Sound rushed in as he stumbled onto a stone floor. There was no water inside the secret, making the torches burning all over the room sound like something roaring. Myrsvai, Thalgodin, and Suta all appeared right behind Owin.

Thalgodin sniffed loudly. “Cathkabel are here.”

“Let me eat them before they die,” Owin said.

Thalgodin nodded slowly. “I like this one, Myrsvai.”

“He’ll eat a demon too.”

Thalgodin grinned. “A true demon himself then.”

Owin scratched his head. “Well, I’m a goblin.” His hair was still wet, so he shook it out, sending droplets across Suta’s face, who was suddenly standing very close.

“Following,” Suta said.

“Am I leading?” Owin asked.

“None of us are familiar with this fortress, so it won’t matter who leads. If you are willing, you can,” Myrsvai said.

The entrance was in a long, rectangular room. There were doors on every wall, with the exit back to the first floor directly behind them. Ahead was a metal gate that Owin approached. He grabbed the bars and looked out across a vast endless pit. On the opposite end, very far away, was a grand doorway with shining luminous light beyond.

“Won’t luminous also hurt all of you?” Owin asked.

“It will with Suta and Thalgodin. Abyssal magi aren’t demons ourselves.” Myrsvai stood beside Owin and looked into the pit. “Reminds me of the doorways. I wonder if one fell, would they reappear where they were before or would they die?”

“I don’t want to find out.”

“No. Neither do I. Lead on, Owin. Our friends are ready to follow you.”

Thalgodin and Suta had followed Owin to the gate, but remained a few feet back. He watched them for a second before drawing the lich bone knife. “Oh. I can’t use this. It’ll shatter from luminous damage.”

Thalgodin drew one of his three longswords and held it out. “Can you use this?”

Owin swung it a few times. The extra size didn’t make it all that heavy, especially as he had grown used to the Thunderstrike Maul and had used greatswords in the past. It was a narrow blade, but if a demon used it, it had to be strong.

Adept Magical Item

Longsword of Dispel

The Longsword of Dispel causes a neural disruption upon dealing damage to a given entity.

Note: An attack to the brain may cause failure and death of the target

Note: Golems, constructs, specters, and undead are immune to neural disruption

“You don’t need this?” Owin asked.

Thalgodin drew his other two swords, then formed his third hand into a fist. “I will make this work. If Myrsvai unsummons me, the weapon will vanish.”

“So this is temporary?”

Thalgodin nodded.

“Thanks.” Owin tested the weapon a few more times before deciding he could wield it fine.

The doors leading to the left or right of the entrance looked identical. Each was a great gray slab of stone that would need to be forced open. Owin walked left and forced the door open with one hand. It was heavy, but far from too heavy for his strength. The next room beyond looked almost the same as the last, though the stone was a lighter gray and an open door sat on the far end of the right wall. Ten columns lined the room, guiding Owin to the cathkabel standing at the far end.

Ocean Mob

Cathkabel Fortress Guard

Level 8

“I thought all cathkabel had names,” Owin said.

“The lowest levels of demons and cathkabel are mobs like anything else,” Myrsvai said.

“Elysium would not waste its time naming fodder. The Lords do the same. Only those of us who prove ourselves are named,” Thalgodin said.

The cathkabel slouched against the far wall with its head buried in a book. It had the same white, damp looking skin as Graliel with the same oversized silver eyes. It wore a skin tight suit and bulky boots without any obvious weapons on its hips or back.

Owin approached slowly with the party following a few steps behind. A feast of cathkabel would help his wisdom climb higher, but he didn’t want to give the mob room to harm Thalgodin or Suta. Owin stopped just in front of the cathkabel and gently set his longsword on the ground.

The cathkabel looked up from its book. “Can I help you?”

“Aren’t you meant to be guarding the fortress?”

The cathkabel nodded. He blinked and finally took in his surroundings, noticing the two demons and Myrsvai, who had demonic eyes. “Oh.” He dropped the book and reached for something behind his back.

Owin leapt, crashing into the cathkabel with his new speed. The mob’s head smashed against the stone wall from the impact, splattering brains and silver blood.

0 Experience

They crashed onto the floor, spilling more silver blood across the stone. Owin quickly ripped apart pieces of the cathkabel and ate. It took a full arm’s worth before his wisdom bumped up.

Wisdom +15

Wisdom: 129

“That was much worse than I had expected,” Myrsvai said as Owin wiped cathkabel blood from his face.

There was still plenty of cathkabel left to eat, but Owin figured he had spent enough time and it would be good to move on. Thalgodin simply watched, amused, and handed Owin the sword again before they set off.

The next room appeared normal, except for a glowing blue crystal on the far side. It was placed into the wall right beside the door and had small blue lines spreading out through the bricks. It was the same type of crystal he had seen back in the labyrinth.

“It’s powering something,” Owin said.

“Perhaps it is because this is a first floor secret, but . . .” Myrsvai walked through the doorway and used his staff to gesture at the nearest column. A blue line ran down it and disappeared into the floor.

The floor was separated into six tiles across, only interrupted by the massive columns. Not all tiles had a blue line running to them, but each section had at least two. Owin followed the blue lines, finding the two center tiles to be trapped. He hopped right over and easily landed on the next section.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“What do you think it does?” Owin asked.

Myrsvai reached forward with the butt of his staff and pressed on a tile. Luminous fire shot into the air, magically appearing from within the tile. “That wouldn’t have felt good.”

Thalgodin, as tall as he was, effortlessly stepped over the trapped tiles. Suta moved to hop over, then hesitated, looking back at Myrsvai.

“I will catch up once the power is removed,” the magus said.

Suta nodded and jumped, joining Owin and Thalgodin. It wasn’t as big of a room as the others, so Owin moved through quickly, checking the blue lines before jumping. He landed gently each time.

The trapped tiles changed each row from the center to the outside, until the final row where all six tiles were trapped. Owin effortlessly hopped over and looked up at the mana crystal. It was embedded into the wall about six feet up. Before he could jump to grab it, Thalgodin ripped it from the wall and held it out to Owin. Before long, Myrsvai joined them.

“This already feels bigger than any secret I’ve been in before,” Owin said.

Suta peeked into the next room.

“Hey!” someone shouted.

“Punch?”

Owin leaned through the door and saw a cathkabel running. It was another level 8. With how much he had to consume to even get wisdom when they were so weak, it didn’t feel worth the time. “Go ahead.”

Suta sprinted through the door and lunged, catching the cathkabel halfway down the hall. He punched its head clean off and landed in a splatter of silver blood.

“The quest on the second floor involves a cathkabel city. Do you think there is a connection?” Owin asked.

“The gods have their favored mobs. Ruvaine built countless things to the Abyss, and it appears Sloswen focused on the cathkabel and Elysium.” Myrsvai walked into the next room and waved Owin on. “It’s difficult to say what the gods intended, but cathkabel and demons remember things unlike other mobs. I’ve summoned Thalgodin . . . how many times?”

“Eleven.” Thalgodin crushed the cathkabel corpse under his hooves. His footsteps left silver prints down the hall to where Suta was also dripping cathkabel blood.

The next room was a short hallway, no more than twenty feet long. Myrsvai stood in the doorway, leaning on his staff as he examined the room.

“There’s certainly another trap.” He adjusted his stance, causing his prosthetic leg to thump.

Owin peered into the room. “It looks like a plain hall. There isn’t a mana crystal.”

“So far, the rooms have gone cathkabel, trap, cathkabel. What would come next in the pattern?”

“Trap. How do we test it?”

“It would certainly help if we knew what type of trap it held. Different traps have different triggers after all.”

“Scoot aside.” Owin handed his sword back to Thalgodin. He hadn’t even used it yet, but everything was so weak on the first floor that he could just use his hands if he needed to. Still, it was nice to know he had access to a weapon if he needed it.

As soon as Myrsvai stepped aside, Owin walked back, then sprinted and jumped across the entire room. As he soared, spikes shot up from the ground, splashing poison onto the ceiling. Owin passed through the opposite door, hit the ground, skidded, and gently bumped into the wall.

“Spikes,” Owin said.

Myrsvai walked into the room, signaling for the others to follow him. He followed a path beside the spikes. Each trap shot up right beside him, missing by a hair each time. He weaved his way through and nodded to Owin as he entered the next room.

“Your pattern is wrong,” Owin said. The next door was directly beside him, but the room extended the opposite direction. Columns identical to those in previous rooms lined the sides, surrounding a well in the center. A potion sat right on the lip of the well, which felt like an obvious trap. They could easily use the door to the side and enter the next room instead.

“It seems it is,” Myrsvai said. He leaned on the wall and watched the well. “There is something suspicious about that, isn’t there?”

“Yes.” Owin watched the way Myrsvai put his weight on his leg. He relied on his staff for walking more than he had for magic, though he had also used it as a medium for summoning both times Owin had seen it.

“Who is willing to check the potion?” Myrsvai asked.

“What’s wrong with your leg?” Owin asked.

Myrsvai glanced at Owin before nodding to the well. “We have seen luminous fire, spikes, and cathkabel mobs. A trap could contain any or all, so we should be cautious. I believe—”

“I don’t want to keep going if there is something wrong. I see how you’re shifting your weight and you are always behind everyone else.” Owin gestured to the metal leg. “Is it the prosthetic?”

Myrsvai shifted his weight. “I don’t need your pity. Go fetch the bottle.”

“Pity? It’s dangerous for both of us if you can’t walk. If fire shot from the wall right now, would you be fast enough to dodge it or would Suta have to drag your corpse out of the dungeon?” Owin clenched his jaw as soon as he said it.

Suta slumped and took a step closer to Myrsvai.

Myrsvai’s eyes flared as magenta flames spun around the top of his staff. “You little cretin.” His voice was quiet. “Do you think I’m some useless child?”

“We can leave the secret and go straight to the exit. Ernie can fix your leg and we can come right back.” Owin moved toward the door they had just come from, but Myrsvai blocked his way.

“I can climb this dungeon with a single leg.”

“No, you can’t. You know you can’t. You have been through the dungeons more than me and I know that you need to move faster than what you’re doing now. Let’s go before anyone gets hurt.”

Myrsvai used the butt of his staff to push Owin back. There wasn’t much strength behind the move, but Owin still let it force him back a step.

Owin pointed to the well. “Then go grab the potion if everything is fine.”

Myrsvai, as expected, didn’t move. He glared at Owin with his glowing, demonic eyes.

Suta tugged on Myrsvai’s pants, drawing the magus’s attention. “Owin is friend.”

Myrsvai seemed to consider for a moment before the magic faded from his staff. “It’s—”

Suta shook his head slowly and tugged on Myrsvai’s pants again, causing the magus to sigh.

“Something is wrong with my prosthetic. It’s not bending or reacting properly. It will slow me down, though it doesn’t make me less strong. These prosthetics are meant to react how a limb normally would, but mine is old and possibly in disrepair.” Myrsvai continued looking at Suta as he spoke.

“Do you know what’s wrong?” Owin asked.

“A connection must have severed, though I couldn’t guess how. It's an alchemist's creation, and their ways are a mystery to me.” Myrsvai leaned on his leg and tried to move the prosthetic. It bent part way, then locked and stuttered. “Althowin would not allow her apprentices to help me. Despite what you’ve heard, I’m far from famous enough to work with the likes of Althowin or her apprentices.”

“Is there anything we can do to fix it here?” Owin asked.

“No.”

“Then we’re leaving.”

“We are going to finish the secret, then we can decide what we’re doing,” Myrsvai said. “I will not leave, so if you flee, you are on your own. There are options we can work with when we are finished here. Suta, would you like to grab that potion?”

Owin grabbed Suta’s shoulder before the familiar could sprint ahead. “If there are any luminous traps, they could really hurt you. I’ll go.”

Suta nodded.

“I don’t think you’re weak. I wouldn’t have agreed to this if I thought you were. I don’t want my friends to get hurt.”

Myrsvai gave an almost imperceptible nod. Thalgodin leaned on the wall beside Myrsvai and spoke quietly. Owin gave them a look before walking to the well. He hopped onto the ledge and looked into the black depths. It was a health potion, which felt questionable, but Owin snatched it anyway. As soon as the potion moved, the well trembled.

Owin dove off the side and landed just as luminous fire exploded from the center of the well. It hit the ceiling and cascaded across the room. A few points of damage ticked down until Owin joined the others, out of the fire’s range.

“Appreciate the thought,” Myrsvai said. “That could have caused permanent damage to Suta.”

Suta patted Owin’s arm.

“Here.” Owin put the health potion in Myrsvai’s bag. “I already have enough.” Before Myrsvai could reply, Owin strode right into the next room. It was another long hallway with columns running down both sides. As soon as he stepped foot in the room, luminous fire spewed from traps, filling the center of the room. Owin walked back and looked along the wall, behind the columns.

He sidled along the wall slowly, waiting for a trap to spring, but nothing happened. He easily walked between the wall and the row of columns until he reached the door about a hundred feet down.

Myrsvai, Suta, and Thalgodin all stood at the entrance.

“I promise it’s safe,” Owin said.

“I trust the child,” Thalgodin said. He barely fit between the wall and the columns, but that didn’t stop him as he hurried down and stood in the next doorway. “This cathkabel is another weakling. May I?”

“Go ahead,” Owin said. He backed up to watch as Suta and Myrsvai followed the path to join Owin.

Thalgodin walked right down the center of the hall. The cathkabel noticed him immediately and sprinted. It drew a sword from its waist, but before it could swing, Thalgodin’s wings unfolded and beat once, sending the demon straight down the long hallway. His split arm swung the greataxe with such force that it cracked the stone floor after he chopped the cathkabel from head to toe in a single swing.

Owin joined Thalgodin and chewed on a piece of cathkabel while watching the next room. Myrsvai and Suta waited behind, doing their own analysis of the next room. It was another hall with more columns. The only difference from previous rooms were the four doors on the right wall.

“I’ll sprint all the way down. If a trap triggers, I should move fast enough to dodge it,” Owin said. “Then we can check the doors.”

“This strategy has flaws,” Myrsvai said.

“I’m aware.” Owin didn’t wait for another word and sprinted between the columns. Nothing had happened by the time he reached the other wall, so he jogged back. “No traps.”

“It appears so.” Myrsvai walked into the room, hesitated, then approached the first door, just a few feet inside the hallway. “We can check them in order. Be prepared for anything.”