The trio walked through the jungle in the direction the monkeys left, following the broken branches and distant noises of the group.

The hollers and howls assured them that they wouldn't be falling behind their prey. The dense underbrush did little to slow their chase down. The weight of the meal in their stomachs undoubtedly slowing them down.

It would not be much longer until they nearly caught up.

The noises slowly crept forward with each second they advanced. The sounds got louder and louder as they cut through the jungle foliage.

Drew expected to break through the jungle into a ton of stick nests or monkeys sleeping on tree limbs. What welcomed him was beyond his wildest imagination. High up in the trees, entire huts, woven from dried leaves and living branches sat entire homes.

They were all connected by vines weaved together to form some kind of rail system they could travel along to move amongst their community.

The dozen monkeys they chased turned into nearly fifty that were visible from where they stood, with many more undoubtedly hidden in their homes. The full scope of the village was mind-blowing to him. His mind went to work thinking about their options.

Was it even worth trying to get revenge if they died in the process? How could they even begin to tackle it?

He looked up into the trees and just stared at the civilization. Would it even be right to kill them? They were just trying to live their life like he and his friends were.

In the treetops, the noises of life played ad nauseum. They were too outnumbered to do anything in their current state if they even followed through with it. They would need to come back again at a later time.

The sheer enormity of their forces eclipsed their own by far and beyond what Drew thought was even possible.

“Master, I am not too sure about a frontal attack.” The tone of Sapphire's voice broke through the silence that had overtaken the group.

“No shit. I…I think we come back another time after we get stronger and better prepared. This is just too much. Way more than I was expecting.” He glanced down to Nurgle and watched for his reaction. His face was stony as he stared above.

“That is probably for the best.” The trio backed out of the tree line that denoted their territory and worked their way backwards with Sapphire’s help.

They trekked back in silence. If they wanted to even stand a chance at not being overrun by them, they would need to get some serious power-ups. There were only two more level-ups until he could gain a new slot if the trend continued.

After hours of travel, they entered the familiar clearing of their pond, starving and tired from staying on constant alert.

“I remember how to travel back to their civilization. I doubt they will be moving with how permanent the building appeared to be from the outside.” Sapphire let herself down his back and walked over to the water with Nurgle in tow.

They took deep drinks of water from the pond while Drew overlooked them. He would need to do something about water accessibility for them near the dungeon. It was intensely humid and constantly noisy thanks to the waterfall that cascaded down in front of them but that was a mild inconvenience for safety. Being forced to come down to the water hole to drink when the water skins ran out defeated the entire purpose.

Drew’s only saving grace was the weird socks he had found so many days ago keeping him from sweating out a gallon of water a day.

He stared out over the clear surface and to the other side. A stilt tortoise's hollowed-out shell sat in the sand under the beating sunny rays. The scutes had popped off as they dried, leaving the bone-white carapace laying there.

“Guys, we will take the fight to them eventually, but for now let’s get comfortable.” The two summons looked back at their master with questioning looks on their faces.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

-

The trio sat on the top deck overlooking the water and the distant view of the immense lake. Drew had a fresh fruit in his hand, taking large luxurious bites from it while reclining against the pile of leather scraps he so often used as a pillow.

Sapphire had taken to reading more of the artifact book under the midday rays like a person tanning on their vacation with a good story in hand.

The last member of their group sat in the new addition to the place, the water basin. He splashed in the water like it was the greatest kiddy pool of all time. Water went flying everywhere, dumping gallons of water over the side and down the walkway only to have it replaced by fresh water within seconds.

The makeshift pool Nurgle found himself frolicking in sat near the closest side to the turbulent falls with a bamboo gutter collecting water from the falling stream before it got too powerful. The new addition gave them access to clean water at all times and a fun place for Nurgle to splash inside.

It was strange how the bones of a dead creature and some redneck engineering can make a place feel so much more like a home.

Their relaxation only lasted so long before everyone got restless. One by one, they got up and prepared their tools for war. Sapphire was the last put her book down and got ready for another dungeon dive.

The two floors were a breeze with almost no hiccups to mention. They turned the first floor into a pile of dust and the second into a slurry of flesh.

Moral was high as they looked at the updated placement in the second-floor rankings.

“In the next few runs where we aren’t going for experience, we can probably top the charts. It’s a surprisingly good matchup for us.” Drew stretched his muscles as he cooled down from the blitzing run they just finished when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Master, you haven’t checked the rewards in a while. If there is anything useful, we should consider taking on the next floor.” Drew looked at his fanny pack and unlatched the opening to inspect the dimensional pocket inside. The health potions he left inside had grown in number, a new smaller knife sat to the side, and a random pack of a few thick pieces of paper were the only things inside.

“I wonder how much people used to get hurt with all of the potions we are getting.” Drew wondered aloud to his companions.

“Maybe it is not that they get injured more, but just that they actually use them as needed, unlike a certain group I am intimately familiar with.” Sapphire’s prickly tone of voice startled him from his inspections.

He supposed it made sense. He had grown used to not having any sort of cure-all beyond her healing ability, so he had grown accustomed to just ignoring them in dire situations.

“I get it. I need to use those at the first sign of injury. I’m just not used to it since I came from a world where it takes weeks to heal from even minor injuries.”

“Well, you have been injured a lot and only tried to ever use a potion a single time. This is definitely a point that you need to work on.”

“I know, I know. Well, do you have any clue what these things might be?” Drew lifted the thick papery objects up for the duo to inspect. They were bleached white with bright red dotted lines down the middle that had the spaces that separated them perforated. The gaps looked to have some strange mist fall from them as he waved them around.

“They appear to be intended for ripping in half to some desired effect. Maybe it's to clean wounds or stop bleeding. I am unsure.”

Dre looked to the side where Nurgle sat hammering his knife into the wooden desk the lich sat at.

“Come over here buddy, I want to try this thing out before we head to the next floor.” Nurlge lifted his arms up for Drew to pick him up with ease and sat on his shoulder for transport.

Now that they all stood together, Drew Grabbed each side of the white object and tore it apart. The strange mist came pouring out faster and faster with each red line torn. The weird gas collected around his feet, startling him slightly as it got higher and higher up his torse until it finally reached his neck.

He tried waving it away from his face, only for his hands to pass through it. He attempted to move out of the cloud only for his feet to be glued in place.

“It feels a little like the artifacts during their use.” Sapphire poked at the rising gas with her trunk.

Drew held his breath as it covered his face completely. He waited for a few seconds in silence until he felt his back warming up for some odd reason.

“Master, you can open your eyes now.”

He looked around and turned to see the bright green of the setting sun in the distance. They all found themselves at the entrance of the dungeon they had just been inside.

“Hmmm, so this thing let us leave even though we did not reach the teleportation circle. How curious.” Sapphire grabbed half of the fluffy object from his hand and went on inspecting it.

“Acts kind of like an escape rope from Pokemon. That’ll be handy for the future.” Drew pulled the extra knife out and a few of the potions to clear some space. “They'll stay in there with the potions.”

“I hope you remember to use them.” The sass was back, drawing a displeased look from her master. “For our safety of course!” Her closed-mouth smile did little to soothe the reminder. He supposed she was right though.

“Remind me if you think we should use it. It shouldn't just be left up to me.” He glanced back at the sun and then at the stuff around him. “For now, we will get some shut-eye and head back inside tomorrow morning for the real runs and the new floor."