“Bullshit was right,” Ernie said.

What had first looked like an ordinary cellar from above turned out to be a domed ruin of . . . something. Owin scouted the wall, running his free hand along the old, overgrown bricks. Something slimy coated the mortar and peeled off with even the gentlest touch.

“This is significantly less funny,” Katalin said.

“There will be a secret door or something. I’ve seen a thing like this before. One brick pushed inward when stepped on and a trap shot fire at me.” Owin stopped his pacing, positioning himself opposite of the ladder, and pressed on a brick.

Nothing happened.

“That makes sense for a trap, but not a secret door,” Ernie said. “I would think it would be hidden better than that. Usually a secret door will have some thought put into them to keep out whoever the door is hidden from. What use is a hidden door that can be found with such normal means?”

A brick gave under the pressure of Owin’s fingers. It grinded against the others, causing the whole dome to shake as a section of the wall rattled and shifted up, disappearing into the upper dome.

“Okay. Lesson learned,” Ernie said. “I don’t know anything.”

Beyond was a dim hallway, only lit by glowing green fungus growing through the sand along the bottom of the brick walls. Katalin rushed past Owin and fell to her knees, plucking a mushroom from the floor. It stirred sand into the air, obscuring the rest of the hallway.

“What is it?” Ernie asked.

The mushroom lost some of its glow when it was plucked. Katalin smiled with it near her face, casting the soft green glow over her eyes. “Mycena Glorophosa.”

“Green Death?” Ernie asked.

Owin took a step away from the hallway of glowing mushrooms.

“It might not be on our list, but Althowin would be grateful.” Katalin placed the mushroom into her bag and went about harvesting the rest.

“Why is it called Green Death?” Owin asked.

“It’s a primary ingredient in a potent poison that assassins favor. It acts a lot like umbra toxin. Eating it by itself wouldn’t kill you—”

“Yes it would,” Katalin said loudly. Her voice echoed through the small hallway. “Please don’t eat the mushrooms.”

Ernie shrugged. “Can’t be right about everything.”

“Aren’t you an alchemist?” Owin tried to look past Katalin to see what was at the other end of the hallway, but it was too dark to see anything, especially as the light faded as the mushrooms were picked. The sand slowly settled, finally revealing a small light like a pinprick on the opposite end.

“We have specialties. Besides, what do you know? You’re a wizard who can’t even use magic.”

Owin grabbed the Bolt wand from his belt.

Ernie pointed. “Don’t.”

“Aren’t you a little curious?” Owin asked.

“No. You’ll shock yourself, and I have no interest in carrying you around. You’re working for us, remember?”

Owin grinned and put the wand away. “I would use more spells if I had them. Bolt is useless down here.”

“I’ll give you credit. Your use of Smoke Cloud against Amkati was clever.”

The last glowing mushroom disappeared inside the hall, snuffing out the last of the lights.

“Kat?” Ernie asked.

“This bag really does hide my shit, huh? Are you two coming or are you going to sit there and argue about magic?”

Ernie gestured into the hall. “Escort leads the way.”

“Yeah, I know.” Owin slipped Naxile’s knife from his belt and held it in a reverse grip. Without being able to see an enemy coming, he would need to react quickly. Last time he had tried fighting in close quarters with the hammer, it had gone poorly. Next time, he would leave the Thunderstrike Maul back in Artivan’s room.

Katalin patted his head as he passed, taking the opportunity to lead. The little pinprick of light remained small as the hallway also narrowed. Before long, Owin’s hair brushed the top, and after a few more steps, his ears scraped along the walls.

“This can’t be the end,” Ernie said.

Owin shoved his hand against the hole, causing a door to swing open. Blinding light in the next room forced him to cover his eyes as he rushed through. Ernie and Katalin stumbled in after, both holding their own versions of bombs.

Owin opened his eyes, still squinting, and took in the city before him. “Is this still the second floor?”

“We never got a notification we moved floors,” Ernie said.

“This has been here the whole time?” Katalin shielded her eyes and scanned the horizon.

A city of gold lay before them under a giant dome made from the same bricks as the last room. The buildings were thin and open, like clusters of columns stacked together, rising to a narrow point just under the top of the dome.

Everything was golden.

A narrow bridge led from the small doorway across a moat to the edge of the city, and right at the end of the bridge stood the girhuma in a mask. Or the cetanthro in a mask. Owin still wasn’t sure what he had been chasing.

“Is that what you saw?” Ernie asked.

“Yeah.”

The creature ripped off the mask, revealing a stumpy fish face with wide eyes that almost popped out of its head. Gills opened wide on its neck and a dorsal fin stood tall on its head, no longer compressed by the mask.

“Fools,” the fish said. “You have chased me to our holy city, Ligala Lepis.”

“The fish have a holy city?” Katalin asked. “Why?”

“You have walked into your doom!” The fish laughed, which was one of the most disgusting noises Owin had ever heard. “Our lord will rip you to shreds!”

“To shreds?” Owin asked.

“To shreds,” the fish repeated.

Owin dropped the hammer and pushed off the sand at his feet. He flew straight over the short bridge and caught the fish on the face. Its slimy skin threatened to slip out from under his fingers, but he gripped tightly.

“Bolt.”

The fish’s eyes bulged as electricity ran through its head, frying the small brain inside. The cetanthro’s eyes popped, causing a stream of bubbles to rush from the skull. Owin drifted through the water, landing gently on the sand.

Mana Refreshed

Band of Power 1 - 0/1 Charges Remaining

“That was brutal,” Katalin said. “I like him.”

“Risky, but impressive,” Ernie said. “I guess Bolt works if you’re touching them. I’ve never seen it used that way.”

Quest Updated

Imposter of the Sea

Legend of Ligala Lepis

Reward: A deal from Arimeda

Note: Check the Journal for more information

“Did you get the quest update?” Owin asked.

“Yeah.” Ernie’s index was in front of his eyes. “It wants us to uncover the secrets of Ligala Lepis. It mentions the city’s lord . . . I have no idea who it is. The journal doesn’t say.”

“The quest on the second floor of the Great Forest had a Lord of the Abyss,” Owin said. “It was a demon. Eating its flesh gave me more strength.”

“Uh.” Katalin scratched her head. She put the pipe bomb in her pocket, picked up the Thunderstrike Maul with effort, and hauled it across the bridge where she dropped it at Owin’s feet. “Anyone ever tell you not to just eat things?”

“Artivan told me to stop after I ate an ocular heart.”

Katalin chuckled. “Who sees a glass orb and decides to eat it?”

“I see where you’re going with that, but this place isn’t demonic at all,” Ernie said.

Nosolus had a grand cathedral with undead all over. His whole cult was a demonic group focused on the abyss. It felt different than the gleaming golden city that towered above them.

“Well, what’s the opposite of the abyss?”

“Elysium.” Ernie sighed. “If a cathkabel is up there, we don’t want to fight it. We don’t even have anything abyssal to use.”

“We should’ve kept Suta with us,” Owin said.

“That little bastard would’ve punched the Void Nexus hero in the crotch before we even made it to the dungeon. Look, the reward is a deal from a merchant. No deal is going to make this diversion worth it. The amount of time it’ll take to climb the city, fight the boss, and make it back down will put us so far behind that Althowin might appear in the dungeon just to rip our heads from our bodies.”

“Aren’t you a little curious?” Katalin asked.

“I’ve learned to ignore my curiosity. Nothing good is going to come out of fighting a cathkabel. Althowin has been telling us for years to focus on one thing at a time, and my focus is getting our job done. What’s your focus, Kat?”

She stared at the very top of the golden city. “I’ve never seen a cathkabel.”

“I don’t even know what a cathkabel is,” Owin said.

Ernie sighed. “I’m losing this one, aren’t I?”

“We’re only on the second floor. The boss can’t be stronger than the Malignant Spirit, right?” Owin tried to imagine what a cathkabel looked like. A demon had horns, fangs, and wings. But he also saw several types of demons, even including the weird bug-like form of Suta. So, what would the opposite look like?

“I bet we can make it to the top and back in an hour,” Katalin said.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Owin set the Thunderstrike Maul right beside the bridge. “Ready?”

“What happened to you being the smart one, Kat?” Ernie asked.

She shrugged. “I’m having fun.”

Ernie gestured toward the golden city. “Following you, Owin.”

Owin set off at a quick pace, just fast enough to make Ernie and Katalin put some effort into staying up. Their dexterity scores were plenty high to keep up with Owin, but without the heavy hammer, he felt like he could move so quickly through the water.

Beyond the bridge, the ground became perfectly organized quartz tiles with a gold inlay. The city was formed entirely of columns and arches made from what appeared to be pure gold. The entryway to Ligala Lepis was formed out of a series of random archways, not forming any specific building.

“This doesn’t even look like a city,” Owin said. “Where are the doors?”

“A city doesn’t have to have doors.” Ernie ran his hand through his curly hair. It moved so little in the water compared to Katalin’s whose hair floated behind her all the time.

“I’m pretty sure all cities have doors.” Owin checked around each column, expecting to see some fish person, but the entryway was clear. “Does anyone live here?”

“What would live in a cathkabel holy city?” Katalin asked.

“Actually, it said it’s a cetanthro holy city.” Ernie’s index flashed in front of his eyes again. “So, I would assume some fish live here.”

They passed through the entryway and into the middle of the city. A checkerboard floor of gold and white acted as the central hall with a golden staircase leading up to the next floor and four doorways leading to the other districts of Ligala Lepis.

Owin pointed to the stairs. “Up?”

“I know you both want to explore, but you promised this would be fast. The lord of the city is going to be at the top, I’m sure,” Ernie said.

Katalin put her arm over Ernie’s shoulder. “Loosen up. Think how much more fun we’re having with Owin than we did with the Bull.”

“Fun doesn’t get the job done. If we’re going to become masters, we need to do our jobs on time.”

Katalin shook Ernie gently. “Loosen up.”

He sighed. “Fine. But can we still work on going up? There’s nothing wrong with doing a quest quickly.”

Owin jumped over to the stairs, gliding through the water. He landed about a quarter of the way up. “If demonic flesh gives a strength buff, what does cathkabel flesh give?”

“Wisdom,” Katalin said.

While Owin would have preferred more demon flesh, he wouldn’t complain about raising one of his lowest attributes. From what he had seen, few people had high intelligence and wisdom, so he wasn’t sure if raising it would really help him.

“Will these knives be good for a cathkabel?” Owin held out Naxile’s knife.

“It’s just iron, isn’t it?” Ernie asked.

“This one is stone,” Owin said, grabbing his old jagged knife. “I also have a bone knife made from a lich’s bone too, but it says it will shatter against luminous damage.”

“Keep the lich knife away. Even the cetanthro in the city might do luminous damage.” Ernie nudged Katalin. “Right?”

“I don’t know.”

Owin hopped up the last steps and bumped right into an armored leg. A blade passed right over his head, chopping off a bit of hair that hung in the water. Katalin grabbed Owin’s shirt and yanked him backward just as another swing chopped into the golden stairs.

Ocean Mob

Serranid Guardian

Level 15

Owin didn’t realize fish could wear armor. Or even if it really was a fish.

The serranid guardian had a fully fish face with a huge mouth and bulging eyes. Its head stuck out like the cetanthro had terrible posture. The rest of the mob looked more ordinary with ornate golden plate armor and the pike it held in what passed as hands. They still looked like fins, but with digits that gripped the polearm. A small golden helmet sat atop its head, forming around its bulging eyes.

“Is that a cetanthro?” Owin asked.

“Yeah, no shit,” Katalin said.

“How do I beat it?”

“They’re weak to lightning, obviously. I think you figured that out earlier,” Ernie said. He was a few steps down from Katalin.

The serranid lifted its pike. “Heretics.”

Katalin pushed Owin forward. “Good luck.”

A polearm gave the huge creature even more range on Owin. It was already well over six feet tall, more than twice as tall as Owin, and the weapon was huge. Even one more step up, he would be within range.

Owin faked a step, waiting for the cetanthro to attack. The serranid guardian watched with the pike raised.

If it wasn’t going to fall for such an obvious feint, Owin would need to do something else. He thrust out his hand and cast Smoke Cloud. The dark cloud spread out through the water just as easily as it did in the air, filling the staircase and passing the cetanthro. Owin dashed up the side of the stairs, sliding past the fish’s foot, and pounced from behind.

The pike shaft jabbed into his stomach, shoving him right back into the ground.

“Cover your ears,” Ernie said.

A red bottle flew from the smoke, spinning through the air. Owin dropped to the ground and flattened his ears against his head. The bottle moved slower through the water than it would have on the surface, allowing the cetanthro to swipe at it, cutting the glass in half with the pike.

As soon as glass broke, the chemicals inside collapsed inward, forming a tiny black dot that hovered for a second. Owin looked up, keeping his ears covered. The black dot quivered before exploding out, sending a shockwave that decimated the cetanthro. Owin felt the explosion in his skull, reverberating through his skeleton. If he hadn’t had his ears covered, the sound would have been too much to handle.

A headless mob remained with a cloud of pulverized brains above. Even the golden helmet was gone.

“What was that?” Owin asked, popping right back to his feet. He canceled Smoke Cloud, clearing the area.

“My percussion grenade.” Ernie pulled another red bottle from his bag. “Secret recipe.”

“Do I get to use a pipe bomb next?” Katalin asked. She almost always had an iron pipe in her hand, as if she was always ready to throw it.

“That would kill us all,” Ernie said.

Owin pushed the headless corpse over. It slowly drifted to the ground, dropping an emerald as it bounced off the golden tiles. Owin tossed it to Ernie. “Your kill.”

He caught it in the water and brushed some blood from the green surface. “Fine with me.” He slipped it into his pocket. “You might need to find a way to use that wand of yours after all.”

“I know what to do.” Owin held Naxile’s knife in one hand and the Bolt wand in the other. Both weapons had come from the second floor of the Great Forest. It was only fitting to use both on the second floor of the Ocean.

Two more cetanthro guardians waited above, blocking doorways leading to the other districts of Ligala Lepis. It was difficult for Owin to tell if they were looking at him or not with the way their eyes stuck out to the side.

“Come on. Let me throw it.” Katalin inched toward the top of the stairs with the pipe bomb in her hand. She wiggled her eyebrows, but Ernie pushed her hand down.

“If we really need it, use it.”

“Fine.” Katalin nodded to Owin. “Go kill them. I want to see you handle both.”

Ernie leaned on the railing. “It’s your job, after all.”

Owin could handle two level 15s. He had fought worse. The area between districts was like a wide hallway, placing the cetanthro guardians on opposite ends. They both shifted their stances, readying their pikes, as soon as Owin fully stepped past their dead comrade.

Instincts deep down called to Owin, calling for him to sprint and leap. He could get behind the fish and drive the knife into their spine without much difficulty . . . if they were on the surface. Under the water, he would be moving so much slower that the fish would have time to react and attack while he drifted in the water. Even if Owin did manage to jump past a cetanthro, there was only a miniscule chance he would land in a position to leap again, rather than hitting his head or slipping on to his butt.

If Artivan was with him, there wouldn’t be a moment of hesitation. The old man would have told Owin exactly what he needed to do. When had Artivan ever been wrong? He always knew how to solve every problem and how to get out of every situation.

Without him, Owin would have died on the third floor of the Great Forest. Without Artivan, Owin wouldn’t have ever seen the world outside the dungeons. He squeezed his hand around Naxile’s knife.

Void Nexus would suffer for the life they took.

Owin walked right up to the cetanthro guardian, who immediately swung the pike at Owin’s head. He parried it with his knife, forcing the polearm aside with his superior strength. A small jump brought him right to the fish’s face where he drove the knife right between its eyes.

0 Experience

He landed softly as the heavy fish corpse crashed onto the golden tiles. The other cetanthro guardian lumbered toward him. Owin clenched his jaw. He had been pushing the thoughts of Artivan aside the best he could. What good did it do thinking about a dead man?

The cetanthro swung its pike down, just like the last. Owin ducked inside its blade and swung, chopping through the shaft with Naxile’s knife. Wood splintered and floated in the water.

Back on the second floor of the Great Forest, he had cut Kidibose’s heart out with the same curved knife he now used to kill fish. His stomach had hurt while he carved her heart from her chest. It hurt worse when Rattis and the satyr umbra died while helping Owin stop the Malignant Spirit.

What had they died for? Why did they suffer?

The Malignant Spirit was a mob, just like any other. It would respawn without memories and it would consume Nosolus again. The same thing would happen, again and again. Forever. And everyone would continue suffering.

Humans couldn’t do that. They remembered every moment of their suffering until they died. Artivan remembered the moments that nearly killed him in his first dungeon, and he remembered every trial he had been through up until he stopped Nikoletta from killing Owin.

And what did Owin give back to him?

Death.

The cetanthro guardian, now without a weapon, punched at Owin. Owin punched back, shattering the bones in the fish man’s hand. Owin grabbed the broken fingers and yanked the giant fish down.

The cetanthro was far too weak to fight Owin’s strength. He crashed onto the tiles and squirmed as Owin squeezed the broken hand, crunching the pieces of bones together.

Akos Szabora was another Void Nexus scum. Scum that wouldn’t be far behind now that Owin had brought them on such a long detour.

Ernie drew a knife and ran it through the cetanthro’s head, killing the mob. It went limp in Owin’s grip.

“Are you okay?” Ernie asked.

Owin nodded.

Katalin put her hand on top of Owin’s head. “It’s okay.”

Owin let the broken hand go. He hadn’t realized how long he had been torturing the cetanthro mob. Ernie looked at him uncertainly as Katalin used her hand on his head to guide him toward the district opposite of the stairs.

“Getting in your head?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“What about?”

“Artivan.”

Katalin gently shoved him through the archway into a massive garden. The walls were all more archways, showing the brick dome surrounding the whole city. Some mobs wandered in the garden like patrol routes, specifically avoiding a few plants that moved and snapped jaws at the guards.

“Something people don’t talk much about in Vekuborg is grief. Maybe it’s not just Vekuborg.” She pointed to a nearby clump of moss that grew in a little tank. “Look, itch moss.”

“Does it make you itch?”

Katalin pressed her hand harder against Owin’s head. “Verdantallis is full of loss. Countless people die in the dungeons every day. It’s such a normal part of our lives that some people don’t really know how to handle it.” Katalin bent down closer to Owin’s ear. “I’m one of those people,” she whispered.

“I’m fine,” Owin said.

“You just crushed a cetanthro’s hand for a full minute while it begged you to stop, and you didn’t even notice. That’s not fine. Look, we knew Artivan. Ernie and I hired him many times. He was a good guy. A great one, even. What did he want for you? A normal life?”

“He wanted me to show the world how strong I am.”

“What’s that mean to you?” Katalin guided Owin out of the garden, back toward the stairs. Ernie remained by the cetanthro corpse. His index was up, either to look busy as he listened to them or to actually look at some information.

“I’m going to kill Void Nexus.”

“No,” Ernie said, suddenly rushing over. “We talked about this. Your issue is with a few members, not the whole company. You can’t fight all of Void Nexus, and you wouldn’t even want to.”

“Even Chorsay doesn’t like Void Nexus,” Owin said.

“That’s because Chorsay used to work for Void Nexus! Let him worry about his own issues.” Ernie sighed. “Chorsay told you he would help you get stronger. A strong fighter is focused on the fight in front of them. Even if you were going to fight Void Nexus, you’re barely strong enough to fight their newest recruits. Veph is a Shard Carrier and would crush you before you even know what happened. You would be disintegrated in an instant.”

“He’s right,” Katalin said, patting Owin on the head.

“We have a job we need done. We need you to focus,” Ernie said. “Use this job as a chance to get stronger like Chorsay wants.”

“I can do it,” Owin said. “I can kill Void Nexus.”

“I’ll believe it once you have your own shard. For now, let’s worry about killing a cathkabel, because I have no idea how they fight. Does this work for all of us? Are we going to actually listen so we can make our deadline?” Ernie asked.

Katalin punched Ernie in the arm. “Lighten up.”

“Let’s go up,” Owin said. “I want to eat the cathkabel.”

“No, you don’t. Stop eating things.” Katalin kept her hand planted right on Owin’s head, smashing his tall hair down. “Something will poison you if you keep just eating everything.”

“He did survive eating demon flesh,” Ernie said.

“I would eat more.” Owin checked through the archways until he found another staircase leading up. It was at the far end of a long room full of statues.

Katalin pushed down on Owin’s head, stopping him from marching in. “That’s a bad sign.”

“That’s a temple,” Ernie said.

Statues lined both walls. Some were as big as the serranid guardians, others were little busts on top of columns. All the statues, no matter the size, were of the same creature with massive eyes and a seaweed crown.

“Trespasser,” a fish said near the staircase. It started toward them.

Ocean Mob

Serranid Temple Guard

Level 17

Ernie pushed Owin aside and tossed another red bottle into the room. Katalin pressed Owin against the wall as a shockwave burst through the archway, followed by a stream of bubbles.

Owin peeked around the corner. Most of the statues were destroyed, leaving golden debris floating throughout the room, mixing in with the cloud of blood.

“How high of a level can your bombs kill?” Owin asked.

“The shockwaves are bigger underwater. That’s why we don’t want Kat to use her pipe. On the surface, this can kill maybe a level 25 in one hit. Down here, I don’t know.”

“Couldn’t you just get to the fourth floor on your own with those?”

“Technically, yes. But if someone got too close or we got swarmed, we would die,” Ernie said.

“Alchemists have a high constitution, but we have no protection against weapons,” Katalin said. “We can get torn apart quickly, and most cetanthro will swarm.”

“Most,” Ernie repeated. “These guardians are idiots.”

“Maybe the lord of Ligala Lepis is also an idiot,” Owin said.