Kevin shivers a little as his body slips through the purple dungeon portal; It always gives him vertigo when he steps through it. Carrie and Simon don't seem to be affected hardly at all, but maybe that's just something with their classes.

"Woah. The dungeon got its flooring redone?" Kevin jokes to himself.

The unnatural sound of space warping causes him to turn his head as Carrie and Simon walk into the portal one after the other. Carrie looks unimpressed with the slight change, but Simon is fascinated by it. He's taking notes and everything when Kevin pushes him along verabally.

"I'm certain these must be here for a reason! What if they break and we fall into some kind of trap?" Simon jabbers on.

"Would you shut up? All the rats are going to hear us coming from a mile away!" Carries hisses at him.

That shuts Simon up, and he nods meekly while walking with the other two out of the entrance room. Faint sounds of scratching claws can be heard as they walk down the first corridor, yet Simon sees no rats.

"Do you guys hear that..?" Simon asks quietly.

Carrie glares at him, and Kevin doesn't even turn around. The two of them seem unconcerned by whatever Simon's heard, but they both wizen up when Simon squeals in surprise. The three of them look on in confusion as a chubby rodent carrying all sorts of junk runs off with Simon's prized notebook.

"My notebook!" Simon shouts as he snaps out of it.

They all dash toward the escaping thief, but the Pack Rat is too quick and ducks into the entrance room before slipping beneath the floorboards. Simon gawks at the seemingly empty first room, and tears bead in his eyes.

"Don't fucking cry! You're not a kid!" Carrie socks Simon on the shoulder.

"Cool it, Carrie. That notebook had a lot of good info..." Kevin sighs.

~

"Haha- Yes! Good work my little thief!"

Katia's glee is contagious as her minion grins from ear to ear. The fat little thing places the notebook beside the secondary Rat King, and scampers off to cause some more mischief. Katia's plan worked perfectly, albeit now the jig is up.

Katia can't quite make sense of everything inside the little notebook, but every bit of information Katia can get on the outside world is invaluable. She'll dedicate some time to deciphering this guy's atrocious handwriting in the future.

"They're handling the small barrel room pretty well."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Dire Rats prove no threat to the delvers as they bash the rodent's heads in effortlessly while the Rune Maker puts helpful buffs on his teammates. Katia watches closely as they move into the second corridor.

~

"Do you think one of those Pack Rats will show up again?" Simon whispers.

The other two glance at him, and over their shoulders. Simon got robbed in the first room; Neither of them wanted to have their things snatched next.

"I'll be keeping an eye out. Just make sure you keep your ears and eyes peeled." Kevin replies.

That's when an arrow shoots out of the wall to their left and sinks into Carrie's thigh; She screams as four more arrows shoot from different holes in the limestone. One arrow sinks into Kevin's bicep while a second stabs Carrie's side. She's yelling and cursing as Simon's face pales. Kevin is the only one keeping his cool as he takes deep breaths while glaring at the arrow buried in his arm.

"Shit- Fucking- Argh!" Carrie screams angrily.

There's a few moments of painful cursing before Simon shakily raises his finger to Carrie's body and begins writing a newly acquired rune upon her arm. There's a green and red glow wafting off the ethereal symbol as it attaches to Carrie. She calms down as the arrows turn to dust while the wounds heal slowly. Kevin gets a similar treatment, but Simon looks worried about something.

"Thanks... Why are you making that face?" Kevin asks wearily.

"I've only got one more of those runes in me for today... I'll have to sleep to recharge." Simon explains nervously.

The three of them all sit there in silence for a few moments. Each one is weighing the risk of proceeding deeper into the dungeon's halls. The silence is broken as Kevin offers Carrie a hand, and she takes it with a quiet grunt of acknowledgement.

~

"They're leaving already..?"

Katia watches the three young delvers leave her dungeon with their heads hung low and their spirits shaken by the face of death. The somber moment is broken when a system notification interrupts her revery.

Quest Added: Treacherous Traps

Objective: Kill a delver with a mechanical trap.

Reward: Corrosive Acid material unlocked.

"Corrosive acid?! That sounds awesome, and really lethal!"

Acid pools and flowing spouts of the corrosive fluid come to Katia's mind as she brainstorms trap ideas for the future; She's interrupted when a system window appears.

Delvers Detected!

Skills are disabled on Floor 1.

Ten uniformed men carrying assault rifles march into Katia's dungeon with their guns raised; The man in the back wears a different uniform, and barks orders to the others with a cold voice as harsh as the dead of winter. His faded blue eyes glance at Katia's bronze statue as he directs his soldiers to do a sweep of the room before securing the door.

"Wait- Is there a government out there?!"

Katia's exposure to the outside world has been limited by her stationary existence, but nothing thus far indicated a functioning government. Three high schoolers were the first to delve Katia's dungeon, while a group of unorganized thugs invaded her space with murderous intent! If there's a government out there they're doing an awful job of governing.

The group is much more efficient than the dungeon hunters; Several men use sturdy shovels to smash open the floorboards, and they check beneath for any monsters. Once the group is certain nothing is hiding in the entrance they station two of their men there, one outside and one inside the dungeon's portal.

"This is perfect! They'll really put my dungeon to the test!"

Katia observes the squad closely as they march down the corridor toward the small barrel room. When the Pack Rat tries to sneak up on them it's met with a hail of bullets and shouting soldiers; Bloody paste is all that remains, and the group sweeps the whole corridor before preparing to breach into the small barrel room.