As soon as Orion had seen Portal come off cooldown, he knew Arika would complete her Explosion cast in exactly one-and-a-half seconds, leaving that much time before he and Shadow were forcefully invited to the impending barbecue. He had stepped closer to Shadow, waited half a second, then used Portal to get them both to safety.

His ability was only enough to get them five meters away from the edge of Arika’s ability. However, Orion had clearly miscalculated the timing by a fraction, because as soon as they arrived, the Explosion went off, and a shock-wave sent them flying.

The good news was they didn’t fly far; the bad news was that their flight was so short because the wall of the cavern was inconveniently blocking their trajectory. They hit it bodily in a tangle of limbs and regret.

Orion hoped the detonation had killed the monsters, because all of his critical senses were failing him in the moments following the collision. All he could see was a blur of after images burned into his vision, and all he could hear was a loud ringing tone.

When his senses began returning, he looked into the center of the cavern where the monsters had been. He could see a spreading puddle of green goo that he could only assume had been Doc the Destroyer. He and Shadow were both still tangled together on the floor, though they quickly freed themselves and helped each other to their feet.

Orion’s body was aching all over. He wasn’t sure if he would’ve been able to stand, if not for the colossal figure of Shadow keeping him upright. Together, they staggered toward the center of the room. Honeypot and Arika peeked their heads out, then walked back through the entrance they had taken shelter in.

“Holy shit, Arika…” Orion trailed off as he looked closer at the damage done to the room.

The space was scoured clean of, well, everything.

There was no more green pool, plants, or scattered rocks and debris that made the cave feel like a cave. No, not a cave, He corrected himself. The slime boss had said this was a dungeon. There was no sight of the wolves, but Orion assumed that was because Arika’s flames had consumed even their ashes.

“That was… lit,” Honeypot deadpanned.

Arika walked over and slapped him on the back of the head. “I was just thinking that you weren’t so bad after you dragged me around the corner to safety, then you have to say something like that.” She shook her head.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light in the center of the cavern. They readied themselves, prepared for the fight to continue, but all they saw was a chest appear after the blinding light faded.

“Congratulations!” the familiar voice of the Creator boomed out cheerily from nowhere discernible.

“You have successfully cleared out the Western Slime Dungeon! This is a personal message from yours truly—the Creator. I feel the magnitude of your accomplishment deserves personal acknowledgment. Not only have you cleared a dungeon entirely out of your skill level, but this is the first dungeon to be cleared in this world! Your rewards have been upgraded as a result!”

His voice became over the top, almost infomercial-like.

“But that’s not all! You shouldn’t have been have been able to defeat a dungeon at your levels! You were saved by some quick thinking and almost perfect abilities for the situation. That slime would have slowly healed to full every time it hit fifty-percent health, four times, but you had a fire-based ability on hand that it was four-times weak against! What are the odds? Hang on just a second… there are only four of you? By the heavens, your reward has been upgraded again! I really cannot emphasize just how dead the four of you should be! If you could please stop breaking my meticulously designed world, I would really appreciate it. Enjoy your rewards, my tricksy little adventurers!”

A notification followed.

World first announcement! The first dungeon has been cleared! Congratulations to the Malignant Miscreants [Honeypot, Shadow, Arika, and Orion] for their trail-blazing achievement!

“See how it said my name first? That must be who contributed the most to the party…” Honeypot rubbed his chin. “Or is it perhaps the most handsome?”

“Likely in order of most likely to kiss their cousin,” Arika said.

“Ooo, self burn,” Honeypot said. “That would make you the second most likely to commit cousin-kissin’.”

She shrugged. “Not as likely as you, though.”

“Forget that! There’s loot!” Shadow ran toward the chest, giggling like a kid on Christmas.

Before he could reach it, a feeling of euphoria rushed through Orion, originating from the place the strange resonance had previously come from. Light blinded him, and he could feel a similar sensation flooding out from his teammates.

He was bombarded with notifications.

You have advanced Portal from level 1 to level 2. Congratulations!

You have advanced Portal from level 2 to level 3. Congratulations!

You have advanced from level 1 to level 2. Congratulations!

You have advanced from level 2 to level 3. Congratulations!

You have advanced from level 3 to level 4. Congratulations!

You have advanced from level 4 to level 5. Congratulations!

“That’s an insane amount of experience… right?” Orion looked at his teammates in shock.

“Uh, yeah,” Shadow said, similarly dumbfounded.

“I got two levels in Portal, but I only used it twice…”

“Wait, you got two levels in that battle?” Shadow’s eyes narrowed in consternation. “I got nowhere near that much experience previously…”

“We only have four people now, remember?” Honeypot smiled brightly. “We get increased rewards. I guess that extends to abilities, too. I got a level in Stealth—what about you guys?”

Arika and Shadow had also gained a level in any abilities they used in the battle—taking Honeypot’s Stealth to level four, Arika’s Explosion to level three, and Shadow’s Vicious Blow to level three.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

They all received the huge amount of experience for being the first party to clear a dungeon. It was enough to push Orion to level five, and Arika, Shadow and Honeypot to level six.

Orion checked his stats to see the difference four levels had made.

Name: Orion

Level 5 Spatial Mage

Health: 16

Stamina: 9

Strength: 9

Intelligence: 22

Agility: 9

Amor: 3 (+2)

If I remember correctly, he thought, I had ten Intelligence at level one, along with five across the board for Stamina, Strength, and Agility… does that mean I get three in Intelligence, and one in every other stat per level? My Health gained eight—is that one point for each actual level gained and one for each Stamina gained, or two for each level of Stamina?

I’ll have to keep an eye on it as we progress.

The extra stats were nice, but his Intelligence was his highest, and seemed essentially useless at this point without an offensive ability. He hoped he’d get one soon.

Shadow’s shock at getting so much experience was dispelled when the chest waiting for them emitted a steady golden light.

As Shadow ran for it, Orion hoped that light meant what he thought it did—he wasn’t disappointed.

You have received a LEGENDARY Ability Token! Use this token to gain a new class-relevant ability.

You have received an EPIC Helmet! A hat celebrating your defeat of Doc the Destroyer.

Hat of the Forbidden Tentacle

Epic

Head

Plate

Unique Effect: Once per day, if your health falls below 50%, this hat will heal you back to full health over time.

Not only does it heal, but boy does it look good—not good enough to make you look attractive to the opposite sex, however. It isn’t that powerful.

Orion cocked his head at the snarky flavor-text, but the thought was whisked away as fast as it had come as he noticed Honeypot flobbling the same hat around with glee.

They had all been able to open the chest individually, but had all received the same items.

So, the Ability Token is an item we can use to gain a new ability?

With no communication necessary, the entire party used them at the same time.

Orion received:

New ability: Swap

Tier 1 Level 1

Cooldown: 15 seconds

Swap any two friendly (self included) or enemy targets within 10 meters of the caster.

Ever find yourself pushed into lava and your enemy looking down on you with victory in his eyes? Well, no more! Swap that smug bastard to his death. Ever find yourself watching your friend about to be punted clean over a hill by a giant? Unlikely, as you don’t have any friends, but if you did, you could swap him to safety—maybe make the giant kick one of his friends in the jewels instead!

Despite the added comment at the end, Orion was beyond happy with his new ability. He could really see himself loving this Spatial Mage class with all the portaly-swappy-shenanigans it was already throwing his way.

The utility seemed to be just what their party needed, considering how specialized they all were. The combinations seemed endless, especially after he learned of the abilities his party members unlocked.

“I got a stun!” Honeypot’s eyes were bulging out in excitement. “It’s called Chastise, and stuns for four-seconds on a twelve-second cooldown! That’s an uptime of thirty-three-point-three-three-three-three-three-three-three-three-three-three-three—”

Arika smacked him on the back of the head lightly, interrupting his rapid-fire barrage of threes.

She had a slight smile on her lips, but was doing her best to hide it.

“I got an ability called Invoke. It makes my next ability instant-cast, and works if the ability boosted is on cooldown or not. I need to make a small somatic movement with my hand, but its nothing like the thirty-second cast needed for my other ability.”

“Holy shit!” Honeypot laughed, unaffected by Arika’s interruption. “Your bomb just turned into a tactical nuke! This is gonna be so much fun!”

Orion’s mind raced with the implications.

If we manage to let Arika cast her Explosion first, then have her use Invoke to use it again, the damage output will be insane. I can also Swap an enemy into the cast zone, while simultaneously swapping one of us out of it. We can even weave in Honeypot’s stun to keep them locked down. And Shadow—wait, what did Shadow get?

He turned to the Warrior.

Shadow was staring off into space with wide eyes, the smile of a dog with a new toy plastered on his face.

“Shadow?” Honeypot tapped him on the head. “You good, buddy?”

Spell broken, he launched into an explanation.

“I got an ability called Silent Speed that makes me run twice as fast as normal for fifteen seconds on a two-minute cooldown! It makes me completely silent as I move—even my armor shouldn’t make any noise!”

“That’s some cool-rogue-shit if I ever heard it.” Honeypot held out a fist, which Shadow bumped enthusiastically. “Congrats, buddy.”

Mobility and stealth, huh? Maybe the System will let Shadow live out his Rogue dreams after all…

The item they’d all received was a mixed blessing.

As soon as they equipped it, Orion and Shadow slowly healed back to full health. Orion could feel the burns from the Explosion healing, as well as the wounds from where he and Shadow had hit the wall. When the effect triggered, it showered him with a sparkling green effect from the hat.

The experience was as disorienting as it was relieving.

Honeypot roared with laughter as they put the hats on.

“You two look fabulous!”

He raised his hands high and wiggled his fingers to emphasize the last word.

The flavor text of the item said that it looked good, which was true—if you liked green colored beanies with ten decorative and independently moving tentacles, that is. Shadow and Orion promptly returned the hats to their inventory, as they offered no stats outside of the healing effect.

Arika removed the hat out of principle, flat out refusing to wear it.

“I don’t care if it lets me heal, Honeypot.” She glared at him. “I know you’re just gonna remove yours and find a way to embarrass me the second we see other people.”

Honeypot raised his hand to his chest and gave her a look of affront.

“Arika, I am both shocked and appalled.”

He dropped his hood, revealing the hat in all its tentacled glory.

“How could you ever think I’d do something like that to you? We are treasured teammates. Besides…”

He jiggled his head, making the tentacles bounce back-and-forth.

“It’s beautiful. I’d never remove it unless our glorious leader here made me.”

Orion grinned as he watched them trade verbal blows, knowing that Arika was enjoying the banter with their chaotic friend more than she let on.

He probably likes the monstrosity of a hat because of how uncomfortable it’ll make other people—but that could work in our favor, too. It can never hurt to make others underestimate us.

Dungeon looted and health replenished, they made their way out to the surface.

“By the way, Shadow,” Orion said as they caught sight of the dungeon’s entrance. “What was up with that thing you yelled when you hit the boss? It sounded like the name of an anime finishing-move.”

“You know, I actually have no idea,” Shadow said. “It just felt… right. I wanna do cool-rogue-shit, even if this world wants me to be a Warrior, and to me, yelling finishing moves as you slice someone from behind is the definition of cool-rogue-shit.”

Honeypot nodded along sagely. “Shadow gets it. We may not actually be Rogues, but combined, we’re doing more cool-rogue-shit than the rest of those other Rogue nerds combined.”

They consolidated their agreement with a fist bump as the party stepped back out into the sun.

A blur shot from somewhere in the forest, the object making a light thud as it collided with Shadow.

He fell to the ground, a dagger sticking from his neck.