Rotting vines thrashed from above like writhing tentacles. In every direction the sounds of vine-slaves screaming filled the air.

From across the cavern, insectoids were skittering out in twos and threes, some even armed with jagged blades that looked like obsidian. Apparently Mason had kicked the hornet's nest.

But he no longer cared. Every creature involved in this corruption was going to die. Without pity. Without question. There was only finding every scrap of the rot and ripping it out root and stem, then butchering the cause. That's all there was.

Mason didn't bother with his bow. He ran through the cavern hacking at the vines attached to victims, no longer concerned with what happened to them after, or at least not concerned enough to stop. The insects soon saw him, screeching as they raced on varying numbers of legs to attack.

They came one or two at a time, and died the same way. The ones without weapons had almost no reach, and did little but slash with an impotent claw before Mason took off their heads or giant pieces of their torsos.

His tier two Claws sliced through carapace without the slightest resistance, butchering the creatures without even needing much speed or strength. And Mason had both in abundance.

The next wave was smarter, and slightly different. The creatures were similar from the waist up to the other insectoids, but their lower halves were more like centipedes. They moved more quickly, and could shift sideways and strike with surprising speed.

They died equally quickly. Though one of them managed to rake a claw down Mason's chest, and when they died they sprayed acidic goo that Mason didn't even try to avoid. He and the next group of insectoids watched the acid steaming uselessly off his skin, his claw wounds healing in real time. Then he killed them, too.

Time blurred a little after that.

He saw his Transformation and Duality of Strength were ticking along, his Apex Predator fluctuating and affecting his enemies as he moved, changing his affinity back and forth to resist poison or acid several times. His Poison title flashed in and out. Some of the insects shot spikes or barbs at him, and he deflected some with his Sleeves, ignoring the rest.

He blinked in surprise as some cross between an orc and a goblin came howling with rage. It was almost all skin and bones, gut dripping blood and ooze from a severed root sticking all the way through. Mason didn't hesitate. He slashed his longer Claw in a deadly arc, killing the pitiful creature instantly.

"Damnit, Mason!" He heard Rebecca's voice from across the room. Frankly, he wasn't in the mood.

"If you think I'm saving anything but humans, embrace disappointment," he shouted back.

Then a tentacle-like root grabbed Mason's left arm and pulled.

He wasn't sure if giant corrupted great tree roots could be surprised, but as it tugged uselessly trying to lift him into the air, he imagined that's what it felt. He sliced the thing off and kept stalking around the room disconnecting victims.

The others followed in his wake, talking to people, trying to comfort or hold them back, occasionally shooting fire or killing insects on their own.

A little piece somewhere in the back of his mind was glad for that. Glad he could bring people with him who could afford the softer things. But he knew in this world, out front there had to be a man like him. He was starting to realize his girls had been right. He was suited for this.

Not because he liked to lead or knew all the best ways to bring out the best in others. But because he understood the harshness of life, and didn't shrink from it.

God damn you, Cerebus, he thought, but without any bitterness. Was that what he'd become one day? A pitiless creature sitting on a throne of skulls, looking down on everything and everyone not as strong as him?

The stink of rot and death was soon replaced with smoke and burning flesh. Seamus was following Mason lighting everything on fire. Whether he had some quest or just decided it was the right thing to do, Mason decided he was glad for it. He turned back once just to give the fire mage a nod of approval, then kept on murdering his way through the cavern.

A few of the bugs managed to get by Mason, but soon ran into Phuong and Becky. Shields and crackling bursts of sword-infused blasts easily dealt with the stragglers, and the team soon had the cavern cleared.

Stolen novel; please report.

[Cavern of Roots event complete. Group experienced awarded.]

[You have earned enough experience for level 18! Please select a new power to enhance.]

Mason felt his brow raise. Apparently the giant had been worth a shocking amount of experience. His previous level had taken considerable time, which made him wonder if most of the things he was facing, with a few exceptions, were getting too 'low' for him.

No doubt with how this game worked, he'd need ever bigger and more frightening challenges. Which meant his time in the great forest would soon have to come to an end, or else he'd stagnate and fall behind.

It was a strange and not particularly welcome thought. But at least in theory he'd be able to teleport soon...

"Thank you, thank you! Oh God. I thought...I thought I'd die down here." A filthy, disheveled middle age woman was falling down at Mason's feet, trying to take his hand as she wept. She had a raw, ugly wound on her arm from the root, but seemed otherwise healthy.

"You're alright now," he said, lifting her up. "The others will look after you. I..." Mason's voice caught in his throat as he recognized her.

It was his next door neighbor from childhood. Mrs. Friedsman. The woman who'd caught him and Blake joy riding Mr. Nimitz's car. Who'd never smiled once at him in his whole life. Who he'd once heard call him 'the bad stray' at some party as he’d hid on the stairs.

She met his eyes and clearly didn't recognize him at all. He was older, he supposed. And had glowing green eyes. And who knew what other transformations.

She thanked him again as she stumbled over towards Rebecca. Finding her seemed unlikely to the point of impossibility. Not that he cared about the woman one way or the other, but with all the billions of people on earth, what were the chances he'd find his neighbor? He couldn't imagine she had 42 luck like Blake. And even if she did, why should it lead her to him?

Mason expected the answer was part of the game. He was beginning to understand how roboGod worked, and it put a very bad feeling in his gut. The neighbor very likely didn't matter at all. She was just a tool. A plot device. A clue.

"What is it, Patron?" Phuong asked, watching him. Mason took a deep breath, not sure he should say anything but not the type to hold things back from people he trusted.

"I know that woman," he said quietly, then met the older man's eyes. "There might be others." He was a little worried what might happen when he finished the thought. "There might be people you all know down here. If so, the dungeon's going to use them against us."

* * *

The news that roboGod might be holding the party's loved ones for ransom didn't exactly go over well.

"Oh God." Rebecca ran her hands through her hair. "I've got a giant family, Mason. Friends. Neighbors. What if it has my little sister?" Her eyes welled with tears. "I'm not like you. There's people I love."

When he didn't react she realized what she'd said and closed her eyes, putting her hands on his arm.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just mean..."

"I understand," he said. "Right now it's just intuition. And it won't have your little sister, she's too young for the game still. We need to stay calm."

"Yer damn intuition is always right when it's about somethin’ bad!" she said, throwing up her hands. But she breathed a little easier so his words must have had some affect.

Mason didn't bother to deny the comment. Though he mostly thought the worst of everything. And when you assumed things would always go terribly, sometimes you were right.

"Good things happen too," he said. "I saved Haley in a dungeon. I saved you in the woods."

Rebecca calmed a little more. "Yeah. We'll save more, too. Like these nice folks." She smiled at the three new civilians clumped together nearby, but they mostly looked exhausted and hardly paying attention.

"Speaking of which," Phuong raised a brow. "What do we do with them?"

"They can probably stay here.” Mason shrugged. “We've cleared the roots and..."

"No!" Mrs. Friedsman practically shrieked. "They'll come back. They'll stick those…things in us again. We have to stay with you. Please, please don't leave us. Please, I can't...I can't..."

"It's OK," Rebecca was saying, "we won't leave you." She gave Mason a quick glare, and he sighed. As long as it didn't put his people in danger, he'd bring them along. But the brutal truth was, if it meant protecting his players, he'd give them all up in a heartbeat.

"OK. We keep moving. Stay with Rebecca here. Do not get in front of me, Phuong, or Seamus," he gestured as he said the names. "If we tell you to do something, don't ask questions, just do it. If you have to run, run back here." He took a breath and glanced down the closest tunnel, which was just one of many. "Let's get moving."

"Um, sir?" The young Asian man who'd seen Mason camouflaged raised a hand.

"We're not in school, kid, if you need to say something just go ahead."

"Um, right. Sorry. But, that tunnel goes to the um, bug barracks? I don't know what it's called. But there's a lot of bugs. Like a lot."

"You know your way around this place?"

"Uh, not really. Well, kinda? I'm a cartographer. I can like...draw maps. Create maps. Memorize things to put in maps."

Mason waved a hand but felt a jolt of hope. "I know what a cartographer is. Do you have a map? Can you make one now?"

"I...well, no. Not until I get some uh, points. Like, you know, the system points, or whatever." Mason winced until the young man pointed at his head. "But it's in here. Maybe two thirds of the place. They moved us around a lot at first. I saw quite a bit."

Mason grinned, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Good work, kid, that might be incredibly helpful. What's your name?"

"Hieu, sir."

Phuong choked and spasmed with a cough, then failed miserably to pretend everything was fine. Mason glanced at Becky, but the kid looked just as confused as them.

"OK, Hieu. Where do we find the bug queen?"