The guards paused in the middle of the room, surveying their surroundings. “Someone was here,” Jeli said. “I sensed their ether.”

Vivi held her breath behind the columns. She kept herself ready in case a fight broke out. With her runesword, she could have stood a chance against the guards. Killing guards, however, was too early. Vivi still needed time to grow alone before staff was alerted.

“Someone was always somewhere,” Hoss said. “We’d never eat lunch if we investigated every little ring and chime.”

“And the dead stone-leafs?” Jeli asked.

“Could be anything,” Hoss said. “Nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve witnessed monsters fighting each other down here. No need for alarm.”

“Very well,” Jeli said. The footsteps continued downward. Just like that, Hoss and Jeli left. The glow of their kerosene lamp disappeared behind a corner, and their footsteps disappeared.

Vivi and the knight waited in silence for a minute longer. Eventually, the knight stood up. “Alright, we should be good. You can finish me now.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” Vivi said.

The knight stared at Vivi and Eem. He took off his helmet, revealing a rough but young face. The wound Vivi just caused on the left side of his face was far from the only scar he’d suffered. He had a bald head that fit his face well.

Eem ran to him and hugged his leg. Her arms barely reached around the plate armor. “Ohan!” she said excitedly.

Vivi raised her eyebrows. “Eem? You know him?”

The knight was just as confused. “Emmy, what are you doing with this human?”

Eem jumped up and down. She ran back to Vivi. As if showing off a friend, she said, “Ivwi!”

“Ivwi?” The knight looked at Vivi. “Is that your name?”

“It’s Vivi,” she said. “You’re Ohan?”

“Rohan.” He smiled awkwardly. “Uh, did I accidentally just challenge Emmy’s ally to a duel?”

Eem couldn’t stand still for a second. She hopped around, taking turns hugging Rohan and Vivi. Rohan lowered to Eem’s level and patted her in the head with his gauntlets.

“Emmy doesn’t speak often,” he said. “If she gives someone a name, that name is worn with honor. And anyone that Eem has named must not be evil. Let me apologize again for challenging you.”

“It was a good duel,” Vivi said. “Sorry about your sword.”

Rohan breathed in. His eyes suddenly turned serious. “You defeated me. I have no right to order you around. But you must understand that you’re being reckless. This part of the dungeon is strictly banned. The Hollows, our gang, found the fangling lair destroyed by another nimrod. We’re trying our best to hide the evidence from the guards. Boss is looking for the culprit. And he’s not overjoyed.” He gave Vivi a look.

Oh no, Vivi thought. Have I made more enemies?

Eem clung tightly to Vivi, listening to Rohan’s words. Eem looked serious. “Ivwi, Ohan, fwen.”

“Yes, friends,” Rohan said. “No fighting.”

Eem nodded. “Fwen.”

“Vivi,” Rohan said. “I break my own codes by asking this, but I need you to visit the lair. I can vouch for your kindness. There are certain rules of the hidden dungeon that you must learn. If you continue the way you have, the guards will find you. You will get killed. In the process, the lower levels will be investigated. Our lair might be found.”

“Your lair?” Vivi asked.

“I won’t disclose information yet,” Rohan said. “I have sworn to die before revealing secrets.” He bowed. “I can promise your safety. The boss can decide how much he wants to reveal. Once he knows Eem calls you by name, he will cooperate.”

Interesting, Vivi thought. It looks like the hidden dungeon isn’t as hidden as we thought.

“Yes…” Lucius said. “This knight’s warnings are serious. A guard patrol just passed. We’re not ready to fight the Stewards yet.”

Vivi agreed. Rohan had challenged her to a duel with force, but he seemed mostly sensible. Following him was a risk—everything down here was a risk—but teaming up with him sounded far less risky than making an enemy out of his gang.

And Rohan was Eem’s friend. Vivi couldn’t just make an enemy out of someone who treated Eem nicely.

“Take me there,” Vivi said. “I’ll trust you.”

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Rohan nodded. His face was still bleeding. The wound didn’t seem to faze him. “I’m not allowed to lead invaders to the lair either. But you’re an exception. This way.”

He headed down through a different path from the guards. Vivi followed with Eem on her shoulders. She didn’t know how close Eem and Rohan were, but the fiend had chosen Vivi’s shoulders.

Rohan entered the next monotone cavern and checked for monsters. The area seemed clear. The scenery stayed the same, though the planks grew rougher.

“How many nimrods know of this place?” Vivi asked. “The secret dungeon.”

“Hopefully not many,” Rohan said. “The Hollows have around ten members that reside here. Ten more that know this place exists. Outsiders are rare. If someone finds a way in here, we either kill them or recruit them. Depends on their cooperation.”

You decided to attack me immediately, Vivi thought.

Vivi knew she had an awful reputation. Rohan had a reason to attack her. Vivi had cleared a lot of monsters in the secret dungeon that she definitely wasn’t supposed to. But she still didn’t know how to feel about being attacked out of nowhere.

“The guards patrol weekly,” Rohan continued. “Their job is to ensure that the boss isn’t in any danger of dying. Usually, guards check out the upper levels, ensuring that nothing is totally amiss. They’re usually quite careless. Those two that passed will leave within an hour. We’ve mapped out their most common patrol paths.”

“Will they check out the fangling lair?” Vivi asked.

“Unlikely,” Rohan said. “The guards avoid the deeper levels of the gnoll mineshaft and the fangling lair. The fangling lair has a secret path to the boss, but clearing the way there is a huge pain. A guard died there, once. Ever since then, the guards have mostly left it alone, believing that a nimrod can’t possibly clear the lair. Your massacre will most likely go overlooked.

“Still, our gang avoids hunting here. Even if the guards are unlikely to patrol every corner, hunting for common monsters isn’t worth the risk. We already have enough ether.”

“Why are you here, then?” Vivi asked.

Rohan hesitated before speaking. “Skills. The hidden dungeon is the only place to earn skills.”

“You pulled the pickaxe back to your hand,” Vivi said. “Was that a skill?”

“Yes,” Rohan said. “A gravity manipulation skill. It’s a weak one. Most would call it a garbage skill. But it’s a skill nonetheless. We got it from a lucky drop three years ago. You must understand how difficult gaining skills is. You have one too.”

Three years? Vivi thought. The demons had been hunting here for so long?

She stayed quiet about Lucius’s presence. The demons still believed his claws were a skill. If Rohan’s gang proved to be trustworthy, she could consider revealing her debt and powers, but it was far too early to speak of his presence.

An ether-aura shone ahead. Vivi picked up on it from afar. She readied herself for combat.

Rohan, however, held out his hand. “Let’s not kill it. Let me deal with this.”

Turning the corner, Rohan faced the monster. It was a large humanoid amalgamation with purple skin. Three eyes, uneven bodily proportions. Parts of its skin were cracked, revealing gaping black holes, ether rising out of them. The monster carried at least four hundred ether, most of which seemed to go into enhancing pure strength. Its muscles were large.

Rohan punched the monster in the head with his gauntlets.

The monster was knocked down with force. It didn’t die, flailing around aimlessly on the ground. Its clumsiness reminded Vivi of an ether stick. It tried to get up. Rohan kicked it back to the ground.

“The guards might come here,” Rohan said. “If at all possible, leave monsters alive. We’re almost there.” He walked past the monster, entering the next room.

The monster stood and slowly followed. Its presence remained behind Vivi. The feeling was uncomfortable. So far, Vivi had always cleared the monsters behind her before advancing. This ensured she had a safe escape path if the monsters ahead got too dangerous. To leave monsters alive purposefully felt wrong.

Rohan, however, was confident. He stepped into the next larger cavern. Columns were spread across the space. Five more monsters were wandering around the room. Three were similar purple amalgamations. Two were white-furred surge hounds with saber teeth. Down here, monsters were starting to spawn more rapidly.

The surge hounds were fast, immediately charging Rohan. He stayed calm and punched the first in the head, causing a concussion. He grabbed its saber tooth, twisting it out and driving it into the hound’s head. The monster died. Rohan collected its ether.

“The surge hounds can die,” Rohan said. “Annoying predators. Just make sure their corpses are hidden.”

Vivi decided to help out. She slashed at the second wolf with a simple claw attack. She expected the wolf to die in one hit. Her claws had grown, after all.

That didn’t happen. The wolf charged right through the swipe with minor cuts to its fur. The wolf jumped at her neck with its mouth open.

Surprised, Vivi called her runesword. She drove the sword through the wolf’s mouth. The monster died, granting Lucius 56 ether.

“Surge hounds aren’t easy monsters,” Rohan said. “I nearly died to them once. Even these purple idiots are deadly if they manage to cling to your skin.” He punched another approaching purple amalgamation, knocking it down.

With the surge hounds dead, Rohan picked up their host bones and hid them behind columns. Down in the dungeon, monsters were mostly made out of pure ether. Their hosts were tiny, sometimes only a single bone. But the surge hounds still left a host behind.

“Its best to leave the host around so the monster respawns,” Rohan said. “But the corpse needs to be hidden in case a guard patrol comes.”

The purple amalgamations were slowly approaching. Rohan walked behind one of the larger stone columns by the back of the cavern. “This is the entrance to our lair. The Stewards know this spot exists.”

Vivi didn’t see anything yet. She watched Rohan climb up the column, using the wall as support. He placed one foot on the wall, the other on the column. He climbed ten feet up before pushing at the column. A latch opened, revealing an entrance.

“This column is hollow,” Rohan said. “Follow me.”

The purple amalgamations were approaching. Vivi quickly hopped up and entered the latch on the column.

A rope ladder was placed inside the hollow column. Little blinking mushrooms grew from between the steps, offering light. A homely smell of old wood resided within. Rohan climbed up.

“This is just like the crack in the wall,” Vivi noted. “Is that also yours?”

Rohan paused. “Uh, you found that?”

“Eem showed it to me,” Vivi said.

“We like to build fun contraptions inside solid objects,” Rohan said. “We are the Hollow Phantoms, after all. This lair is fully mined into the stone by hand.”

At the top of the ladder, Vivi peeked her head into a richly decorated little encampment.