again, two panels locked my wrist in place and I turned the stone clockwise to remove the stone blocking the doorway. As the slab of stone rose off the ground, I was shocked to see something else standing behind the slab--a humanoid robot!

The robot was entirely painted in silver and stood eight feet tall. Its appearance resembled Gort, the powerful robot from the 1950s film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still." The robot stood motionless but its feet were spread apart enough for a small person to squeeze past.

Bila slowly approached the guardian with an intention to do just that.

I noticed my bodyguard standing on her four paws and quickly realized what she planned to do. "Stop, Bila!" I yelled.

Kalistra jumped on the cat girl and pinned her to the ground.

Bila hissed. "Why did you stop me? I wanted to scout ahead."

The panel on the wall finally released my wrist. I walked over and stood next to the two cat girls. I pointed at the glowing yellow eye in the visor of the robot's head. "This guardian is active. It would have taken action to stop you from entering the room. Now, let me deal with it." I stepped forward and stood in front of the robot.

Its eye flashed and a beam of light shot into my head.

I felt the mental intrusion but remained calm. I had been recognized as an ally of the Ph'laens and I only needed this guardian to see my memories of my visit to the other Ph'laen outpost to confirm my status as such. That would grant me access to the room behind the guardian.

Finally, the beam of light dissipated and the yellow eye turned green. The robot took a few steps backward and unblocked the doorway.

"Thank you," I said. I turned to my companions. "I just received permission to enter this room. You can come in now," I invited them.