Qualtys's body felt heavy. He felt like he was floating in a pool of ice water but couldn't move his arms or legs and he couldn't open his eyes. The cold seemed to penetrate his entire being down to his soul and the floating feeling seemed to carry him on an unknown current. He tried to move again but his body wouldn't respond, he tried to scream but couldn't produce sound. He felt panicked, the cold was unnatural and his inability to move made it even worse but nothing he did have an effect.

The cold tendrils seemed te recede from his soul and the ice-cold feeling was gradually replaced by a warmer feeling. The unknown current also seemed to be floating down instead of going forward. A feeling much like laying down on his bed at the end of a long day of hunting and foraging in the forest around their lakeside home.

A tingling feeling spread throughout his body, starting from his feet and hands and gradually making its way up to his arms and legs to his core The feeling returning to all his limbs and his mind gradually becoming less hazy. He felt the smooth touch of water around his body but the body itself felt off. He felt nothing amiss with his body physically but it just felt wrong for some reason. 

The last of the coldest tendrils released its grip and it felt like his mind was falling. Just like the feeling you get in a dream when you fall off a cliff a sudden panic flooding into his mind. With a jerk of his body, he sat up waking from the falling dream and he was greeted by darkness. He calmed himself down, he'd been in places void of light before and he tried to grab light orb from his pouch. But he found no pouch around his waist nor the smaller pouch which contained his herbs. 

Panic once again overtaking his mind in the darkness as he heard something move around in the water.near to him. He tried to determine its location form the ripple of the water and the sound but the sound reverberated against the walls of this dark place. 'I'm in a cave of sorts, a very dark cave. How did I get here?' His last memory was of him and brother entering the dungeon, was he still inside the dungeon? Was he dead? 

He frantically looked around hoping to spot anything and then he saw it on the far wall. The slightest difference in color shining like a beacon of light. He got his feet under him and took a few wobbling steps, the body still not feeling like it always had. The movement made it easier and easier to control his body and his unstable steps transitioned it a very light sprint as he made his way towards the light. Almost being able to touch the wall, he now saw clearly that the wall was connected to a tunnel and at the end of the tunnel there was a faint light. He stretched his arm in front of himself as he walked into the tunnel.

Warning: You´ve been assigned as a Monster den defender. Monster den defenders aren´t permitted to leave the Monster den.

Qualtys was taken aback by the sudden notification. He'd gotten plenty of notification windows but never had it been listed as a warning before. The message itself was even more puzzling then it being labeled as a warning. A plethora of questions flooded his young mind.

'What's a Monster den?'

'What's a defender?'

'Why can't I leave this place?'

'Who or what's keeping me here and why?'

'WHERE AM I!'

His breaths became rapid and shallow as his mind was now truly overcome with panic. He felt to his knees, the familiar feeling of water encompassing his body. He tried to steady his breathing and clear his mind of the panic he felt. He rested in the there in the water for a minute and pressed a hand against the tunnel again. The same notification popped up and he sighed.

Just as sudden as he had woken up in this weird and dark place a light appeared on the far wall, casting his shadow on the dark wall in front of him. He turned around towards the new source of light and his breath stopped in his throat. In the center of the room, he saw two dark figures standing motionless looking his way. The slightly bigger one reminded him of his brother with club and shield in hand. The other one holding a long spear he didn't recognize which made him slightly wary of the duo. 

"TENOCH!"

He called out into the now slightly illuminated cave but the figure didn't respond. He called out again but was again met with silence from both of the dark figures. A second source of light appeared just as sudden as the first along the wall on his right, the bigger figure now clearly visible in the cave. He could make out the features much easier and could now clearly tell this was not his brother, the figure was a pudling just like him but one he did not recognize from his village.

"Can you hear me? Do you know where we are?"

With neither of them giving a response he slowly got to his feet and started walking towards them. Only now did he notice the shield that was strapped to his left arm. 'Weird, he'd never owned or used a shield before, where did it come from?' a fleeting thought as he got ever closer to the center of the cave. 

He stood a few feet away from the other unmoving pudling, close enough to see him clearly but enough room to dodge or sue the shield he had. He wanted to reach out and touch the pudling in front of him but didn't want to risk an attack. He looked around the room but all he saw were walls and a floor covered with water. Something in the corner of his right eye caught his attention and he reached out with his free hand and pulled on the item that was behind him. In his hand, he held a one-handed spear, again not an item he had ever used before.

More and more questions filled his mind but he just pushed those thoughts aside. He raised the shield up high like he saw his brother do numerous times and with the blunt end of the spear he gently poked the still unmoving pudling. The body swayed lightly at the careful probing but the other didn't attack him nor did it evade or make any movement for that matter just standing there in complete silence. He walked around the pudling and prodded it a few more times and then walked over to the other one and repeated the process. This was met with the same result of it doing absolutely nothing but just stand there. The other wall also received a torch in the meantime but nothing else happened to the cave after that. With no way out and the other two pudlings unresponsive he sat down and just looked at the tunnel he couldn't enter. After he sat there in the water for a few hours staring blankly ahead, he snapped out of his blank state as the sound of a light rockfall was heard throughout the cave coming from the tunnel.

He'd been here for a few hours now and nothing had moved in or out of the cave. He looked around for food but the cave held no life apart from the two unmoving residents. He wondered if he'd starve to death but even after all this time he still didn't feel hungry. He walked up to the wall furthest away from the tunnel and sat back down again with his back against the wall. While he also didn't feel very sleepy his mind felt tired. He'd put down the shield and spear against the wall and closed his eyes. Sleep didn't come for a while but slowly he drifted off his mind entering a dream state.

He saw the back of his brother and wondered if the strange cave was all just a dream. The thought didn't last long as he saw the two undead creatures assault him and dread fell over him. This wasn't a dream this was a memory, the memory of his last living moment. He remembered it now. His brother convinced him to come and explore the cave hoping to earn the last amounts of experience he needed to level up and gain a class. But he had died a painful death at the undead hands of a goblin and the fangs of an undead spider. His brother did his best to protect him but in the end, he still died. His mind left his body and he saw his dead body on the floor of the cave as his brother was pushed back towards the cave entrance. His mind followed them down the tunnel and saw how he was also killed.

He closed himself off from it all and just hung there in silence. And then suddenly he again felt the grasp of the ice-cold tendrils that wrapped around him. The thought of the tendrils and sharp pain in his mind shook him awake from his slumber as a notification greeted him. Another new notification he had never seen before and instead of the normal blue ones he received this one was red in color.

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Warning:  An invader has entered the dungeon!

Qualtys didn't exactly know the meaning of the notification but something in his mind told him to get ready for battle. A strong feeling of protection entered his mind for a reason he didn't understand. He took up his shield and spear and walked towards the other two pudlings in the cave as they now had started to at least move as they focussed on the tunnel with weapons raised.

Feet could be heard stomping through the tunnel as something approached them from the darkness. He felt anxious facing the unknown danger that approached but that feeling was quickly replaced by the feeling of protection. The feeling gave him confidence that he could fight and kill any threat that came into the cave. Since he'd never been a frontline fighter he took up position behind the other shield wielder as he was taught by his brother. And then with a big splash of water, the creature entered the cave.

A big mountain lizard was clearly visible after the waves subsided after it crashed into the water. Its tongue licked the air and it let out a defying hiss towards the three of them standing in the cave. Without so much as a command or any thought of a strategy, the others rushed towards the lizard leaving him stunned at their rapid movement as he compared it to their statue-like behavior from before. 

The shield-bearer was the first to reach the lizard as it swung down the club at the head of the lizard. The creature dodged but only slightly as the water had a clear negative effect on its movements. The warrior's effort was rewarded with a swipe of its tail which was caught on his shield but still pushed him back slightly. The spear wielder stabbed into the lizard but most of the attacks bounced off the hard scales that covered the lizard's body. It snapped at the pudling after the tail attack positioned its head near the new target. The first attack missed but as the spear wielder stepped in for another he overextended and his arm was caught in the maw of the creature

HIs fellow pudling now squarely caught, Qualtys rushed in towards the lizard, shield raised and spear poised for a quick jab at the stationary head. The feint worked as it released the pudling from its maw to defend again this new attack. Having completed his objective he stepped back out of reach. 

The attacks from the club bounced off almost complete of the lizard only managing to bruise the underlying tissue. The damage wouldn't be lethal but if they could keep it up they would come out on top of this fight. The attacks of the other two pudlings were sloppy and uncoordinated. They left ample room for counter-attacks even with their overwhelming numbers of three against one. He tried to bring order into the chaos as he shouted out orders to the other two.

"Shield out in front and control the head."

"Try to circle around and stab at the neck and underbelly."

"Don't attack recklessly and use feints to draw in attacks."

"Use the shield to block."

He called out every piece of advice he heard his old combat trainer give out to brothers as they worked on their training. His advice wasn't processed by either of them, they just attacked with reckless abandon instead of strategy. He skirted on the outside and got in the occasional hit with his spear when the lizard engaged the other two, but sides accumulation more and more damage as the fight went on.

The lizard took a step back it's tail enveloped in very faint light its eyes fixated on the spear wielder that was now using the weapon one-handed as an earlier attack had broken his left arm. Qualtys didn't know what exactly would happen but clearly, it was an attack the spear wielder wouldn't survive. He made a mad dash towards the guy as he raised his shield in a defensive posture. He knocked the pudling away with a shoulder charge right before the tail impacted his shield. The impact of the enhanced attack flung him backward as he skipped across the water like a pebble. His shield was battered and his arm was heavily bruised if not broken by the heavy impact of the attack. He had lost a fair amount of health points but the spear wielder would have definitely died from the attack.

He received a notification and quickly checked it as he was getting up ready to rejoin the fight.

New title available! By demonstrating leadership and sacrifice for your fellow Monster den defenders you have gained the title of < Alpha >. Accepting this title will give you the passive ability < Leadership >. Accept?

Yes / No

No other description was given about the ability but he needed every advantage he could get to take down the lizard and he had never heard about abilities with a negative effect. He quickly selected yes and was notified of his new ability.

You've accepted the title or  < Alpha >.

Due to your archetype, the title has been renamed to < Village Chief > this doesn't change the effect of the title. You've gained the passive ability < Leadership >. As the < Village Chief >, < Leadership > gives you have the command over the defenders within your Monster den. They will execute your orders to the best of their ability.

< Leadership > gives a minor increase to your Endurance and Wisdom.

No sooner had Qualtys accepted the title or he felt his mind connected to the other two pudlings in the room. He could somewhat feel how they were doing physically. The shield-bearer had minor injuries and the spear wielder had indeed a broken arm. He called out to them again.

"Spear get back, Shield protect Spear"

Neither of the two moved at his spoke commands. The notification clearly stated they would listen to his command so why didn't they listen? Shield was pushed back by a headbutt from the lizard and Spear got in a good hit in the middle of it. The weird connection, surprisingly, gave him a lot of direct information. And that's when it dawned on him.

Instead of the verbal commands, he pushed his intent over the weird connection they had formed. He didn't know the extend of what they were capable of so he used the most basic of commands. 'Shield up and protect' for Shield and a simple 'back off' for Spear. Both of them silently executed his orders. 

He gave them a few more basic commands to move them into position and rejoined the fight as well. First, he focussed on training Shield to always guard with his shield and strike when the lizard was distracted. The commands were followed quickly and silent. Commanding it to feint an attack just resulted in an actual attack, either his command was wrong or his control didn't allow for such elaborate tactics. The one on one fight between Shield and the lizard resulted in some damage for the defender but nothing endangering for the moment. 

With the attention of the lizard now focussed on Shield, Qualtys switched his attention to Spear who was standing by idly. Just like Shield, Spear couldn't process big commands. The command to attack resulted in the same reckless abandon assault it had adopted in the early stages of the fight. Trying to have Spear move into an advantageous position also resulted in nothing. So instead of having it attack by itself, he took a more direct approach by sending an image of his intent instead of a command over the link. The image was processed much quicker and Spear did exactly as shown. 

Shield was still keeping up with the lizard's attacks now almost solely focussed on fending off the attacks instead of inflicting damage. Each time this created an opening Qualtys send out the image of where to attack to Spear effectively making Spear an extension of his body. More and more damage was received by the lizard while Shield was loosing considerably less in return. Feeling confident with his control over both defenders, Qualtys added himself into the attack rotation. He alternated with taking an attack from the lizard instead of Shield by weaving both of them in and out of the fight. Quick jabs of his spear did only minor damage but it was more of a created distraction to give Spear plenty of room to do the most damage with his larger spear. The fight was ended quickly after that as Spear's weapon sunk deep into the lizard presumably puncturing something important as it collapsed soon after.

Rockscale Lizard < Runt> Level 3 has been killed by < Pudling >  Experience gained: 12.

Current experience: 18 / 50.

Qualtys let out a sigh of relief, glad the battle was finally over. Shield and Spear made their way back towards the center of the cave and retook their old positions as living statues. The both of them just stood there, unmoving and unphased from the battle they just had with the lizard.

He felt drained and wanted to sleep again even if that meant he'd dream of this ice-cold tentacles again. The thought of having food again made him switch his gaze from Shield and Spear towards the lizard, only to find its body disintegration into rainbow-colored flakes. 

He let out another heavy sigh before he gathered his gear and walked back toward his wall to sleep. He set his weapons aside against the wall and closed his eyes. As he drifted off a warm a pleasant feeling passed over him. The feeling felt warm and supporting he even thought he heard the faint sound of something thanking him for a job well done and then he slept. No ice-cold tendrils wrapped around him this time nor flashbacks of his death. Instead, he dreamt of a warm orange light that enveloped him as if he was bathing in the sun on a warm summer day.