Gregory and the others had reunited and gone back to their accommodations at the Golden Goose. Olivander had anticipated them wanting to stay for the night and reserved enough space for everyone in advance.

They discussed what happened, and in Gregory's estimation, they made too big of a deal out of what he and Cooper had gone through. He tried explaining that they literally woke up in a dungeon, and were found by Raz about an hour later. The elusive man had departed when the group reunited, so he wasn't there to share his point of view on the situation.

Eventually, Helena made everyone go to bed, as was her prerogative as self appointed group mother. Not even Gloria and Jeremy were spared from her judgemental gaze. The only one who wasn't around to head to bed was Olivander. Gregory was sure the man had made it out fine though.

Gregory found his thoughts confirmed the next morning when he discovered Olivander in the bottom floor of the Golden Goose, where he was enjoying some tea and breakfast.

"Gregory! Good to see you. I take it Sous and Raz got you squared away — and look! You still have all your limbs, simply great work."

"You seem to be awfully concerned about my limbs…is that normally a problem around you?"

"Oh yes. My assistant Steven was always fond of the phrase, 'A bird in the hand is better than no arms in the morning.'"

"I have no idea what that means."

"Me either, but it never stopped him from saying it. In my defense, I always reattached his arms."

Gregory opened his mouth to respond, thought better of it, and shook his head. He ordered some food when a server approached their table, and he turned back to Olivander.

"So what happened with the Bloodhunter guy? Dad said you were fighting him alone, but you were gone when he came back to check after we escaped."

Olivander waved a hand in a casual gesture, as if to brush away some dust in the air.

"Oh you know. I tricked him into a portal, introduced him to my sister, then my mother killed him. It's not really important."

"Your mother killed him? Really? You don't want to tell me something a little more believable, Olivander?"

Olivander took on an offended look.

"I swear it's true. There may have been a little fighting between those events, but they're all true."

"How did your mother kill him? Dad said he was really strong and could counter a bunch of your magic."

"Kevek was always partial to his tricks. It was one of the reasons his skill and potential were so low for his rank. He had some skill, but he was no match for the Bone Magus."

"Is that your mother? She's a Bone Magus?"

"Ha! No, Gregory. The Bone Magus is my sister, Lily. She has a strong affinity for bone and is a skilled combatant. She had a history with the Bloodhunter…but it's not my place to speak on it."

"Okay, but you didn't answer my original question. How did your mother kill him?"

Olivander took a sip of tea and studied Gregory over his cup.

"That's the wrong question, Gregory," he said, not bothering to elaborate.

"...and the right question is…?"

"Why didn't I kill him?" he said with a far off look and a frown.

Olivander set down his tea and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"We all have regrets we live with, Gregory. I thought I could fix one of those regrets by not killing that man myself, but instead I ended up with another for the pile. My mother, in a classic maneuver, knew exactly when to strike. She did what I should have."

"Surely she didn't do it to spite you," Gregory said, trying to comfort Olivander.

"Oh, you'll understand when you meet her. Working to spite me is something of a pastime for the old crone. Now, enough of that. The bad guy is dead, and you and Cooper are safe. That's all that matters. Or it would be, but you have a dungeon to run today! Are you prepared?"

"I saw your run, so I think so. I'm guessing mine will be a little easier. Do you know how the dungeon is changing?"

"I do! At least a little bit. I stopped by before retiring last night. It seems it will be an individual race between two people. I don't know the other details though. You'll have to find that out for yourself when you enter in a few hours. Where's Cooper?"

"He went out for a walk with Fezzic. Apparently there's a goblin neighborhood in the city that they were going to for breakfast. You're going to have us compete against each other, then?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'll leave it up to the two of you. You can either compete against one another, or against another person waiting for entry. What's important is that you push yourselves. If you think you can do that by competing directly, then there you go. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few tweaks to make to the viewing construct."

Olivander stood to leave, and left some coins on the table. Gregory noted it was enough for him to get some food as well. He thanked Olivander and returned Sous' disk. The golem had powered down after they were far enough away from the fort to open a portal back to the city.

With Olivander gone, Gregory dug into his food when it arrived, and considered whether or not he wanted to race against Cooper.

* * *

The viewing room was once again filled with people. This time it wasn't just Gregory's friends and family. The Guild Master had invited a number of additional people. He wanted to get the word out on the new dungeon development, and solicit ideas on how it could be used in the future.

As the screens came to life, they saw a rich jungle landscape, but it had changed. When Olivander had gone through the dungeon, there was a jungle, then a lake followed by some plains, and finishing with a climb at the end.

Now the course was a straight shot with no ambiguity. The contestants had to go forward and nothing else. There were distinct monsters placed along the path for combat, and then a series of obstacles that the ones running the dungeon would need to clear to proceed. The course ended with the customary climb, but it was different.

"Is that a pyramid? Looks like they just need to run up some stairs?" someone in the back of the room asked.

Olivander took it upon himself to host the gathering, as well as do any troubleshooting in real time. His initial prototype had worked well, but he had added a number of features.

"That is actually an expected and possible regular configuration. Rarely seen though. It pops up when someone running the dungeon would be unable to climb up a sheer cliff face. One of the contestants is a dog, so it would put him at an unfair disadvantage. The stairs are obviously easier to climb, so the obstacles we'll see at the end should be considerably more difficult than just some falling water."

They were looking at two separate but equally huge viewing constructs. Glowing masses appeared, one on each of the starting platforms. They resolved into an armed and armored Gregory, and an armored and masked Cooper.

"Ahha! I had wondered if they would compete against one another," Olivander said.

"Gregroy didn't want to, but Cooper did," Fezzic said. "He said he wanted them to push each other forward."

"An admirable attitude! Oh! I think we're getting some sound. Let me adjust that."

Gregory was speaking out loud and his voice was barely audible. Olivander bent over next to the front of the construct and Sous appeared next to him.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Sous, could you conjure me some new sound levers? Bigger this time."

"Sure thing!" Sous said, then he turned and noticed all the people in the room, watching him. "Oh. I have an audience."

"I hear it helps if you pretend they're naked."

"I'm not sure how that would help, but sure why not?"

Sous paused for a moment.

"Wait, I don't know what people look like without clothes."

"The levers, Sous. Ignore the people."

"That seems rude. Sorry everyone! I'm just going to conjure some things."

Sous created a few mechanisms. These would be temporary, but they would let Olivander know if his idea worked immediately.

"Here you go," Sous said, handing the conjured metal rods to Olivander. "Should I prepare some food? We have a lot of people here. Are you guys hungry?"

"I am!" Rebecca said.

"Sous. We're about to watch the race, no food right now."

Sous gave the little girl a shrug and she stuck out her tongue at Olivander.

"There we are!"

Suddenly they could hear Gregory reading out loud.

"—d the first one to finish will be able to choose rewards first. Nice! Prepare to eat my dust Cooper! Oh, he can't hear me, can he?"

A feminine voice replied, though there was no one with Gregory.

"You cannot communicate with one another in this course variant."

"That was the Dungeon Spirit, Celuria. I wonder what other kinds of variants there might be."

"Maybe a cooperative one? You clear a section, then your partner clears something to let you through?" Jeremy guessed.

"I hate to say that that's a great idea! So I won't. Terrible idea, Jeremy. I evolved the dungeon with a token of competition, not cooperation. Anyone else want to take a crack at it? It looks like they're not starting yet."

"Oh!" Timothy said. "Maybe like a direct conflict variant. You actually fight your opponent somehow."

Olivander pointed at the man. "See Jeremy, that is a great idea! Timothy, are you looking to work for the guild? I know some dead weight they could probably swap out to get you a job."

Jeremy just rolled his eyes at Olivander, but Timothy winced on his behalf.

"Alright, Olivander," Burtrum said. "That's enough picking on people. Why don't you sit back down and watch your apprentices."

Olivander gave a quick bow to the gathered audience and took a seat without another word.

"I need to find out how he did that…" Jeremy said to Fezzic, who nodded enthusiastically.

Without any warning, a countdown appeared in the air. Olivander wasn't sure if it was just on the viewing construct, or if Gregory and Cooper could see it too.

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath, and when the countdown hit zero, the race began.

* * *

Cooper could understand why Gregory didn't want to race against him. They were friends, and there was always a chance that only one of them would get rewarded. That concern had been addressed by the dungeon. As long as they both finished, they both got rewards. The winner just got first choice.

As he was dashing into the jungle, he thought of another reason Gregory hadn't wanted to race him. Cooper was much faster. Even if Gregory was a little stronger, he wasn't sure taking more time on fights would help out the human. Two legs were just inferior.

A magical blue gorilla barred his way. The dungeon introductory message had indicated he couldn't skip enemies placed directly on the path, and he thought that Olivander was probably to blame for that. It prevented people from just skipping the entire dungeon, or large parts.

Lightning blasted out from his body, striking the gorilla and knocking the unprepared creature back. Then he was on top of it. His muzzle flashed as he bit the creature with his Bone Breaker attack. After a handful of strikes, it dissolved. Probably a quirk of the dungeon. As Cooper ran, the glowing light that once composed the Gorilla flowed into him. He was surprised to see a message.

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You have been granted a random minor trap.

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Minor Pit Trap

* Bound Consumable Item

* Use within a dungeon race to hinder your opponent by opening a well hidden pit in front of them.

* This item is bound to you and you may use this at any time within the dungeon with a thought.

* This item will be unbound from you and removed when the dungeon is completed.

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Cooper decided to hold onto the item. He thought he was already ahead of Gregory, so he would see what trouble Gregory sent his way before retaliating.

* * *

Gregory smiled as he thought about the trap he had just been awarded. It would create an enemy that Cooper would have to fight. Looking ahead, he was almost out of the jungle like area. Where the lake was filled with lily pads in Olivander's run, Gregory saw moving platforms suspended above the water on his. It looked like he would need to jump from one to another and traverse them in order to proceed.

He figured Cooper was already at that part of the dungeon, being a much faster runner, so Gregory triggered his trap immediately.

He couldn't tell if it did anything, but he could imagine the surprise when Cooper tried to jump to a platform only to find an enemy on it.

As he ran, the jungle ended, and he felt his foot pass through the ground under him. He fell into a pit.

"The question is," he said to himself as he hauled himself out of the pit. It had easy handholds for escape. "Was this here, or did Cooper use his own trap. Agh!"

He rolled out of the pit and got to his feet as fast as he could.

The first platform was simple stone, and moved back and forth from the shore, to about thirty feet out onto the water. He jumped on and rode it out, scanning the dozens of other platforms as he moved towards a mass of them.

He noticed a stationary platform farther out from the rest of the platforms, and was able to trace the path to it back to where he stood. It would be a challenge to get there, but he could see a chest on the platform. It would contain some treasure, or maybe another trap.

"Oh, I have to get that."

Gregory jumped across a platform covered with grass, onto one with little beetle like creatures that hissed at him and shot poisonous stingers in his direction. He ignored them since he could heal himself. Two more platforms and he jumped onto another that was empty save for a lever. It seemed set to move in a particular direction, but Gregory could see that if he flipped it, it might be a shortcut back onto the main course.

With only two more jumps to the treasure, he was glad to note that.

* * *

Cooper didn't intend on trying to get the extra treasure until a troll appeared on his platform. He had just been about to leave, but he could feel that he needed to eliminate the troll first. He was annoyed, so he triggered his own trap.

The last time he had faced a troll, it took him and Gregory joining forces to put it down. This time he blasted it with lightning, and then ripped its arm off. Cooper wouldn't have normally been so brutal, but he honestly didn't expect the troll to be so weak. He tore it apart.

The true issue that the troll caused was one of timing. He had planned out his jumps, but now the platforms were out of order.

He decided to go for that extra treasure. The platforms aligned just right for it.

He had to quickly dispatch some poison throwing beetles, but they weren't much of a threat. The stingers weren't thrown with enough force to get through his fur, but he didn't want an unlucky hit to weaken him for the rest of the run.

When he reached the platform, he grabbed the treasure.

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Unique trap acquired! Your opponent can no longer claim this trap.

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False Path Trap

* Bound Consumable Item

* Use within a dungeon race to hinder your opponent by opening an appealing path that will hinder their progress if chosen.

* This item is bound to you and you may use this at any time within the dungeon with a thought.

* This item will be unbound from you and removed when the dungeon is completed.

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The earlier I use this the better. Especially in this area.

He used the trap. He kind of wished he could see what happened.

* * *

Gregory reached the treasure. When he opened it, an unfortunate message appeared.

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Your opponent has already claimed this treasure. You cannot claim it.

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"He's too fast! At least I have a quick path back."

Gregory returned to the lever platform. He flipped the lever, and the platform changed direction.

"What!"

The platform started moving backwards, towards the shore.

He tried to flip the lever again. It broke in half, and then it dissolved.

"Oh, well that's just great!"

He eyed the other platforms, but they were too far away to jump to.

"Maybe I can jump into the water? No, it would take me longer to reach the shore than just staying put. Well played, Cooper, well played."

He needed a way to even the odds. Did he have anything?

As he rode back to the shore, he noticed something odd. The blue gorilla was back on the path behind him.

"Ohhhh. Will that work? Prepare for payback you crafty canine!"

He jumped off the platform as it reached the shore and ran towards the gorilla, drawing his sword.