The next morning we woke and went about camp chores. As I was off relieving myself I got an itch of desire. I looked down at my little buddy. He was mimicking my pose, but his anatomy wasn’t changed enough to be relieving himself in the same way. He just had taken to the habit of following me around and mimicking my movements.

I had asked him why, and all he said was market research. Whatever that meant.

“Hey, Pest.” I said to get his attention. “Do you feel that?”

“I’d rather not.” He said simply.

“No, not this,” I said as I stowed my tackle and tied off my belt. Little pervert.

“What?” he asked.

“That.” I said as I gestured in a vague direction ahead of myself. He squinted off into the distance and made a thoughtful pose. Something he must have seen someone in the group doing, his little hand on his chin.

“Treasure?” he asked quietly.

“Yep.” I grinned and nodded. “Let’s tell the others.”

I let the others know that I had a hint of something, and we headed in that direction after we broke camp. It wasn’t a fun walk, mud and soft ground making our footing treacherous. We had to zig and zag along small bars of solid earth between the stagnant pools of shallow water.

The tingle of loot-lust led me to a small stand of shrubbery that clung to a boulder.

“There is something here,” I said and started to beat back the shrubbery.

Halloway helped me with the stubborn plants, and we tore them away from the stone below. We found worked bricks underneath it, forming a square like the base of a small tower. It was only a few bricks high and in their center was a rotting wooden hatch.

“Good job.” Ryan praised me. I think it was the first positive thing I have ever heard from him. “Now get out of my way.”

He instantly ruined it. He pushed his way between Halloway and I and grabbed a large metal ring that was on the hatch. It crackled and squealed as he pulled on it. Rust and dirt flaking off of it. A new sort of notification flashed up for me.

[Party: Do you wish to enter this dungeon?]

[Requirement: Party Minimum: 5]

[Y/N]

I definitely didn’t get asked anything like that when I broke into the back of the last dungeon.

I hit N.

“God damnit, who said no?” Ryan grumbled.

I looked around innocently.

“I did.” I said. “Sorry, it’s a habit.”

“Don’t do it again.” He grumbled again and tugged on the door handle again. The notification came up again and this time I hit Y.

The hatch pulled open easily and below it was a dark and damp stone stairway leading into a tunnel below.

“Alright,” Ryan said. “Regular formation. Drop our travel gear here and then head in.”

I blinked and nodded. Seemed like a poor choice to open the door first. What if something had rushed out, and here we were still in travel mode. Grabbing my hatchet would be quick, but Ryan pulling his sword off his back with a pack covering it was a whole ordeal, and Halloway had his shield stowed as well.

It made me wonder just how experienced Ryan was with all this. What sort of life did he lead before coming here? It isn’t like he shared. He didn’t have the bearing of ex-military or anything like that. He was just bossy, arrogant, and hostile. Like someone who was used to getting his way and stepping on others to get it done. Maybe born rich or some sort of big fish in a small pond. I just shook my head as I let down my rucksack and made sure Pest was ready to go.

We didn’t take long to form up in the positioning we had discussed on the trail. I had my bow but wasn’t sure what use it would be in an enclosed space like we were heading into. I felt nervous about shooting my comrades. Well, some of them.

Halloway went in first, leading with his shield. Ryan was soon after him, holding his big sword and flexing his oversized muscles. Good luck swinging that giant pig sticker in there, I thought to myself. Dark was reluctant but followed, he had his spear. It wasn’t something that would be great in the enclosed space either, but he could stab straight around Halloway’s shield to skewer anything that might cause problems.

Mave followed with her light ball already shining. She had said another unintelligible Word and the small globe of glass lit up brightly. It was like a fancy camping lantern and could switch from indirect glow to spotlight at her will. I followed behind her. Pest beside me.

The doorway wasn’t very large, like an exterior door to a basement. A few feet wide and tall. The stone steps were wet but moss that grew on them provided enough traction that we didn’t slip. The stone made a square tunnel that widened enough for us to walk side by side comfortably and even Ryan was able to stand tall without rubbing his head on the ceiling.

Mave’s light revealed that we were in a corridor with a slight slope downward, if my bearings were correct. We paused for a moment at the base of the stairs and Halloway set himself. He looked around cautiously and started forward slowly. The corridor, like the entrance above, was crafted from stone bricks. They were worn and had moss and water infiltrating it in portions as it reached out.

For a moment I considered asking Pest to do some scouting for traps, but as I was trying to figure out how to explain traps to him, the option became moot. We had made it a few steps into the corridor before an ear-piercing shriek assaulted us. Halloway hunkered down behind his shield as the others tensed up. Pest went down into his ferret battle stance and Mave shone her light down the corridor in a spotlight.

The corridor ended shortly ahead and branched off to the left and right. We all stood tensed and ready for action as the shriek whistled out again, only the sounds of our heavy breathing remaining, not even a stream of water going down the edge of the corridor trickling.

“What the hell was that?” I asked quietly.

“Shut the fuck up!” Ryan snapped and the group winced again. His large muscular back was bunched and tense as he gripped his over-sized sword. What a lovely target for my hatchet it made. My murderous thoughts were cut short as a scrabbling noise echoed down the corridor.

Like a pack of exuberant dogs running to greet their owner at the door, a frantic clawing and tussling could be heard. As I peered through the frontline of the party I saw it wasn’t happy dogs that burst around the corner.

Blue mottled skin covered lean bodies. Rudimentary clothing made of untreated furs from unfortunate creatures covered their bodies in a grotesque mockery of modesty. Short, clawed hands and feet scrabbled at the stone floor as they crashed around the corner in an uncoordinated heap. Sharp small teeth filled blunt snarling muzzles and one let out another shriek that consisted of a violent explosive hiss. The echoing volume made me wince in pain as my ears were overloaded with the piercing call in the confines of the tunnel.

They scrambled at the floor and charged at us in a violent rush. If they weren’t careening off each other in their desperation to reach us it might have been our downfall, but their uncoordinated race to get to us gave us just a moment to get over our shock and prepare. Halloway braced behind his shield and Ryan brought forward his sword in an imitation of a spear.

One slammed into Halloway, the winner of the race, and clung to his shield, biting and gnawing at its edge. He took the blow surprisingly well and stabbed forward with his sword to skewer it. Another jumped onto Ryan’s sword like it was a sacrificial victim, headless of the fact that it was impaling itself to reach him.

Unfortunately for Dark, who hadn’t braced as well, one choose to ruin his day by slamming into him. He was knocked to the floor, his spear clattering away. It clawed and bit at his chest, finding no purchase in the plates that made up his segmented samurai chest armor.

I took the opportunity to test out my close-combat hatchet skills. It was positioned perfectly for a little lumberjacking, and I had cut quite a few trees by this point. The silver hatchet felt comfortable in my grip as I took a quick clean chop at the creatures. I felt resistance at the strike, but less than when cutting a log, as the blade went into the little monster’s neck. It went limp like a ragdoll, and I ripped the hatchet free. A notification slid into my sight momentarily.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Hatchetman skill!]

Halloway had dispatched the one stuck to his shield and flung it off with a push. Ryan’s foe looked like it was nearly bisected by his big blade. Only one more creature, the shrieker, was left. It didn’t madly charge at us however, taking us in with somewhat intelligent eyes before dashing back the way it had come.

“What in the fuck are these things?” I muttered.

“No clue.” Halloway said as he stepped over the bodies and advanced a few steps forward quickly. Ryan was with him.

“Dark, get off your ass and get up here, be ready this time.” Ryan snapped. “Viktor, you loot anything worthwhile. Mave keep the light on us but watch Viktor.”

I frowned. I’m not sure if he was accusing me of being untrustworthy with the loot or wanting someone to make sure I was safe. I didn’t say anything as I looked over the corpses. Inspect.

Name: Corpse

Species: Troglodyte

FLAGS: DECAY

Well, at least I knew what they were now. Not that I had any clue what that was. The troglodyte was somewhat humanoid, despite its blue skin, claws and sharp toothed muzzles. Unlock the goblins, that had mouths looking like a fistful of blender teeth, these things had a muzzle more akin to a dog.

Pest who didn’t get to be part of any of the action yet poked at the creature.

“What?” he asked.

“Something gross.” I answered and he nodded.

“Anything?” Ryan asked from the head of the group.

“They don’t have shit,” I said louder. “Unless you need a new loincloth for your barbarian aesthetic.”

“Mave?” he asked grumpily.

“Nothing.” She confirmed. And I glared at his back. The mother fucker really didn’t trust me. Why did I have a feeling I was only here because he needed the fifth person for the door requirements, and he was too lazy to find anyone else?

“Let’s move on then, who knows how many others there are.” Ryan commanded.

We advanced to the hallway intersection and Halloway quickly peeked around the corner.

“Mave?” he asked quietly.

She picked up a small stone from the ground and cast her light Word onto it before tossing it into the intersection. It wasn’t as bright as her glass ball and seemed to begin dimming as soon as she released it, but it provided a half-minute of light enough to see by. Halloway peeked again while it was active, looking both ways, before stepping into the intersection.

“Which way?” he asked indecisively.

“Rule of rights.” I said and Ryan glared at me. “Law of lefts?”

“Left,” he said as he continued glaring at me.

He had chosen the corridor that was opposite of the one the shirker troglodytes had gone. I was pretty surprised at his choice because putting enemies behind us wasn’t the best idea.

“That’s a stupid idea.” I spoke up. I couldn’t help myself.

“What?” Ryan snapped.

“That would put those things behind us.” I said simply. I saw his mind working, but he seemed to be the only man more belligerent than me.

“I’m the leader, we go left don’t question my decisions,” he said stubbornly.

“You’re the boss.” I said simply and let it drop. The way he was gripping that sword made me think it wasn’t a good time to push my luck. I wasn’t properly equipped or networked yet to not need the Red Wolves. I liked the group for the most part, even Dark wasn’t so bad if you ignored his, well his everything. But this guy would be the death of this group someday. Full party wipe if they hadn’t experienced it already. At least death wasn’t the end. Just painful and inconvenient.

Death was only an inconvenience, that was a strange thought.

We made our way down the tunnel to the left, I kept watching our rears, expecting the hammer to come down on my ass cheeks. After nearly stumbling on some floor debris where a few bricks from the ceiling had caved in I decided to put Pest on my shoulder and have him watch my back.

“Megazord!” I whispered to him, and he scanned the area alertly.

“No rivals!” He announced loudly and made me wince. I received some glares but ignored them.

“Quietly buddy!” I shushed him. “Can you share your senses, like we did that one time?”

A notification I must have missed last time slid down and quickly disappeared.

[Your bonded creature is sharing his senses with you. Your senses are heightened to the level of that creatures ability.]

I felt a change immediately, the light becoming brighter and the smells more powerful. The musty and moldy smells of the wet tunnel hit me like a wet cloth to the face. I felt Pest slump against my head as he sat on my shoulder. I guessed this trick took the wind out of his sails.

“Just keep an eye out behind us buddy, I’ll take care of the rest.” I whispered to him and waved my hatchet around to stretch my wrist. As I said that I turned my head towards him. His musk filled my nostrils and unlike previously when I got unpleasant whiffs of his dank musk, this time it smelled amazing. It was like a natural perfume of the highest order, the scent bouquet filling me with joy and pleasure. No wonder he never wanted to wash it away. Pest smelled glorious.

“Viktor, what the hell are you doing?” Dark asked, he had glanced behind himself. Probably to make sure I wasn’t putting the moves on Mave.

“Just smelling my ferret.” I took a deep inhale of Pests rough fur and held my breath.

“You want a hit?” I choked out.

“Eck.” Dark made a noise in disgusted and turned back forward.

“Would you assholes shut the fuck up?” Ryan demanded in a whisper that still sounded like a shout. Reminded me of a father berating childen in a grocery store.

I just grinned at them and took another hit. It was good.

We turned a corner in the corridor with another Halloway peek and Mave light stone.

“How often can you do that?” I asked her. “The light thing?”

“A dozen times or so.” She responded quietly.

I nodded as we rounded the corner and came to a doorway. It was broken through long ago, part of the rotten wood from the door hanging onto rusted hinges on one side. The remainder scattered and crushed into the floor. The wood squished rather than crunched under our feet as we crossed the threshold into a small room.

No monsters jumped out to eat us. Halloway cautiously crept into the room, testing each footstep and glancing all around the inside of the doorway.

I guessed losing a limb now and again to a trap made one nervous about suspicious doorways. No giant swinging blade or shooting arrows pierced him so we all filed into the room after him. The rank smell of the place had been wafting in my face from the hallway but within it was gag inspiring. Halloway dry heaved a little as the smell took us. Looking around, it seemed the troglodytes were using this room as an outhouse. Huge mounds of shit piled like awful stalagmites.

“Jesus… Sorry… Ugh…” Halloway gaged out between heaves.

“Don’t puke,” I tried to say but a mouthful of the stench made me gag along with him.

Ryan just grunted and gave us a withering glare.

After a moment we got ahold of ourselves. Mave had a hand over her face and Dark was hiding within his hair. His hair must have been creating an impenetrable barrier of darkness, so he didn’t need to sense the world around him.

Ryan walked away from us, checking out the room. It was a decently sized room, was apparent about it other than the biological waste that was piled in the corners. It held two exits, one straight across and one to the left. He headed to the left. He did follow the law of lefts! There might be hope for him yet.

We shuffled after him, Halloway having another gagging fit we passed closely to a mound of yuck. Another room greeted us past the doorway, we passed through. We showed considerably less caution than when we had at the previous doorway. Nobody wanted to linger in the shit room.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

The next room, if one can believe it, was worse. Half-gnawed on corpses of troglodytes and other animals littered the floor of this room. First, we found the troglodyte bathroom. Second, we found the kitchen. Halloway couldn’t withhold his gorge and vomited messily on the floor, the fluid and bits of food from his stomach intermixing with the offal and viscera of the rotting corpses.

I would like to think that without my enhanced senses I would have been able to gird my strength and not vomit next to him. But I will never know. My breakfast joined Halloway’s on the floor. The splatter of grossness sprinkling our parties’ legs and feet.

We tried to apologize but were unable as the heaving and sick had control of us. Ryan shouted and quickly left the room, Dark quickly followed after him, Mave had hardly even made it through the doorway before she retreated.

Halloway and I continued retching as we escaped the gross set of rooms. The party speed walked a ways down the unexplored hall. Our formation was broken, Ryan and Dark leading us with Mave following them and Halloway and I in the rear trying to compose ourselves.

That may have been what saved us.

As we passed through the new corridor skittering noises started to come from behind us.

“Rivals!” Pest shouted from my shoulder, and I glanced behind us to see a trio of troglodytes dashing past the shit room and into our corridor. The faint light from the rear side of Mave’s light globe made their eyes shimmer in the darkness like a wolf caught in a car’s headlights.

She swung the spotlight side around to face the enemies.

“We got some here too!” Dark bemoaned and I whipped my head around to see at least a couple sets of eyes coming from down that side of the corridor as well. We were pincered between the two groups. I knew it was a bad idea to leave enemies behind us. Nothing to do about it now.

I grit my teeth and took a stance behind Halloway, who had braced up behind his shield. I was back and to his right. Mave switched her spotlight to the indirect glow. It cut down the distance it could shine but made an area effect. It lit up the corridor for a few paces in both directions. It was an interesting thing. It could be a good lamp or a good spotlight but not both at the same time.

The three troglodytes facing me relentlessly rushed straight into Halloway and his shield. They were nearly as tall as a person when they were stretched out, but their weight was probably only half that of an average human.

Halloway rocked back under the weight of their impact and nearly staggered. I brace him with my body to help keep him upright. One of the troglodytes’ faces with its gnashing muzzle springs up in front of my face over the top edge of Halloway’s shield and I chop at it. My hatchet slices through its nose and slams into the edge of Holloway’s shield to glance off the iron band that binds its edge.

“Hey, watch it!” He yells at me as he shoves his sword wildly under the shield’s edge stabbing at troglodyte legs.

“It will buff right out!” I yell back, not taking time to look at the scar my hatchet left on his shield edge. I slash the hatchet above the shield as Halloway stabs below. It’s a funny thing, this piece of fancy wood with some metal bits being the only thing keeping the claws and teeth of these feral monsters from our soft and tender bits. Got to love medieval ingenuity.

As I reach out past the shield’s edge to hack at another target a flailing claw tears down my arm. The claws were short and stubby and seemed insufficient to pierce my jacket’s defenses. That didn’t help my hand or wrist through, the creature clawing them as I swung my hatchet wildly. It lunges to bite at my arm and the shield smashes it in the face sending it reeling and right into the path of my frantic hacking.

Halloway takes a step forward and smashes his shield downward. At first I am confused, but then I see he had brought it down onto the head of the troglodyte whom fell after he stabbed it in the leg. It didn’t take us long confirm the demise of the mindless creatures.

By the time we collect our wits and turn to assist the others, they are done fighting as well. One troglodyte nearly bisected with Ryan’s huge sword and the other impaled and squirming as Dark’s spear pins it to the ground. Ryan does not hesitate as he wrenches his blade out of his kill and hacks the things head off. Halloway quickly looks away from the gore and starts intently studying the ceiling. I am starting to think my new friend is a bit squeamish when it comes to blood and viscera. I must admit, the scents and sounds as Ryan and Dark pull their weapons out of the poor creature make my insides twist a little too.

I notice things aren’t as vivid as they were a moment ago and check on Pest. He clung to my shoulder and head for dear life during our little battle and his energy seemed to be waning. I snatch him off my shoulder and he didn’t look well. I quickly checked the party interface.

[Ryan Wolfe - Healthy]

[Alan Halloway - Healthy]

[Viktor – Slightly Injured]

[Pest - Healthy]

[Mave Pollaris - Healthy]

[x_x_DarkEdge_x_x - Healthy]

Looked like I was the only one to take wounds out of the group, and I was pleased that Pest was healthy.

“You alright buddy?” I asked him.

“Yes. I am tired.” He said.

I frowned. Sharing his senses must be extremely taxing on him. I had better not squander it in monster outhouses again. It would be better if he was doing something a little safer. This dungeon seemed a bit dangerous for him. Maybe I was being overprotective. I knew he was a tuff little fellow, but five-foot-tall rabid lizard men were a grade above his normal fights.

Rabid. I wonder if they were. I needed to Inspect a living one if I got a chance. But they attacked so fast, by the time I called up the info and was past the first line, they would be biting out my throat. It wasn’t like time could pause. Or maybe it could?

Report.

[Would you like to report an issue?]

[Misuse of this feature could result in administrative actions.]

‘Dear esteemed benefactor, as I diligently and tirelessly work at alpha testing, I find that an additional ability to slow time while I read Inspection dialog boxes would elevate my potentially bug fix efficiency to a degree of at least three times.’ With that load of BS drafted up, I submitted my report and hoped he didn’t take it as offensive and steal my underwear or something. I returned my attention to Pest and his situation.

“Can Pest hold your ball while you power it?” I asked Mave.

“That’s what she said.” Halloway quickly interjected and I grinned at him. Mave rolled her eyes.

“As long as it stays very close, I don’t need to actually touch it for it to hold its power.” She answered.

I plopped Pest on her shoulder, he swayed for a moment before grabbing onto the hood of her robe.

“Is that close enough?” I asked with a grin.

“Mr. Musty Man!” She exclaimed in satisfaction and handed him her crystal ball. “Don’t drop it!”

“Yes!” Pest responded, with deep sincerity he added. “Your treasures are safe with me.”

“Awesome, we will call this the ‘Lighthouse’ maneuver.” I told Pest with a firm nod, and he responded by shining light directly in my face.

“Knock it off you little fucker!” I said, shielding my eyes.

“You knock it off,” Ryan snapped at me. “Loot this shit, Mr. Treasure Hunter and let’s get the hell out of here.”

I looked at the corpses of the troglodytes, they still only had loincloths on.

“They only have loincloths.” I said matter-of-factly.

“Beggers can’t be choosers. Loot them. And don’t questioning me again!” Ryan said as he began to turn away, shouting the last bit.

“Fine, you want some nasty troglodyte g-strings, I’ll get you some nasty g-strings you sexual deviant.” I grumbled to myself and ripped at the loincloths, cutting at them with the hatchet.

“Troglodytes?” Halloway asked me.

He was hanging around with me while the others progressed. I tried to hurry as the light was leaving with Mave, though Pest was being a perfect little lighthouse and shining the light at me occasionally.

“Yea, I remember them from a game.” I lied.

“You recognize the monsters?” Halloway asked.

“Just some of them, from games and books and stuff!” I said vaguely. “Being a nerd has some perks.”

I nearly gagged as I plucked off the last loincloth that was crusty and gooey with things best left unthought of. Perks. Yep. Living a life of dreams here.

“Why don’t you mention it more? This is valuable information. A lot of groups would want to have you join up with them for knowledge of what they are facing.” He said supportively.

I’m not sure why he was taking this track, I knew he was a bit of a nerd himself. We had talked about games and stuff already. My bullshit answers as to how I knew the things I knew were not that groundbreaking. Halloway was a good guy, and I did want to tell him about the inspect and rune-code stuff, just so I’d have another mind to put to how to exploit the System. I just wasn’t sure if it would stay with him or go to his untrustworthy boss.

“Yea, well I don’t trust many of the groups I have meet so far, and my experience with guild leaders so far isn’t putting them in a positive light.” I said carefully.

“He isn’t that bad. You just need to keep your head down and do what he says.” He said, knowing exactly what I was saying.

“A.K.A. be a good little bitch. Live in fear of his moods and whims. That isn’t a leader, it’s just a puffed-up alpha asshole high on his own farts.” I said not so carefully.

We started to catch up to the group and after they had rounded a corner along the corridor without us I muttered one last thing on the subject.

“I’m nobody’s bitch.” I said.

We came to another room, this one without a mountain of feces within. As before, there were two more exits from this room. My Treasure Hunter skill was giving me a steady tickle of loot-lust.

“Treasure is close.” I said. “I can feel it.”

“No shit sherlock.” Ryan said.

“I mean my skill is indicating it.” I clarified.

“Hard to tell what you mean with all your drama.” He replied.

“Drama?! What are you talking about?” I looked to Halloway for support who just shrugged, a glance at Mave just rewarded me with an eyeroll. I pouted. “I’m not dramatic.”

“You are.” Dark chipped in and flipped his hair.

“See?” Ryan said with a chuckle and started inspecting the room.

I muttered under my breath about treachery from all sides and gazed around the room as well. It had been stuffed with straw, plants, and worn pelts to form nests and bedding. Digging though one of the nests didn’t reward us with anything other than sticky hands and a sense of disgust. We decided not to investigate the other nests. There were about ten of them in total. If they slept one to a nest that made about three more troglodytes at minimum that we still needed to account for. If they slept coupled or in piles, there could be four times that many.

We followed the law of lefts and took the left doorway. Within was another chamber, this one was obviously some form of den for something of a different quality. A large rat-nest of sticks and detritus were built up and woven into a hut-like sleeping space. A handful of troglodytes lounged around the entrance to the space, these ones had some more weight to their frames and ignored us as we entered. I used the opportunity to Inspect one.

Name: Troglodyte Breeder

Race: Troglodyte

Type: Creature

Allegiance: Alpha Troglodyte (lord)

FLAGS: COGNITION_0

Health: Healthy

Energy: Exhausted

There wasn’t any indication that they were wild or feral, but these ones weren’t trying to chase us down and bite out our throats out with their slathering maws. Their vacant eyes were unseeing, staring at the ceiling as their heads lolled to the side. They looked like something you’d find in an opium den. Their info didn’t show anything special other than being exhausted. I shared a look with the others who quickly took up a fighting formation.

“Dark.” Ryan said quietly. “Go.”

Dark leaned in and stabbed at one of them. He didn’t go for a killing shot, instead just stabbed carelessly into its leg. It mewled helplessly and weakly pawed at its leg. I guess it didn’t matter if he went for a killing shot or not, in their state they couldn’t fight back. It wasn’t this set of breeders we had to worry about. When Dark went for another stab, the small hut of debris erupted in an explosion of junk. We were pelted with sticks and filth as a troglodyte Bullrushed through it and smashed into our formation.

It had a little very little extra height compared to the other troglodytes, but it was filled with beefy muscles straining its tight skin. The beast looked like a jacked actor that went on a water strike.

It went straight for Halloway like he had offended the things mother and smashed into his shield with enough force to knock our unexpecting group around like a set of bowling pins.

[You have been Staggered!]

This must be what it felt like to be on this side of a Bullrush, and I wasn’t even in the first line. Its skill must have been quite good.

It didn’t immediately press its advantage as we regained our footing, but instead let out a loud shrieking scream like a pissed off steam train. The noise was ear piercing and almost felt like it came with a buffet of pressure. A damned impossible sonic burst attack. I was too distracted by the sharp pain to properly appreciate the wonder of it.

[You have been Deafened!]

“God damnit!” Ryan cursed, his voice sounding dull and tinny, like it was underwater.

Halloway was the first to recover and smashed his shield forward into the creature as it stood panting to recover its breath after that screech. It as tired as it appeared though and grabbed hold Halloway’s shield as it came at the troglodyte. It pulled on the shield, twisting and heaving it around itself. Halloway stumbled forward at the troglodyte kung-fu and crashed face first into the ground.

Dark went in next making a stab with the spear before getting similarly tossed forward, he tripped over Holloway and flew forward into the remnants of the troglodyte’s hut.

This wasn’t going so well. I Inspected this troglodyte ninja.

Name: Alpha Troglodyte

Race: Troglodyte

Type: Creature

Allegiance: None

FLAGS: COGNITION_1, DUNGEON_BOSS, TALENTED

Health: Healthy

Energy: Full

Those flags were new to me, and the TALENTED flag was probably why we were getting our ass kicked. A ‘roided out ninja troglodyte, just great. Ryan took a wide large swing with his sword and the troglodyte spun like a top to avoid it. This put it behind Ryan and directly in front of Mave and me.

A flash of light swept past my head and smacked into the troglodyte’s head to bounce off and roll away. We were all surprised and I glanced at Pest, who had tossed Mave’s light ball and pinged it right off the alpha troglodyte’s dome. The little businessman didn’t let an opportunity escape him and vaulted off of Mave’s shoulder with his knife-sword drawn. The troglodyte screamed and made to bat Pest out of the air. Ryan’s backswing plowed into the troglodyte’s spine, nearly bending it in half the wrong way. Pest slammed into the troglodyte blade first.

The strike caused the troglodyte to smash down onto its back, Pest ridding him down while holding onto his knife-sword as the troglodyte fell. He did a somersault forward pulling his knife out smoothly as he went. I rushed forward and struck at the alpha with my hatchet, Mave right next to me to add slams from her staff. I kept chopping until I was pretty sure I should have leveled Corpse Desecration.

Muffled voices were trying to say something through my Deafened state. I looked up to see Dark stabbing the breeders with his spear. Halloway jumped between Mave and I as we beat on the troglodyte and rushed to the entrance of the rooms. I wasn’t sure what he was doing until I saw flickering eyes in the room past him. Feral troglodytes coming from the hallways at their alpha’s call.

“More?” I grumbled and hurried over to help brace Halloway as the troglodytes slammed into him. I gritted my teeth as more and more joined the group shoving against us.

I couldn’t strike back as it took both arms to support Halloway’s acting like a door.

“Little help?” I shouted over my shoulder.

A murmur I couldn’t understand amongst the snarling press of troglodytes responded. Thin blue arms with clawed hands reached around the shield and grabbed at Halloway. They pulled fistfuls of his hair and tore at his leather armored sleeves. He resolutely withstood the assault, even though I could see blood starting to seep through wounds he started to collect.

We couldn’t fight back needing all of our strength to hold the snarl of them back. If it was anything less than a large round Norse style shield, I don’t think it would have held. I start to feel warm.

Something grabbed at my leg and I nearly smashed my foot down on it before realizing it was Pest dancing around our feet and stabbing his blade into legs and feet of the troglodytes. If he wasn’t the best of us all, may Loki strike me down.

The warmth built up into a heat. I was sweating. It was enough to notice even with the battle going on right in front of me. Maybe I need to find something better than a long jacket to fight in. It was feeling down right sweltering at this point.

“Get down!” Ryan shouted from behind us, his loud yell penetrating the Deafened state enough to be understood.

I didn’t hesitate, the heat and strain of holding the line burning through me. I collapsed to the side of the entrance into a gross nest. Without my bracing, Halloway was shoved backward under the weight of the troglodytes. The heat and burning that had sweat rivulets grew as a burning orb sailed past me. Purple bolts of electricity arced off it to strike at random things as it went.

“Photon Splash!” Mave yelled as the ball scorched through the troglodytes atop Halloway and flew into the room beyond.

Like a sphere of molten metal, it exploded on the opposite wall and rained down into the room catching everything ablaze. The troglodytes shrieked and ran around smashing into each other, but the magical substance that made the orb stuck to them like it was their own skin. It didn’t take long for their shrieks and movements to end, their bodies burnt through wherever the substance had hit.

I thanked Loki that my senses were no longer enhanced, the smell of burning flesh was intense. Thinking that I glanced around for Pest, finding him safely on our side of the door frame, well away from the space the plasma ball had sailed through.

“Holy fuck!” I yelled and sprang to my feet.

I ran over to Mave, headless of the others, and raised a hand. She stared at me in confusion, and I just nodded at my hand. She raised her hand up to mimic mine and I gave her an epic high-five. She gave me a tired smile, as if I was a toddler that needed reassurance. I didn’t mind. That was awesome.

I bounced back over to Halloway and helped him to his feet. He was a bit singed, a little closer to the heat than he should have been. Luckily the troglodytes that burnt around him didn’t transfer their deadly wounds to him, but it didn’t seem to save him from the heat as they burned. Friendly fire is a concern with magic. Good to know.

Taking stock, I was slightly injured and feeling a little manic, Pest looked fine but tired, Mave was leaning against the wall looking like she was about to pass out, Ryan was freeing him sword from underneath the alpha’s corpse, Dark was proudly standing above his killed breeders, and Halloway was slightly crispy.

[Congratulations. You have cleared a dungeon.]

A simple notification flashed at me. That was handy, I wonder why I didn’t get one previously? As that notification faded another came up.

[Quest Updated]

[Quest: Explore Floor 1: Midgard]

[Subquest: Take part in the following group activities.]

[ - Complete a dungeon: 1/1]

[ - Raid a village: 0/1]

[ - Kill a beast: 0/1]

[ - Make landfall in new lands: 0/1]

Oh good, that was fixed. And probably answered why I hadn’t had that first notification before. Buggy bullshit.

“Now, where is that sweet, sweet loot?” I asked, sound still muffled.

Looking to the surrounding creatures, they didn’t have shit for loot, and I wasn’t about to start harvesting parts from them. I guess Ryan had other ideas for me though.

“Loot the monsters and take their…” He started saying before giving them a once over. “Teeth.”

“Their teeth?” I began to question, and he gave me a look. I pointed to my ears. “Just confirming I heard you correctly, it’s hard to hear!”

I deflected his anger and went about figuring out how to de-fang the alpha troglodyte. I kept an eye on Ryan who went about investigating the room. Mave had taken a seat and Pest was snuggled up close to her, already asleep it looked like. Dark watched Pest jealously but didn’t seem to be comforting Mave any, seems like Pest took better care of her than her supposed boyfriend did. I found the backside of my hatchet worked to loosen fangs on the monster, with a little bit of extra enthusiasm on the swings I broke some out.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Monster Harvesting skill!]

[Monster Harvesting]

Unlock Conditions – You have successfully harvested a body part from a monster.

[lvl 1] – You can identify basic parts of a monster that may prove valuable. ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO PUT THAT IN YOUR POCKET?

A faint glow suddenly suffused the creature I was working on. I knew that the skin might prove valuable, and possibly the eyes, but with less certainty. The teeth weren’t valuable at all. I frowned as I looked at the monster. Why would Ryan have me harvest the teeth if they weren’t valuable? Was he trying to prank me with a pointless job? I frowned deeper, or was it more likely he had never dirtied his hands with this task and didn’t have the skill to tell him what was worth harvesting and what wasn’t?

“Halloway!” I shouted to get his attention, “Can I borrow your knife?”

“Sure,” I think he said and tossed it over to me.

“Mother fucker!” I yelled and dodged the naked blade as it bounced into the troglodyte corpse.

“Thank you, I think.” I grumbled as I started skinning the alpha troglodyte. He just grinned at me.

“Take the eyes too,” he may have said in way of advice.

[You are no longer Deafened.]

Thank god. I stretched my jaw to pop my ears.

“Anything else you see valuable? New skill to me.” I asked.

“No, everything else is trash. My skill is in the 3rd level.” He explained.

I grumbled a little as he got up to search for loot. So, Ryan didn’t know what he was talking about and just wanted to throw his weight around some more. What a dick. I angrily hacked the skin off of the troglodyte. While I was mid-way though Ryan and Halloway showed some excitement as they found a small door leading into a treasure room. I went and peeked in to find a small room similar to the one that I had dug my way into at the spider dungeon.

Because of the Treasure Hunter skill I had known it was in this general direction, but I let them find it on their own since Ryan only gave me shit when I mentioned it earlier.

Halloway approached the chest with a giant grin.

“Finally, my turn!” He announced, and even Ryan seemed to stand aside to allow him his moment of glory. I couldn’t see into the chest as he opened it, and the faint light from Mave’s light ball in the other room wasn’t enough to show much anyway.

He reached in and grabbed something and slowly pulled it out into the light. It was black with a soft-looking fabric. He turned holding it out. I got a good look at it and started laughing.