The Acolyte was dead, but the quest was not complete.

Eli and the others rushed to the raised platforms, where Arti sat up, looking around with utter bewilderment plastered across his face.

"What happened? Where am I?" he asked.

Ignoring the questions, the full party of eight gathered around the other two platforms where the man and woman lay. They were far gone in their transformation into lizardmen. At some point, their clothes had torn apart, leaving behind sleek, scaled bodies.

"There’s no telling them apart now," Samantha murmured, even as she glanced at their featureless forms.

The man's eyes were fully blank. With a wheeze, he rolled off the platform and lunged at Cruella.

Cruella gave him a bored but exhausted look and slammed her short sword up through his skull. The lizardman fell dead.

"Please," the other lizardman slurred. Her voice was guttural, but full of fear. The transformation was almost complete, though some humanity lingered in her murky eyes. The woman's arms jerked back and forth, and she bit empty air again and again, holding herself back from attacking.

"I think... her instincts are telling her to attack," Simon whispered.

"Please," she wheezed again. "The others... save the others."

Samantha placed a gentle hand on the woman’s scaled thigh. It took a long moment of ragged breathing and nonsense words before the woman managed to say something coherent. "The stairs... please save them."

What little clarity remained in her eyes disappeared as she let go. The woman’s transformation into a lizardman was complete, and there was nothing they could do but put her out of her misery.

Quest updated: You failed to save these humans, but more remain, waiting to be rescued.

"The fifth floor," Cruella said eagerly, but she was the only one.

Simon and Samantha shook their heads, and the rest followed suit.

"They’ll have to wait. This fight was too close," Simon said.

"I’m exhausted," Samantha agreed.

Eli nodded, barely able to stand. "We have to rest."

"Boring," Cruella muttered.

"Hello!" Arti interrupted, exasperated. "Is anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

They all turned to him.

"What are you doing here, Arti?" Eli asked the goblin.

"I don’t know," Arti replied. "I was in a cart heading back to make sure I could listen in on you and the council, but the line broke down. Before I even had time to jump out and take a look, the place was swarming with monsters!"

"Is that how you got here?" Eli asked. "You were taken?"

Arti looked around at the many corpses surrounding them and nodded slowly. "I think so. I was taking a more direct route to get back quicker. It goes deeper, but it should be leagues away from here. I’m assuming this is the dungeon?"

"It is," James confirmed. "Fourth floor."

"Well... thanks for rescuing me. Not sure what they were trying to do here," Arti said.

Dana nodded to the two now dead lizardmen who'd once been human. "Isn't that obvious?"

"But I'm still me."

"Maybe they haven't figured out how to make small lizardmen yet?" Dana suggested.

Arti glared at her. "Very funny. Well, I’m just happy not to be one of those drooling, scaled bastards. Can you imagine?"

Eli noticed a curse by Arti’s health bar and cast Cleanse to get rid of it.

Arti’s eyes shot to him. "What was that for?"

"The debuff," Eli explained. "The same one I saw at the hospital. Why were a bunch of miners afflicted by the same curse as you?"

"Maybe they were attacked as well," Arti suggested. "In the railways, I mean."

"Maybe," Eli said, though Arti didn’t sound very confident.

"Have you guys seen the stairs down to the fifth floor?" James asked.

They all shook their heads.

"They’re usually near the boss, aren’t they?" Eli asked. "I hope this was this floor's boss."

"Next time we go down here, we should be eight people," Samantha said. "Not six. No less than a full party."

"What, are you scared?" Cruella teased.

"Concerned," Simon corrected. "Many of us came close to dying today, Cruella. You most of all. We should ask Sasha and Amy to join us."

Eli nodded and was about to cast Warp. Before he began, he frowned.

"Arti, I can’t teleport you out with us. Are you able to get out of here on your own?"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"What? No way. I’m not a fighter—more of a lover, really. There are tons of monsters. Or... did you kill everything here?"

"Everything respawns," Samantha said. "Except the bosses."

Cruella held up a finger in protest. "The boss on the second floor respawns."

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances, wondering if the Acolyte would respawn as well. Eli had a sense that it wouldn’t, but there was no way to be certain.

"We’ll have to help him," Eli said, all eyes turning to the unusually small goblin. Arti gave them a wide, nervous smile.

After resting briefly and looting the corpses, including the Acolyte, they left the room. They found nothing particularly amazing. James and Simon divided some heavy armor parts, and Dana got a cloak from the Acolyte that gave her a little magic protection. The rest of the loot was dumped on Eli and Cruella for runecrafting and enchantments.

The way back was controlled chaos. The group killed roaming clusters of monsters easily enough, but the fights kept pulling in more. They killed and moved, killed and moved, until they reached the stairs to the third floor. Avoiding the houses, wary of another goliath encounter, they continued toward the long slope. Though they didn’t face cursed lizardmen here, plenty of normal ones swarmed them. It was a weary group that made it up the slope to the grinding parties.

They relayed what they’d learned about the fourth floor and the looming threat on the fifth, and the others promised to spread the information and the need to push deeper. Everyone would need to pitch in if they were to rescue the kidnapped humans before it was too late.

Back at the surface, after saying goodbye to Arti, the larger group discussed strategies. New healers had joined the cause, bolstering their chances for the battles ahead. They’d need every hand to save the kidnapped humans and conquer the dungeon.

“Let’s get some rest,” Eli said, looking around and noting that the goblin merchants were gone from the bottom floor. “I’m going to check in on Solomon. Why don’t you spread the word that we will need everyone we can gather to push to the fourth floor and then beyond to the fifth once we head back?”

“Do you think people are ready for it?” Simon asked.

“They’re going to have to be,” Samantha said. “If we work together, it should be a breeze.”

“You two staying in the party?” Simon asked, looking at James and Dana.

They looked at each other and nodded.

“I’m going to go check in on the goblins after Solomon,” Eli said, looking outside. It was difficult to tell the time of day it, but it was still bright and sunny. Night wouldn't arrive just yet.

“The goblins?” James asked.

“Arti said he was taken from the rail tracks. And I’ve seen that curse before. I’m worried the goblins might be in trouble.”

“It’s not your job to save them, you know?” Samantha said.

Eli frowned. “Why wouldn’t we help them if we can?”

Samantha shrugged. “Just saying. The whole world isn’t on your shoulders.”

“I know that. I’m just trying to make the best of the situation.”

Eli was about to head down the stairs when he noticed something very strange. “Hey, the lights are on."

Everyone looked around.

Cruella waved from over by the elevators. "These are working too!"

She pressed a button, and the doors dinged open.

“How do we suddenly have electricity?” James asked.

“I think I know,” Eli said. “I’m going down to Solomon. See you later.”

Rather than risk taking the elevator and getting stuck just for one floor, Eli opted to use the stairs. It was a different set of stairs from the main stairwell, and he made his way down before knocking on the metal door leading to the basement. It opened almost immediately.

A young woman peeked out. “Who are you then?”

“I’m Eli,” he said. “Who are you?”

"Linnie."

Linnie. Human. Level 19 Technologist.

“I’m here to see Solomon," Eli said.

“One moment,” she said and disappeared.

A few seconds later, the door opened wider. The basement was larger than expected and extended well beyond the exterior of the building. It was apparent that underground passages had once been part of it. Now those were caved in with mounds of earth and dirt. The whole place was filled with gadgets, workbenches, tools, and a whole lot more.

Linnie and three other were gathered around the work table, with Solomon standing on top of it, barking orders until Eli entered.

“What’s going on here?” Eli asked. “Who are these people? Were you the one to fix the electricity?”

Jeff. Human. Level 14 Shaper.

Michelle. Human. Level 16 Shaper.

Atharv. Human. Level 12 Mechwright.

“People keep using that word like catching lightning from the sky is such a simple thing,” Solomon muttered.

“It was a simple enough task to introduce an alternate source of power,” he continued, gesturing to the corner where an old fuse cabinet stood open with a device next to it, pulsing with light from a glow stone, running on mana.

“You should've seen him," Jeff said. "Mana really is amazing."

“The humans weren’t exactly welcoming me with open arms, so I figured a gesture of goodwill was in order.” Solomon nodded to the humans around the workbench. “Got me my first disciples.”

Eli walked up to the workbench and saw the four people working on something, each contraption having a small mana stone inserted into it. He spoke in a low voice, “You know what that guy has done, right?”

"He told us," Michelle said, her voice low.

"And we're leveling up a lot," Linnie added.

Atharv didn't look away from whatever he was fiddling with. "Maybe we can help bring those poor goblins back."

“What happened to going back to the goblin' city to learn from them there?” Eli asked. "I'm assuming you're the tinkers Arti spoke of?"

“A few went,” Jeff confirmed. “We figured it’s better to learn from the best.”

“Well, that’s good then,” Eli said. “Just keep your eyes open.”

“Gee, I wonder what you’re talking about?” Solomon said, from back in the corner.

“I’m just warning them about you,” Eli said. “Did you remove the traps? Like I told you?”

“The traps have been rendered harmless.”

“Good.” Eli was about to leave when he thought of something. “Hey Solomon, do you know anything about goblins getting cursed and your rail carts being attacked?”

“Cursed?” Solomon asked.

“Miners.”

Solomon shook his head, but then made a slight nod and shrugged. “The reason that location was chosen for Glimmer Bastion so long ago wasn’t only because we wanted away from humans. The ground is rich in highly sought-after minerals, used among other things in mana crystals. We’ve been digging for a long, long time, gone deeper to find more. I’ve been there myself, working myself ragged as I use extracting minerals to use in my research. I've never seen anyone afflicted by a curse.”

“What would you say if I told you last time I visited the hospital in Glimmer Bastion, at least 20 goblins were afflicted?” Eli asked.

“I would say the goblins should be more cautious. Sounds like they are digging in a direction they should stay away from,” Solomon said.

"And what of Arti being taken by lizardmen?"

“Lizardmen?” Solomon raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know much about lizardmen. Monsters don't interest me."

"Have you seen them before?” Eli asked.

“They are a common type of monster, even for those of us who haven’t ventured far away from home. Since they are small, skinny little things with very limited intelligence, they are usually easy to handle, especially when they are alone.”

“Small and skinny?” Eli asked. “I think you are talking about lizardlings. Lizardmen are as tall as a human and more muscular than most.”

Solomon made a dismissive gesture. “Lizard-man, lizard-ling. Who can keep track?”

“Well, thank you. Sounds like you’ve done good here. Keep it up and we won’t have any problems. Maybe you should disable your devices throughout the building tomorrow as another gesture of goodwill,” Eli said.

“I don’t think so,” Solomon said, smiling weakly. “I only just arrived here.”

Eli waved goodbye to the Tinkers and gave Solomon a nod before casting Warp. He needed to check on Glimmer Bastion. Now, at least, he knew the name of the goblin town.