The number of zombies per floor rose by one each time they moved on, ending with the Guardian floor having a cluster of fifteen zombies waiting for them.

It felt odd to see the slow increase in strength first hand, and Jake mentally marked this Dungeon as one that would be perfect for him to delve alone.

The only concern here was the zombies, and they were hardly a powerful or difficult enemy. It also helped that the rewards were purely Wyrdgeld. Even the Challenge room was just another wave defence against zombies, with a bag of Wyrdgeld as a reward.

The whole thing was over in hardly any time, and Jake was soon sitting in the Dungeon’s Throne, binding it to his Plexus.

The Boons available weren’t really to Jake’s taste, so he ended up taking the increase to his Manifestations once more. He had seven now, enough that when they were next in a deadly fight, he could be more free with their usage.

Satisfied with his rewards, Jake went to leave the heart of the Dungeon before pausing and looking up at the ceiling. “Dungeon? We’re hoping to stay and delve all evening, but we need somewhere to rest inside. Could you make a revival room available for us and furnish it accordingly?”

Jake felt the weight of the Dungeon’s attention, and its curiosity as it considered his words. There was a touch of hesitation as well, however, so Jake added an incentive. “I promise that we will delve the whole thing at least four more times before we leave in the morning.”

The faint sense of acceptance came over their bond, and Jake nodded his thanks before heading back out to rejoin the others.

“Good news everyone,” Jake said as they entered the Dungeon’s foyer, drawing the group’s attention. “I spoke to the Dungeon, and we should be able to rest here for tonight.”

“Good news indeed,” Nepthys said brightly, looking around for the entrance to their waiting room before glancing back at Jake. “Where is it?”

Jake waited patiently for a few moments before coughing and muttering under his breath. “Please open the door, Dungeon.”

A flicker of what Jake could have sworn was amusement came over his bond with the Dungeon, but a section of wall slid open nearby a moment later.

“Break for a few minutes and then go again?” Alan asked, looking over at the door hopefully. “It was a long walk here, so my feet could use a rest.”

Jake laughed but nodded, heading over to the converted revival room to take a break. To his surprise, the interior was much nicer than the previous Dungeon, with actual furniture not just shaped stone.

Perhaps it was the city setting of this Dungeon, but whatever the reason, Jake was happy for it. Sitting down in a worn armchair, Jake decided to wait until they were starting the next delve to tell them about his part of the deal.

-**-

In the end, they actually ran seven delves of the Dungeon. Its straightforward layout and simple design made each delve take a lot less time and effort, which was a nice change.

Jake fought back a yawn as they trudged through the undergrowth back to the safehouse. From how his eyes were burning, he doubted he’d struggle to sleep this time.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Their trip back had been as quiet as the one before, it truly did seem that this area was as devoid of classers as Aspen had said. Now that he knew the Dungeons were actually aware, that seemed like a shame to Jake.

Perhaps the change he’d made to the first Dungeon would encourage classers to visit. Perhaps he could even return to the undead Dungeon and offer it some advice, and maybe do the same for the third one.

Jake was considering what exactly that advice would be when they came back into view of the safehouse. Once again, Ari was sat outside waiting for them.

Once again, there were empty bottles next to his chair, more than before.

“So you’re back,” Ari said, looking them over before nodding. “Looks like it went well. I’ll be coming along on your next excursion, though. I have something I need to retrieve from Ivaldi.”

Jake nodded but shared a brief worried look with Nepthys. He was getting a little worried about Ari, but he knew they all handled grief in different ways. They’d give him time and space, though there wasn’t much else they could do.

Heading inside, they split off to head to their quarters, ready to get some sleep in preparation for heading to the final Dungeon in the evening.

Jake had just finished unpacking his things when there was a soft knock at the door. Heading over, he opened it up to find Nepthys standing in the hall, looking tired but oddly determined.

“Nepthys, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Nepthys said, looking away for a moment before meeting Jake’s eyes. “Can I come in?”

“Erm, yeah, of course,” Jake said, stepping aside to let her in before closing the door. He had a feeling that whatever she wanted to discuss was something to stay between the two of them.

“I wanted to talk about the conversation we had the other day,” Nepthys said, turning to face Jake with an oddly intent look. “To talk about what I said.”

“Okay,” Jake said, not quite sure where she was going with this.

“Well, with everything that’s happened, I feel like what seemed certain just a few months ago has fallen apart. Losing Felix so suddenly made me realise we could all die doing this at any time. We could die a few weeks from now, and none of my family’s plans would matter.”

“I’ve had some thoughts like that as well,” Jake said honestly. “I think this has hit us all in its own way, made us really come to terms with what the stakes are.”

Nepthys nodded emphatically before taking a single step closer to him, her cheeks flushing a little. “Well, it’s made me realise how foolish it is to push away something that might make me happy. Fear of complications in the future shouldn’t stand in the way of us living our life.”

Jake felt his heart skip a beat as he realised what she was saying, his throat turning dry as he tried to think of what to say.

“So I guess what I’m trying to say,” Nepthys said, stepping closer again so that they were mere inches apart. “Is that I’ve reconsidered it all, if you’re still interested?”

Jake saw the brief moment of vulnerability in her eyes as she asked the question, and some distant part of him realised how much courage this must have taken.

Right now, his heart was racing and the pound of his blood in his ears was drowning out the world as he slowly nodded. “Yes, I am.”

A brilliant smile touched Nepthys’s lips and Jake found himself leaning in, his arm slipping around her waist to draw her close.

They came together with a heated kiss that sent a shiver down Jake’s spine as he lost himself in the moment. It was far from Jake’s first kiss, but there was something about it that set it apart from any other.

As they came apart, flushed and holding each other, Jake saw the same feeling in her eyes and leaned in once more.

-**-

Nepthys ended up staying until just before they were due to get ready to leave. A final kiss lingered on his lips as she slipped out the door to return to her room and get ready.

The whole thing seemed fantastical and unreal to Jake, but he’d slept much better with someone beside him. In itself, that was a new experience for him, and one that he hoped to repeat.

There were potential problems for the future, problems that killed Jake’s smile as he considered them. Then again, like Nepthys had said, they might very well die doing all this.

Issues with her family could wait until they’d beaten the Fatesworne, and that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Until then, Jake was going to enjoy exploring what this was between them.

“Jake?” Alan called out from the hall, startling him out of his thoughts. “Aspen’s about to serve breakfast, or should I call it dinner?”

Jake shook his head and got up to start getting ready. “I’ll be there in a moment.”