Nesharad looked to her party before speaking. “This was ridiculously good hunting. We’ve got so many materials to sell. We’ve got experience most would die for, but if we keep taking risks, we’re going to die, and we’re so close to twenty five. If anyone has changed their mind, speak up.”

Osharam raised her voice. “I’m not done. I want more and I’m disgusted that you don’t.”

“Then we kill to the right,” Trella said. “You kill to the right, we’ll back you up. Your first enemies are four different spawns of [Tar Trolls.] They have [Slow] but will be vulnerable to ice, not water. Also, you really don’t want to let one touch you and then catch fire.”

To her credit, Osharam didn’t hesitate, running toward the group of trolls.

Trella looked back to the exit. *You should still go to the cavern transition.*

Kaden relayed to Sara. *Trinity will stay and guard you. Skully, too.*

They set off at a run, taking a wide route less to avoid bosses and more to let Trella update her scroll. Kaden’s endurance was far beyond what any commoner could handle, and he’d been a runner before he even got a class, but by the time the ceiling began to arc over, he was tired.

“Water?” Trella asked as they looked at the transition Previous caverns had been lit in dull red. This was solid black with veins of red.

Kaden pulled a shell and drank from it as Trella used [Create Water], then passed it to her. He kneeled down, touching the stone, smelling the sulfur, the rasp of claws on stone as beasts hunted. “There. I can get back here. I can probably open a portal back to where we were.”

Trella pointed left. “I really want to follow this wall. There’s no prayer of fully mapping anything at this point, but if we see any change in the boss pattern, the map will know.”

It took hours for them to finally catch up to Sara, who stood, arms crossed in front, pseudopods crossed behind her, resembling nothing so much as a frustrated cosmic-horror pretzel. “Before you ask, yes, those are still the [Tar Trolls]. No, it is not the same spawn as they started at. They’re out of mana, low on health and loosing to minion level monsters.”

“Help!” One of them screamed.

Kaden hesitated. They were supposed to choose challenges.

Trinity was not bound by the same restrictions, and she charged into the fray, accidentally bashing Osharam to the side before accidentally backing up to stand on her leg while her serpentine head spat venom in each troll’s eyes.

[Plague Crows] took flight, spreading [Plague] across the trolls, and one by one, Trinity destroyed them.

“That’s enough girl.” Kaden called her back. “Get off of Osharam. Eve, is healing a broken leg allowed?”

“If they’re not in combat. Trinity has wounds I should really take care of first—oh, all right.”

Kaden didn’t ask. He opened a portal. “Anyone want to move on?”

No one hesitated, and once Skully and Trinity were through, Kaden followed. Wren stood at the edge of the divide. “There’s a major geis on this. I’m not even certain this is part of the same physical place. Stepping across is going to trigger, like, eighteen conditions and I know you can’t go back.”

She pulled an intact [Mirror Shield] from inventory and equipped it.

Kaden couldn’t help staring. “What are you doing?”

“I’m a dual class [Shield/Artificer],” Wren said. “I don’t want to dive into a dungeon and bash my way out the other side, but I know what I am and I know I’m better off armored going into a place like that.”

“It’s changed,” Trella said. “I’ve been most of the way through the zone and I promise you I was able to come back several times. I even bound my [Rescue Reset] to this side just in case I got trapped in there.”

“Pitch black?” Sara looked to the Mabies. “Osharam. You’re up in front. Kaden, leash your beasts. Trella, I don’t know if you’re better off scouting or if you’d do more damage with [Shadow Chains].”

“We’ve got time. I’m going to make Lesser Mana Potions for everyone—and as many spares as I can. Same for health. We treat weapons with bleed. We go in ready for war. Wren, can I borrow a bench?”

This time, Kaden watched as Wren produced the workbench. It began as an impossibly thin sheet of steel about the size of a scroll. When it unfolded once, it was the same thickness, but longer—and again, and then legs folded down and out, maintaining a perfectly light but solid base.

Trella began brewing, while Kaden let Trinity stalk a [Lava Scorpion].

After three hours, Trella declared them done and passed out potions. “All of you are topped up thanks to Sara. This will provide a mana regen boost and some base mana. We should sleep as well—at least, you six should. Kaden, Sara, Eve? I need a favor.”

He was there in an instant. “What is it?”

“Boss 22C is a Fire Mana infused [Dagger Dream]. I still regret losing that stinger to Jagi’s [Storm Condor]. It would have multiplied damage from poison. I think the four of us can handle it. Skully and Trinity can guard the Mabies with Wren.”

The last [Dagger Dream] had been occupied killing a [Moon Moth]. It had been hit by Dominion. It had also been much higher in level than Kaden. “We’re going to need Vip. It will start laying eggs. Remember Blasta?”

The eggs had exploded.

Sara nodded. “It’s a reasonable risk. I’m going to inform the Mabies and tell them that stepping into the next cavern constitutes choosing a battle. I think they’ll stay put.”

A few moments later, she returned. “The words ‘Dagger Dream,’ ‘Giant Wasp’ and ‘Fire Boss’ are a remarkably effective deterrent. Now, how do we expect this boss to attack?”

“Sting.” Kaden pointed to Skully. “Skully can’t be poisoned. I’m immune to Dagger Wasp venom but I’d rather not risk it. Skully takes sting attacks. The head can bite, the claw tips spear. Normally I’d say get on top of it and hack the wings but I’ll bet it will be on fire.”

“If it bites, I’ll give it a [Crawling Horror],” Sara said. “Otherwise I’ll focus on [Shocking Grasp} through my swords and call out when it’s stunned.”

“I’ll lead with [Freezing Gale], [Plague Crows] and Thorn Caster.” Kaden wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. His ability to borrow skills and talents was powerful but only as long as he used it.

Trella led them carefully through the cavern. “The nest is up there. I don’t know that the workers are decoration but [Identity] doesn’t lock on to them at all. On the other hand, I didn’t want to aggro the boss.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Kaden activated [Stealth Aura] and crept toward the giant oval that hung from the cave ceiling. Crawling on the surface of the oval was a nightmare, a [Dagger Dream] the size of a wagon. Instead of yellow, its bands were bright red, and the veins on its wings gleamed red.

“Hold on.” Trella called. “It’s looking at us. We haven’t even entered its range and it’s looking at us. It shouldn’t be looking at us yet.”

[Stealth Aura] wouldn’t activate. Kaden tried three times, swearing louder each time. “It is watching us.”

Sara took one step after another, tense. “Got her. We should choose another boss. Any other boss. We should leave now.”

[Vespa Adere - Burning Dream Queen]

When the summer breezes turn to fall cold, dagger wasps dig down deep into the earth seeking warmth and sleep until summer returns. This one dug too deep, and found itself in a realm of endless heat. Transformed by intense Fire Mana, it has grown in strength, feeding on monsters until they have become the foundation of a new species. Soon, it will be the ruling species, first of these caverns and later, the world.

This one is curious what kind of monster does not know to fear it. Normally it must chase down its food.

*Hunger*.

Level: 31

HP: 10,000

Mana: 3,000

Skills: Summon Worker, Blazing Sting, Burning Wind, Fire Aura

Talents: Hive Mind, Queen’s Reign

Titles: Progenitor

[Queen’s Reign]

As the first of your kind, enjoy the System’s Blessing. You will be more successful in all combat and take less damage while any of your subjects survive.

Hive Mind didn’t resolve, but [Queen’s Reign] looked alot like [Leader of the Pack]. “Sara’s right,” Kaden said. “That’s not part of the boss set for this area. It’s an intruder who’s survived. It’s level thirty one. It’s feeding on other bosses, and that nest may not show up on [Identify] but I don’t think it’s for show, I think it enabled [Summon Worker]”

Trella backed away, pulling on Sara’s arm. “Changed my mind. It can keep the stinger.”

With every step, Kaden focused on [Beast Soul]. Most beasts would give away an attack with sheer emotion. For a good twenty paces, the Burning Dream crawled further down the nest to keep both of its eyes focused on the Party.

When it didn’t fly off the nest toward them, the nervous feeling in his gut settled, and with every boss put between them, Kaden grew more confident. Any Beast would choose easier prey, it was part of what made apex predators apex.

The Mabies lay on bedrolls, slumbering comfortably in the midst of a cavern of terror. Skully stood on all fours on one side, while Trinity bided her time on the other. Wren wasn’t sleeping, she worked on warping another [Mirror Shield] to form a back plate. “No Boss?”

“Stingers are overrated.” Trella shared the [Identify] results. “It doesn’t hunt in the next cavern, so honestly, the faster we move, the better I’ll feel.”

Sara paused. “I’m grateful you understood the danger. We might be able to kill it, but I’m told every party wipe is just one poor decision that snowballs out of control.”

“I want to make it to twenty five. I’m going to.” Trella borrowed Kaden’s [Needful Cloak] and spread it out as a deep, fluffy blanket. “I’ll take dawn shift.”

Kaden took the first shift, and practiced his [Archery] by shooting [Fire Bats] as far away as possible. If one of them survived, Kaden had plenty of chances to hit it again, and the [Falcrow] lurked as a last resort.

The bird continued to stare into the darkness to the south. Trella’s map showed a wandering boss with a route that brought it toward the boundary, and the bird’s vision was near perfect.

After killing dozens of [Fire Bats], Kaden gave up and put Thorn Caster away. At midnight, he woke Sara. “If the [Falcrow] goes off, wake me. It’s been keeping an eye on that [Multi-clops] boss.”

He lay down next to Trella, and Trinity lumbered over to stand beside him.

The dense fire mana and dry heat made it easy to sleep, and Kaden slumbered—until a hand on him shook him awake. “Quickly, get up,” Sara said. “Trella’s waking the mabies and Eve is helping Wren. We have to move to the next cavern immediately.”

Throughout the cavern, the sounds of battle raged. “The wave?”

“Yes and no. It’s coming, but we’ve got bigger problems. There are [Burning Dreams] everywhere. They’re attacking the bosses in teams,” Sara said.

“Where’s the Queen?” Kaden had a hunch he knew where she was.

“She’s not at the nest.”

That was more than enough to get him moving. The workers were smaller, maybe a fourth the size of the queen, but they were still deadly, covered in flames. And invasive. “Get the Mabies across. I’m going to burn a few dreams.”

“No. We make a run for the Far Portal,” Sara said.

Kaden couldn’t. “Those wasps will destroy everything down here and then errupt. I don’t know what’s above us but it won’t take long for them to find a town, or even worse, make new nests.”

“We can’t kill them all,” Trella said. “The right thing to do is get the Mabies out.”

“We don’t need to kill them all, we just need to give the bosses an edge. That Queen is smart. She won’t waste workers on an attack that can’t succeed.” Kaden drew Thorn Caster and nailed a [Burning Dream] as it descended on a [Magma Tortoise], then again on the second one, and the third.

When a worker spun to find Kaden, the tortoise bit it in two, then clamped a claw down on the other and began lazily crushing it.

“I have to take them over,” Sara said. “Eve, Wren, Skully, and Trinity are coming. You two should as well.”

Your party has shrunk by nine.

Leader of the Pack is less effective.

Kaden looked to Trella. “Go with them.”

“Not happening. What’s the plan?”

“Raise hell. Seriously, I want to run a circuit of weak bosses and cull workers. They’ll gang up against the big ones.” Kaden accepted the potion Trella offered without even asking what it does. “What’s mint flavor?”

“Mana. Stealth up, we’re hunting.” Trella led him further into the darkness. [Shadow Chains] errupted to slice the wings of workers on the ground, while Kaden unleashed Thorn Caster to poison workers flying in to attack.

At first, the battle was chaotic, running and shooting, running and shooting, but with less than thirty dead, the wasps ceased their assault. Bosses nursed their pride and wounds, and a few stunted [Burning Dreams] attacked giant centipedes, but the air no longer hummed with the beat of wings.

*They’re not gone. They’re too smart,* Trella sent in code.

Kaden nodded. *The nest. They probably retreated to the nest.*

The oval nest glistened with [Burning Dream] workers, just as Kaden expected. He had a plan. *We’ll use the golem to break line of sight and go back into [Stealth].*

The Golem was dead, but since it was stone, the wasps hadn’t tried to chew it up.

Trella put a hand on his back and faded into the shadows. That way, she could tag team with him to escape.

Kaden drew Thorn Caster and dumped mana into [Mana Quiver] to produce an arrow that blurred and jitttered and couldn’t decide if it was still in the quiver, in flight, or buried deep in his target.

The bow creaked under the strain as he chose his target, the fat middle of the oval.

The bow sang as it launched the arrow, which passed straight through a worker, into the nest and out the other side. Kaden hit the ground and activated [Stealth Aura] as dozens of workers took to the air. The gods smiled, or at least weren’t watching, because [Stealth Aura] activated, and Kaden raced to the nearby shadows. Any moment now—

The arrow struck three times more, and the third time, something deep in the nest shrieked. The leathery skin of the oval rent open and wept half-formed pupa and wet white larva that sizzled as they hit the stone.

The Burning Queen crawled out engulfed in fire, her body pulsing in waves of red energy as she took to the air, circling again and again. Juvenile workers trapped in the nest let out cries of distress that brought most workers back, but these were Beasts.

Their instincts identified the larva as food, and they set on them, chewing even as the Queen raged, too large to tend her own offspring and filled with fury at their destruction.

Ichor wept from a wound in her abdomen, but Kaden had seen the [Identify]. Ten thousand health would make her a deadly opponent.

Though…one percent damage from poison as a constant damange was a lot of health in very little time. Rarely did Kaden think of beasts as disposable, but this was a war. He [Soul Bound] a [Tar Troll] and sent it toward the nest, hurling globs of tar at the flying wasps. Troll after troll, he sent them, using tar to ground workers.

And each time a worker screamed as [Shadow Chains] sliced wings or legs, Kaden smiled. Trella had focused on the skill and now reaped the rewards.

Lava Scorpions were a terrible match, the wasps grasped their tail and stung them to death, but Kaden knew there were three different threats. First was the Queen. He needed to put another stack or three of [Poison] on her. Three hundred points of continuous damage would wreck even a ten thousand health monster.

The key was to be as far as he could from the nest.

Kaden prepared. This time, the Queen would probably be looking for the arrow. This time, she’d respond personally, and probably with all her workers. So he’d aim to hit her right in the thorax, a [Crippling Strike] for sure.

But as he drew back, the smell of burning flesh grew stronger and stronger.

Kaden stored his bow and prepared for a battle.

Trella came sprinting by, her hair burned off, her cloak on fire. “Move!”

As she spoke, she turned and triggered [Shadow Chains].

Kaden almost gasped.

Behind her lumbered a dragon.