Arc had intended to minion-watch with Kat to see how the patrols faired, but the first banner-bearer had been held up by one of Pantimus' goons when something more important occurred.

{Arc, intruders.}

The image displayed in the water bowl shimmered and changed. Now it displayed two men cautiously advancing through a tunnel. Neither was quite as large as the giant which had attacked earlier, but both were still big enough that the difference really didn't matter.

The passed by a side tunnel which had been marked by Arc earlier, and the marking was highlighted in the image. "Tunnel #16? That should be on the layer above us." {Kat spent effort to expand domain upwards after yesterday.}

"So... That means you can fight them somehow, right?" {Um... Right.} Arc raised an eyebrow and glanced at the hole in the wall where Kat's body lay. "You aren't sure?" {Hmph. This is Kat's first time trying: only natural to not know what to do. Arc doesn't know what to do all the time!}

This wasn't the time to chide Kat for her sassiness. It was an emergency situation, and she needed reassurance to build her self-confidence.

"It's okay, Kat: you can work through this. Start small. What do you have nearby you can fight them with?" {...Rats. Mobs near intruders, instinctively attack. Kat can lure them to gather.}

Large rats moved into rooms ahead of the intruders' path, but it failed to stop them. They were slaughtered very methodically: first, the rat would be pinned to the ground with a short polearm, then its back or neck would be broken with a cudgel. Once, the larger human even made sport of a rat it had pinned, pointing at it writhing on the ground while the other human watched.

There was some difficulty in handling groups of three or more in this way, so in those cases one invader changed tactics to merely keeping the rats at bay while the other killed them one at a time. However, the pair seemed less disciplined at times like these, and suffered a number of mild bite wounds on their legs despite the thick leathers they wore.

Their wounds, they cleaned with clear liquid from a flask before dressing. For every rat they killed, they removed its tail, and put it in a bag after draining the blood. Their methodical approach was efficient and effective. The dungeon would run out of rats long before they got tired, at this rate.

"Kat, this isn't working. Is there any way you can act more directly?" {Traps.} Suddenly a stone fell from the ceiling, nearly hitting one of the invaders' head. The two paused for a moment, and one of them used their polearm to carefully probe for any other loose stones in the ceiling nearby. Finding none, they continued their approach.

{...Any more would require significant amounts of Power to spontaneously trigger.} Kat was definitely becoming dispirited at the sight of her own weakness.

"Actually, Kat... That's more my fault than yours. I'm the one who's been trying to organize the dungeon, yet the thought of adding traps didn't even cross my mind." {But... Kat is Master, never assigned that duty to Arc.} He shook his head at that. "Doesn't matter. I took it upon myself, and you trusted me with it. I'm the one who failed you."

{...Arky-minion, a failure?} "Right. I fail all the time, but I always learn from my mistakes. That's how I can constantly improve, and eventually succeed."

Arc told Kat that to keep her calm, but it was necessary to prevent himself from panicking as well. It was happening too soon; the dungeon wasn't ready yet!

Okay, take a deep breath. Think about this logically. Suppose we don't stop these intruders here, what then? What damage can they actually do?

They could kill a lot of minions, but those were easily replaceable. They might damage some rooms; in fact, they've already collapsed some Rat Dens. But they didn't seem intent on destroying the tunnels wholesale, so the damage could be repaired.

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So... There actually wasn't much reason to worry at all? The thought help settle Arc's adrenaline levels a bit.

{Okay, Arc. Kat will try again, this time with minions Arc organized!} The display shifted to a grout of minions... It was the patrol!

At the front was the bully who'd been accosting the banner-bearer earlier; it seems he just wanted to be the war-leader. Behind were five more minions for a total of seven - one less than Arc had specified on the banner, but quite a lot given such short notice.

The leader had a hunting spear, and three followers carried the ubiquitous minion tools. Their weapons may be flint, but the invaders were protected primarily with soft leathers intended to stop rat bites. They had a chance!

The minions rushed upon the invaders. They were surprised for sure, but to their credit they braced their staves against the charge. Unfortunately for them, the trident-like heads of these polearms were designed to trap, not kill. Two minions were impaled, but their struggling bodies blocked the weapons from sticking any others.

One human swept his captive into another minion, crashing them both into the wall. He then dropped the unwieldy pole and drew a long knife, keeping the club in his off-hand. He moved to assist his companion, who was struggling to keep the patrol leader pinned.

The fight didn't go as well as Arc hoped. The narrow tunnel greatly limited the effect of numerical advantage. To make matters worse, the weapons failed to deal as much damage as Arc hoped.

Whenever a minion managed to land a solid blow, a greenish light appeared to soften the damage. The light was weakening each time, but at this rate the fight would end before it faded entirely.

The banner-bearer wasn't fighting, but cheering the others on from the rear. No, not cheering: chanting. A purple fog seemed to be swirling at his feet. Then a lot of things happened at once.

The vortex tightened, then pulsed outwards. One human tripped, but the other reacted in time and caught him. However, that left his flank exposed: one of the 'unarmed' minions revealed a hidden knife and stabbed him just below the knee. A vomit-brown glow from the flint displaced first the green barrier, then next a red halo around the wound.

The minion died instantly to the counter-attack, but had clearly managed to do some damage. The unwounded invader was clearly enraged, and a crimson haze gathered. He swung the tip of the pike around, delivering a gash to the banner-bearer and knocking the banner from his hands.

The patrol was quickly mopped up. Two minions fled, but the invaders didn't pursue. One was injured, and badly so. A brown glow on the wounded area was slowly growing.

After applying a quick tourniquet, salve, and bandage to his wounded comrade, the other human examined the bodies littering the ground. A few minion ears were cut off and put in a jar; the banner was rolled up and shoved into a bag. A few coins and trinkets were also gathered. Finally, and with much hesitation, he retrieved the dagger which wounded his ally with a cloth, and wrapped it.

The two began to withdraw from the dungeon. Arc breathed a sigh of relief.

He was almost beginning to relax when Kat asked an odd question.

{Arc... Everyone learns from mistakes?} "Um, I guess? Or, at least, they should."

{Then, even the humans?} Did she mean they'd learn to leave the dungeon alone? "I don't see where you're going with this."

{Injured human, will die before reaching surface.} "...There's nothing we can do to help them. They'll attack or run the minute they see another minion, including me."

{Then, if they weren't afraid?} Kat sounded resolute about something, but she was making no sense. Arc had no idea what to say to her. "Err..." He managed a stutter, at least.

{...Master wants Archimedes to go hide.}