"What's our marching order?" Cojisto suddenly asked, still bouncing. "I'm fine with going first, but I'll defer to you, Badger."

"Myself as the vanguard, you, Ferrisdae, then Moose bringing up the rear," I said. This would be the safest way to travel, with our spellcaster covered by two people in front and a literal moose behind. "We'll follow the left-hand rule at the beginning, and then snake around to take out the rooms on our way to the dungeon's boss room. Ferrisdae, did you get chalk for the ritual sigils?"

Ferrisdae nodded. "It's in the bag."

"Good," I said, then I looked at Cojisto and Moose. "There's only about six actual rooms according to the map, and generally we can skip hallways. After every combat or trap, I'll be drawing a sigil to keep the dungeon's magic contained. This will allow the dungeon to break down instead of perpetuating itself."

Moose croaked, and Cojisto nodded. "You don't need to explain yourself to us," he said. "But we appreciate you keeping us in the know. Really makes us feel like we're part of the team, you know?"

"I just don't want you bouncing and distracting me with your impatience, Cojisto," I said with a scowl. Despite that, the Human still gave me a grin and a thumbs up. "Everyone ready?"

"Absolutely."

"Yes, sir."

Moose stamped the ground.

"That means yes," Cojisto translated.

With one last nod to the team, I started heading down the tunnel with everyone falling in line behind me. A part of me was surprised that Cojisto didn't argue about going second, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. He was apparently quite used to joining random adventuring parties; he had to get used to fitting into those group's existing tactics.

I snapped back to the task at hand as I felt that familiar dread send a chill down my spine. Surprisingly, the dungeon didn't start at the entrance, but halfway down its first tunnel. Slowing my pace, I looked around. The stone floor was smooth, with wide grooves worn in from where the workers came in and out. Shadows danced as the magical lights flickered like the fires they emulated.

We came to the first three way split at the third torch. The middle path forward was the widest of them although that wasn't shown on the map. Based on Felder's words, that would have been the fastest way to the obelisk's original position.

Glancing around, I saw no sign of movement in any of the tunnels. I sidled to the corner we needed to turn first. Pausing, I looked back at Moose. "Keep an eye on these two paths," I whispered. The moose nodded. Between us, Cojisto looked more excited than I had ever seen him before while Ferrisdae just looked determined.

Peering around the corner, I tried to find any sign of the Avian before rock and dust flew into my eyes. A crossbow bolt had struck the wall inches in front of me, blinding me with the shrapnel.

I rubbed at my eyes as a shout came from the sorting room. "Fire at will!"

A familiar sounding whistled through the air towards us. "Fireball!" I yelled. My eyes weren't clear yet, but I raised my shield regardless.

Fireball was a common spell for mid-level mages. It shot an ever growing ball of compressed fire that exploded on command. A standard Fireball would erupt in a wave of superheated air, causing damage without setting anything on fire, but there were variants that did just that. I hoped it wasn't one of those.

Even though I was blinded, my experience and instincts served me right. I shifted my shield back towards the center of the junction, and it took the brunt of the explosion as heat washed over me.

Before I had a chance to cool down, another warmth spread through my body. This one was pleasant instead of agonizing, and I felt the dust in my eyes push its way out. Moose must have cast his cleansing power on me.

I took stock of my team. Ferrisdae and Moose had been outside of the blast zone, and Cojisto only looked a little singed. He was breathing heavily, though, and I saw the fading light of his Fluid Force dim to nothing. He must have used it to protect himself.

"Follow after they shoot," I told him. He nodded to show that he understood.

I sprung into action. Leaving the cover of the corner, I ran down the tunnel while hugging the wall and holding my shield in front of me. Four bolts slammed into my shield, but I continued moving forward.

A glowing bolt slammed into the wall next to my shield and ricocheted towards me, barely grazing my shoulder. Another martial art. If I had been taller, that would have embedded itself instead of just grazing me.

Gritting my teeth through the pain, I took in the scene in front of me. Three heavy looking tables were laid down and waiting for us. I counted three Avians reloading crossbows from behind cover, and one holding an emerald-tipped staff in the back of the room. That was likely who cast the fireball spell, but I knew better than to assume right away; some spellcasters liked to blend in with other units.

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I made it to the tables before they could reload. Swinging the pick over my head, I latched it onto the edge of the table and pulled back. The table was as heavy as it looked, made out of some metal, but came tumbling towards me regardless.

The Avian in front of me looked surprised by how easily I pulled down its barricade, but we were both momentarily distracted.

Cojisto came barreling down the tunnel, screaming like a madman. He lowered his shoulder and his body flashed as he used a martial art. The Human slammed into the next table over, and it shot back to strike the Avian hiding behind it.

The table flipped over and continued traveling towards the mage. They had been casting a spell, but screeched as they were forced to dive out of the way.

"Damn," I heard Cojisto mutter in disappointment before he went after the downed Avian.

I recovered faster than my foe and stepped on the table to thrust my shield towards them. It connected with their body, though they tried to defend with their weapon, and stumbled backwards. The bolt they were trying to load clattered to the ground.

The Avian fell to the ground, holding up their crossbow at me. In their panic they hadn't noticed that their bolt had disengaged. I raised my pick in the air as they pulled the trigger. The limbs of their weapon cracked loudly as it dry fired. They looked at it in surprise just as the blunt end of my horseman's pick caved their face in.

Cojisto had made it to the downed Avian and had it grabbed by the leg. Its feathers were covered in blood from where the table had hit them. He may have had one grabbed, but his eyes were on the last standing crossbowman. The grappled Avian's body flashed.

"Martial-" I started to call out. It was unnecessary. The martial art wasn't the Avian's, it was Cojisto's. He lifted the bird into the air and slammed it brutally into its standing friend before they could get a shot off.

Waves of pain suddenly wracked my entire body, but it wasn't debilitating. I turned to the spellcasting Avian. They had returned to their feet and were pointing their staff at me, a look of satisfaction on their face. It changed to confusion, then horror, as I started taking steps towards them. It felt like my body had fallen asleep, pins and needles poking my muscles, but it wouldn't bring me down.

"St-stay away!" The Avian yelled, backing into the wall behind them. They shifted their staff so that it was in both of their hands, like a spear.

"Should have considered that earlier," I grunted through gritted teeth. They tried to thrust the staff at me, but I knocked it to the side with my shield. It clattered to the ground. I raised my pick and swung with the pointed end.

A translucent shield protected them as they threw their hands up in panic. A Shield spell, meant to protect them from bodily harm. Not one meant to protect from prolonged onslaughts, a fact I took advantage of.

I alternated slamming into the Avian with my horseman's pick and punching them with the edge of my shield. Each hit caused a white light to flash as the Shield spell took the brunt of the damage. On the sixth or seventh hit, my shield broke through. I struck the Avian right in the beak, causing it to slump against the wall. But I had to be sure.

I raised my pick one more time and brought it down. The spike skewered the Avian's skull, finishing the job. Planting my foot in its chest, I pulled the pick free and turned to see how Cojisto was doing.

He stood over the two Avians that he had finished fighting with blood all over his hands. It looked like the lightweight, hollow-boned body of the bird hadn't made an effective cudgel, forcing him to go in with his fists. Cojisto started falling backwards.

I rushed behind him and caught him on my shield. I looked around for any threats I hadn't initially seen, but there were none. Cojisto chuckled. "Oh man, I need to get used to this Fluid Force thing," he said. "My head is pounding."

"You're collapsing because you overused a new ability?" I asked, my lips pursed.

"Yes, but it was damn cool, Badger," he said, holding his thumb up.

I moved my shield, dumping him unceremoniously onto the ground. "Where's the bag?" I asked. "I need the chalk."

"Moose has it," Ferrisdae answered as she and Moose entered the room. I looked up and, sure enough, the brim of the bag had been spread so that it could hang off of Moose's antlers. He tilted his head and I pulled it down with my pick.

I set the bag on the ground and was about to start rifling through it when I noticed that the blood on my pick was turning transparent. It was disappearing. The Avian bodies were doing the same; in a matter of seconds, all traces of our enemies were gone aside from a few items that were left in their place. The emerald-tipped staff, a crossbow, and other assorted goods.

"What the fuck?" I asked. I had to blink a few times before accepting the disappearance of the corpses.

"Yeah! That's what happened before!" Cojisto said. "Dead and then just, poof! Gone and there's stuff there."

"The DTER is gone, too," Ferrisdae said. I opened my mouth to argue, but clamped it shut a moment later. The room wasn't nearly as anxiety inducing as it was before. For whatever reason, this room stopped being a part of the dungeon. For whatever reason, impossible things continued to happen.

"Seven out of ten," I said, staring at the items left behind on the floor. "Cover placement was fine, but would have been better with bows. Faster to fire. And the spellcaster needed a body guard who could do both ranged and melee." I glanced at Ferrisdae.

She looked down at me and nodded. “Yes, that seems like a good score,” she claimed.

“Nine out of ten,” Cojisto added. “It was really cool when the table went flying but the bird person ruined my chance of taking out the mage immediately. Also, Avians make terrible bludgeoning instruments for my martial arts, so let’s make it an eight out of ten.”

Moose croaked, and Cojisto grinned. “This really is a fun game, Moose, you are correct. We should rate dungeons more.”

“No, Cojisto,” Ferrisdae said. “That’s… not what we’re judging.”

"Ferrisdae, grab the stuff the corpses left behind and identify anything magical," I snorted before I pulled out the chalk. "I'm going to draw the sigils anyway."

"Yes, sir," she responded, hurrying off.

"Cojisto-"

"I'm going to lay here for a bit," Cojisto said, stretching. "And stay out of everyone's way."

I nodded. "That's for the best."