“You knew we were coming?” Orion asked the man, Captain Blanc, sitting before him.

“It’s hard to miss a worldwide announcement, kid. The System also sent an alert my way when you got the quest to come see me. Now, what information do you have for me?”

Matching the no-nonsense tone given, Orion filled him in on all the details of their adventure and their victory over the dungeon. He let him know of the weaknesses they had found, their path down to the boss’ room, and their—well, Arika’s annihilation of Doc the Destroyer.

Captain Blanc let out a short bark of laughter. “Hah! Millennia, it said? All to be undone by you adventurers within a week of your arrival.”

He shook his head, looking bemused.

“Well, I’m sure glad you all came here. First things first, here’s your reward.”

Quest complete: Call the Doc!

You have successfully reported your findings to Captain Blanc at the Western guard tower.

Quest bonus complete! You have successfully discovered and eliminated the source of the corruption.

Reward: 22 gold.

Bonus reward:

New ability: Dungeon Hunter

Dungeon Hunter

Tier 1 Level 1

Cooldown: passive

You can now see dungeons on your map. You can see Dungeons up to 2 kilometers away, and will be alerted when you come into range of a new dungeon.

Like a built in GPS, but instead of leading you to that new ice cream shop on the other side of town, it leads you down the path of murder and destruction.

Another passive ability—it seems pretty straightforward.

Orion smiled.

Useful, too.

“I also have another task for you,” Captain Blanc continued. “If you’re willing to undertake it, that is.”

Critical Quest: Cull the Doc.

You have successfully located and murdered Doc the Destroyer, but remnants of Doc’s corruption still remain. Locate and destroy another 4 corrupted dungeons.

Progress: 0/4

Reward: variable

Beware! This is a Critical Quest. While in dungeons pertaining to this quest, you will NOT be resurrected from death. Adventurer abilities that delay, prevent, or otherwise reverse death will still be in effect.

Orion felt the blood drain from his face after he finished reading the final warning. He dismissed the screen, seeing his friend’s faces transition into similar expressions.

“Critical quest?” Orion said dumbly to Captain Blanc, his mouth feeling dry.

“It’s pretty straight-forward, kid. You were the ones that killed the boss and defeated the dungeon first, so now any related dungeons are yours to conquer. As it’s a Critical Quest, that means it is vital to the continued survival of Valbrand. As stated, it also means you won’t be resurrected if you die while undertaking it.”

“It really means permanent death?” Arika asked. “That’s a lot to take in.”

Captain Blanc snorted derisively at her. “You know most people never resurrect from death, right? We townsfolk certainly don’t.”

“Oh, s-sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine.” Captain Blanc waved her apology away. “I can now tell you that there’s a questline for each gate of the city. Anyone will receive the ability ‘Dungeon Hunter’ after defeating a gate-specific dungeon and going to the relevant Captain of said gate. Only your party will receive this follow up quest from me, and it’s now up to you to complete it.” He shrugged. “Unless you die, of course. Maybe the system will let someone else take up the mantle afterwards if you fail, but who really knows?”

“Wait…” Orion stared at Captain Blanc in confusion. “You knew about these dungeons and ‘critical quests’ all along? Why didn’t you tell anyone? We’re almost a week into this world… that’s a week that these dungeons could be gathering more power.”

“That’s not how all of this works, kid. The System revealed that to me when you handed in that quest.”

Seeing an opportunity to inquire about the inconsistencies of this world that were bothering him, Orion took a step closer.

“Captain, can I ask you some questions about you and the other townsfolk?”

His eyes narrowed, but he nodded.

“Alright,” Orion said, pausing a moment to think where to start.

“First, please forgive my ignorance. I’m asking these questions because I’m in the dark and I want to understand the people of this world better.”

Captain Blanc’s eyes relaxed slightly, but he still broadcast his hesitance.

Orion continued.

“From what the Creator said, this world is of his making, and I’d assumed there wouldn’t be any native denizens—let alone people that seem to have lived here forever. What was this world like before we arrived?”

Captain Blanc weighed him for a long moment before responding.

“You seem to be coming from a good place, Orion, but you have to understand that my men and I have been asked this same question countless times—rarely with the tact you seem to show.”

He leaned back in his chair, letting his frustration show.

“If I have one more adventurer call me an NPC—whatever the fuck that is—I might risk the judgment of the defensive array.”

Orion internally thanked Honeypot for the warning not to use the term.

“My family has lived here for generations. My father, and his father before him, all worked as guards in the defense of Valbrand. In my lifetime, the monsters surrounding the walls have grown in number and power, confining us to the safety of the walls and defensive array.”

The words shocked Orion, despite his suspicions being confirmed.

This world and town are too perfect to be a creation, as are the people within it. How long has the Creator been involved in creating this place? Did he even create this world? Did he simply hijack it, bending it to his own use?

“Did you know of the adventures’ impending arrival?

Captain Blanc made a so-so gesture.

“We didn’t explicitly know, but we had an idea. The System started giving out quests to create accommodations and expand food production over the past few years. We knew that something was coming, but the consensus was that our salvation would come from other people of this world—not memory-wiped dickheads with a penchant for violence, if you can forgive the terminology.”

Orion gave the captain a wry smile.

“When we left the dungeon just now, we had to defend ourselves against a party of memory-wiped dickheads who were decidedly violent, so the terminology seems bang on to me.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The captain raised an eyebrow.

“You got away?”

Honeypot laughed.

“Our mobile explosion dispenser all but one-shot them.”

Captain Blanc barked a laugh.

“Well done, lass. What were their names? I’ve been keeping track of…”

He cut off as he looked at Honeypot’s gear, a look of anger spreading across his face.

“It was Felsteg and Hand of God, wasn’t it?”

“Yup!” Honeypot spread his arms to emphasize his new equipment. “We took his gear, and Arika even warmed it up for me!”

Captain Blanc nodded sharply.

“Good. That gear of yours came from another adventurer their party isolated and killed. We’ve had countless complaints about them, hopefully losing all their equipment humbles them enough to stop their activities.”

He turned to Orion.

“Do you have any other questions? I appreciate your intentions, but there’s a lot of work to be doing.”

Wishing to know more, but content with the information gathered, Orion shook his head.

“No, that’ll do for now, though I hope we can talk another time. Do you want us to show you where the dungeon was?”

The captain ruffled through the maps on his desk, selecting one and sliding it forward and gesturing at it.

“Please."

Orion bent down and inspected the map, seeing it extended west of Valbrand’s walls. It only took a moment to locate and point out the rough area they’d found the dungeon.

The captain marked the spot with a quill and ink.

“There’s one more thing,” Captain Blanc said, looking a little unsure.

“What?”

“You might encounter a wandering boss. Boss monsters can abandon their dwellings for any number of reasons. I’ve been receiving reports of something large and exceedingly quick. The descriptions make it sound just like a displaced boss, but we haven’t had anyone engage it.” He shrugged. “That we know of, that is. It hadn’t occurred to me before, but if this boss is related to your quest…”

“It could kill us permanently…” Orion finished.

“Just so. Keep your eye out, and if you encounter anything that meets that description, my advice would be to treat it as a life or death scenario.”

“Let me guess,” Honeypot said. “Big gorilla looking thing, walks on two legs, covered in brown fur?”

Captain Blanc cocked his head at Honeypot, not understanding the reference

Honeypot’s mouth hung agape in mock shock.

“You haven’t heard of the mighty Bigfoot? They say he shows himself to only the worthy, and his howl is a yodel that could bring any man to his knees.”

Captain Blanc turned to the rest of the party.

“Is this some sort of adventurer shit I’m supposed to understand?”

Arika shook her head.

“Forget it. He’s just being… him. Bigfoot doesn’t exist.”

Honeypot whirled on Arika.

“You’re a non-believer? I can’t believe I share a party with a denier!”

He faced the Captain.

“Believe her at your own peril, sir. Bigfoot is real, and he’s coming for us all.”

He turned on his heel and strode from the room in dramatic fashion.

Orion shook his head.

“Sorry. He does that. Is there anything else we need to know?”

"That should be all."

Captain Blanc returned to studying his maps, dismissing them from his mind.

As they left the office, they found Honeypot jiggling his tentacled hat in front of the two guards out front.

“Ugly, dear sir? Nay, this bewitching helmet is a means of distraction! Underestimate the Malignant Miscreants at your own peril!”

The guards’ eyes widened a bit at the name, clearly having received the worldwide announcement, but their looks of confusion returned swiftly with Honeypot’s renewed and vigorous jiggling.

Arika grabbed him by the scruff on the way past, apologizing to the guards as she dragged him away.

“It’s still pretty early in the day,” Orion said as he glanced at the sun high in the sky. “Do we want to try conquering another dungeon?”

They all agreed, Arika and Shadow with a simple “yes”, Honeypot with a nod that went on for too long as he enjoyed making his tentacles move back-and-forth.

“Can we offload the spare equipment to Handelaar? We might need space if we loot more gear.”

They set off to see the friendly merchant.

“Back so soon, my friends?” Handelaar said in his booming voice as they approached.

“We had a fortuitous encounter,” Honeypot said, “and have come to bless you with our pilfered wares!”

Handelaar raised an eyebrow.

“Pilfered?”

“Ignore him.” Shadow stepped up and removed all the gear from his inventory, placing the pile on the stall between them. “How much can we get for all of this?”

Handelaar eyed what were very clearly the gear sets of more than one person.

Spotting the merchant’s scrupulous gaze, Orion spoke.

“They attacked us unprovoked—they lost.”

Handelaar nodded, accepting the statement. He inspected each item quickly.

“Seventeen gold for the lot.”

Shadow shot a look at Orion, to which he nodded.

“Deal!” Shadow said, holding out his hand to shake on it.

Handelaar clasped the offered hand firmly, then passed Shadow the gold.

“Of course, of course! Will you be wanting another pouch of the Sensa Leaf, my friends?”

I wonder if Sensa leaf could be used in the creation of anything? Orion thought. We are still lacking healing—does alchemy exist in this world, and is it something I could explore?

Shadow shook his head at the merchant’s question, but Orion interrupted.

“I wouldn’t mind having one to examine and experiment with, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, my friend!”

Orion accepted the offered pouch.

“Thanks, Handelaar. I appreciate it.”

“Anything for my favorite customers! Come back any time—and keep your old friend Handelaar in mind the next time you have a fortuitous encounter!”

“You know,” Arika said as they walked out the western gate, “I was really hoping we’d bump into Felsteg and Hand of God in town—it would have been glorious to sell their gear to Handelaar right in front of them.”

“Arika!” Honeypot laughed boisterously. “That is downright devious, I didn’t think you had it in you!”

“I’d call it justified, not devious,” Orion said. “I would have enjoyed that too.”

“By the way, Arika…” Honeypot shot her a glance. “I really think you should equip your tentacle hat if we’re heading back out of town.”

She shot him a look laden with suspicion.

“If we get in danger… sure.”

“But what if we’re attacked without warning?” Honeypot continued. “What if Felsteg comes from nowhere and bops you on the head? We really can’t be too sure.

He gave her a cat’s grin.

“You’re letting down our party by exposing a weakness.”

Arika shot a look of disdain back.

She blushed ferociously as she put it on, and Orion was struck by how innocent she looked when embarrassed; her usual hardened and closed-off demeanor melted before his eyes.

Realizing he was staring, he looked away, not wanting to make her feel more uncomfortable.

Still, out of the corner of his eye, he could see something fall out of her robe and hit her on the head when she attempted to hide the tentacle hat with her hood.

He looked down in confusion at the offending object.

It was a sausage.

Honeypot started running away, laughing maniacally.

The sight of him skipping away and chortling while Arika chased him with a sausage was too much for Orion and Shadow, who joined in the infectious laughter.

Two sets of green rubbery tentacles danced around the trees before them as they laughed, one above a face of glee, the other above a face that promised righteous retribution.

“I’m sorry!” Honeypot yelled through his laughter. “I couldn’t help myself!”

Arika gave up the chase, her Agility stat nowhere near high enough to compete with Honeypot.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t blow you up right now.”

“I’ve got two—first, your Invoke is still on cooldown. Second, I promise to weaponize my skill in chaos to your benefit. A promise of future services rendered, if you will.”

Arika looked hesitant, but nodded in the affirmative.

“If you do that to me again—if you do anything sausage related to me again—the deal is off, and you will go boom.”

“Deal!” Honeypot held out his hand, which Arika shook gingerly before making a show of wiping the hand on her robe.

Before long, they received two notifications in quick succession while they walked.

Dungeon detected! Check your map for location.

Dungeon detected! Check your map for location.

They headed toward the closest of the two dungeons; it was just north of the heavily trodden path they were traveling on.

“Where is it?” Shadow said as they stood almost on the mark. “I can’t see a damn—”

The statement cut off as Shadow almost stepped over an unseen hole in the ground.

Honeypot dashed forward, pulling him back from the precipice and smiling in Shadow’s face.

“Found it.”

Orion stepped up carefully, peering down the ledge Shadow had almost fallen down.

A small mound covered in lush grass and trees hid the entrance from the direction they moved, but looking over the side, he could see a wide opening winding down into the ground.

They walked around the mound to the entrance, stepping with care to not fall in.

“I think we should treat the ambush this morning as a wake-up call,” Orion said. “We need to be a little more careful with our movements.”

“What do you have in mind, glorious and supreme leader?”

“I want you to scout ahead, Honeypot. Use Stealth and check the dungeon—we’ll follow fifteen seconds later. We’ll do the same on our way out.”

“Aye, sir!”

Honeypot activated Stealth, disappearing before their eyes as he strode into the dungeon with entirely too much pomp.

He wasn’t gone for long before they heard a scream of pain.