As the party descended to the second level, Malor used the dropped wolf fur from the first floor to enchant their armor against the cold for the next twenty-four hours. Amelia studied and watched intently. Trillia and Amelia watched with interest as he drew the runes on the ground for the temporary enchantment. Trillia was interested in the runes themselves, and Amelia was as interested in enchanting as she had always been.

Once the process was over, Amelia spoke up. "Is that a skill for your class only? Can a general enchanter do that?"

Malor glanced over at her. "If you mean someone with just the general skill. No. To my knowledge, any enchanting class can do temporary enchantments. It's rather resource intensive, though, as you can tell." It had taken two pelts per set of armor. Frederick chose not to have his armor enchanted. According to him, he had a skill that regulated his body temperature except in extreme conditions. Another perk to working near a forge all day.

Trillia looked over the icy tunnels and frowned. "I guess I'm not surprised, but the layout has changed. If your scan skill can be toggled on or off, toggle it on. The information is annoying to see around, but there are false walls all over the place. One of them will eventually lead us to the boss. At least, that's how it used to work."

The others gave her nods. Frederick and Malor had toggle scans, but Layla did not. Frederick took the lead from her for this floor. Ialu had met up with them by the time they left the first floor, which had been another reason that Trillia dilly-dallied after the boss. The desert skoll didn't particularly like the cold or this floor. But it was another set of eyes and ears.

The tunnels had somehow become more confusing than the last time. The group spent an hour wandering before Malor started to mark the walls. They were going in the same fifteen-minute loop over and over again. Frederick growled in frustration, and Ialu was happy to do the same and agree with him. So far, they hadn't been attacked, at least.

"I don't understand. I've seen nothing! Nothing at all stands out or is even labeled except for us!" Amelia put her forehead against the wall with a clank as her helmet hit the ice. "I hate this floor so damn much."

Frederick peered up. He attempted to rub his chin but remembered as his gauntlet hit the helmet that he couldn't exactly do that. "It's clever. We've been down here for an hour at least. It's meant to starve people out."

Layla spoke up as she ran a hand over the wall. "I think it's a test. If we can't pass this maze without running out of resources, the rest of the dungeon is going to be beyond us. That's how I view it."

Malor and Frederick nodded in agreement to that. Amelia glanced over at Trillia, who was being rather quiet. "Thoughts?"

Trillia turned to the group with a smile. "Well. If it is a test. Let's be clever." Trillia pulled out [Sliver of Fate]. The tip of the rapier easily slid into the ice. She motioned for the others to do something similar if they could. "Let's carve the walls as we go. This obviously isn't a circle, so something else has to be happening. Layla is using a morning star. Let her stand in the middle and look at everyone as they mark the walls."

Everyone seemed to agree with that idea, and off they went. Four minutes later, Layla spoke up. "Stop!" Everyone immediately froze. The acolyte walked over to the wall where Trillia was carving a line and motioned to it. "It just disappeared." The others turned to see what Trillia's line had, in fact simply disappeared and had begun anew right behind her rapier.

Layla turned to the wall and gave herself a little shrug.

"[Divine Strength]!"

The orc grabbed her morning star in both hands and swung at the wall with all her might. Between orc [Brawn] being so high, her buffing spell, and the weight enchantments, a solid foot of ice was shattered and spilled onto the floor.

There, behind the ice, was a glowing rune. Malor scoffed and snorted as he approached it. "The entire fucking floor is enchanted? Dungeons are terrifying."

Amelia began laughing at that, walking up to the minotaur and slapping him on the back. "And you just gave it a dozen new enchantments to torture us with! Aren't you excited for the future?"

The enchanter groaned heavily and smacked his head gently against the wall a few times, producing a nice metallic ring each time. "I hope he doesn't add any of those enchantments to this ice. That'll make it way too difficult to break. Give me like an hour or two. I should be able to sort this enchantment. Everyone, start expanding this hole so that I can see more of the lattice."

The next hour went by with everyone smashing ice and revealing more and more runes. Malor sat on the ground a bit away with parchment and quill in hand. "That's odd. The enchantment just keeps it cold. Nothing about this should be confusing us, and nothing suggests teleportation or illusions."

Amelia ran her hand over the runes and looked back at Malor. "Could the enchantment itself be under an illusion?" The minotaurs stared at each other for a moment as Malor pondered it before pursing his lips and nodding.

"It could, I guess. That'd be such an intricate design. It would take years of meticulous carving to achieve..." The minotaur stopped as he looked around. "Right. A dungeon that's been here for years. It's had literal years to carve out an intricate enchantment. Well...let me try something else. Can everyone sacrifice a few hundred mana?"

Before anyone could nod, Trillia stepped up. "Let me sacrifice the mana. I have millions banked. If we can brute force it with more mana, let's do that."

Malor looked over at her and nodded. "I sometimes forget you're a walking mana bank." The next hour was spent with Malor drawing out another set of runes on the ground. Using a combination of powder and carving to get it all right. Trillia stood in the middle, and Malor double-checked the runes once again before nodding. "The more mana you put in, the stronger the dispel is going to be. I set it up specifically to target structure enchantments. So it won't harm any of our gear."

Trillia nodded, shrugged, and dumped a hundred thousand mana into the runes below. The dungeon shook and trembled under the weight of the dispel as the others looked at her with wide eyes. The temperature in the room immediately rose, and where smooth walls had once been, dozens of tunnels revealed themselves.

A moment later, a familiar goblin face popped out of the ceiling. "DON'T DO THAT!" Gobbinz seemed panicked and angry. Trillia hadn't seen him like this in some time.

Trillia looked around and then at the goblin. "We didn't know what else to do. You didn't give us any rules."

The goblin shook his head furiously and, for the first time in months, looked up as the dungeon spoke to him. "That hurt our Father. He says you didn't know, and the damage to his core will recover. But you actually hurt him with that."

Trillia froze and could only stare at the goblin. Rather glad that she hadn't dumped a million mana into it as she had originally intended. "I'm sorry! I didn't know it would! We've just been down here for hours and didn't know what to do!"

Gobbinz glanced at the ceiling again as his composure returned. Slowly floating down to the ground. "None of you have dispel illusion skills or spells?!"

They all looked at each other. Layla and Malor looked down at the ground. The acolyte spoke. "I...I, uhhh, have a buff that lasts for five minutes that can help us see through them. I guess I didn't think about it. I'm sorry!"

The group looked at each other, and Frederick started laughing. Gobbinz shot him an angry glare, but the human just walked up to him and patted his shoulder. "The dungeon is going to want to learn to stop that sort of backlash. If it can be damaged on the second floor by area dispels, what's going to happen if it's attacked by a foreign nation of casters?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Gobbinz looked up at him in anger. The anger quickly melted as the dungeon spoke to him, and the realization hit. "Father says that it was a stupid oversight on his part. He'll fix it as soon as he can on all of his floors. A dungeon has veins that pump mana between floors. He hasn't put any protections in place since no one has dumped that much foreign and hostile mana into his veins before."

Trillia looked down once more. "I really am sorry. At least I didn't use a million like I wanted to!"

Gobbinz's eyes went a little twitchy at that as he stared at her. After a moment, the goblin huffed and sighed heavily. "Father says that until floor nine, all of the enchantments present will go down with three or four thousand mana. That won't be enough to hurt him. If you decide to use this tactic again for some reason. Sorry to interrupt." The goblin walked over to one of the dozen identical holes and motioned. "This way gets you past the illusory maze and into enemies and closer to the boss. Please don't explode, my Father."

The group promised they wouldn't go scorched earth on any more enchantments before Gobbinz floated back up into the ceiling, and the group began walking down the tunnel that had been presented. Layla apologized at least a dozen times, as did Malor. Amelia finally spoke up. "We did nothing wrong. That's why the dungeon didn't kick us out. Gobbinz panicked when his Father took damage, but both Gobbinz and Red River understand that they are learning just as much as we are. Don't apologize for us finding a solution that wasn't typical. Sure, if we had thought to dispel illusions much earlier, maybe we wouldn't have. But, look at it this way. The two of you forgetting your spells in the moment led to us making sure that Red River is a stronger and more secure dungeon in the future."

Trillia nodded her agreement with that, and the two casters felt significantly less awful about the entire incident. Frederick couldn't stop snickering the whole time. "I'm traveling with a group that accidentally almost killed a dungeon core." The others gave him odd looks, and he couldn't help but laugh more. "I've never been in a dungeon before. But I've heard horror stories from D'Jamu about the undead-filled crypts that spring up constantly in the desert. I guess... I guess I was just expecting something different?"

Trillia gave a rather grim nod. "Red River is extremely kind and generous. With his resources, he could easily kill us on almost any floor. Even the first floor is tailored to be easy. He didn't drown us in sheer numbers, which I'm sure he's capable of. I've cleared a lot of those crypts. It's terrifying what a level twenty or thirty creature is capable of when there are hundreds of them. They don't even provide experience because of how weak they are supposed to be."

Malor nodded grimly as well. "General Brutus often said that quantity was a quality all of its own. The nests that spring up near and within Rift City spew out hordes of creatures. So far, this dungeon has been extremely tame in comparison. But we shouldn't get complacent or let our guard down. From what I've heard, this dungeon has at least ten floors. This is the second, and the difficulty spike from the first is already significant. I don't expect us to clear more than three or four at our current levels."

The group nodded with a little more conviction and caution, and proceeded further into the maze. Knowing the right path helped a lot. It only took them ten minutes of walking before the shape of the tunnels began to change, and it only took another ten for the first icy megapede to break through the ice and spray the group in some clinging freezing acid that immediately began to bite into their armor.

"[Area Mend Object]!"

Frederick shouted the spell, and his magic began to fight back on all of their armor, slowly repairing itself. The wall also began to mend itself around the abomination. It didn't take long for the group to get their wits about them and form ranks.

"Come at me, bug! I'll squash you dead! [Taunt]!"

Layla's body gave off a harsh red glow, and the creature whipped its head toward her and tried to charge. Its momentum was thrown off by the ice clawing at its body. As it slammed into her crossed arms, she raised her right arm and slammed the morning star down. A sickening thud as the carapace was smashed and blue goo oozed out resounded in the tunnels.

Trillia used her rapier to carve an opening into the armored exterior and shoved her left arm into the now-exposed flesh before letting loose a volley of mana bolts. Frederick had produced a long sword and wedged the tip just about in the center of the creature's body, shouting at Malor and Amelia, who both ran over and used the blade like a nail.

The creature fell shortly after. Layla, surprisingly, was breathing heavily. After the fight, she went to the wall and leaned against it. "I can't fight those things like that."

Amelia and Trillia rushed over to make sure she was alright. The acolyte removed her helmet and offered them both a smile. "Taunting uses a lot of stamina. It uses more the longer I keep it up and the more damage I take. With the armor we have, I think it best if I just try to out hea-" She was cut off as another abomination broke through the ice next to her, spraying her exposed face with ice. She let out a scream that sent chills down Trillia's spine. Trillia pulled out a potion as panic set in, trying to remember the skill.

"Uhhh..." She shook her head. She knew it was something stupid and silly. Trillia ran around the abomination that was blocking her from Layla, and it clicked. "Need a blessing? Make a messing! [Splash Potion]!" She threw the healing potion at Layla and struck true. A red mist enveloped the girl and began healing Layla's melting, freezing flesh of her face.

The group scrambled to end this one, much like they had ended the first. This time, no one sat down, and everyone kept looking around. Ialu stayed near the walls sniffing and keeping her ears perked up. Layla stood in the center of the hall shaking, having roughly yanked her helmet on.

Trillia took a deep breath as long minutes passed, and nothing else came. "Damnit! Alfred warned us not to be complacent."

Layla took in a shaky breath as she looked at Trillia. "Sorry. T..t..that was my fault. I shouldn't have taken off my helmet."

Trillia walked over to the girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine. We're learning. We did ask Red River to be brutal...I guess he's taking that very seriously."

Amelia nodded as she and Malor began carving the bodies. "A hostile dungeon would have sent three or four just now. Probably would have cost us a member. We really don't know what the fuck we're doing, do we?"

Frederick had taken to walking around and mending everyone's armor. "Not yet. But we will. I'll have to convince Ma and Pa to come down here. They haven't been pushed or challenged in years, might do them and Red River some good to have a worthy rival."

Trillia gave Layla a gentle hug as she grinned. "I guess we don't fit into that category yet." Layla whispered a thank you as she calmed down. Trillia looked up as the goblins often did. "Yet!" With a little giggle, she went over to help Malor and Amelia. "I wonder why these guys don't just drop items like the other dungeon monsters do."

Layla spoke up immediately. "According to the people I tend to in the healing hall. A lot of these floors are designed to help level skills. I guess there are a bunch of survival and carving skills that can be learned and gained from chopping these things up. They are also close enough to actual [Megapedes] that the skills transfer surprisingly accurately to the real thing outside. There's an entire floor dedicated to plants and herbalism stuff. I guess after your talk earlier, Fred, there will be more stuff to do with mining as well."

Trillia nodded at that. "I guess that makes sense. Is everyone ok to keep going? Or should we back out for the day and go over what we've learned? I want to smash the second-floor boss...but if the floor has advanced this much, I would rather go into the boss fresh and not frazzled or exhausted."

The others agreed to call it here for the day. As Trillia expected, a few minutes later, Gobbinz popped down from the ceiling. As he floated to the ground, he immediately walked over to Layla and offered her a hug, which she gladly accepted. "Father says he's sorry about that. But just as all of you showed him a weakness in his defense, he wasn't going to break his promise and go easy."

Layla shook her head immediately. "Don't apologize. It was a stupid, stupid mistake to take off my helmet in a hostile environment immediately after we got out of a fight. I assure you, I won't make that mistake again."

Gobbinz gave her a final look before nodding. "I can lead you all out."

The path out only took a few minutes. Apparently, Red River had begun to use teleportation magic for the shortcuts. They stood in the healing hall, and the group decided to stay and chat for a few minutes before departing. They also got their drops from the first-floor boss, which consisted of high-quality wolf pelts and some odd barbs that Malor said could be used as a material in bleeding enchantments.

Trillia sat on a stool and took a deep breath. An orc in a bed nearby chuckled. "Hard day in the dungeon, I take it?"

Trillia offered the orc a smirk. "We made a stupid mistake. Decided to call it a day and come back tomorrow refreshed. We're still only on the second floor."

The orc offered a tiny nod at that. "My group makes it to the fourth floor somewhat reliably. But the switch-up is so drastic that we've hit a wall. Haven't cleared the fourth floor in two months. Want advice on the second and third floors?"

Trillia thought about that for a moment. She looked over at her companions before shaking her head. "I appreciate the offer. But no, thank you. I know we did a lot of scouting and information gathering for the dungeons in D'Jamu. But we won't always have information available to us. I'd rather us be mostly surprised."

The orc nodded and motioned to Layla. "That one says the same thing. She doesn't mind learning what each floor offers as training, but she wants to learn the specifics on her own."

Gobbinz overheard the conversation and walked over, tapping the orc on the forehead. "You're supposed to be sleeping, you big oaf! You lost an arm down there today! Besides, if you have advanced warning of a floor, you get less experience for it!"

Trillia blinked a few times when she heard that. It made sense, she guessed. Then the realization dawned on her that she had notifications dinging in her mind. She'd get to those later before they descended again. For now, the group was just relaxing and reflecting.