As the doors swung open, Trillia's crossbow released a bolt of radiant energy large enough to wipe out the four dungeon goblins on the other side of the room. She immediately began to charge it again.

"So you haven't gone past the first floor either?" Trillia glanced at Amelia as she spoke. Walking over to pick up the items the goblins dropped. She had asked if she could skip the first floor since she was well past their level at this point. But the goblins wanted the experience.

"No. I told you I was gonna wait for you to actually go dungeon delving. But you've been so busy lately." Amelia was mostly just tagging along as a just in case and to help Trillia carry stuff.

"That's fair. Sorry, I've been so busy. Has there been any word on God's Watch?"

"Not yet. But with Centrallis being awake, Dad thinks it's best if we don't try to take the city back. It was already going to be a difficult fight. I think he wants to wait until his deity can interact with the world again."

Trillia nodded at that and pushed the doors open to the next hallway. The boss door sat on the far end. "That makes sense. It's still odd to think that creatures that large are just swimming in the rock and stone that deep."

"I don't think it's rock. We had some books from when Dad was a kid in the library. At that depth, I think it's like lava. Or magma? Whatever it is when rock and stone melt and become liquid."

Trillia paused and looked at her. "They are just down there. Swimming in that, forever?"

Amelia paused as well and shrugged. "It's just what I read. Dad and the others seldom talk about the beast wars. They all sort of hate that time for some reason."

Trillia chewed her lip but finally gave up on that line of thought. "Doesn't matter, I guess. We're all in it now."

She pushed the boss door open and was pleasantly surprised to see the arena had changed. The exit was now high up on the wall. Long walkways were scattered throughout the room. Paws stood on the ground, and Stibs was standing on one of the walkways.

"Welcome back, Trillia! Who is challenging us today?" Stibs spoke loudly enough that they could hear. The room was nearly a hundred feet in diameter.

Trillia glanced at the others before looking up at Stibs. "I'd like to challenge alone today. But I'd like to fight you both at full strength."

Stibs stared at her for a while. A sad little smile crossed his face, and he nodded. "I suppose we haven't been able to keep up, have we? We'll do our best to give you a good fight."

Trillia nodded and walked away from the others. As soon as Paws began to close, Trillia acted first.

"[Mana Rift]!"

She appeared in front of a surprised Stibs, leveled the crossbow at his gut, and let loose. The goblin was torn in two. She spun with a rapier in hand toward Paws.

"[Radiant Riposte]!"

Her body shimmered for a moment. The nova that Paws had let loose passed through her, and instead of her body breaking out in cuts and scraps and bleeding, Paws had light leaking from numerous wounds. She brought the crossbow up, and a different set of runes lit up.

"[Radiant Lance]!"

Paws tried to leap to the side, only to be met by the much faster Trillia, who sunk her rapier into the creature's side. Bringing the crossbow down like a club as the creature was pinned.

As their bodies faded away, Trillia offered a little smile. "I would have never gotten this strong without the two of you. I hope you both know that."

She bowed to them both and began ascending the stairs towards the boss door. Ialu and Amelia caught up. They didn't drop any items this time, but Trillia had already gotten an artifact from them. She was here to see more of the dungeon.

As she arrived at the door, Gobbinz stepped out.

"Poor things. They were excited to finally fight you again."

Trillia offered a pained little smile. "Should I have held back?"

The goblin began shaking his head. "No! We must know our limits. This will push them to train harder. Father warned all of us ahead of time that you've gained a bunch of levels since you last gave the dungeon a real run-through. Don't hold back."

As she nodded and began to walk forward, Gobbinz blocked her path. "I mean it, Trillia. With everything going on...the dungeon monsters need a wake-up. Everyone is so nice and pleasant when they go through. I'm not saying you have to be mean. But don't hold back. Don't let them live with the injuries. Tear through them without mercy."

Trillia stared at Gobbinz for a minute. It dawned on her that a few years ago, she was learning and training from these goblins. It gave her some much-needed perspective on just how far she had come. "No mercy. Understood. I hope you'll let me apologize to them later."

Gobbinz nodded and moved out of her way. Disappearing into a little hidden door.

As Trillia slowly descended a long ramp, she paused when she stepped into a frigid room. The little cliff she stood on was slick with ice.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

A tunnel had been dug through ice and snow. After ten or so feet, it branched off a half dozen times. Each of them also seemed to branch off.

"This is a really smart idea. Megapedes hate the cold." Trillia sniffed the air as she went and slowly navigated the winding tunnels. Ialu paused first. Trillia had come to trust the wolf, so she also paused.

Amelia glanced at the two of them oddly.

Trillia shrugged and kneeled next to Ialu, who was sniffing all around. "What do you smell, girl?"

Ialu let loose a low growl, frantically turning this way and that.

Finally, she stopped on a spot on the wall. Trillia and Amelia trusted the wolf's instincts and backed up some.

A low rumbling began shortly before a dark blue megapede broke through the wall.

"What?!" Trillia raised the crossbow and let loose. Turning on her scan as she did.

[Dungeon Abomination - Icepede - 61] Ice Mana Manipulation

Notable Traits:

Abomination

"What?!" She screamed again as the thing plowed through her attack. Where a normal megapede would have dagger-like claws at the end of every leg, this thing seemed to have tiny little picks.

Much smaller but much sharper. The ice cracked all over as it dug its legs into the wall and ceiling, twisting its body and head back at the group and spewing out frigid air.

Amelia jumped in front.

"[Ice Bulwark]!"

The ice slammed into her arms but moved no further back. Trillia heard a haunting melody spew from her friend's throat. Everything else in the room paused.

You're under the effects of [Banshee's Eerie]!

Allies have their Agility doubled.

Allies cannot be confused or charmed.

Enemies must resist the effects of the user's Presence or be stunned until the skill ends!

Trillia blinked once more, shaking her head from the sound of it before she began stabbing the icypede repeatedly. The thing didn't even thrash as it fell lifeless from the wall. Trillia looked at its corpse to ensure it was dead before looking up at Amelia.

[Royal Minotaur - Banshee of Sorrow - ??] Emotion Mana Manipulation

Notable Traits:

Rightful Heir

Last Bastion of Faith

Daughter of Sorrow

Trillia's heart caught in her throat. "Aren't...aren't banshees undead?"

Amelia stared at her for a moment before smiling. "Spirits...actually. I'm not a spirit or undead. I just... I made a deal with something."

Trillia felt her hand grip [Sliver of Fate] a little tighter. Amelia looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Trillia...I'd never hurt you. I promise."

Trillia was conflicted. She had been fighting undead for years. Something in her brain told her to lash out, but the rest of it was screaming that this was her best friend in front of her. "I just... why didn't you tell me?"

Amelia raised her hands and stepped away. "You didn't tell me that you were running off to sign up for eternity with a god, did you?"

Trillia had no argument for that. "I'm sorry, Amelia. I want to trust you. You're my best friend. It's just..."

Amelia nodded. "The Sage. I'm aware. Maybe we can come back to the dungeon another day? Leave for now and have this discussion?"

Trillia thought about it for a while longer. She spent a thousand mana, and the rapier vanished from her hand. "No. Let's keep going. I need to fix my brain. I can't be coddled anytime something confuses me. I trust you, Amelia. Regardless of what your class is. But you owe me a meal and a conversation later, okay?"

Amelia nodded. "Deal. I promise. It's better than you're probably thinking."

Trillia nodded, and with one last weary look, she shook the thoughts from her head that Amelia was anything but her best friend.

-=- A Few Hours Later -=-

"I hate this place! It's stupid! It's stupid and cold!" Trillia was shivering up a storm, and so were Amelia and Ialu. They had been wandering through the tunnels for what felt like hours and made, apparently, no headway. They had tried dropping little bits of cloth or some of the copper trinkets to make a trail and nothing.

Trillia finally kicked the wall. "Fine! You win, Red River! Let us out!"

A hole in the ceiling opened up, and a rope fell down. Followed by three blindfolds, one specially made for Ialu. Gobbinz's head stuck out after. "Hehe... second floor? That's it? What happened to no mercy, Monster Slayer?"

The girls gave the little goblin their vilest looks. They put on the blindfolds and grabbed hold of a rope that was handed to them. They were led out of the second floor in less than ten minutes. Once they had the all-clear, they took the blindfolds off to find themselves in the healing hall. Gobbinz was standing there with a smug expression on his face.

Trillia grumbled and went to sit by a small fire built into the wall. "Why couldn't we find our way out?"

Amelia and Ialu joined them. One of the healing goblins brought them mugs of some warm broth and some heavy covers.

Gobbinz sat on a stool near them with a grin. "Father was really surprised, actually. It's a simple mana trap. Any sort of scan will reveal it almost immediately."

Trillia said nothing and stared at the fire. Amelia sighed and rubbed her eyes. "It's my fault. Can we have some time, Sir Gobbinz? Tell your father it's a well-made trap if it kept us both in it for that long."

Gobbinz nodded and left them to their privacy. They said nothing for a long while.

"We'll talk about it another time, Amelia. I trust you. I know it's not fair to say this to you, of all people. But I just can't handle anything else right now." Trillia was a little surprised when Amelia gave her a hug.

When the minotaur finally released her, Amelia whispered. "I'm the first one you should say it to. We're best friends. Nothing will change that. If life is giving you too much. I want you to tell me. Tomorrow we'll come back with some warmer clothes, and we'll kick Red River's ass for that nasty trick of his."

Trillia managed a smile and looked at her friend. "Darn right, we will! I can't believe he has abominations! I guess Uncle Stas must have come to visit at some point. Makes me wonder what he has further down if a level sixty abomination is his level two."

One of the healing goblins wandered off with some actual mushroom stew and set it before them. Pulling out a hunk of what looked like lovax meat and passing it off to Ialu, who happily dug in. Trillia reached out to him before he left. "Can I ask, has anyone else been lost?"

The goblin stared at her for a solid five minutes. "Speak right words."

Trillia blinked a few times herself. "Oh! Of course, sorry. I thought all of you had learned Orc." She switched over to Goblin to explain herself and asked again.

"Lost? Dead? Yes. Five dead."

Trillia paused mid-bite and stared at him. "How?"

The little goblin shrugged at her. "They go off to find supplies with big brothers. All dead. Even have horned brother with them. Still all dead." The goblin motioned to Amelia when he mentioned the horned brother.

Trillia nodded thanks before turning to look at Amelia. "Five goblins dead, and they were escorted by orcs and minotaurs? What happened?"

Amelia sipped her brother. "I'm not sure. It's difficult to keep up with so many people all coming and going at the same time. I know that Red River wanted to send some goblins through the portal. Maybe something happened there?"

Trillia wrapped the blanket around her shoulders as her mind began to spin rapidly with all the problems again. Amelia tapped her shoulder. "Remember. We're here to rest. There are plenty of adults in charge who will figure out the why and handle it."

Trillia sighed softly and nodded. Then proceeded to worry more and tried to hide that better.