“It’s just like gym class!” Claire said, breathing heavy as John and Rhett collapsed on the ground.

Both boys looked exhausted. Some boys collapsed beside them, but most left for the cafeteria.

“Don’t you miss home, Claire?” Rhett asked.

“I miss my mom, and home a bit, but mostly mom. But Mom would want me to be brave. Plus, I’ve got you both now, right? And we’re in this together,” Claire smiled wide.

John glanced at Rhett then smirked, “Absolutely.”

“Help, it’s got my leg!” Brett squealed.

His leg was barely even bleeding, mind you. Blessed my ass. Hands that burst into fire and somehow, he couldn’t handle a couple rats.

The fifth member whose name I couldn’t bother learning came and kicked the giant rat away from Brett’s leg.

Brett stopped screaming and he stood up quick enough to dodge the next rat that came running towards the group. Gill jumped to catch the rat and held it down onto the ground as Chen bashed it with her bat, while the other guy cut into it with his knife.

“Does the redhead ever help?” The fifth member asked, huffing from the effort.

I’d probably met them before. I couldn’t remember their name though. Tam? Tim? Jim? Other than Chen, I didn’t really make an effort to learn these people’s names.

“She’s our insurance policy, focus on yourself Trevor,” Chen said, tapping her bat on the floor to get rid of some of the blood. The giant rat disappeared as Gill and Brett went to finish the last rat in the room.

Trevor? Where did I get Jim from?

“He’s right, you know,” Chen stepped back and whispered to me. “You could help a little bit.”

I’d been standing in a corner of the room, watching to make sure they were never really in any trouble. And in this dungeon, I didn’t expect they ever would be.

“I’m watching out. Brett was fine. And besides, this way you all get more Integrated Energy. I need you stronger, Chen.”

“As you’ve said,” Chen sighed. “But what if I want to make sure you’re safe? I’m old. Even if the System gave me an extra pep in my step, I won’t be around for much longer. And if something were to happen to me…” Chen looked down, trailing off.

“I’d be fine,” I said, stepping away from the wall. “And you’ll be fine too. Sure, I’ll help so we get a bit further in. If it gets tough though, hide or stay close to me.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Chen said, snapping out of it and lifting the bat over her right shoulder.

I nudged her left shoulder forward and led us towards the group. They’d waited for us.

“Woo! You’re going to see some cool shit now Trevor!” Brett exclaimed as Gill wrapped a bandage around his leg.

Again, no blood to be seen, but… you know what, never mind.

“Let’s head to the next room,” I said, walking out of the building and towards the next group of buildings. I heard the others following behind, and Gill even stepped ahead of me to try and be at the front.

He didn’t need to do that. In fact, he definitely didn’t have the Skills to warrant taking the front over me. But I still appreciated the minor gesture.

Maybe I’ll remember Gill’s name from now on too.

*****

This dungeon was predictable.

Dark buildings were lit up by dim moonlight cascading down from the sky. Each building had a couple windows, but most looked like storefronts you’d see walking along any major road.

The city leaders guessed that dungeons mimicked the area they manifested in. We couldn’t know that for sure, but it seemed like a good guess looking at the brick shops lining the artificial road under our feet. The eerily similar street signs also helped…

Each shop held monsters for us to fight, which made the encounters easy enough to predict – open a door and kill or be killed.

Of course, other than the Quest, nothing in the System was ever reliable. One building might have one giant rat, while another might have twenty. And though the rats weren’t a big deal for me, for someone like Chen or Brett, the right swarm meant death.

For every dozen buildings where the rats were confined, another would have a hole in the back for some monsters to get out and roam more freely. Which meant we always had to watch our back, just like any dungeon.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Plus, bosses were supposedly a thing. This wasn’t the group to fight a boss. Hell, I’d never even seen a boss. You’d hear stories, and people would claim they were verified by City Hall, but people lied, and the city post-System was even less dependable than Brett’s fighting abilities. Maybe after I killed a boss, I’d start believing more of those stories.

Until then, I had quests to finish and people to kill.

Walking through the street, the silence of the dungeon was almost nice. The lights from the stores even made them seem inviting, if not for the monsters waiting to kill us when we went inside.

Gill walked up to the next storefront and paused to look back at the team. I checked also, just to make sure Chen was ready. She held her bat at the ready, while Brett’s hands were already aflame. I didn’t know Trevor’s Skills, but he held on dearly to that kitchen knife as we waited for Gill to open the door.

Old me would’ve asked him to compare knives.

“Opening the door, get ready!” Gill yelled, pulling me out of that trainwreck of a thought.

I created a dagger in each hand. Gill opened the door, and we immediately heard the screeching of rats.

I didn’t wait for any to run out as I ran past Gill, a couple rats, and burst into the room.

Ten rats waited for me inside as one ran past me and Gill yelled for me to be careful.

One knife plunged into the back of a rat jumping towards me.

I left it in the rat’s back and created another one in my left hand.

I jumped off the wall and towards a clump of rats huddled together. Throwing both daggers into the group, I created another two daggers and sliced into the closest rat before the rest of the group caught up.

Running around the room, I killed six of the rats before the rest of the group even got inside the building and killed their second.

Brett and Gill worked on a pair of rats on one side, while Trevor and Chen worked together to bash a single rat on the other side of the room.

I watched to make sure they were okay and kicked the last escaping rat back into the building for them to finish off.

Dismissing the daggers, the blood from the rats fell to the ground, where most of it dissipated along with the rats body. I walked out of the building and waited for the others outside.

Leaning against the front of the shop’s wall, I almost looked forward to entering the next dungeon by myself. It took me away from my main quest, but I liked the silence of some dungeons. The rewards were usually crap in these frequently travelled dungeons, especially compared to what I got from my main quest, but the solitude was nice, at least.

The silence got me thinking about the quest and my kill against Target 43 the previous night. I knew the System was using me. I didn’t know why, but I’d made the decision to take this quest a long time ago. And if my quest was still there, I didn’t care if I was being used, since the System was keeping it’s end of the deal.

“See Trevor isn’t she amazing! I have ‘Improved Physique’ too, but I can’t move close to as fast as her! Like what? Claire, you’re a beast!” Brett said, completely ruining any silence I might’ve been enjoying.

I started walking to the next building.

*****

“We’ve got five minutes left,” Chen announced.

As leader, she received the dungeon messages. Each dungeon had a timer for how long you could stay inside before we were kicked back out to the staging area.

Some dungeons were an hour, some ten, most in town were five. That we did know, since the city leaders kept track of the known dungeons in the area, and the information trickled down through the gossiping masses.

“Okay, I say we go for one more store. The redhead is making this easy,” Trevor said.

I’m going to stab him.

I glared at Chen instead.

Thankfully, she noticed, “Keep calling her ‘the redhead’ and I have a feeling you’ll be the next one she sticks a dagger into.”

Trevor looked ready to speak again but remained silent when he glanced over at me and started walking to the next store.

Chen shrugged and followed him.

“Let us go first, Trevor,” Gill said, pushing to the front again.

“I’m pooped, are we sure we can’t just call it?” Brett asked. “My mana is super low.”

“Just this last one,” Trevor said. “C’mon big boy, open the door.”

Gill looked back at Chen. She didn’t object, so he stepped towards the door as we all prepared for what might come out.

And as soon as he opened the door, I knew we’d made a mistake.

The door opened and dozens of rats came rushing out.

We stepped away from the door as Gill shook and hit the wave of rats rushing out of the store.

His Skill made his skin tougher, so he didn’t look hurt, but he was already overrun by the time I ran forward and started killing rats.

Rats kept pouring out as fast as I killed them.

And by the time I made enough room for Gill, I looked back to see Chen and Brett doing their best to keep the dozen that’d gotten past me at bay.

I left Gill and rushed back towards Chen, throwing dagger after dagger towards the rats.

My aim wasn’t perfect, nor did this kill the rats immediately, but… fuck!

Why hadn’t I stayed beside Chen!

I reached Chen as she swung her bat in all directions.

I immediately slashed into any rat that was near her as Brett screamed and frantically waved his fire-coated hands, burning and singing any rat that got too close.

“Can we run away?” Chen panted and waved her bat haphazardly, obviously tired from the constant stream of rats circling around us.

“How much time do we have?” I asked. Running wasn’t a bad idea, but I couldn’t help anyone if I couldn’t reach them.

Chen was safer now that I’d gotten to her in time, enough rats dead and disappearing around us that she was now resting on her bat. Brett’s ‘Improved Physique’ kept him active and helping. And though he was bleeding this time, he looked to be okay.

Gill’s tougher skin had helped him get back to us as he punched and kicked his way through the rats.

And Trevor was…

Damn it, I couldn’t see Trevor.

I looked around, letting a rat get a bit too close before stabbing my dagger into it’s side.

I turned to the side and addressed Chen, “where’s Trevor?”

Chen looked around. “Trevor?!” She yelled, looking around frantically. “Gill, do you see Trevor?”

I looked around and couldn’t see him.

Had he run away in the chaos? Had he been killed and disappeared? No, humans didn’t disappear when they died. The dungeon system made sure we could see our dead.

Could I use ‘Grim Haste’ to look for him?

“Five seconds, get ready,” Chen yelled.

No time. No time.

I killed a couple final rats as the timer ticked down.

Times Up: Returning to the Dungeon entrance

I closed my eyes and felt the pull of being transported from the dungeon back to the staging area.

The dungeon completion message appeared, but that wasn’t the first thing I noticed.

No, the first thing I noticed was the woman whose shrill scream filled the room.

At this point, you’d think people would be used to the dead. Still, I guess it was shocking for some.

Especially when a dead body appears out of nowhere with parts of it’s face chewed off.

I guess Trevor had tried to run away.