Kaden Birch absolutely loved the Inventory magic that let him store things. As long as it was the same thing it stacked very, very deeply, and right now, he was stacking loot, well aware that by doing so, he’d switched his Dungeon Master status to combatant.

It couldn’t be helped.

He stood in a cave alcove no more than fifteen feet across.

He stood atop a mound of silver shields, each polished to show the hundreds of other mirror shields. Each was a treasure. Each would have been loot that made the party cheer, once.

[Mirror Shield]

This shield will reflect spells or projectiles slung at it. The longer a wearer uses the Mirror Shield, the greater the odds the attack will be reflected back at the attacker.

Solid loot for a level twenty five, rank five Dungeon. As Kaden understood it, this dungeon had been highly sought after centuries ago. Then the Dungeon had locked and never re-opened.

There was probably a tunnel here, but it, too, was blocked with mounds of [Mirror Shields]. A few dozen more shields in Inventory and his feet hit solid rock. Now Kaden moved faster and faster, until Inventory ached like heartburn and he was forced to step out of the dungeon.

It protested. This wasn’t right. He’d engaged in combat by taking loot and yet as a Dungeon Master, it couldn’t keep him in. Kaden emerged to blistering sand and scorching heat.

His party waited in a tent Sara had brought and setup.

“You’re safe!” Trella shouted, leaping to her feet as Kaden stepped in. “We have a problem.”

He drew a [Mirror Shield] from Inventory for each of them. “The dungeon is blocked with these. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. I can’t say it feels erratic but there’s something wrong.

Ashi tested her shield, bouncing Solar Mana orbs off it and catching them. “This is a worthy prize for a rank five dungeon. I will enter and help.”

“Actually, we need Sara.” He looked to the party leader, whose Cosmic Horror’s pseudopods were trying to devour a [Mirror Shield] and failing. Given that they could devour almost anything, that spoke to the enchantments. “We need crates. So many crates.”

“On it. A dozen?” Sara waited. “A hundred. Two hundred?”

She dispatched her green parrot Messenger Bird and watched it sail away. “When can the rest of us enter?”

“Ashi can go in now.” The Dungeon core embedded in her abdomen made her not quite a Dungeon Master but also not exactly human. “I’ll drag Trella in once Ashi’s there to keep her safe and come out for each of you, but the start is just going to be removing these. We can’t get to the dungeon’s monsters without getting rid of the [Mirror Shields].”

Sara looked to Eve. “Let the packrat remove them. Do you mind helping me with crates? We’ll need to walk all the way back to the FarPortal. I’m not afraid of a few level twenty four [Sand Crawlers] but it will be boring.”

Eve stood and handed Kaden back his dog.

Vip shook and settled like melting butter into Kaden’s arms, closing her eyes as *Love* rolled off her. She was an easy dog to please. As his first Soul-Bound Beast, he could pull her back into his soul, where the world she chose was small. A warm fire, a blanket and Vip curled up to rest.

“I will help with these shields. Do we know if time is slower inside the Dungeon?” Ashi asked.

Kaden shook his head. “If it felt like I was in there forever it’s because I arrived in pitch black with a shield nearly taking my arm off.” He took her hand as he approached the dungeon door, a door made of metal with a polished shield emblazoned on it. The crystal in the door flipped back and forth between red and green, probably because of Kaden forcing his way out. “Ready?”

As a PolyMage, Ashi had to prepare herself against the influx of dungeon mana or it would overwhelm her. And with a little help? He focused his will as he dragged her in.

The Dungeon yielded, and he materialized in the cave entrance with Ashi by his side.

“[Blazing Orb]” Ashi cast a spell that caused a miniature sun to burst into existence.

A [Mirror Shield] materialized before her and clanged to the ground. Ashi picked it up, then dropped it, swearing as she shook her fingers. “It is hot.”

Kaden took a set of Inventory Cubes and began to draw shields into them, tens of shields. Dozens of shields. Hundreds. Ashi worked at his side, collecting a few dozen. “Ok, let’s head out and hope Sara has crates.

The dungeon again fought to keep them from leaving, but by the time Kaden and Ashi emerged, Sara had a row of [Shipping Crates]. Larger versions of Inventory, they were reinforced steel and wood cubes.

“The cave is no longer dark,” Ashi said. “Eve, do you wish to go in?”

Eve’s slight pause was a complete answer. “I’d rather stack out here. [Moon Glow] will act to stealth me. Come get me if anything looks threatening.”

Kaden summoned Trinity. “Stay with Eve?”

Trinity lay down in the sand. Her armored head wasn’t bothered by the wind and sand at all, and her blind head could spot [Stealth] creatures.

Trella [Shadow Stepped] to the dungeon door. “Finally. Monsters. Experience. I have a request, though.”

“Anything,” Kaden answered.

“Let me fight. I normally—I used to—I was the scout. I’m going to need to damage everything to get XP and XP is the only way I catch up to all of you.” Trella’s voice lost its usual confidence.

“This, we can do.” Ashi took Kaden’s free hand.

He pushed against the door and pulled both of them in. “This tunnel is packed but with three of us, we should be able to clear it. Then we’ll see what waits beyond it.”

After three trips out, he found Sara speaking with a group of [Cargo Haulers] who loaded up the crates. Each had put almost all attribute points in strength, and carried the man-sized crates like they weighed nothing.

Sara pointed to twenty more crates. “Almost clear?”

He shook his head, swapped out cubes and headed back in.

“We found the next room!” Trella called. From behind a wall of shields.

Ashi stood on one side. “You should not go without us.”

Kaden agreed.

“The monsters are [Cave Trolls] and they’re stuck under a pile of [Mirror Shields]. I stabbed all the ones I could find. I’m going to go scout, [Shadow Step] will let me fit through gaps.” Trella disappeared.

With every passing moment, Kaden worried more. He began to throw [Mirror Shields] out of the way digging to get to the room where Trella had been. From deep in the dungeon, something roared.

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“She does not know patience,” Ashi said. “I do not know if this is why you are attracted to her or if you have affected her so.”

“Less critcism, more help.” Kaden dodged an avalanche of shields and leaped through the gap. “Standard entrance room, I think there’s an underground stream somewhere under these.”

“Come back and help,” Ashi said. “We will move faster together.”

Kaden reluctantly rejoined Ashi, widening the gap he’d scrambled through and clearing the floor. “Why didn’t she wait?”

“You see how it feels?” Ashi asked.

A few minutes—and one trip out—later, Trella re-appeared. “Hi. Any chance you brought Eve in?”

“She’s—” Kaden saw the blood dripping from Trella’s stomach and drew a Healing potion. “Drink. What did you find?”

Trella waited as a set of black claws fell from the wounds on her stomach. “Cave Troll that wasn’t trapped by shields. Be right back.”

Kaden lunged—and came up with only Trella’s Dark Deception, which shook its head, then patted him on the shoulder before fading away. “Trella!”

“I should not enjoy this so,” Ashi said. “Therefore, I will not tell you how pleasing it is to see you learn this lesson. But if I were a lesser woman, I would say ‘Finally! Or At Last!’ Bring Sara, so she, too, may comfort you as you grow in empathy.”

Kaden was fairly sure Ashi meant “So Sara, too, could laugh.” He finished filling the cubes and headed out. “Sara, Eve?”

The two emerged from the tent. Eve’s long braid of platinum hair trickled sand, and both of the Cosmic Horror’s pseudopods had their gaping maws open, swallowing sand, wind, air…pretty much everything.

“Trella got hurt.” Kaden dumped another crate full of shields and put the lid on. “And then Trella ran off on her own.”

“That sounds difficult to watch,” Sara said.

“I hate caves but Trella’s going to reverse-level to fifteen at this rate.” Eve went with him. “Sara, you need to be here?”

“Only if we want to make money off the loot. Trella’s more important.”

Eve shook her head. “I can handle this. Kaden? A hand?”

He dragged her into the Dungeon, which fought less each time. Probably out of frustration. “Trella?”

“She’s here. Wounded,” Ashi said.

Blood leaked from Trella’s mouth, and she wiped it on one of her gauntlets. “Found the sub-boss. He’s nasty. Can I borrow Trinity?”

“You can borrow me,” Kaden said. “Just be patient. If Trinity can fit wherever you’re headed, I can.”

“No.” Trella’s tone shifted. “You’ll jump in and ‘protect’ me. Trinity understand the value in a hard fight. Send her with me.”

Kaden summoned Trinity, forcing her into existence on the other side of the hall. And privately gave her instructions. “She’ll follow you.”

“This way,” Trella called. “Watch your step, the shields are slippery.”

Sara looked at the mound, dumbfounded. “Do you have any idea what these sell for?”

“Less and less by the crate.” Kaden continued removing them.

“Or,” Sara said.

Kaden stopped and looked to Sara. “Or?”

“I’ll keep packing them, you go find Trella.” Sara’s determination said she had a plan. Kaden did too. Find his lover. “That’s enough, we can make it through.”

He scrambled out into the first battle room. Dead troll heads lolled out from under the shield pile. Trinity was not what anyone would call slim. In fact, the longer the TriTerror survived, the taller and wider she grew.

Which mean the low corridor leading west couldn’t possibly be the exit. The blocked doors north wouldn’t have stopped Trinity, either, but the doors were entirely to intact. Kaden scanned the cave. He’d had to remove his non-combatant status so he couldn’t observe the mechanics behind the dungeon. “Ashi. Secret door?”

“I do not believe it. This is a cave dungeon. Any trap would lead downward.” Ashi tossed another minature sun. “What do you feel about the Core?”

That was a frustrating part. “I swear it thinks it’s helping.”

Trinity roared deep in the Dungeon, then her snake head gave out a trill and the armored one rumbled. [Beast Soul] didn’t translate it but Kaden knew exactly what it meant. “Trella, wait for us!”

The dungeon went silent, far too silent, though the crash of [Mirror Shields] said combat wasn’t over. Then, after agonizing minutes, Trella called from above. “Hey. Sub boss is dead, and I’m pretty sure the main boss is still dead. I need your help, I have no idea what to do.”

With nothing more than will, Ashi’s sun rose higher, revealing a wide bridge that crossed the cavern. Trinity’s snake head peaked down.

“How do we get up there?” Kaden asked.

“Trinity and I climbed on a pile of [Mirror Shields] but given how they collapsed, I don’t think it’s safe. This is actually a cool design. There’s two levels to the dungeon, and in the second one, you can see all the areas you didn’t fight through because you used a shortcut.” Trella looked around. “I could come down but I don’t want to leave Trinity alone.”

“We’ll work our way to you,” Kaden said.

No more toying, he began stacking shields as fast as he could, putting them in orderly sets that slowly drained the dungeon. “Got a live [Cave Troll],” Kaden called to Ashi.

Trella burst into existence to stab it in the eyes over and over. “Yes. Sorry, left Trinity alone, you’re doing great.”

“What exactly are you going to do with all of this?” Eve asked Kaden. “You’re the dungeon expert. You can’t leave all these shields here.”

“Not to worry,” Sara answered. “S&K Holdings is diversified from just shipping, cargo transport, and poisonous snake vending. We’re now premier armorers. Or we will be. And cavern space is easy to come by to store our wares.”

Eve couldn’t help laughing.

Ashi wasn’t laughing. “I do not understand this Dungeon. It is not erratic but its actions are near so. To clog with its own loot? This should not be possible. The Directed Mana costs alone prohibit it.”

The slog took hours.

Hours that turned into days.

They no long needed a tent, as the stacks of crates blocked the wind, but at last, Kaden emptied an already solved puzzle room to climb the stairs. He tossed shields off to the lower level to clear the bridge, and didn’t even mean to bounce one off Sara the first time. “Trella.”

She stood near a pile of actual loot. Swords, bows, a wand that dripped with necrotic energy, a staff with a gem on it that just begged to spit out death rays or at least major-inconvenience rays. “I made a map. And I haven’t been sitting idlely, I stacked every shield in the boss room the same way you have. And I gathered up all this, and all corpses.”

Kaden looked to Sara. “This would have been great at level twenty. Now? It’s sad.”

Eve tinkered with the staff. “Oh, gods. A Gorgeon staff. It’s powerful but deadly. How many corpses did you find, Trella?”

“Three. And now that you mention it, I think a few of the statues make more sense. But the real problem isn’t the boss.” She rolled the map scroll and lead them to the boss room, which was ringed with dozens of stacks of shields that reached the roof.

Trinity stood guard over a crystal flower as tall as Kaden. The amber petals were made of solid orange crystals, and the whole thing pulsed constantly.

“See?” Trella asked. “It’s not hostile. It’s not breakable. I tried three different Alchemical Potions on it. I doubt Remembrance will harm it.”

Ashi held out a hand and began to absorb mana. Her skin shifted to a light green and blue. “It is a Skill, but not one I know. Healing and rejuvenation at a constant rate. I can almost [Identify] it…”

[Rose Repose]

Generate a Flower Shell that keeps you safe from harm. In this shell your health and mana will regenerate. If you sacrifice the mana regeneration, the cost of Rose Repose is zero. You may enter hibernation in Rose Repose for as long as necessary. You may not obtain status effects during Rose Repose.

“This is the problem,” Ashi said. “Someone is inside. The boss is dead, thus the dungeon is defeated. It rewards the party with loot. The loot is not taken. Directed Mana continues. It cannot know better, so it tries over and over. Reward the party so they will leave.”

Kaden pulled the Levicon Blade, formed from the sheer will of a mythic Worldboss. It couldn’t fail to cut, though the short, hooked blade would only slice a couple inches. “Here goes nothing.”

When the blade traced the edge of a flower petal, sparks of light few off, embers of mana that drifted glowing to the stone as Kaden cut over and over. Orange mana began to leak out, draining into Ashi.

The crystal flower began to flow like water and collapsed, draining away. A young man stretched and yawned. “Tavender, it took you long enough—who are you?”

“What’s a [Rose Resurrectionist]?” Trella asked.

Sara stepped forward. “Sara Scylla, party leader. Not your party leader. We’ve come to rescue you from this dungeon, if you’ll come this way, I think you’ll find the door unlocked since Trella killed the sub-boss.”

“Where’s our [Guardian], Tavender? And Princess Hopefar? And Annie, the orphan girl with the rainbow hair and the promise of true love?” The man looked around blankly.

“I’m guessing that’s Tavender,” Trella said, pointing to a broken statue. “In my defense, I didn’t know that statue was a person and Trinity and I were bored. There’s a set of corpses I collected, most of them look like beef jerkey. One could be your ‘Annie.’”

The man approached the statue of a woman holding her hand up as if to scream ‘Halt,’ and circled her. “I was using the Gorgon staff to kill the boss. I told her to duck. Have you seen a gorgeon staff?”

“No gorgon staffs here that I can see,” Eve said. “Anyone else see a gorgeon staff? Look around. You know, those are very dangerous. You can’t even get one without being a Centureon.”

The man leaned closer. “I received it straight from a [God]. Listen, I’m not supposed to share this far and wide, but I’m not just any [Rose Resurrectionist.] I’m the chosen of Rehendron, brought to this world to bring justice to the Dark Lord Malkoriatharax.”

Eve shuddered. “You mean you’re a second lifer.”

“Right. No worries, I’ll summon Rehendron and ask him for another staff.” The man kneeled and activated a skill.

Travis Moreham has called upon Rehendron, God of Quillophants.

The ground shook.

Piles of shields crashed over, crushing the broken statue of the [Guardian.]

Kaden pulled the other statue into Inventory out of instinct. He’d meant to grab her hand and pull her away but instinct took over and apparently Annie wasn’t alive. At all.

A sphere of brilliant green light formed, too bright to look at.

“Lord Rehendron!” Travis kneeled. “It is I, Travis Moreham, ready to once more take up my quest.”

The cave fell completely silent. Then a voice like grinding stone spoke. “Who?”