As soon as it was clear there were no more spiders coming, Dylan let his deck dissipate. As it did, he checked the display in the corner of his vision.

[Mana: 34/100]

“Anyone hurt?” Chester called out.

Dylan took a quick look around the cavern. Chester and Rowan had been splattered with monster guts, so it was difficult to tell if either was injured; they seemed to be moving fine, though. Dena looked a little winded, while Jaiden was squinting in a way that suggested headache. Sara was calm; Mark seemed shaky. And Alice looked happy. The Blacksmith exuded an excited aura, staring at Rowan in a way that gave Dylan the illusion she was ready to take the Blade Warden’s place in the front of their formation.

Seeing no one respond, Chester continued, “Good. Then let’s gather up and take a quick rest before moving on.”

They all met at the centermost point in the cave. Dylan sat down in the pool of light flooding down from the ceiling. It felt warm and comfortable, like he was truly outside.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and meditate, he heard Rowan speak. “You and you, keep watch.”

Dylan looked over to see the redhead pointing at Sara and Mark.

Sara nodded, but the Herbalist seemed surprised. “Me?” he asked.

“You’re the only two who didn’t fight.”

“I’m not a combat class. Why should I fight?”

“He’s not saying you should, just that everyone else needs to rest more,” Chester said. “So, you get watch duty.”

Rowan snorted. “Quit complaining. Everyone has to contribute.”

“I’ll contribute when we reach the challenge doors,” Mark said. “Like I’m supposed to.”

“And do you expect us to just carry you until we get there? What about after your door is done? Are you saying we should drag you around like dead weight?”

“No, I’m just—”

“Just nothing. Keep watch. It’s not that complicated.” The redhead then sat on the ground and started meditating.

Mark stared at him, looking like he wanted to continue to argue, but Sara whispered something in his ear that seemed to calm him down.

Dylan shook his head. Rowan may have been abrupt and rude, but he wasn’t exactly wrong. It was normal for those who hadn’t expended themselves in a fight to watch over those who had while they rested. He didn’t understand why Mark seemed surprised.

But that didn’t matter right now. If he didn’t restore his mana, then he’d be the one who couldn’t contribute.

He closed his eyes and began to tune out the world around him. Even if Mark seemed a little flaky, he trusted that Sara could handle things. The Runic Scribe had shown herself to be one of the more thoughtful and observant members of the group. After all, she had been the first to notice when the spiders were coming down from the hole in the roof.

Besides, this was just the first room in the dungeon. It was unlikely that the System would throw more at them than it already had. Unless they took too long to leave, of course.

After thinking about it, Dylan decided to restore his mana and nothing else. He’d only used nine cards in the fight, and his deck was still perfectly serviceable.

While he would have preferred to change out a few of the cards, he didn’t know if he’d have enough time to restore and reload the deck after managing it. Being able to pass a Phantom Sword to Alice had been surprisingly helpful, but without a guarantee that his meditation wouldn’t be interrupted, the risk of adding back the two swords he’d previously removed from the deck wasn’t worth the gain.

If his meditation delayed the group long enough for the dungeon to send more monsters to attack them, he’d accomplish nothing more than antagonizing his partners while putting his deck out of commission.

Best to avoid that.

Assuming the Tutorial followed the same patterns he’d learned about, Dylan knew there would be an opportunity to take an extended rest after clearing the first section of the dungeon. It would be best to wait until then to manage his deck.

Fifteen minutes later, Chester stood up and asked, “Everybody ready?”

Dylan checked his mana.

[Mana: 81/100]

He had enough to summon his deck again, but he’d be pushing his reserves if there was a fight that didn’t end quickly.

“Can I get another five minutes?” he asked.

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“I don’t think we can afford more than three.”

Dylan nodded. Blocking out the shuffling sounds coming from the rest of party as they got ready around him, he focused on restoring his mana.

“Alright, let’s go.” Rowan had his sword in hand and had already started walking toward the passage the spiders came from.

[Mana: 90/100]

Dylan sighed and got up. It’d have to be enough. He hoped the next battle would be delayed until his natural mana regen had a little more time to work.

He stretched his back, shook out his arms, and followed the rest of the group.

As he was walking, Dylan noticed that, at some point during his meditation, Dena had gone back to retrieve her violin case. While it was once again strapped to her back, she still held the instrument in her hands. In fact, none of the rest of the party had put away their equipment. Chester’s shield, Rowan’s sword, and Jaiden’s staff were all in hand, ready to be wielded at a moment’s notice.

They entered the tunnel.

Dylan suppressed a shiver as he was surrounded by increasingly dense spider webs. The moss that had lit the first passage still grew along the rocks above him, but it was now obscured by the sticky white fibers, dimming its glow. The webs had the bonus effect of casting an ever-shifting wisp of shadows across the group. In Dylan’s mind, those shadows seemed to have physical presence, almost giving him the sensation there was something crawling on his skin. Trying to work its way beneath his clothes.

To distract himself, Dylan counted the irregular wooden supports that braced what he could only imagine were random sections of the walls. When he reached twenty-two, Chester came to a stop. Turning his head to look back at the party, he said, “Room up ahead. It looks like the first challenge doors. There shouldn’t be any monsters but keep your guards up.”

Dylan followed as the group entered a long, semicircular chamber. The spiderwebs thinned as they spread out to cover both the ceiling and the curved earthen wall on the left. A row of lit braziers hung from the ceiling down the center of the room. To the right was a straight stone surface. Unnaturally smooth, yet showing no obvious signs of workmanship, the wall held five evenly spaced doors. Each one was carved with a different symbol; the second, fourth, and fifth were glowing.

Challenge doors.

If survival was the test the System placed before all who entered the Tutorial’s dungeon, and fighting monsters was a test for the combat classes, then the challenge doors were a test for everyone else. Each one presented an assessment individually tailored to a specific one of the group’s noncombatants. If that person passed, the entire group would receive rewards. Of course, the one who challenged the door would receive the most.

There were five sets of challenge doors throughout the dungeon. At each set, only one assessment could be undertaken, and each person could undertake only one assessment in the dungeon. While their challenge was in progress, the rest of the group needed to guard against waves of monsters that would slowly increase in both number and ferocity.

The deeper into the dungeon a set of doors was, the more difficult the assessment and the more aggressive the monsters trying to stop it. At the same time, the deeper the challenge, the greater its reward.

Many speculated that the doors were the System’s way of incentivizing noncombat classes to undertake the dangers of the dungeon while simultaneously reminding those who could fight that not every problem could be solved with their skills alone. They would need the help of others, and in turn, those others would need their protection.

Dylan walked through the room, looking at the symbols on each door.

The first held an unlit mortar and pestle. He guessed it should have been for an Alchemist. One of the two who’d chosen to quit at the beginning of the dungeon.

The second door should be for Mark. It depicted a glowing plant, newly sprouted. Obviously, a sign for an Herbalist.

“Fucking piece of shit!” Before he could make his way to the third door, he heard a curse from Rowan. “One of the cows was a Lord.”

Dylan glanced at the third door and saw the unlit symbol of a scepter planted in an image of the rising sun. He’d never seen it before. He didn’t know how Rowan had recognized it as representing the Lord class, but assuming the redhead was right, Dylan was shocked. Lords were rare, even more so than his brother’s Adaptive Bondsmith class. If he hadn’t been there with his previously unheard of Deckmaster, then Lord would have been the least common class in their starting group of ten.

“How do you know?” asked Chester.

“My family has records of just about every class symbol the System’s shown in the Tutorial. And this is one we’re specifically told to look out for.”

“Why? What’s a Lord?” asked Mark, now standing in front of his own door.

“What’s a Lord? Do you not know anything?”

“Excuse me for not having the kind of family that can keep track of random symbols.”

“This isn’t just about tracking symbols. Lords are one of the most important classes we have.”

“Sorry, but I’ve still never heard of it. I don’t know what a Lord does and why you’re upset.”

Dylan glanced at the boy, wondering why he seemed so disconnected from basic knowledge. Sure, Lords may have been rarely seen, but because they could be so important, it was hard not to hear about them.

“You know how when we win a Boon War, the System grants the world bonuses to things like mana purity or wild dungeon containment strength?” Sara said. “Lords are like that on a smaller scale. They grant the land around them different types of boons. They’re quite rare.”

“And valuable,” Rowan huffed. “If one of the few new Lords we get each year is a cow, then their ability will be wasted.”

“We don’t know for sure they’re a cow,” Dylan said. “They may have had other reasons to leave.” He thought back to the dungeon break in Fairbasin. Would he leave the Tutorial early if he’d already had enough power to change anything?

“If they’re not a cow, then they’re an idiot. Finishing the Tutorial is the best way to get a head start on advancement.” Rowan turned to walk deeper into the dungeon. “Now come on. We’ve wasted enough time here.”

“What about the challenge?” Mark was still in front of the Herbalist’s door.

“We’re not wasting one of our challenges here. The reward will be shit.” Rowan didn’t even look back.

“He’s right,” Jaiden said. “Since we’ve already lost two people, it would be best to make the most of our challenges and try the doors further in.” The Earth Mage also began to leave.

“Let’s go.” After a short jog, Chester took point again. The rest of the group followed, silently acquiescing to the others’ decision.

Dylan watched as Mark, obviously reluctant, turned away from his door and joined the rest. He wondered how much the boy wanted to stay in the dungeon. Even though he’d been nothing more than a bystander during the first fight, it had clearly taken a toll on him. If he finished his challenge early, maybe he’d feel like his job was complete and that he could leave?

Dylan shook his head and took a quick glance at the last two doors as he passed out of the room. A glowing hammer and anvil for Alice, a glowing line of runic script for Sara.

And then he was back in another tunnel. Counting wooden support beams to distract himself from itchy shadows.

But this time, he knew when they stopped again, it would be because they had another fight on their hands.