Master Enreth Venter was not having a good day.

First, he found himself, through no fault of his own, involved in a secret project which was begun with only the best intentions but which had morphed into something that was rapidly passing worrisome and heading straight to catastrophic, and his entanglement in which had grown too precarious to easily extricate himself from.

Then there was the now blindingly obvious fact that he had not been let in on the whole plan from the beginning, and its tendrils crept far beyond anything he would have ever envisioned. True, he was only a Master, but he should have been told the full scope of the plan.

Because whatever he may have been told, whatever this operation’s ostensible purpose, it wasn’t exclusively for spirit shards as he’d been led to believe.

Perhaps he should have been suspicious—they were Sages, after all. They didn’t use spirit shards. But they did use money, and spirit shards fetched a high price. Treasures which only came from the gods tended to be like that.

He suddenly shivered for no perceptible reason.

He needed to get out of here, spend some time on the surface. He’d lost track of time, of how long he’d been down here. He could scarcely remember the sight of the sky, the feel of the core’s warmth.

And after all that time, now that he’d been stuck in this room with these unconscious bodies, his myopia was clearer than ever to him.

Yes, Venter chastised himself, I should have seen it. They were clearly not used solely for spirit shards.

But how was he to know when he’d begun? It wasn’t as though creating spirit shards in this manner was commonplace. In fact, it was the first he’d ever heard of any shard not coming from the gods themselves, whether directly or indirectly.

Though he supposed the way they were using this dungeon meant the shards were technically still coming from a god.

One of the crabs floated past him, pulling him from his worry.

He shifted uncomfortably, and it was an effort not to get up and move as far away from the monster as possible, even though they’d never made so much as a hint of coming for him.

Even after all his time down here, he was still uneasy around the converted dungeon monsters the Grandmasters employed.

Venter hadn’t the faintest clue how they’d managed to take them over, but supposed that was why he was only a Master.

The monsters moved about the room, checking on the subjects on each platform. Performing… upkeep, and he wasn’t sure what else.

He did his best not to look at them.

They weren’t his responsibility. All he needed to do was test the power transfer. In and out, in and out. Charge and discharge. It was repetitive, but somehow soothing work. If only he could do it on the overworld instead of in a lost dungeon.

The crab floated past, completely unreactive to his presence, moving to one of the platforms and extending a tentacle to check on the subject standing unconscious atop it.

It was unnerving, to have a person be unconscious, yet alive. It wasn’t right. People were not plants, they should not be immobile like that, unaware of what is going on around them.

It reminded him of legends he’d heard as a child where people used to go unconscious on a set schedule. It was said they would die if they didn’t.

Venter didn’t know how they’d offended the gods so greatly to earn that sort of curse, but he was glad it was long past, if it had ever been true at all.

Just the thought of being somewhere and oblivious to what was going on around you, what was being done to you, made his skin crawl.

He’d once been knocked unconscious during a sparring match when he was young, and when he’d finally come back to himself he’d been covered in crude paintings.

And that was far from the worst of it. There was a disconnect, as though he wasn’t the same person before and after. He’d been, effectively, dead, unaware of anything, without thought or care. The experience seemed uncomfortably similar to that of being “redeemed” after a horror.

The crab finished its duties, the subject twitching as it withdrew, then it floated off to another of the many platforms.

Distracted from his work, he sighed, and felt his stomach rumble with hunger.

He could afford a quick break. Hopefully, the monster would be done with its rounds by the time he returned.

[https://i.imgur.com/Ls4tykN.png]

Venter had just returned from his meal and was beginning work once more, when one of the subjects failed, convulsing and falling on its platform.

His face twisted up in an unconscious grimace, though fortunately, dealing with disposal was not his job.

He averted his gaze as one of the floating crabs moved in for cleanup.

When it was done, the platform would be cleaned, reset, and ready for another subject. One who could hopefully handle the repeated filling and draining.

A short time later he looked up from his work, frowning.

Had a sound just come from the ritual chamber?

Grandmaster Renvarian had been gone for a good deal of time and should have been back by now, but why would she come in this way through the ritual room? She would have had to trek all the way through the old dungeon entrances. Not that there were any dungeon monsters left in the area, but it was still quite the journey.

And in any case, he shouldn’t be able to hear sound from that room. Even if sound somehow made it past the portal, none should penetrate the heavy stone door.

He looked above the door, high toward the ceiling. Yes, it was still closed. The rod would protrude if the door beyond the portal had been opened.

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

Then what—

The portal activated and Venter cried out in surprise.

But nothing happened.

He frowned, getting hold of himself. It was a good thing no one was here to see him in this state. He was a Sage Master, with the full mastery of his aura that this rank entailed, and he needed to act like one.

But the portal had been used, he was certain of it.

But… how? There was no one here. If there had been, the alarms would have activated. Even an Arch Sage couldn’t sneak in without setting them off.

But perhaps a Hierophant could. Or an Archon.

He shivered at the thought of one of the absent gods’ hounds coming down here. It would be for only one purpose.

But no, he’d be dead already, or captured. An Archon would have no reason to hide from a mere Sage Master.

“Get ahold of yourself man,” he chided himself, and returned to his work.

A short while later he thought he heard another sound. It sounded like that goblin they employed. But he would have no reason to be down here. Their job was to patrol the area near the entrances in the East Alderdark. His kobold friend had a nose that could track intruders over great distances, and had prevented many an accidental discovery.

And it came back to it being impossible to hear sound through both the portal and the stone door.

His time underground was getting to him, that was all. It wasn’t natural for humans to be in this much darkness, not ones born in the central ring.

Well, it wouldn’t be much longer now. Their plan was almost at fruition.

Even if he himself wasn’t quite sure what the full extent of their plan was.

He once more returned to his work, though keeping focus was difficult.

Another short while later, just as he had finally gotten into a flow once more, something he could no longer ignore had him leaping from his chair.

The door from the ritual chamber opened, the scripted rod above the door fully protruded.

Master Enreth Venter ran from the room without hesitation like a man on fire. Whatever was on the other side, he was not about to face it. It wasn’t his job.

That was why they employed a Red.

[https://i.imgur.com/Ls4tykN.png]

Joshua and Xylsie stood in front of the newly opened stone door, watching Sin flutter down from the ceiling, Joshua with a stupid grin, Xylsie with a squinty scowl.

“Was that a button?” Joshua asked his familiar as it landed on his shoulder. High up near the ceiling was a round bit of stone with an outline around it that looked like it was meant to be pressed.

“What did your bird do?” Xylsie hissed.

“I don’t know. Pressed a button for giants?”

“Why are you smiling? What is wrong with you?”

Joshua looked at the completely dark opening left from the stone door sliding away. The door hadn’t swung in or out, but up into the wall itself. “Did you see how it just slid into the wall like that?” he whispered excitedly. “It’s like Star Wars. This is so cool.”

Xylsie’s only response was to form her bracer into an axe.

Joshua glanced over at the weapon. “I wonder if there are lightsabers,” he said thoughtfully. “That would be way cooler than a claw.”

Sin fluttered his wings in agitation and pecked Joshua’s head gently.

Joshua could sense the familiar’s nerves. He reached up and patted the bird reassuringly. “Maybe next time don’t go pressing random buttons.”

They waited for long moments, but nothing happened.

Joshua tried to peer into the dark, sinister entryway. But it was impenetrable black, very much like the entrance to the dungeon he was now in, the one he’d entered to get away from the goblin and kobold. This one had no pi-symbol-shaped archway around it, though. “Does it lead to another dungeon?”

“If this is a dungeon like your spell tells you, I’d think not. A dungeon inside of a dungeon?” Xylsie shook her head. “I’ve not heard of such an occurrence.”

“You think it leads out then? Because it looks exactly like the one I came in through.”

“Doubtful.”

“Is it common to have pitch black portals like this just hanging around?”

“No, it is not. But I’ve been into dungeons. This is not what their entrances look like.”

“What do they look like?”

“It’s hard to explain. This, and the one I came through to get down here, give off the impression of secrecy, of trying to hide. A dungeon’s entrance draws your attention. That’s its purpose.”

“Dungeons have a purpose?”

“Of course.” She gestured her head at the blackness. “We should go.”

As cool as the sliding door was, Joshua really didn’t want to go into that darkness. There was something menacing about it, something that either wasn’t there or that he didn’t notice when he’d entered this dungeon.

“Maybe we don’t go into the dark unknown.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the slave overseer’s body. “It’s the way the guy who I think killed her went, and he doesn’t exactly seem like the type to buy me a beer if he saw me again.” Joshua frowned. “Wait, is there a drinking age here? Can I buy my own beer?”

“You can do as you please. I am going to rescue my brother. If I run into the one who killed the slaver, I’ll be certain to thank him.”

Joshua understood how she felt. The very trip that Randall had interrupted was him going to Japan for an annual memorial for his sister. She was the reason Joshua had taken up yabusame, Japanese horseback archery. It was a way for him to feel closer to her, even if she wasn’t there. After he’d lost her, he would have done anything he could to get her back. Not that there was anything to be done, by him or anyone else.

But he could understand putting your life at risk for your family.

And he wasn’t going to let Xylsie have all the fun.

What was that saying? Danger is the spice of life. “Or maybe main course here,” he muttered.

“What?”

Joshua sighed. “Nothing. Isn’t there some other way in? You’re not all wet, so I’m guessing you didn’t come the way I did.”

She frowned at him as he stifled laughter. “Truly, what do you find so amusing?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” He swiped a hand over his face, forcing it into seriousness. “How’d you come—” He pressed his lips together, shook his head. “How’d you get in? This place.”

She continued frowning at him for several seconds, looking like she might again ask what he found amusing, then apparently decided she didn’t want to know. “I found an entrance tunnel in the Alderdark. After following it for a ways I came upon a ledge that let on to a large cavern with a stream in it. There had been a ladder to climb down to a raised pathway, but someone cut it.”

“I saw that. The ladder. I actually have it, but I couldn’t get it back up.” He snorted, then sighed. “What is wrong with me?”

“I’m told it’s a long list.”

“It is. In this case, I’m thinking it’s the starmist venom.”

“Do you have any?”

“Starmist venom?”

“Yes.”

“Um, no. Why? Would it be useful?”

“I could use some to focus me. You are very distracting.”

“I am quite handsome, aren’t I?” He frowned. “Wait, you use a poison to focus?”

“Yes.”

He cast his mind back, trying to remember the description. Then he noticed the countdown icon still ticking away in the corner of his vision and focused on it to see if he could bring up the information again.

[Starmist Venom]

Your Body and Mind speed is increased at the expense of precision

“Weird. Who uses poison to give themselves focus?”

“Everyone.”

He thought about this. “Actually, I remember my biology teacher saying caffeine is an insecticide. Same for nicotine. So it’s—”

Sin squawked, interrupting him, pecked his head, rather firmly this time, and flew through the black doorway.

“Someone’s impatient,” Joshua said, rubbing where Sin had pecked.

Joshua and Xylsie stared at the doorway, waiting for something to happen.

“Is he still alive?” Xylsie asked.

“How would I know? And you’re not making me eager to go through if you think he might be dead already.”

“Your eagerness is not my concern.”

“It could be.”

She glanced at him, frowning. “What does that mean?”

“Not sure, actually. Just felt right. Like you.”

“I… feel right?”

Joshua nodded firmly. “Yes. Sure, you’re beautiful—not as beautiful as me, but still, I can’t hold that against you.” He considered this, looking at her axe, then at his claw. “You do have a better weapon.” He shook his head, remembering what the goblin had said. “Do I really look like a girl? You never answered me.”

“You look like a gnelgort.

“Gnelgort? What’s that?”

“A very annoying insect.”

“That is not—” Joshua began, but was interrupted as Sin came flying back out the dark doorway, squawking proudly.

And he wasn’t alone.