“I am going to enter the portal alone first,” said James.

He looked to the novices. The castle lights flickered as the cold breeze of the 23rd floor wafted in.

“You will wait as long as possible while this floor shuts down then enter. By then I will have cleared the floor of the mind beasts so that we can move on to the next part of the floor. With me going in alone and first I will be able to deal with the creatures before they can ensnare you and trap you.”

James continued to explain the dangers of the floor to them and confirmed what they would have to do on the 23rd and the 24th floor. Things had been going well so far. Everyone had taken up training and improving so that they could clear the dungeon. As they made more progress it motivated them all to keep going and continue. Now with the tangible improvements to power, they were more ready than ever before.

James stepped forward and focused on the portal in front of him. He knew what he had to do as soon as he stepped through and broke free of the memory beasts. He reached out a hand to the portal and paused. There was a tingling in the back of his mind. Something he couldn’t fully understand or discern. Pushing the thoughts and feelings to the back of his mind he entered the portal as the feeling of déjà vu enveloped him completely.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

James woke up on the 17th floor with a headache. He shook his head imagining it would help but it did not.

“Are you ok?” asked Wes. He held out a hand and helped James up.

“I am fine. I just feel a little strange. I suppose we have to catch up to the others.”

“Yeah, they left only a minute or so ago in that direction.”

“I know the way to the exit. Just follow me and we will catch up to them soon enough,” said James.

The pair ran together toward the exit. Once they reached the exit they saw the continuing fight with the boss. Derek kept the boss’s weapon hand occupied and Ian burned it from the side. Behind them, Naomi fired arrows. The boss stepped forward to swing and Derek took advantage of the slower-moving boss. He pivoted around the boss and cut off the boss’s sword hand at the wrist.

As soon as the boss’s weapon dropped to the ground Naomi brought out a new arrow. As she drew back her bowstring she flooded mana into the arrow. The wind mana sunk into the arrow and Naomi released the arrow. The arrow flew faster than any other she had fired before. It hit the boss in the chest in between broken pieces of its armor. The boss dropped dead.

“Everyone gather around. We have some things to discuss,” said James. “The dungeon is not operating normally. I don’t know why that is, but you can see it for yourself.” James pointed to the single portal waiting for them.

“There is a single portal waiting for us. Not two as should be expected. That means a few things. First is that we will have to travel further into the dungeon than expected. I would prefer to leave now but that won’t happen. Secondly, because we are going further we will have to be careful with our resources. We may need them on lower floors so we should be careful about when we use them. Lastly, because the dungeon has changed I don’t know when we can be let out. I hope I will do so on floor 25. Any questions?”

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“How are we going to get out of here?” asked Derek.

“The same way we have been going through this dungeon before. We may have to be a bit more careful and not take any unnecessary risks. Follow my instructions and we will be able to get out of here in one piece. That I can promise you. Ian, you will use your fire and ice magic to help us through the bosses. Wes will have his shield and we will get you a spear as well to help with damage. Derek and Naomi, your sword fighting, and mana arrows have been great. Keep up the good work. Finally, we need to be able to work as a team. As we go through the next few floors and fight our way to the drake that should be our main goal. Understand?”

The novices murmured yeses and nods. With that taken care of James walked up to enter the next floor. He reached out a hand to the portal and paused. There was a tingling in the back of his mind. He was reminded that he did not go over the plan for the next floor with the novices. Not wanting to turn around now he continued forward and told himself that he would do that once everyone was through the portal.

Once through the portal, James explained what needed to be done in the minotaur maze floor and the swamp floor of the 19th. Ian gave some pushback on the plan but relented when hearing that he would be given a fire-resistance ring and that James would assist him in activating his ice affinity.

James led the way, and they came upon groups of ones, twos, and a trio of minotaurs. Together they defeated the groups quickly and made their way to the boss. The minotaur boss towered over its two minions and swung its jagged sword quickly at their group. Wes held up his shield and protected them while the minions were picked off first.

Ian blasted one of the minions with fire which distracted it long enough for James and Naomi to impale it with enough arrows to take it down. Soon after the first minion fell the second followed with the help of Derek’s sword.

With the two minions down, they could focus all their energy on the boss. Wes was worn down by the boss. With each of its strikes, Wes was put off balance and slid back.

Before the boss could capitalize on Wes falling back Naomi stepped in. She raised her bow and charged up a mana arrow. The wind mana energized the arrow, and she released it quickly. With a thump, the arrow hit the minotaur’s head. Ripples went through the boss’s body as it dealt with the attack on its internal structures and organs. Ian followed along and released his ice magic sending a large ice spike into the minotaur’s chest. Its armor fell apart after the attack. The beast dropped dead.

James frowned. He was hit with a feeling of strangeness. It was like he was seeing the world correctly for the first time. It was disorientating and confusing. He froze up and looked down at the minotaur. Its body was still impaled by ice that was slowly melting faster and faster.

“I thought we were going to go over mana arrows on the next floor.” James paused unsure of himself. “How did that happen? This couldn’t have happened before. What is going on?” He took a step back.

“What are you talking about?” asked Wes.

James turned his attention to Wes. The boy now wielded his shield and spear that James was certain he hadn’t held a moment before.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

James felt the haze lift from his eyes and mind. He felt weak. He stumbled forward and fell on his hands and knees. Nothing was in focus and he wasn’t immediately sure where he was. The ground was a smooth stone which reminded him that he was in the dungeon. With that realization, he rolled onto his back and saw the ceiling.

He was in the first room on the 23rd floor. Above him, the mind beast that had attached itself to him was slithering back to its hive of fellow plants. His eyes followed the mass of plants and he saw its tentacles still hanging down. They had attached themselves to the novices.

“I’ve been in there far too long,” he said aloud. His voice cracked and raspy.

It was then that he looked at himself in full. He could see almost to the bone. His muscles had been sapped away. The memory beast had gorged itself on him while he was trapped in a memory. A memory of one of the previous dungeon runs except warped. The novices that had followed him in once the time had run out didn’t look much better. Whatever memories they had been trapped in had not let them out.

Weakened already James took a while to drag himself out of the first room and into the second with its question. He already knew he was going to reset but the question he had to ponder now was how was he going to get past this roadblock.