“Games night!” Calliope yelled as she rode into the games room on the back of Toto. She was already wrapped up in a massive blanket, and carrying a plate of pastries on her lap. More than a few people looked up from their games as she passed, annoyed at her antics, but she ignored them as she rode up to our table.

“You’re late,” Bea grumbled in response. “We were supposed to start twenty minutes ago.”

“Trust me, the delay was worth it,” Calliope declared, as she pulled a small bound book from beneath the blanket and held it aloft. “Behold! The newest character encyclopedia for Dungeon Delve!”

“We’ve seen it,” I reported. “Luther came in with a copy. He pre-orders pretty much every single reference and set, remember?”

Calliope sank down in disappointment. “Awww… really? I was told it was only available today, and I had to go wait in line for it,” she mumbled. “I guess you’ve all seen it then?”

“Yes, you and Toto have your own beta stats now, created after the Dungeon Duel match. Congratulations,” Kass said, petting the girl on the back.

“Thanks! I know it’s not technically a big deal, especially since I won’t have an official figure until I’m officially a sub-boss, but it’s nice to have stats, and not a custom-created character.”

“Well, you won’t have to wait too long. People will probably expect you to provide support after that showing during the match. I was thinking about talking to Lanivia about making both you and Sylvia official sub-bosses during regular matches,” I said without looking up from my tablet. “It wouldn’t make sense for you all to hide your strength after gaining fans in the duels.”

“Really?” Calliope asked.

“Yes, of course, why wouldn’t… ack!” I was completely caught off guard by Calliope’s flying tackle-hug. Guess that’ll teach me to try to work at the table.

“Thank you!” Calliope said, clasping me tight.

“No problem?” I replied, patting her on the back. It seemed like the right thing to do, so I wasn’t quite sure what the big deal was. Seemed like Calliope appreciated it though.

After a few seconds she pulled back, and returned to sitting on her crab.

“So… now that that touching moment is over,” Chelsea said, between bites of muffin, “Can we please get started?” She put down her treat, cleaned her hands, and leaned over the table. “So, which dungeon shall we challenge today? The Black Sanctum? The Tombs of the Last Dynasty?”

“How about the Wailing Manor?” I suggested, which caused everyone to turn and look at me. “What?”

“You don’t think that’d be too easy for you? Considering you studied everything to do with the Manor to set up our defenses?” Kass asked.

“I did it from the point of view of a dungeon employee, not an adventurer. Have you guys done the Manor lately? We can do another,” I said, stealthily slipping a piece of jerky to George. It was a good thing he was gentle with me, because if he wasn’t he could have taken a finger with how fast he grabbed his snack.

“I don’t think we’ve ever done the Manor,” Bea admitted, “Never thought it would be interesting, since we have several dozen other dungeons to choose from instead. It actually might be interesting to challenge ourselves.”

Chelsea nodded, “We can voice ourselves during the boss fights!” she said excitedly.

“Let’s not go overboard with it, for gaming purposes it’s just another challenge,” Kass said, trying to calm the girl down. “I would be willing to try it. As long as everyone puts in their full effort.” As she said that she grabbed my tablet and moved it to the empty chair on her other side. I pouted for a moment, but she was right, the game took precedence.

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Across the table Luther nodded, and levitated one of the boxes off his shelf. It only took him seconds to open the box and place the various boards and tokens required for a game. “We’re going to have to use stand-ins today, since all of you are using your pieces as adventurers today. I’m sure I have extras somewhere…” As he said this several other boxes floated down, revealing default adventurer miniatures and placing them on the board in place of our boss models. “There we go.”

“I still can’t get over how many pieces you can control, and with such precision too. What’s your maximum number of objects?” I asked.

Kass just put a hand on my hand, and slowly pushed me away from the table. “Calm that little analytical brain of yours, it’s a rest day remember. Have a cookie.” I frowned as she placed a double chocolate chip cookie in my hand, but I ate it all the same. No point in wasting good chocolate.

“Place your models in the Forest, and we’ll begin,” Luther announced. All the discussion at the table died down, as everyone placed their tokens. Game time was serious after all.

The Forest went about as well as we could expect, no surprises there, but once we got into the main floors… “You can lifesteal using your magic?” I said, jumping to my feet and turning on Kass. “Why didn’t you reveal this before?”

“I don’t like doing it, it’s kinda the darker side of blood magic. It’s dark.. And it makes me feel wrong. Best left to the races that drink blood naturally, than a trained mage,” Kass replied, sinking into her chair.

I could see she wasn’t comfortable with the idea, so I immediately tried to backpedal. “You don’t have to use it, I was just surprised. I didn’t have a clue you could do anything like that, you’ve only shown the blood fire, and that’s impressive enough.”

“I can see what you’re doing, and you can stop now. It’s a power that I have, even if I don’t like using it, you don’t have to tiptoe around the subject,” Kass replied with a little laugh. “We all have a couple skills we don’t like using, either because they’re slow or inefficient in combat.”

“Not EVERYONE,” I replied, sulking slightly, “but I get your point.” Kass threw her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. “You don’t need fancy skills to get by, you just need your natural aptitude and that big brain of yours.”

“Bea has toxic stings, but that’s very impractical to use in combat,” Chelsea volunteered, earning her a punch from Bea who blushed at the revelation. “And I can spit venom from my tail. At least, I should be able to, I’m really bad at it right now.”

I looked over at Luther, who was busy setting up our next encounter. “I possess items and throw them around,” he said without looking up. “In the grand scheme of things, I don’t have much to offer. I’m versatile, yes, but pretty much a one-trick pony.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Luther,” Chelsea said, “After all, it’s one hell of a trick.” Bea gave her another punch. “What? It’s true.”

I laughed as the two play-wrestled, working off some energy. I subconsciously reached for my tablet, thinking about the possible ramifications of what I just learned, when I remembered Kass took it. I frowned slightly, and just made a mental note to update my notes afterward.

The following floors went as well as expected. The only boss that really gave us trouble was, ironically, myself. Although our team was agile, and the floor patterns were relatively simple, it was difficult to arrange five players in safe areas while striking at… me. As weird of an idea as that was. Thankfully Bea could fly, which meant she could cross the dangerous terrain and free up safe spaces for the rest of us. That gave us a huge advantage, and the win.

Everything went well from there, right up until the last floor.

“Lanivia’s encounter is BULLSHIT!” Kass yelled as her character was vaporised, ending our run. Her yell was so loud, and genuine, that I couldn’t help but laugh, spitting out my drink. Thankfully I didn’t get any on the pieces, I think Luther would have killed me if I did.

“It’s a very technical fight. Very precise attack patterns, and area control, means we have a limited amount of time to attack her, but it’s doable,” I said, trying to calm Kass down. “What I can’t believe is that she doesn't move during the fight.”

“She typically reads,” Luther said, switching to his comedy mask. “She says if she pays too close attention to the fight, it wouldn’t be fair to the adventurers.”

“The boss is definitely scary to watch in combat,” Chelsea agreed. “I’m just glad she’s really nice, I don’t think I could handle it if she was strict.”

I nodded, while snatching the final cookie off the tray before anyone else could. I could see Kass smirking in my peripheral vision, but decided to ignore her. As I savoured my cookie I idly listened to my friends' conversations, while I went over all the data I’d gathered from the game, so I could record it afterwards.

I loved game night. Who said research couldn’t be fun?