Eli: Amy, Sasha, do you want to come to the Temple of Rizari?

Amy: I’ll come.

Sasha: Me too.

Amy: See you outside the dungeon. We can be there in a few minutes.

Eli: Sounds good.

They met outside, and Eli peeked into the dungeon’s first floor, finding it mostly empty. Rather than going through the first and second floors, he cast Warp, allowing them to jump straight to the third floor.

Here, they found plenty of activity. Mages and archers fired down into the city of lizardmen, while melee fighters held off a steady stream of charging enemies. Off to the side, James and Dana were fighting alongside a few people Eli didn’t recognize, though he spotted Agnes with them, using her new healing powers. Yvonne was nearby, keeping a larger group healthy while simultaneously adding damage-over-time effects to the lizardmen and cursing them with debuffs.

With so many people fighting, the area felt crowded. Eli's group moved to the side, where a smaller path led around to the city below. Simon walked up front, with Eli close behind, Cruella following, and Samantha, Sasha, and Amy bringing up the rear, Princess lumbering after them. A few birds appeared over Amy’s head and flew off in different directions, providing her with an overview of the cavern.

A few lizardmen noticed their descent, and soon Simon was able to test his abilities against a seemingly endless stream of enemies. Even at level 10, he held his own against the level 14 monsters, using a sword and shield combo, infusing the blade with light to bring down most foes in a single hit. His shield blocked every attack, and Eli could see the sheen of Aegis wrapping around the metal as he busied himself buffing everyone in his party.

They eventually made their way down to the town itself, where few other humans had dared to go. The streets widened up, allowing more space for them to move. Cruella grew restless watching Simon carefully taking down one lizardman at a time. She leapt forward in a streak of red-tinted lightning, killing lizardmen far more efficiently but also taking hits, her health dropping as the enemies swarmed her. Eli’s heals kept her going.

“Cruella!” Eli shouted over the noise.

"I'm fine!" she shouted without looking back. "Each kill gives me a bit of health!"

She really wasn't killing quickly enough to keep up with her health dropping. Eli’s expression remained tense. “Don’t you think it’s a bit concerning when your health drops to a third?”

She didn’t stop attacking to answer. Instead, she sent a party message.

Cruella: No, these buffs of yours are pretty great. I was much closer to death before, fighting by myself.

She muttered a curse as a lizardman put her off balance with a heavy blow from what looked like a large wooden mace. A second lizardman drove a spear into her shoulder. Cruella cried out, turning with enough force to yank the weapon from the monster's hand before burying a dagger in its face.

She grunted and fell back, trying to pull the spear free, but couldn't reach. Sasha yanked it out, then re-equipped her bow and fired into the crowd of lizardmen. The enemies closed in from all directions now, and Amy silently ordered Princess to engage. The massive bear charged forward, pushing the lizardmen aside. Suddenly, three lizardmen turned to attack their fellow monsters. Eli realized this was Sasha’s doing. As a Beastmaster, she could apparently take control of monsters. As if that wasn't enough, a golem made out of earth and stone rose from the ground in front of her before plunging into their enemies to wreak havoc. That'd be one of her familiars, Eli guessed.

Even so, more lizardmen came, almost like a swarm of zombies. Eli grew concerned they’d be overrun until Amy pulled out her violin and began playing a surprisingly lively tune. The lizardmen nearest to her turned, swaying to the melody before abruptly losing interest in both the music and the group. Simon, Cruella, and Sasha continued fighting without the creatures even seeming to notice.

Samantha walked up beside Eli. “Quite a party we’ve got here,” she remarked with a grin. “Just missing an actual ravenous Barbarian—or maybe an apothecary rogue?”

Eli chuckled, glancing down at her as he healed Cruella, then Sasha, who’d taken a hit at some point in the battle. “Have you thought about multi-classing?”

“I have,” Samantha replied. “And I decided not to. Not yet, anyway. There are too many unknowns to make a decision now, and the Scholar class is well-rounded. I don’t see the point in wielding a bow, a sword, or even casting other spells when I can already do that. Commander might have been a good idea, but you beat me to it. I’ll wait until our party is lacking something specific.”

At that moment, a trio of large wolves appeared from Amy’s stables. One dove into battle, but the other two hesitated, glancing between Amy and the city as if resisting her orders. One disappeared, and the remaining wolf finally threw itself into the fray.

“Is it difficult to control them?” Eli asked, but Amy couldn’t hear him over the noise of dying lizardmen and her own playing. She swayed as if caught up in her own tune, and as the lizardmen fell, Eli made sure to loot each body he could reach. Most had a single piece of armor, a weapon, and a few copper or silver coins—not exciting loot, but useful for enchantments, if nothing else.

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Nearby, Princess rose on her hind legs, swiping in every direction with jerky but powerful movements, like the bear was becoming enraged. Eli climbed onto a boulder and saw that Amy’s song didn’t reach as far as he’d initially thought. At the edges, more lizardmen were pressing in. Thankfully, more humans had been making their way down the slope as well, taking some of the attention off Eli’s party and allowing them to power through the wave.

Nearly an hour later, Eli’s mana was down to about a third, when the wave of lizardmen finally broke. His party’s health was full, but it hadn’t gone as well for everyone. He noticed three markers indicating where humans had fallen in the fierce battle. He hadn’t even noticed, his focus solely on his own party. Simon’s shoulders heaved, his chest rising and falling as sweat ran down his face. They all sat around, catching their breath, while scattered lizardmen were quickly picked off by other groups around them.

Quite a few people had leveled up, with Simon already reaching level 19. At least their efforts had been worth it.

Eli. Human. Priest of The Dying Light (36) / Commander (2).

Cruella. Human. Artificer (11) / Duelist (11) / Scout (11).

Samantha. Human. Level 29 Scholar of The Dying Light.

Amy. Human. Shepherd (14) / Bard (8).

Sasha. Human. Level 16 Beastmaster.

Simon. Human. Level 19 Crusader of The Dying Light.

Eli conjured water and food for everyone, since he himself was starting to feel pangs of hunger.

The party gratefully accepted, and he ended up conjuring a lot more to give out to people who'd already run out of rations. Yvonne, the affliction mage now turned Priest, had also picked up the same skill and helped feed the large crowd.

Once everyone had recovered, the party decided to continue deeper into the town, leaving most people behind to fight the ever-spawning lizardmen. Monsters followed in their footsteps as well, but Princess made short work of them, with Amy lagging a little behind to keep the bear's health up using her veterinary profession.

Veterinary worked a lot like Eli's healing, only it was a channeled skill, or perhaps spell, and she had to stand closer. It healed a whole lot of health quickly, but only worked on animals.

Sasha was becoming quite proficient with the bow, and the two women together were able to direct the battlefield skillfully, making the lizardmen dance, fight each other, or even kill themselves.

By the time they reached the center of town, Simon had reached level 20 and was showing significant improvement in wielding his sword and shield. The shield was particularly impressive in the hands of a crusader. He wielded it almost as often as a weapon, smashing lizardmen apart or deflecting their attacks with ease.

As they ventured deeper, many different types of lizardmen spawned to face them. The spawns themselves were remarkable to see—lizardmen would climb out of the floor and only become solid once they fully emerged. Archers peppered the party with arrows, and mages conjured fire, cold, and lightning to strike.

Eli observed another perk of having a Crusader in their party as Simon cast a spell, making his shield glow. Arrows and spells both were drawn to it like a magnet catching a hail of metal. Once they struck the metal of his shield, they fell into it somehow, disappearing upon impact.

Earth magic, however, was another matter. Pillars of mud or stone rose from the ground and even from the walls of the buildings, to pound against the group's defenses. These sorts of sneaky attacks did not care about Simon's spell, and everyone was kept on their toes as the ground itself seemed to want to fight them, but Cruella was quick on her feet and found the mages where they hid—often on the second floors of houses overlooking the streets.

Eli healed, buffed, and removed curses as they went, keeping everyone safe. Eventually, they entered a large building, hoping to find information about this strange place. Unfortunately, the buildings were empty of anything but more lizardmen. Here, they encountered enemies clad in armor, wielding proper weapons and shields. Occasionally, they faced a particularly strong opponent, like a towering lizardman with a spiked mace. Each time the mace struck something, a small explosion followed, strong enough even to throw Simon back after a particularly heavy blow on his shield.

Eli raised his staff and cast Light's Seal, immobilizing the monster, which allowed the rest of the group to hack it to pieces.

“Why is this place so empty?” Samantha asked, looking around at the bare walls and floor of what might have been a living room.

“Maybe the lizardmen don’t like furniture,” Simon suggested.

Cruella leaned out of a window, then looked back inside, shaking her head. “These buildings don’t feel very... lizardmen-esque to me. They look like human houses, you know?”

“So, humans lived here at some point,” Samantha noted.

“Probably,” Eli agreed, “or it’s always been like this, just placed here for our convenience.”

Everyone looked at him.

“Well, we don’t know,” he added. “I mean... I don’t get this world, Aryxia. Does it just have dungeons, or is that something meant for us, like the church? Something put us here, and I’m not sure I like how all this works.”

“You don’t have to like it,” Cruella said. “But we do need to finish this dungeon.”

"Why?"

She grinned back at him. "To see what's at the bottom, of course."

“Then what?” Eli asked.

“I don’t know,” Cruella replied. “Find another one?”

“What’s the point?” Eli pressed.

“We have to grow stronger,” Sasha said.

Amy smiled and nodded, the owl perched on her shoulder copying her movement. “We do have to grow stronger. You’ve been the one pushing us, Eli, remember?”

“Not just to grow stronger,” Eli replied. “That’s not a goal in itself, is it? Yes, we need to be strong, but I think it’s more important to find out what this place is... and what it isn’t. Maybe it’s time to go out into the world and find some answers.”

“First, we beat this dungeon,” Cruella said. “Think of the rewards!”

Simon pointed at her and nodded. “I think she’s right. There’s no rush, and I do like the challenge. We’ll find out what’s happening to us and who’s behind it—if there is anyone behind all this.” He looked particularly at Eli and Samantha, as if he suspected that a particular higher power might be responsible. “After all, I want to know what happened back on Earth.”

“Here I’m fighting again, something I thought I'd put behind me,” he continued, “but it’s like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel freer on Aryxia than I ever did back on Earth.”

“I understand what you’re saying,” Eli said. “Fine. We’ll beat the dungeon. Then we can talk about branching out and finding other people. I’ve seen them. When Solomon teleported me away, I saw there are others. Soon, we’ll need to go find them and see if they have a clue as to what the hell is going on with this place.”

"We better get going then," Samantha said.

"Let's go," Eli agreed.