More than a few eyes widened as Seena’s party exited the dungeon portal, and Romin immediately started for the stairs up to the next level.

“Romin?” Biv asked, standing frozen with the rest of the two Bonder parties around him. From the looks of things, they hadn’t even made it fully back to their side of the room since Hiral and the others had gone in. “Is… everything okay?”

“Cleared the dungeon,” Romin said simply, some shock still clear in his own voice. “On to the next one.”

“Cleared?” one of the other Bonders said. “No way.” As if they could somehow be lying about it – or maybe exaggerating – the man ran over to the interface while Romin continued up the steps, Seena and the rest following him. “No way. Time Records.” A pause. “Seventeen seconds!” the man practically shouted. “How did you clear it in seventeen seconds?! Did you cheat?”

At that question, Seeyela stopped mid-step up the flight of stairs, and slowly turned her eight-eyed helm to glare at the man. Like he was caught in the gaze of an apex predator, the man froze completely. Even his breathing seemed to have halted.

“Sis,” Seena said quietly, just for her own party to hear. “There’s probably some pride riding on their times, and you just completely destroyed the records.”

Seeyela considered that for a second before she nodded slightly at her sister. To the man locked in her gaze, her voice echoed through her helm. “We didn’t cheat. We got strong. Just like you can too. You’ll see it yourself if you come back here when you’re B-Rank.”

“Oh, that’s right,” a Bonder woman back among the party murmured. “They’re B-Rank. No wonder they cleared it so quickly.”

“No way that’s enough of a reason,” another said. “Just how strong are they?”

“Let’s see how they do with the Tempestuous Jailbreak,” Biv said, quieting the others, though Romin had already vanished up to the second floor, and Seena wasn’t far behind with her sister.

Hiral glanced back to see the still-surprised Bonders moving to follow – he didn’t have his sensory domain to rely on since he hadn’t used Foundational Split – then climbed the rest of the steps. Like below, the second level was almost identical to the first, except it was slightly rotated compared to the lower level. The next set of stairs curved along the wall about twenty feet ahead of where the current set finished, while the interface also sat further along the wall.

Just looking at the placement of the dungeon interface – and basing it on where the one on the first floor was – the six of them would probably end up being equidistant around the circumference of the building. Likewise, the rest area was again directly across the way, complete with two new parties looking at the newcomers with interest.

“Biv will explain what’s going on,” Romin said before any of the Bonders could begin the question period all over again.

As Hiral moved away from the stairs, Biv clambered up the last steps, took one look at Romin, then jogged over to fill in the other group. More Bonders – and their companions – quickly followed suit, and it was already getting a bit crowded.

Are we going to have six or more groups waiting for us outside the C-Rank dungeon?

“Okay, Romin,” Seeyela said as the group gathered around. “What’s the scoop on the second dungeon?”

“Before that,” Yanily said, holding up his hand. Then he looked over at the gathered Bonder groups before continuing. “Do we want to run the other dungeons slower? So we don’t hurt any feelings?”

“Hrm,” Seena said, rubbing her chin. “I actually wanted to see if we got anything for getting through this one in under five minutes too. The PIMP seems to like threes, and this could be the third dungeon we speed run. Romin, what do you think? Are we going to make enemies if we power through this in under five minutes?”

Romin considered it for a minute before he answered, even looking down at a miniaturized Wallop and nodding a few times like they were communicating. “There may be some hard feelings at first. However, doing it a second time will prove to any doubters it wasn’t a fluke or cheating. It should also prove to be motivation for others to refine their skills.

“Until the Chimeras arrived, our lives consisted of the city and this dungeon. We didn’t need more strength for anything. We weren’t looking to expand our borders – at least not often – and the competition for the timed runs here was friendly. After what happened, though, we can’t continue the way we have been. If crushing our old records is what’s needed to provoke people into working harder, I say do it.”

“Good enough,” Seena said. “Then we’re looking to clear this one in under five minutes as well. Yan, think you can do that?”

“Let’s hear what Romin has to say about the dungeon first,” Yanily said. “If we weren’t really worried about the timer thing, I’d be all over soloing it. But, if me having fun has a risk of costing us an achievement or something, no, I need to take this a bit more seriously. I can’t keep playing around like I used to.

“And, I guess I should apologize for some of my past behaviour, though…” he trailed off, his head tilting to the side like he was thinking really hard. “Eh, maybe not. I’m sure I was fine.”

Seena just shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was also smiling though. For Yan to say something like that, he was serious about getting stronger along with them. “Romin… ah perfect, there’s Nivian and his group.”

At the statement, Hiral and the others turned to find the twins leading their group up to the second level.

“Seriously?” Wule asked before Hiral even had a chance to greet them. “Seventeen seconds? Did you give up on the idea of Seeyela soloing it?”

Hiral looked over at Seeyela, who just put her hands on her hips and tilted her eight-eyed helm to look at the healer. Maybe it was the eeriness of her armor – or maybe the twin recognized the pose – but Wule stopped in his tracks, eyes widening in nervousness.

“What… what did I say this time?” Wule asked, gulping after he finished the question.

“What makes you think I didn’t solo it?” Seeyela asked, one hand going to one of the Fangs of the Lady jutting up from the small of her back. Her thumb rubbed circles along the butt of the weapon while she waited for his answer.

“I mean,” Wule started. “It’s… seventeen seconds.”

“How long did it take your group?” Hiral asked Nivian, who’d completely abandoned his brother where the man stood. As for the rest of the undead party, they filtered around Wule like he was a large rock in the middle of a river.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“One minute and fifty-three seconds,” Nivian said. “Finding The Alpha took time. Then the scarecrows were all spread out. How did you handle them?”

Hiral thumbed at Seeyela without saying anything.

“You… didn’t?” Wule asked slowly.

“I did,” Seeyela said.

“She really did,” Seena said. “The rest of us didn’t even use an ability or draw a weapon.”

“And you did it that fast?” Nivian asked. When Seeyela nodded, Nivian crossed his arms in front of his bone-armored chest. Then a huge grin spread across his face like he was a proud father basking in his daughter’s triumph. A moment of that, and the grin turned downright predatory, and he turned to his brother. “I win.”

“Ughhhh,” Wule said, hand going to his face and covering his eyes. “I was sure that was a good bet.”

“No bet against Seeyela is a good bet,” Nivian said.

“I know, and I don’t know how I forgot that.”

“Wule,” Seeyela said evenly, and the healer flinched.

“Let’s you and me have a chat after we clear these dungeons,” Seeyela said. “I think you’ve forgotten some things in the time we’ve been apart.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Wule said, practically shrinking in on himself.

“Good,” Seena interrupted. “Now that that’s out of the way. You guys got the Speed Run achievement? Great,” then she turned to the Bonder in her own party. “Romin, now that Nivian and the others are here, what’s up with this… what did he call the dungeon?” Seena pointed at the unnamed Bonder as she asked the question.

“The Tempestuous Jailbreak,” Romin answered. “The entire dungeon is a large prison-ship.”

“That’s new,” Hiral said. “Does it being a ship really change anything?”

“Yes,” Romin said. “It being a ship makes a big difference. The dungeon scenario takes place during a powerful storm, setting the ship to buck and rock the entire time. It can make fighting the tightly-packed enemies very difficult until you get familiar with how the ship moves.”

“A storm, huh?” Yanily asked. “This is sounding more and more like something I can handle. Are there prisoners on the ship?”

“Our opponents in this dungeon will almost entirely be ex-prisoners, as we’ll be dropped in right in the middle of a prison break.”

“You said it was packed?” Seena asked. “How many prisoners are we talking here?”

“Hundreds,” Romin said. “I’m not sure how many ships you’ve seen…”

“None,” Seena quickly said, with Yanily and Seeyela nodding right along.

“Only in books,” Hiral said with a shrug.

“Spent a month on one, once,” Gran said, prompting everybody to turn and look at her. “What? I was told it would be romantic. Not sure why I believed him.”

“A month?” Hiral asked.

“Yes, and it has nothing to do with this dungeon.”

“That’s… fair.”

“This prison ship likely isn’t what you were on,” Romin said.

“Let me be the judge of that,” Gran said. “Sure felt like a prison. One with a lot of vomiting.”

“Hopefully we won’t have any of that,” Seena said, then looked at the little lich on her shoulder.

“Mistress!” Li’l Ur said, clearly insulted she’d even consider he might throw up on her.

“Just making sure,” she said flatly. “Back on topic. Dungeon. Packed with prisoners.”

“Tightly packed,” Romin emphasized. “One of the biggest challenges upon entering the dungeon is the sheer number of enemies that set upon you as soon as you arrive. There is little room to maneuver, with bars and prison cells boxing you in. The first priority for most parties is scrambling to clear enough space to not get in each other’s way.”

“Again, sounds like something I can handle,” Yanily said. “What’s the next challenge?”

“Aside from the number of enemies, the next problem is the Mid-Bosses,” Romin explained. “The majority of the Tempestuous Jailbreak takes place within the bowels of the ship, where the prisoners seem to have been held. The Mid-Bosses are held in the same area, and they can be found in different cells on different dungeon runs.

“The unluckiest parties find the two Mid-Bosses in cells next to each other.”

“You said there was a safe area though?” Hiral asked. “Could the party lead one of the Mid-Bosses there to fight?”

Romin shook his head. “The safe zone is a guard room, and the prisoners won’t enter. When a party finds both Mid-Bosses so close to each other, most simply abort and try again with a new, random placement.”

“I don’t think two D-Rank Mid-Bosses will be enough to make us retreat,” Seena said. “Unless there’s something really dangerous about them?”

“For D-Rank parties, the Mid-Bosses are strong and fast. Nothing outright lethal beyond getting overpowered.”

“No problem, then,” Yanily said. “That just leaves the Boss.”

“Yes,” Romin said. “The most difficult encounter of the dungeon. Unlike the prisoners and Mid-Bosses, the Boss itself is found outside, on the deck of the ship.”

“Itself?” Seeyela said. “It’s not a person?”

“The Boss of this dungeon is a massive sea serpent. We believe the story of the dungeon is that the sea-serpent’s attack damaged the ship and freed some of the prisoners, resulting in the jailbreak.”

“What are the prisoners?” Nivian asked. “Like us or…?” he trailed off as his head turned towards Igwanda and Bash.

“All three, as well as Duggers, and… something else,” Romin said cryptically. “One of the Mid-Bosses is actually a pair of twins. The Split Twins, they’re called. I’m not sure what manner of creature they are. Half person and half… something else,” he finished lamely, like he couldn’t think of a better way to describe it.

“We’ll see it when we get in there,” Seena said. “Any additional monsters – adds – with the Boss?”

“The fight involves several phases,” Romin said. “With more monsters emerging from the waves as the battle progresses. We’ll need people controlling them while the rest focus on the Boss. It has several different attacks, and often has its head out of range. At that point, we’ll need to damage its body until we make it angry enough to try and bite us.”

“That sounds annoying,” Igwanda said.

“Smash?” Bash asked Nivian.

“Soon,” Nivian replied patiently.

“Anything else we should know?” Seena asked Romin.

“No,” Romin said. “That about sums it up, though the multiple phases of the Boss fight may make it difficult to complete the dungeon in under five minutes.”

“Sounds like we just need to get to it fast enough,” Nivian said. “Kill the Mid-Bosses amidst the rest of the prisoners, then head straight for the deck.”

“You’ll get surrounded by the…” Romin started, until Nivian turned his blue-flame eyes on the other tank. With the ever-present lines of luminescent tears streaking the Death Knight’s cheeks, along with the imposing armor decorated with more skulls than was really necessary, one look was all it took to stop the Bonder’s words.

“I’ll handle them,” Nivian said. “Politet, you know what to do?”

“Of course I do,” the alchemist said, already shuffling vials around on his apron.

“Without killing Wule and Finotol,” Nivian clarified.

Politet’s hands paused – just for a brief second – then continued on to different pockets. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can’t risk the fragile Breathers,” he said quietly.

“We’re ready,” Nivian said.

“Us too,” Seena said.

“You can go first this time,” Nivian said, then he stepped forward and gave Seena the shoulder tap.

Seena’s eyes widened as she looked at the man, followed by a chuckle. “Wow, that adds a kind of emotional pressure, doesn’t it? Okay then.” Her shoulders went back while Li’l Ur put his hands on his small hips, and the party leader walked over to the dungeon interface to swipe her hand across. “Enter dungeon,” she said.

Just like on the first floor, a portal of blue spun open. One look back at the group, and Seena stepped through first.

“Shouldn’t I have gone first?” Romin asked Yanily and Hiral, while Seeyela went through the portal with Gran.

“You didn’t get the shoulder tap,” Yanily explained, then seemed to realize he was the one who was supposed to solo the dungeon. At that point, he practically dashed through the portal.

“What’s ‘the shoulder touch’?” Romin asked Hiral. “A buff?”

“Shoulder tap,” Hira corrected. “It’s not a buff or a debuff – though it feels like it sometimes. It’s just Seena’s signal – usually for the tank – to move ahead. Useful for times we need to be quiet.”

“Why haven’t I gotten one yet?”

“Maybe because Wallop is the actual tank?” Hiral said, looking down at the miniature Rune-o.

Wallop responded with a despondent snort.

“It’s not like that,” Romin said. “I’m sure she thinks you’re good enough.”

“You’ll get a chance to show your stuff in the C- and B-Rank dungeons,” Hiral told the companion. “Come on, though. They’ll be wondering where we are.”