The party kept on going through the tunnels finding small groups of goblins here and there no more than five enemies at a time. They found mostly hunters and warriors but would encounter a new variation of the warrior that wore heavy armor and only had a shield. All enemies so far varied between Lvl 10 to 14.

The team operated mostly in the same way as before with a few modifications in their formation according to the type and number of enemies. Grimmy would of course advise on what formation to use.

When the team finished off their fifth encounter, Alice got a system notification:

You have reached level 10. +5 Intelligence +3 Dexterity +2 Strength +5 free points. You have 5 available free points.

Please choose a new skill from the following options:

“Nice! Grimmy, take a look at these,” shouted Alice.

Reaper Armor – You rely on close combat more often than not without proper armor. Summon a light full-body armor made of enchanted bone material. The armor will reduce both physical and magical damage by 10%. 5% chance of inflicting fear into enemies.

“Interesting, this one looks promising,” said Grimmy. “Let’s take a look at the others.”

Death’s Touch – You have been blessed by the God of Death, Death Incarnate himself. As one of his blessed ones, you can perform abilities that the God of Death himself can perform. Death’s Touch will allow you to inflict necrotic wound on any enemies you touch.

“This one again?” said Alice, disappointed.

“Yes, the system will do that sometimes if it deems it necessary. It’s not rare to see one or even two options from before.”

Masochism – You have endured an abnormal amount of self-inflicted damage. So much, that we are beginning to suspect you actually enjoy it...

“NOT HAPPENING, GRIMMY!” said Alice.

“I really think you should consider…”

“I said NO.”

“Fine. Then I suggest Reaper Armor since your sickles are still efficient and are good for your current level. Once you outgrow the sickles, we might consider Death’s Touch.”

Alice selected Reaper Armor. She immediately tried the spell. Alice’s body started growing what looked like a human exoskeleton. The armor covered her from head to toe, adorning her face with a skull half-mask that would cover her from the nose up.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Wow, you look terrifyingly amazing!” said Rami in awe. “I mean, you are clearly not hiding the fact that you are close to Lord Death when you wear the armor, but you still look cool.”

“I would think twice before punching you,” said Bonetta, patting Alice on the back.

“Awesome!” said Alice, looking at her arms and legs.

“Alright, now that you’re done and finally happy with your outfit, let’s continue. We need to find those bandits.”

As if Grimmy had summoned them, a small group of three bandits turned the corner and met the team.

“Hey! what are you doing here!?” asked one of the bandits.

“What are you doing here?” replied Rami.

“I asked first.”

“I asked second.”

“You are the ones intruding in our base.”

“Aha, so this IS your base,” said Rami with a triumphant look.

“Mmm… no… what base?” said the bandit, knowing that he had said too much.

“The boss is going to kill you,” said another bandit in a mocking tone.

“Shut up, the boss doesn’t have to find out if we kill them before they reach him.”

“We don’t even know how to reach him,” said Rami.

“You see,” said the bandit to the one that was mocking him, “they don’t even know that the boss is in the lower level behind that big mural.”

“We do now,” said Bonetta, already next to him and already punching him in the face.

The bandit shot back and hit the wall, and Bonetta followed him. The rest of the bandits pulled out their weapons and the fight started.

Alice, with her Reaper Armor already summoned, launched at one of the bandits and performed a Surgical Strike that also inflicted him with both Bleeding and Necrotic Wound.

At the same time, Rami shot Water Sniper at the remaining bandit, making the bandit stumble a few steps back. Rami closed the gap and finished him off with a Water Shotgun.

Alice, having already inflicted his opponent with both afflictions, turned to Bonetta to see if she was alright. Bonetta was in a completely one-sided fight. It looked as if she was hitting a punching bag stuck in the wall.

“Bonetta, try not to kill him yet. Let’s see if we can get more information out of him,” said Grimmy from above.

Bonetta stopped punching the bandit, and Alice healed him to avoid him dying.

Bonetta picked him up and dragged the unconscious bandit to the others.

When the bandit was conscious again, he found himself restrained on the floor. Bonetta was towering over him with a menacing gaze.

“Let me go!” demanded the bandit.

“Buddy, you are not in a position to make demands,” replied Rami. “Your friends are dead, and you are here by yourself. Now my eerie-looking friend here will ask you some questions and it is in your best interest that you answer them truthfully. Understood.”

The bandit looked around to see Bonetta looking tall on her full Amazonian build, Alice in her Reaper Armor, and the miniature Grim Reaper. “Who is the eerie one?”

Rami turned around to look at his party, noticing that in fact all of them could be the eerie one.

“Fair enough… I was talking about the mini–Grim Reaper over here.”

Grimmy floated forward and began asking what they needed to know. The rest of the party stepped away and waited for Grimmy to get all the information they needed.

After a few minutes, Grimmy floated back and met with the rest of the party.

“Done. We have all the information we need. We know the where, who, what, and why,” said Grimmy.

“What about the when?” asked Rami.

“We don’t need the when…” said Grimmy.

“The when is important, Grimmy,” argued Rami.

“I said we don’t need the when, Rami,” said Grimmy with gritted teeth.

“Oh, just stop you two,” said Alice as she stood in between them. “Grimmy, the when is important,” said Alice as Rami took on a triumphant look, “but we don’t really need the when right now,” continued Alice as Rami deflated and Grimmy took on the triumphant look.

“Let’s just go,” said Bonetta. “What are we doing with this guy?” She pointed at the restrained bandit.

Alice approached the bandit and asked, “Hey, do you promise not to come after us if we let you live?” The bandit nodded.

“Good enough for me.” Alice unrestrained him and the bandit began running towards the exit of the dungeon.

“Alice! He can come back with backup,” said Rami.

“He won’t,” replied Alice.

“But what if he does?”

“Then we will kill them all at that point,” said Alice with an emotionless face.

Rami was silenced not by Alice’s words but by her face.

Bonetta stepped forward and said, “You can’t be that trusting, Alice, not everyone deserves to be trusted.”

“I think you’re wrong. Everyone deserves to be trusted at least once. If they break that trust, then that’s it. You know… Fool me once…”

“Fool me once?” asked Rami.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a saying from where I’m from. ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ I trust easy but betray that trust and you will never get my trust back.”

“That last part sounded terrifying with your Reaper Armor on.”

“Just as intended,” said Alice with a grin on her face.