Dungeon Boss – Cyclops defeated.

Dungeon cleared. Boss will respawn in 24 hours.

The team had successfully beaten their first dungeon boss. Alice should have been ecstatic about such an achievement. Instead, she was lying down on the floor, her heartbeat through the roof, her body aching, and pain running down her spine on a level she had never felt before.

“Bonetta was almost eaten alive. We almost died. What am I doing here? I’m a doctor, not someone that fights with monsters. I should not be here. I’m not cut out for this.”

Realization kicked in for a second time. She could die at any moment in this world. She was no longer in the civilized world she once lived in. She was no longer protected by her civilian, mundane life where her worst fears were whether she and Tim could pay their mortgage or not. She was in Sfiraz now. She would have to get better or die a tragic death.

“Grimmy, are you there?” said Alice.

“Yes, I’m here,” said Grimmy as he floated near where Alice was lying down.

“I don’t think I can do this. Whoever or whatever teleported me into this world, teleported the wrong person. I almost got us killed. If it wasn’t for Rami, we…”

“It’s okay. We won.”

“No, Grimmy, we barely won. We were seconds away from Bonetta being eaten alive and not long after that we would have all been dead.”

“Alice, that’s what adventuring is. In adventuring, the margin for error is so small. I mean, half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half-second too slow, too fast and you don't quite catch it.”

“Are you quoting ‘Any Given Sunday’ to me right now?”

“Oh, so you watched that. My bad, I thought you weren’t into movies.”

“I like movies. Just not fantasy movies. I guess they wouldn’t be called fantasy in this world, would they? Ok, I got distracted. What was I saying?”

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“You were having an existential crisis about how you are not cut out to be an adventurer.”

“Ah, yes. I’m not cut out for this, Grimmy. We almost died. I know nothing about this world. I’m not Tim.”

“Tim? who’s Tim?” said Rami as he made his way to Alice. “Thank you by the way.”

“For what? For not reaching Bonetta in time?”

“No, for that carving stone with water spells trick you mentioned. That was the reason I was able to get my leg free. I would not have been able to attack the cyclops otherwise.”

“Oh… you’re welcome.”

“I guess I owe you my thanks as well. I would have been cyclops poop in a few hours if it wasn’t for you,” said Bonetta, approaching Rami covered in eye slime and brain matter.

“Aghh, you stink.” Rami lifted his hand towards Bonetta and casted Water Prison on her. The water sphere started cycling as if it was a washing machine. A few seconds later, the water sphere dismantled, and Bonetta came out soaking wet, no longer smelling like someone had vomited on her several times and then sprayed expired milk on top of her.

“Mmm… you’re welcome.”

“Hey next time, how about you ask me if I want a shower before encasing me into a sphere of water.”

“Trust me, I did you a favor by not asking. The sooner you were cleaned and not smelling like cyclops vomit the better for everyone.”

“It was not vomit; it was brain chunks…”

Bonetta and Rami kept arguing as Alice stood up. Grimmy floated near Alice’s shoulder and said, “You say you’re not cut out for this, but I’m sure they disagree. You’re doing fine, trust me. I’ve seen a lot of adventurers and while you might not be the best one, or even top 10… or 100…

“Ok, Grimmy, finish your thought. You can skip that part.”

“Look, you might not be Tim, but Alice is pretty awesome too.”

Alice stared at Grimmy for a long time. Alice started thinking about the last couple of days. The way she found Ambar City. How she was able to become an adventurer and get her first quest. How she was able to find Joe and get his blessing. She realized that maybe she was cut out for this. Just when Alice opened her mouth to give Grimmy the sincerest thanks one person could give, Grimmy continued his speech.

“Plus, Lord Death chose you for a reason. No matter how incompetent you may seem on the outside, or how clueless you may seem about the world around you, or…”

“You can stop, Grimmy. I get it.”

Alice walked up to Rami and Bonetta arguing. She looked at them and smiled. Bonetta noticed the smile and turned to Alice leaving Rami arguing by himself.

“You, okay?” said Bonetta, mirroring the smile.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“First boss down, many more to go. Right?” said Rami as he put an arm behind each of them.

“Right!” replied Alice. “You guys have my back, right?”

“As long as you have ours,” replied Bonetta.

“Alright, enough of the team bonding,” said Grimmy, “you should have gotten a few levels from killing the cyclops.”

“Yeah, I reached Lvl 15,” replied Rami.

“Same,” said Bonetta.

“I’m at Lvl 14,” said Alice.

“Very good. Rami and Bonetta, choose your skills and let me know so that I can add them to the strategy book.”

“I chose ‘Water Blade’. It allows me to summon an extremely sharp water blade that is able to cut through hard materials like stone and steel.”

“That is good. That’s going to give you an additional option for close combat, plus the utilities outside of battle will also be helpful. Bonetta, what did you get?”

“I got ‘Aura Explosion’. It triggers an explosion around me that staggers enemies in a five-foot radius around me, pushing them back a little.”

“Yes. Particularly useful as well. No outside battle utility, but it will be helpful when you’re rushed by enemies or are entrapped like with the cyclops. Excellent choice.”

“Alright, now we go find that boss bandit, right?” said Alice.

“Yeah, should be that way,” replied Grimmy, pointing at the wall where the cyclops appeared.

The team made their way to the wall Grimmy pointed out and found a door leading to another room.

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