The first thing that hit me was the smell.

It was a deeply foul odor, a dank combination of vomit, feces and sickly sweet rot. I tried to breathe through my mouth and not think about the past. The horrible aroma of rotting corpses and ruptured bodies brought back so many memories. At least there was no burning flesh, that was always the worst for me.

“-MOTHER-mrf!” I moved like the wind and slapped a hand over Dahgon’s mouth just as he exited the portal. Felir was just a second behind me and we muted him just as Circe came through, looking utterly furious but silent.

“Shutupshutupshutup,” I hissed at the tank, who looked past me with wide eyes. He nodded slowly and I dropped my hands before glancing over my shoulder.

Behind me was the true boss room and it was a gruesome scene. Standing against the wall was the boss, a giant stone golem with sullenly glowing red eyes. It was built like a giant ape, with arms that hung to the ground. Worst of all was the mangled corpses in front of it, the remains of a previous party. I swallowed hard as I looked at them.

“Why did you all come in after me?” Felir whispered, his tone angry but I could hear the anguish beneath. “Justice, what were you thinking?!” I gently reached out to grip his shoulder and give him a comforting squeeze.

“That we’ll live or die together. We’re not letting you die alone,” I said quietly. When I had done my insanity at level eight, I had been a hardened solo delver. Felir just wasn’t that person, he couldn’t be me and we couldn’t let him face this alone. Felir shuddered before breathing out heavily. It was almost, but not quite a sob.

“He’s right Felir. We’ve been friends for years, do you think we could leave you to this?” Circe said softly and Felir closed his eyes in pain. Dahgon didn’t say anything, but rested a large hand on Felir’s back. We all felt the closeness of the moment. I basked in it a moment before turning away and looking at the battlefield. Hmm.

“I’m going to make an [Astral Eye] to see if I can find anything,” I muttered to them and Felir looked at me sharply.

“That’s a level ten spell. How can you do that?” he asked and I met his eyes evenly.

“I can’t, my mana pool is too small. I have the skill though, if you’re willing to lend me some mana,” I murmured and his eyes widened. Between mages, sharing mana was a deeply intimate action. Some likened it to wearing someone else’s underwear. Personally, I liked to think of it as similar to deep kissing. It wasn’t the sort of thing you did casually.

“Sure,” Felir said, his voice a little shaky as he reached for me. I took his hands and opened my [Soul] to his. The sensation of our souls brushing and our mana pools merging was deeply intimate and not remotely painful. Pleasurable? Not exactly… but so intimate, like we were becoming part of each other for a short time.

I could not let myself be distracted, though. We stayed linked together, holding hands, as I closed my eyes and built the spell. Felir’s mana pool was actually obscenely large for his level and I felt a prickle of worry, but set that aside. If it was what I thought, I would deal with it later. For now, I used that flow of mana to carefully build the [Astral Eye].

[Astral Eye] was a scouting spell that would not disturb any boss or monster below level twenty. After level twenty, bosses in particular would often have [Detection] and things would get dicey. But for now, this boss had no chance of detecting my spell. Hopefully I would find out something of use. Building the spell took a while but when it was done, I placed my consciousness in the Eye and went to examine the bodies.

The one body that had been squashed was of no value to me, except to note that it had likely been a one shot kill. The dead tank - I could tell from his gear - was also not particularly useful. What was valuable were the bodies of the spearman and the mage. I examined them closely, particularly the spear… woman? It was hard to tell the sex anymore, the decomposition was well on its way. But I could see that person had been cut in half and the cut was jagged. Along with the condition of the mage, I thought I understood what we would be dealing with.

That done, I decided to examine the boss itself. A huge earth golem with glowing red eyes, I tried to see if there was anything to indicate extra weaponry, like jutting spikes that could be launched. There was nothing, so I thought I could assume all attacks would come from the ground. Honestly, it was a rather generic boss, fairly typical of this level dungeon. That wouldn’t make it less dangerous though.

Allowing the [Astral Eye] to dissipate, I returned to my body and gently separated my mana pool from Felir’s. He held onto my hands a bit longer and I gave him a smile before letting go. Then I turned to the entire party to discuss what I had learned.

“Judging from the injuries, I suspect the boss has an area attack that shoots spikes out of the ground. It COULD be single target but with a boss like this, that is unlikely,” I said, glancing towards the golem. “The hits from its hands are strong enough to completely destroy a non-tank. Dahgon, take these.” I reached into my storage and took out three potions of lesser restoration. “These are all I have that have no level requirement.” I had used these for when I wanted to question a low level, or just as gifts. Low level adventurers typically couldn’t afford them. “They can heal anything short of death, use them well.” I couldn’t replace them, but our lives were more precious than things. Dahgon accepted them with a grin but Felir was still despairing.

“Do you think we really have a chance? Justice, this team must have been the three level nines and the level eleven that went missing.” That was daunting but we had a secret weapon. I pulled my Void blade out of storage.

“You couldn’t read the full description of this, could you?” I asked and Felir shook his head. “Let me read it.”

Dagger of the Ruinous Void

A dagger infused with the powers of the ruinous void. It will inflict [Creeping Void Rot] when [Level Compression] occurs. [Creeping Void Rot] will result in [True Damage] with the potential to add a random status effect every five seconds until death. Random status effects can include [Poison] [Paralysis] [Blindness] and on rare occasions [Death].

+5 all stats

Soulbound. Growth Item.

“Does that stack?” Circe whispered and I nodded. “How high?”

“I have never found a limit,” I said calmly and she hissed a curse. “It’s a boss killer. All it takes is a bit of time.” I looked at them intently, each in turn. They would need to perform nearly flawlessly. Aside from Dahgon, who would have the potions, this plan did not have much give in it. “Here’s my plan.”

“Dahgon will run in and tank as normal. Felir, your job is exclusively to heal him and use [Mana Shield] as needed. Circe, distract the boss from Felir as necessary. The problem is going to be surviving the area attack of spikes. Circe, use [Phase] to get through it, Felir, use [Mana Shield] on yourself. You MUST do this perfectly, they can one shot kill you,” I warned. That was going to be a huge fail point. “Dahgon, you’ll have to tank the damage. Use the potions as needed.” He nodded, listening intently. “As for myself… I guarantee every time the boss uses his area attack, he will invoke [Level Compression]. He might also do it at other times, but that’s guaranteed. I’ll try to slash him after every spike phase so I don’t waste the charge.” The description didn’t specify it, but the [Creeping Void Rot] was a charge on the weapon and it could only hold one charge at a time. If I didn’t hit and the boss invoked another [Level Compression], it would be wasted.

“Are you sure you can pull it off? The boss could lose aggro and turn on you,” Felir said softly and I pulled off my glove, showing him my ring.

“I have a second chance. If my health suddenly goes to one, heal me as fast as you can,” I said and Felir’s eyes widened at the sight of my ring.

“How did you…? Nevermind. I’m just glad you have it,” Felir muttered and everyone else nodded. I could see the hope in them, now. We might all die but with my weapon and the potions, we at least had a chance. Felir squared his shoulders. “Let’s do this.” I nodded. There was no point in waiting.

“RAAARRGHH!” Dahgon did a full throated roar as he walked fearlessly into the boss room, invoking his [Taunt]. The boss stirred and stood up slowly before lumbering out to meet him, swinging a fist at him. It moved relatively slowly, but each time it swung an arm at them, it hit with tremendous force. The ground shook as one fist impacted the ground and Dahgon danced out of the way, taking the second fist with his shield. His arm shook but he handled it, with Felir’s healing illuminating him. I slipped through the room with [Shadow Step], moving behind the boss. I hadn’t felt the tell-tale surge of power from my weapon yet.

Then the spike phase came. The boss roared and slammed both fists into the ground. Just as the fists hit the floor, I used my [Phase]. A spike passed through the space where I had been and I leapt out of it, returning to reality. I wanted to check on my teammates but I could feel the burn of void energy in my blade. I couldn’t waste a moment of time.

I slashed the shoulder of the golem and the wound was not deep, but it glowed with a malignant purple and black flame. The golem groaned and turned its head, the [Void] energies pulling strong aggro. I swallowed as I realized that it was turning and Dahgon was having trouble getting the aggro back, and I did what I had to do. I shadow stepped sharply away, reappearing behind Dahgon. That would help him get the boss's attention. However, I checked my mana and realized it was decreasing sharply. Why had I never kept any low level mana potions?!

“Behind him isn’t going to work! I can’t afford to keep using [Shadow Step]!” I warned before the boss went into another AOE phase. I pulled off the phase but Circe failed slightly. Fortunately only slightly, she got tagged in the leg but then Felir had to spend mana healing her. Dahgon compensated for that by downing a potion and when the boss swung at us again, I slashed his fist. It didn’t really matter where the hit landed, just that it did.

The boss kept losing aggro on the tank though and I was exhausting myself. Narrowing my eyes, I concentrated hard. I just had to survive long enough. We just had to survive long enough. After perhaps ten seconds, another spike attack phase came and we all came out alive. I slashed the golem and it turned to me with blazing eyes.

Then we suddenly got lucky. The boss abruptly froze, making a grating sound and I knew what had happened.

“Paralysis! Circe, hit him with everything you have!” I yelled before following my own advice and hitting the golem viciously with my Void dagger, hammering the core of the golem. Circe screamed and attacked as Felir used the moment to completely heal Dahgon, as he also continued his assault. Sweat was covering his face and his lips were pulled back from his teeth in a feral snarl. “BREAK!” I shouted as I saw the tell-tale signs of the paralysis breaking. Circe didn’t understand my call though. “CIRCE STOP!” I shouted, launching myself towards her.

We had both caught the boss's attention by this point and I phased through a fist just in time to shove Circe in the stomach. That kept her from being hit by the other fist, but it took me cleanly. I felt, in a very strange but familiar way, my own head explode. Level forty was when even this kind of wound was not necessarily fatal, so I had experienced it before. There was a burning sensation on my hand as the ring did exactly what it should and rebuilt my body. Fortunately that functioned as an aggro dump and the boss turned to Dahgon as Felir’s healing light surrounded me. I was deeply thankful for his high mana pool.

“Just a few more,” I rasped, knowing we were close. I could see the boss slowing down, cracks appearing all through its body as the [Creeping Void Rot] relentlessly ate away at it. [True Damage] was damage that bypassed all Toughness, so it had no defense. It had four stacks? That WOULD take it down. We just had to live long enough!

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The boss suddenly roared and went into a final, berserk stage and my eyes went wide as I felt what it was doing. It was draining its own remaining health to generate more power for a final barrage of attacks. And while that normally was an excellent final move for a boss dealing with an exhausted party, it was exactly the wrong thing to do when afflicted by multiple stacks of [Creeping Void Rot].

It didn’t even manage to make a single attack before the damage hit and it shuddered. Cracks spread out across the body of the monster and with a dramatic roar, the entire thing shattered into pieces.

“We did it. WE DID IT!” Dahgon roared and Circe raised a shrill scream of triumph as I grinned widely. Felir just collapsed, completely exhausted and I vaguely noticed broken bottles littering the ground, more than I’d given Dahgon. Of course, Felir had chugged some mana potions. “Where’s the loot. WHERE’S THE LOOT!” Dahgon strode towards the boss corpse and I went to Felir, gently helping him up. He thanked me softly and I could feel him shaking a little, probably from mana exhaustion.

The boss' loot was hard to see at first, because it looked like part of the shattered remains of the corpse. But we found it, along with the monster core. The monster core was just an orb of purple energy, pure mana that could be sold or used for cultivation. We would sell it, the conversion ratio for leveling was fairly terrible and it was highly valuable for crafting.

The real loot was a shield. It looked like a piece of the golem’s body at first, but Dahgon lifted it with a grin and we could see the interior and the straps, so it could be held easily on a warrior’s arm. Felir took it to [Identify] and I saw his hands start to shake.

“Bastion of Shattered Stone. Absorbs and reflects 25% of all damage received to the attacker. +? All stats. Soulbound. Growth Item.” The question marks were because the stat bonus, in particular, always changed depending on the level of the one who bound to it. There was a hush, but then Dahgon yelled in pure joy, grabbing the shield.

“I can have it right? You said we could have anything we need! I need this!” he said and I just smiled at him. Certainly, that shield was worth a fortune but so? Our lives were worth more and this would give us much, much better chances of survival.

“Of course, go ahead,” I said and Dahgon bound it. There was a brief glow on the item and he was just beaming, it was wonderful to see. Circe was smiling almost as much, pleased for her man. And in terms of the party, I was very pleased… the damage reflection was exactly what we needed. My [Creeping Void Rot] caught far too much aggro, that had always been the worst thing about it, the extra damage Dahgon would inflict would help keep the boss on him.

“I could kiss you!” Please don’t. “Anytime you want a threesome, just let us know,” Dahgon said and my eyes widened as Circe grinned and gave me a saucy wink. They might actually be serious.

“Ah, no, sorry, I only like men,” I said hastily and Dahgon’s grin widened.

“Even better!” AH NO! Dahgon was wonderful but absolutely NOT my type. I said that with a laugh and suddenly Felir pressed close to me. I swallowed as I felt his body heat and looked into his mask, his golden eyes.

“Am I your type?” Felir asked and there was something brittle there, self-mocking yet hopeful? I ignored it, just meeting his eyes before speaking very, very seriously.

“You are exactly my type. I love masks, I find them sexually arousing,” I said and his eyes widened. I was joking but it was also partly the truth… the Emperor loved to host masquerades, partly because they were just fun but also for all the powerful people like me who kept their faces out of the public. Sex while wearing a mask was a fairly common activity and before my desires had completely faded away, I had indulged many times.

“Weird fetish but kind of hot,” Dahgon started but then a tiny rock hit the ground nearby. I blinked and looked over the challenge dungeon before feeling a deep stab of fear. The ceiling was shivering, quaking in a very familiar way. I’d seen this before, several times.

“This place is unstable and about to collapse. Where is the exit?” We did NOT want to get caught up in a dungeon collapse. We all looked around and Circe spotted the exit, another warp portal in a corner of the room. It was strangely dark but we all ran towards it. With any luck, it would take us out of the dungeon entirely.

We were not lucky. Instead of taking us outside the dungeon, it brought us back to the main dungeon where, unfortunately, the collapse was ongoing. Rocks began to drop from the ceiling and Dahgon swore, lifting his new shield to cover us as we ran for the exit. I was feeling the strain in my legs, the pain in my lungs by the time we reached the portal. There were deep, grating sounds as large pieces of the ceiling started to fall. Ignoring the danger behind us, we just ran directly through the portal. The sun hit us in the face, blinding us and there was a hubbub of noise from the Guild members outside.

“Survivors! We have survivors!” Wait, what? Had they known we’d entered the challenge dungeon? “Healer, over here! “ I didn’t bother to protest as the Guild healer quickly checked us over for injuries. Despite not finding any, she soothed our exhaustion and the pain in my legs quickly eased.

We were treated like survivors of a harsh encounter, which was honestly quite welcome. I accepted a cup of that hot red drink - I really needed to get the name of it - and a meat filled bun. We all got to rest in the shade of the canopy as someone who seemed to be higher in the Guild waited patiently. I looked at him curiously… he was an older man with black hair peppered with white, not very imposing, but to me his level felt quite high. Roughly eighteen, perhaps. Due to the extended lifespan that came with cultivation, he was likely quite old indeed and in the world I thought he was someone important.

“That’s the Vice Guild Master,” Felir breathed in my ear and I nodded. “Want me to take this?”

“Yes please,” I murmured, deciding I would leave it all to him. He was a better mouthpiece for the party, I tended to talk too much about things that, to me, were common knowledge. And even if I stopped myself from doing that I could slip up in strange and unexpected ways, like not knowing the name of this red drink. I was sure everyone here knew the name of it.

The Vice Guild Master was very serious as he asked us what happened. Felir ran through the events of the dungeon, the twisted moment and the betrayal of the Deathless. The only thing he left out were the special potions I’d given to Dahgon. The Vice GM lifted an eyebrow as Felir attributed our survival entirely to my weapon.

“Can I see this blade?” Since it was soulbound, there was no reason not to show him. I took it out of my dimensional storage and he frowned a little at me before examining the dagger. “I see. Very impressive. Continue.” Felir finished by describing the loot we picked up and the dungeon collapsing. The man smiled as he looked at Dahgon’s shield, but did not ask to examine it more closely. As they spoke, I glanced towards the dungeon portal. It still existed, after a fashion, but it looked like it was trying to turn itself into a pretzel. I would never enter a rift that looked like that.

“I see. We already had some of this story. You should know that before you came out, the party of Deathless exited. Robin Hood and Maid Marion immediately ran off, but… Fancy Pants…” The Vice Guild Master made a face at the name. “Stayed to make a report and he was furious. Apparently, after you fell into the portal Robin Hood tried to convince him to stay with them and enter the challenge dungeon after you were all likely dead, so they could finish the weakened boss.” Not a bad plan if you were a piece of shit. “Fancy Pants claims he refused and when he tried to go in after you, Robin shot him. So instead he decided to exit to get help. He did not seem to fully understand that wasn’t possible.” Hmm. If Robin had claimed that I’d have thought he was lying, but Fancy did like the kind of person to… not be stupid, exactly, but to just not care about the details of what was happening around him. “I’m only telling you this because you should know that Fancy is still in good standing with the Guild. Robin Hood and Maid Marion will be censured for their actions in the dungeon.” I had no idea what that meant. I glanced towards Felir and he seemed satisfied, so it had to have some decent consequences.

“Thank you, we appreciate it,” Felir said and I nodded as the others murmured their thanks. Before he left us, though, the Vice GM had a few final words.

“I know it wasn’t your fault and we can’t mandate the risks you take, but please don’t enter any challenge dungeons in the near future. We’ve lost far too many good people recently,” he said and there was a tightness around his eyes, a grim set to his mouth. I decided to reply.

“Don’t worry, we won’t.” Our survival had been due as much to the potions as my dagger and those were gone now. I couldn’t replace them… Even if they were brewed here, they were surely obscenely expensive. Potions that could regenerate severed limbs required rare and potent ingredients, while keeping them low level meant getting those ingredients from only low level dungeons. Paradoxically, the higher level potions of the same type were cheaper, as those ingredients were more abundant in level twenty dungeons. Unfortunately, level requirements for potions were very serious, trying to use a potion above your level was indistinguishable from drinking poison.

The Vice GM was satisfied with my response and left. We quickly packed up after that and as we headed back, we evaluated the damage. The shield was absolutely priceless and worth the cost, but…

“Whew, we are lucky we have those auctions coming up or we’d be right fucked,” Dahgon summarized it and I nodded. His armor was completely trashed and would have to be replaced. Felir and Circe’s equipment had taken less damage, but would still require mending. Felir had run through four mana potions, keeping us all alive, and those needed to be replaced. We had plenty of monster cores and they might just barely cover Dahgon’s new armor, but nothing else. If we had been a regular adventuring team in normal times, we’d have dealt with this by getting Dahgon’s armor, letting Felir and Circe’s equipment wait a bit and taking paying jobs at the Guild. However, with those quests gone, we would have been in a rough situation indeed. Fortunately, we had the auction to fall back on.

“We should get the armor first thing, hopefully the smiths have something ready made they can just adjust.” That would be quicker than something custom made and the smiths were pretty backed up. Dahgon made a face.

“They probably don’t. Maybe we can get the Guild to put in a word for us.” Did he think they would? And did we think it would help? I glanced at Felir and he shrugged. He wasn’t sure either.

When we got into town, it was getting quite late. Deciding a celebration was in order, we stopped at a very fine inn and tavern for supper. The tavern specialized in a beautiful lamb dish, slow roasted and served with a fragrant sauce. It had been so long since I had eaten low level food… as a forty-nine, meat and vegetables from level one animals tasted like nothing at all to me. I required meat from a level forty beast to even detect a flavor and while there were truly fantastic, high level dishes it was marvelous to just walk into a tavern and be able to eat something. In my own universe, that was impossible.

I enjoyed the freedom of being a low level with a sumptuous meal, sopping up the sauce with crusty bread. We also bought a fine bottle of wine that I was able to enjoy. The rich tannins on my tongue were like stepping back in time and almost brought me to tears. This is why I wanted to descend. Although not just this. I had been longing for a world that was simpler, a place that was more egalitarian, a place where the differences between a level one and a level forty-nine did not exist.

There was conversation over the meal but I remembered very little of it, except Felir’s beautiful eyes on me. I met his gaze, sipping the wine with a small smile. We had to be quite a sight, Felir’s full mask and my wooden half-mask, generating sexual tension. I was feeling it though. I wanted him.

After the meal we went back to our own inn, the cheap rooms we had rented. Two beds in our room but they would still be large enough and it was so convenient that Felir and I naturally shared a room. I rested my hands on his hips and felt him tense, but then relax, leaning back into me. I gently kissed his throat, beneath the mask, hearing his breath hitch.

“Justice, are you sure? My face…” Felir said quietly and I heard a deep pain in his voice. I gently kissed him again, moving my mouth to the point of his jaw and feeling some ridges there. Scars.

“You don’t have to show me. I’ve seen injuries from war, things inflicted by fire and acid.” Felir twitched and I was sure one of those things had been to blame for this. “And I know… for lower levels, getting a potion that can fix the injuries can be very difficult and expensive. Particularly if there’s mana lingering in the wounds.” Some things were pernicious. Felir breathed out, a wave of relaxation going through him.

“How are you so wise?” He asked and turned to me, his hands playing over my body. I concentrated and despite the new composition, my clothing reacted, flowing off me to puddle around my feet. Felir gasped but didn’t ask as I helped him disrobe, undoing the black leather straps and pulling off the wine colored robes.

Making love to him was beautiful. It had been so long, so very long, but I had not lost my touch. I strung out the pleasure between us, building it up before pulling us back and I saw golden eyes blazing at me with frustration and lust. Felir’s fingers dug into my shoulders, as I brought him close to the edge again and he begged me quietly to finish it. My own needs were burning me up and I heeded him, making his lithe body arch with exquisite, pinpoint pleasure as he cried out a filthy curse. I laughed but then my laugh turned into a sharp gasp as my climax hit me like a wave. I reveled in Felir’s body, his muscled limbs and beautiful golden eyes as pleasure radiated through my belly, making my toes curl and my mind go blank. That moment was everything. Everything.

Then we both came down from the high, sweat soaked and messy, in a filthy bed in a flea infested inn and it was glorious. I grinned like a fool, realizing as I did that I was still wearing my mask. It was strangely fitting.

“Justice.” Hm? I lifted my head, gazing at Felir. His naked body was so beautiful and eyes were so lovely. I imagined a proper face, under the mask… that would surely be beautiful too, if it weren’t for whatever accident that had disfigured him. “I don’t know if I love you, but I want to find out,” he breathed and I swallowed as that hit me hard. Love… romantic love… I hadn’t had much of it in my life, not really. Life as a spy and assassin did not truly allow for it. Strangely enough, I would say the one person I truly loved was the Emperor himself.

“I want to find out as well,” I said as I brushed back a bit of his grey hair, that had come loose from his braid. Hmm. “Perhaps we should sleep in the other bed tonight, together.” We’d made quite a mess of this one. Felir’s eyes shone in the darkness as he nodded.

We both moved out of our sweat soak, sex scented bed into the marginally cleaner one and I felt a bit badly for whoever ‘cleaned’ these rooms, but only a bit. Given the nature of the place I was sure they had seen much worse. We cuddled together and the post-coital bliss made it very easy to fall asleep.

That night, I did not dream.