Five minutes sped by far too quickly for Jake’s liking, and soon enough they were checking their armour and grouping up in front of the Challenge.

Looking around to make sure everyone was ready, Jake took a steadying breath and stepped through the arch.

Between steps, he left the forest and was instead walking into a log cabin that formed a single large room.

Bright light filtered in through a pair of large windows that framed a second door which stood at the far end of the room, though it was shut and barred with a thin piece of wood currently.

The room itself was sparse with furniture, though there was a table, several chairs and a pot-bellied stove with a flue leading up out of the room.

On the table, raised up on a piece of granite, was an hourglass.

“Well, this is different,” Aspen said as he joined Jake, shortly followed by the others.

“I guess they’re going to be coming through that door,” Jake said, moving over to look at the door a bit closer.

It was old and rotted in places, and the piece of wood barring it wasn’t much better. In fact, looking at the way the door sat, the bar was all that was keeping it shut.

“Windows look out onto a wide path through the forest, looks like a single approach. Its got a bit of undergrowth, but not enough to make this a pain. Assuming it is Rootlings, that is.” Alan reported from off to one side.

“Do the windows open?” Gargan asked, moving over to stand by Alan.

“Nope, no latch here or anything like that,” Alan said, looking over the window carefully. “We’ll have to smash it if we want to use it.”

“Not yet, though!” Aspen called out before Alan could do anything. “Don’t go changing or breaking things before we start the Challenge. The Dungeon won’t like it.”

“Oh, right, sorry,” Alan said, shifting awkwardly and glancing up at the ceiling. “I didn’t think about that.”

“No harm done,” Jake said, giving Alan a reassuring smile before pointing to the timer. “Let’s get this started, shall we?”

The room grew tense as Alan and Gargan took a window each, while Aspen and Nepthys moved to the door. Jake waited long enough for each of them to get into position before ordering Moby to stay out of the way and turning over the hourglass.

Almost immediately, they all heard a distant loud groaning sound, which was followed by Alan cursing. “Shit, there’s a lot of them!”

Gargan had already smashed his window as soon as the groaning sound came, and Jake blinked rapidly as bright flashes of flame went out at the unseen enemy.

Alan broke his window a moment later and began sending arrows out as fast as he could.

Moving to join Alan, Jake lifted his wand and went to start firing thorns at the first monster he could see before stopping and staring in momentary shock at the veritable sea of Rootlings racing at them.

They were several dozen at least, all rushing down the trail at the cabin. A few were already burning husks, and some of the nearby plants had caught fire from Gargan’s work, but there was a lot more to go.

Sighting his wand at some of the frontrunners, Jake started firing thorns as fast as he could, using his Wyrd without care as he scythed them down.

With so many Rootlings packed together, even if he missed a Rootling’s core, and he was sure he was missing quite a few, he was still likely to at least slow one of them down.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Damn, there’s just too many,” Jake said, watching as the tide of Rootlings drew ever closer.

So many were dead, but there were still more than enough to swarm through both windows if they weren’t careful.

They needed a distraction.

“Aspen, take the fight to them!” Jake shouted over the screeching of the Rootlings as they burnt.

Aspen looked over, the wooden bar already flying over his shoulder, and gave Jake a wide smile as the door swung open. “With pleasure.”

Aspen hit the front lines of the Rootlings like a hammer, smashing them apart as he cut his way through the dwindling horde.

Nepthys, meanwhile, stayed by the door and began using her shields to stymie and block the Rootlings where she could, buying the rest of them time.

Jake felt the drain on his Wyrd become more and more pronounced as he kept firing his wand as fast as possible.

Then, when it felt like he could do more, he realised it was done.

The final Rootling was burning to death as it tried to reach the cabin, expiring mere inches from the door.

“Well, damn!” Aspen called out from where he was pulling his spear out of a dead Rootling. “That was a lot of the little bastards. Must be close to fifty in total.”

Jake let out a long breath of relief and holstered his wand. “That was intense, I thought they were going to make it through at one point.”

“Yeah, I was starting to worry about my arrow count,” Alan said, motioning to his half empty quiver. “That was the most I’ve used in any one fight.”

“Well, if this was a taste of what’s to come, I think you better stock up ready for the Guardian,” Jake said, the two of them sharing a concerned look before they set off to begin gathering their Wyrdgeld.

As he did, Jake noticed that a reward chest had appeared next to the door they’d entered through.

“Going for the chest,” he called out before leaving the others to get the Wyrdgeld from the Rootlings.

Eagerly opening the chest, Jake let out a low whistle as he looked at the items it held.

“Is it good?” Nepthys asked from where she was crouched over a small pile of dead monsters.

“A pair of Wyrdwood pieces, a pouch of coins and a whole bunch of Wyrdfruit,” Jake called back, spilling the coins out into his hand and taking a rough count.

He estimated there was fifty in the pouch, and then there was the forty Wyrdgeld of wood, and the small pile they got from their kills.

This was a rewarding Challenge, that was for sure.

The Wyrdfuit was a pair of small wooden containers, each filled to the brim with what looked like blackberries.

Jake knew they weren’t worth much individually, but there was a lot here.

“Well, that’s going to be awkward to carry,” Alan said, coming over to take one of the lengths of wood from Jake and add it to his pack.

“Ah, it’ll be fine,” Aspen said, waving one hand absently. “We’ll just dump it all at the entrance and then grab it at the end.”

“Oh, right,” Jake said, flushing a little. He’d been about to try and lash the wood to his back and wear his pack over the top.

Aspen’s way was much better, for sure.

Gathering everything together, they left the Challenge and took another short break.

The anticipation of what was coming stopped them from getting a good rest physically, but it helped top off their Wyrd and recover what had been used in the Challenge.

A few minutes into their rest, Aspen came over to sit by Jake. “You ready for this?”

“As ready as I’m going to be, I think,” Jake said, giving the older man a slightly forced smile. “I’ve gotten used to the rest of this, but the idea of fighting something stronger than an Enhanced is messing with me. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m excited or nervous.”

“If you’re anything like me, then you’re both,” Aspen said with a soft laugh. “Listen, Jake, you’ve had the talk about owing deaths, right?”

“Yeah, Ari went over it when we first started.”

“Well, these sorts of fights are when it really matters. If the Awakened is going to kill any of us, it’s our responsibility to either stop it, or save them the hard way. Understand?” Aspen’s voice was little more than a whisper as he gave Jake a searching gaze. “There’s a lot more at stake here than just some pain and bad memories.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Jake said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Don’t worry, I’ll do what needs to be done.”

Aspen’s gaze caught Jake’s for a moment before he nodded and held out his hand. “Not everyone has the raw willpower to be a delver past the first tier. I think you’ll go far, though, and I look forward to getting there.”

Jake clasped Aspen’s hand and gave the other man a broad grin as he shook off the serious mood. “Well then, let’s go take our next step down that road.”

“Damn right!” Aspen let out a laugh as he rose smoothly to his feet and checked over his gear. “Let’s do this.”

“Anyone need another few minutes?” Jake asked, looking over the others as they got to their feet. No one spoke up, so he drew his sword and started toward the arch. “We drop the packs first, then Alan gives the room a scan if he can. If they’re too close, then we cycle dropping packs while Moby distracts them. Got it?”

Jake looked back over his shoulder but saw only determination and anticipation in the faces of his friends. Taking a final steadying breath, Jake stepped into the darkness.