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With Bree leading, and the Vampire at the rear, near Grace, the party entered the Mini-Dungeon and the air became warmer all of a sudden.

[Victoria Blackswarm]: From now on, we only use the chat. Don’t make noises, those little monsters have good hearing. Bree, use your tracking sense and guide us.

The Ranger nodded, and raised her head, inhaling deeply. Gesturing with two fingers to the right, she entered the forest. They walked for five minutes without finding anything.

[Grace Allinder]: How big is this thing?

[Victoria Blackswarm]: Five square miles. That’s why we need Bree to find them.

[Bree the Ranger]: There’s a group three hundred feet ahead. About a dozen.

[Victoria Blackswarm]: Bree, go around, cut their retreat. I’ll taunt them, the rest, go for the kill.

While Bree diverted her steps to the left, the group continued on their path. Then, the Vampire raised her hand in the air, palm up, a stopping gesture. Grace noticed she had no weapon.

[Victoria Blackswarm]: Take cover and wait for my signal.

Advancing twenty more steps, the Vampire sat on a stump, untied her hair, and pulled up her skirt, to reveal a shapely leg.

“Ouch….” she wailed, holding her ankle. “I’m huuuurt.”

Out of nowhere, a group of knee-high greenish creatures wearing only a skimpy loincloth, popped up from the tall grass, surrounding the woman.

“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” one of them croaked.

“Here, gorgeous, have a smoke,” another produced a cigarette and a lighter.

“A massage is all you need for a twisted ankle,” a third said, starting to hump Victoria’s leg, like a stupid dog in heat. The rest of the monsters started to fight among them, probably to decide who was next in line to make a pass at the blonde. Grace’s jaw was wide open, and her senses were screaming in disbelief.

“Thank you, a smoke is exactly what I need,” Victoria said. Grabbing the monster’s wrist, he snatched him up in the air, smashing the green thing onto the one adoring her leg, and killing them both in the process. She skewered another two with a thin sword appearing out of nowhere, which she used to cut the throat of a fifth creature.

The surviving monsters tried to flee, only to be met by the Samurai’s sword, the other Asian man’s polearm, and Carla’s arrows. One did manage to get behind the trees, but Bree caught and killed him, and then exited the forest.

Your group has slain a Goblin Spawn party, level 55. You have leveled x5. Two APs were invested in CHA, INT, and DEX. You have 5 free APs to distribute. Loot acquired: Dirty Loincloth. Soiled Loincloth. Makeshift Spear x 2.

“Too bad the XP will diminish soon,” the Samurai whispered.

“I told you to keep silent,” the Vampire hissed. “Where’s your mojo-dojo discipline.”

“Bushido, madam. It’s called Bushido.”

“Give the kid some slack,” Bree said.

“Yeah, at least he did kill some. What about you? I didn’t think you were a freeloader,” Victoria addressed Grace. “You froze, or what?”

“This is wrong,” Grace shook her head.

“You don’t like violence? Then why are you dungeoning?”

“No, there’s something wrong with this place. Those can’t be monsters, they're sentients"

“It's a known fact Goblinoid Spawn is obsessed with sex," Victoria said. "Dungeons can create constructs that appear as real as the real thing."

"The first one used a human catchphrase, and I had a vision with many of them watching TV."

The Vampire grabbed her chin, pondering things. "Very well. I’ll pay attention to their behavior if that keeps you calm.”

A moment later, a horn call resounded far above the hill.

“They're onto us. Prepare for battle,” Victoria yelled.

Like clockwork, the team moved to have their back covered by a large rock formation, with Bree in front, the two Asians on the sides, and the rest behind. Grace struggled to put the string on her bow and set the quiver on her back. It wasn’t a comfortable position, but a hip quiver was more inconvenient if she had to run around.

A first wave of twenty monsters rushed at them from nowhere. The creatures looked surprised themselves, stopping and chatting, which proved an error, as Bree and her two companions killed half of them in the next second. Grace managed to put an arrow in one goblin, and Carla in two, then Victoria slid forward and killed the rest.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Your group has slain a Goblin Spawn band, level 55. You have leveled x5. You have 10 free APs to distribute. Loot acquired: Soiled Loincloth x2, Makeshift Bow x 1.

There were some horn calls and shouts around, not far away, and then a few arrows arrived to harass them. Not strong, or precise. Bree produced a big shield to protect the Asians, and Victoria invoked a sort of energy dome, protecting herself, Carla, and Grace.

Two groups advanced now from both sides. Bigger foes, human-sized, wearing armor, armed with better spears or longbows. They stopped at fifty yards, taking cover in the grass or behind mounds of earth or trees, yelping a lot among themselves, and shooting an arrow or javelin here and there.

“What do we do?” Grace yelled, feeling panic mounting in her throat together with bile.

“We wait!” Victoria ordered. “If we move they’ll surround us in the open.”

Fortunately, the monsters hesitated to attack as well. There were some arrows shot, again, but that was all. Grace took her time to aim and got a monster through the eye. Carla got another.

Your group has slain Orcling, Lvl. 55 x2. Minor XP gained. No loot.

The foes took better cover, then half, on each side, ran away, while the others began to shoot arrows at a faster pace. In the distance, other large groups were passing by at a running pace but were not trying to join the fight.

“There’s a lot of them,” Bree said.

“Indeed,” Victoria sneered. "I’ll take one group, you take the others.”

“You’re sure…” Grace swallowed her words, under the blonde woman's stare.

“Go!” Victoria shouted, sliding forward at an incredible speed.

On their side, Bree dashed toward the right, covering herself with the tower shield the best she could. Grace and Carla tried to pick the enemy’s archers, as they popped out of cover to shoot at the Ranger. The Samurai and the polearm guy followed Bree, behind the cover she provided.

Killing three Orcling archers attracted the monsters’ attention, and arrows started to flee at Grace and Carla. The two women ducked behind the rock formation, Grace feeling an arrow graze her cheek.

You have been inflicted with Poison DOT… DOT has ceased.

Bree and the men were doing short work of the Orcling group.

“Your class name makes no sense,” the Samurai said to Bree. “You’re supposed to Range, not tank.”

“You want range? Here is range,” Bree replied, grabbing a wounded Orcling by the ankle and throwing it in a wide arch. It fell on the last surviving monster on Victoria’s side, who delivered the coup de grace with her rapier.

Your group has slain Orcling x 20. You have Leveled x 3. Loot: Shabby loincloth. Suggestion: combine it with a chic dress to achieve a perfect Shabby-Chic style.

“No thanks,” Grace said through her clenched teeth.

“Levels!” Victoria screamed.

“Sixty-two,” Bree said. “Fifty-nine,” and “Same,” replied the two Asians. “Fifty-six,” Carla. Finally, Grace yelled: “Fifty-eight!”

“We need to reach sixty for everyone. We disband the party. Bree, you’re with me, the rest make a new team, and we’ll goad some toward you. Stay here.”

Fortunately, Carla took care of sending the invitation, Grace had no experience with that. Five minutes later, like a herd of sheep pushed by shepherd dogs, groups of Goblin Spawn and Orclings started to appear, yelping in distress. Grace shot all her arrows in less than a minute. Carla threw her bow down and unsheathed a knight's sword. She was better with it than with the bow, which put Grace to shame, as she remembered she was stronger than the Italian not long ago. Taking a makeshift spear in hand, Grace tried to help here and there, where her Tactician senses told her she would make a difference.

The chaos ceased twenty minutes after the Vampire had given the orders. Grace was level sixty-one.

“Strength,” Victoria ordered to Bree. “Strength, Toughness, DEX,” she continued with the two men and Carla. Finally, stopping in front of Grace, she frowned for a second. “Go for INT and share your choices with me.”

It was clear what Victoria meant. Keeping one AP for later, Grace pushed fifteen into INT and shared the notification.

The second threshold in Intelligence was achieved. Please choose your perks.

Second perk for the Seer class:

1: True Path. You Instinctively feel what choices are right or wrong.

2: Stock Market Player. Your acumen for investing money could earn you millions. If only you were connected to the Intergalactic Stock Market.

Second perk for the Tactician class:

1: Where it Hurts (Legendary). You can detect the main weaknesses in an enemy’s army and deliver a decisive blow.

2: The How and the Why. You understand the deep nature of your Tactical choices and the consequences they have. A step toward becoming a Strategist.

“First Perk, for both. The Legendary is priceless, and it's better to be a good Tactician than a half-backed Strategist.”

Grace nodded and selected the Perks as instructed.

“What should I choose,” the Samurai asked.

Victoria’s nose and upper lip creased, revealing her fangs. She was going to say something unpleasant, Grace was sure of it. With her new perks, so many details were now obvious. The Samurai, a young man, was yearning for the Vampire’s attention, his puckering face like a child’s. She grabbed Victoria’s arm before the blonde started to speak.

“He likes you,” Grace whispered in the Vampire’s ear.

There was a jerk and a hesitation. “Go for the cutting perk.”

“Thanks,” the Samurai cheered up.

“Is it OK if I take the attack speed?” the other man asked.

“Take the parry. We’ll need it… OK, guys, and girls, listen up, I have bad news. This can’t be a mini-dungeon, they're too many. We’re in a real dungeon. The Mana in this area must be thicker, allowing it to activate. The good news is: it’s low level and has only one floor. The bad news is that hundreds of monsters ignored us, and some sacrificed to keep us in place. That means only one thing: there’s another team in the dungeon, probably assaulting the main Boss as we speak.”

“And if they get their hands on the core, it’s bad, right?” Grace asked.

“Of course. We have to investigate. Bree, take the lead.”

They started running, following the Ranger uphill. Grace promised herself to invest in Strength and Constitution, at some point. Running was not her forte. Ten minutes later, they reached a forested ridge and took a peek over it, lying down.