Attracted by the commotion, Sally creeped closer through the shadows.

The two jumping boys fascinated her, she wanted to rip them apart and gorge on their soft hairless skin but she wasn’t allowed to.

Sally was bigger than my hares now. A body sixty centimeters long and a tail the same length, on the first floor she was second only to Miki in size. Most of her weight was distributed to the back legs, and her shape was starting to resemble a lean frog. Although with the small dark green scales growing in between her black fur, she was more lizard or snake than a frog. If lizards could jump twice their length that is.

Sally, who had developed a liking to eating the lizards and snakes of my dungeon has developed an amazing jumping ability that allowed her to surprise her unsuspecting prey from the shadows. Launching herself with the hind legs and muscular tail at the vital points of her prey.

I was worried at first that she would disobey my order and attack the unsuspecting children, but my worries were for naught. After a few moments, she dismissed the children all together, her attention focused on the mushroom they were jumping on. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking but if I had to guess I’d say she was waiting for her turn.

I watch as in his haste the man jumps from higher up than he should, thinking that the mushroom will cushion his fall. Something I have no intention of it doing for adults, so when his feet touch the mushroom they don’t find the elasticity that absorbs and returns the momentum like with the kids. Instead of the trampoline he expected to drop on he instead drops to a mushroom that is more akin to a hard mattress.

Not the worst thing to fall on when one is expecting it, however, this man clearly wasn’t and when he fell he landed badly. Spraining his ankle and falling face first into the mushroom. The boys stop their playing and rush to him. Later the girl joins them and helps lift the man up. He leans on her and after lecturing the boys, “Without any anger or raising his voice I might add,” the party continues onwards at a limping pace.

The lower half of the first floor is different than the upper one, here the mushroom sea is absent. Instead, the floor is made of hardened earth from which a few giant mushrooms grow. Mushrooms bigger and taller than the children. There aren't many of them and they are mainly concentrated next to the walls, caps small and growing in random directions they looked like misshapen street lights with flashlights at the end. Interspersed amongst them are stones, big and heavy that the party will need to push around if they want to move forward.

The giant mushrooms grow bright, creating a lattice from shadows cast by the boulders on the floor. Perfectly dark hiding places for my monster mice to attack from.

For now, this part of the dungeon isn’t separated by age. It is geared towards challenging the children's strength, awareness and reaction speed. Once I have more mana I’ll add a challenge for the adults as well. “Thanks to all the mana that is flowing back into me from all the things they are killing and destroying, I might be able to do it after they leave.”

I watch as the party reaches the field of shadows and hear the man curse for the first time, which makes me smile. Seeing Sally come out of the shadows once the area is clear and climb on the trampoline mushroom, makes my smile grow bigger. When she begins to bounce on it, squealing in excitement I can’t help but laugh.

----------------------------------------

“They are lighter than they look,” says Jason as he pushes a boulder bigger than himself with Ben’s help. Locklear is trying to balance on one leg while Hannah stands guard.

Twice now they got attacked by giant rats that jumped at them from the shadows, and as they knew there were more of them hiding they were nervous and alert. As the boulder moved the boys gave it a strong push and jumped back quickly, getting ready for the pack of rats that would run at them and try to climb up their legs. These weren’t as scary as the hidden jumping ones since they knew they were there and were prepared.

This was the third such wave they had to kill.

The first one surprised them enough that Hannah dropped her father in her attempt to fight them off. And on the floor, surrounded by hissing, giant black rats that were aiming to tear flesh with their absurdly sharp teeth, Locklear didn’t hesitate to give the kill order.

The second wave was much easier to handle and the third wasn’t bad at all. They came in groups of five to ten, each about the size of a small house cat. They couldn't jump high but they could climb well and bite through even the thickest parts of their boots.

If Locklear was in full health they would be easy pickings, but since he needed Hannah's help to stand he was useless in a fight unless they attacked him, which by the fourth wave they stopped doing entirely, focusing instead on the other three.

This didn’t mean he could allow himself to relax though, although nothing tried to climb him, rats were constantly flying at him. These monsters hid in the shadows and lunged at his upper body from all directions, always at the worst of times. And every time they succeeded in making him stumble and fall a wave of ground rats scurried at him, trying to wound and kill while the target was vulnerable.

Slowly, one wave at a time, the party progressed. Scrapes and bites covered their hands and legs and they were sweating and panting heavily. The game of shadows on the floor was forcing them to stay alert and whenever they thought they were safe, a monster would jump out from an unexpected place and scare them. Pushing increasingly heavy boulders had tired everyone to the point where they could hardly lift their hands up anymore, so fighting off the never ending horde of rodents was becoming more and more difficult.

It's in this haggard state that they reached the boss room.

A large empty space, dimly illuminated by a few rare mushrooms. With just enough light to see where they step, the party advanced carefully, eyes darting everywhere in search of movement. There were pedestals and shelves on the walls all the way up to the ceiling. Weirdly smooth stalagmites littered the floor, allowing for blind spots from which an attack could come at any moment. Smooth stalactites hung from the ceiling. Long, sharp and threatening to impale anyone who refused to lower his head.

The room was silent except for the echo of their footsteps. Walking together they try to cover each other's back as they wait for an enemy they are sure will come. Tired, so very tired, they try to remain vigilant as more and more time passed with them encountering nothing.

Without realizing they reach the end of the floor. No attack happened and instead of calming them down this just increased their anxiety. The slight fear of the unknown growing inside them as they saw a large hole in the wall in front of them. They looked around but there was nowhere else to go.

They have reached the end of the floor but there was no boss monster to fight. No treasure to show for their hard earned reward.

“This can’t be it?” Jason turned to Ben, “That's not fair!”

“Maybe we missed something,” nerves on edge Ben turns on his phone's flashlight and the others reach for their phones and flashlights. Using the beams of light they search for something, anything. There had to be something they missed. Ever since Jason told Ben about the dungeon they wondered what they would find. Because if this was a game there had to be a reward of some kind, an item of some sort to represent that they rose up to the challenge and passed the first floor. What kind of self respecting dungeon didn’t offer a reward? Because if there was no reward can you call it a dungeon? And if it wasn’t a dungeon then what was this place?

They searched low at first. Thinking that there maybe was a path they missed, so they shone their lights on the floor and wall edge. The only thing they found was the same person sized hole they saw at first, so they continued to search, moving their flashlight higher and higher until they almost reached the ceiling. There they saw the thing they missed.

“What the fuck is that?!” Hannah whispered loudly and instinctively ducked her head.

“Another rat,” Jason says in fear.

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”That's a rat?”

“It's as big as you Jason,” Locklear's eyes glint with excitement. The [Hunter] in him just acquired a new target and the exhilaration makes him ignore his daughters' outburst.

“Don’t say that…”

“Don’t worry, if it tries to attack us I’ll take it out,” his gun already in hand and aiming towards the black rodent that was looking down at them with blood-red eyes.

“Can’t you just shoot it now?” Ben whispers.

“No. I have no way of carrying it back and I won’t kill it needlessly.”

“That’s retarded!” Ben exclaims.

“Just shoot it Dad, please.”

“We don’t have anywhere else to go, if that thing follows us,” Jason swallows loudly, unable to finish the sentence.

“If it does, and only then, I will. Don’t worry Jason, you’re not the only one who received new skills. If it attacks it will die before it can even get close, you have my promise as a [Hunter].”

“Than what are we gonna do?” Ben asks.

“That, I do not know.”

“We’ll have to go down the hole,” Jason says.

“No we won’t.”

“Yes, we will. You can’t climb up the cliff with your leg, and we don’t have any way of lifting you up even if we did have rope. The hole is the only option.”

Jason tries to move, looking up at the monstrous rodent staring at them. When it doesn’t do anything he takes a few steps towards the hole. The whole party moves after him and Jason points his flashlight down the dark opening.

“It goes down,” he says, “Probably to the second floor.”

“We can’t go down there, you guys said that each floor becomes harder right?” her eyes jump from one boy to the other, “Look at how the first floor left us, and now look at that thing up there. Do you really want to descend?”

“What other choice do we have?” Jason asks.

“We can leave Dad on the trampoline and one of us can climb out of the dungeon and call for help.”

“That could work. It will take time for the monsters to respawn,” Ben is still whispering, “We should hurry back.”

“Those things come back? We’ll need to clear them again? No,” Hannah suddenly realizes what this means, “We can’t do that. I barely have enough strength to walk. No, this can’t be happening.” She looks like she's about to start crying and it isn’t clear anymore if she’s helping her father stand or simply hugging him for comfort.

No, going back will be difficult.

Jason looks at the path they came here through, at the monster looming over them and back into the hole. “The dungeon was fair up until now,” he says. Looking from Mr.Locklear to Ben and letting his gaze stay on Hannah. He can’t see her face as she’s hiding it in her father's chest. -She could be crying,- he thinks and looks back down the hole.

He remembers all of his encounters with the dungeon, they are fresh in his mind even though almost a week has passed since the first monster he killed by accidentally kicking it. The rat attacked him after he fell on the dungeon. That rodent was much smaller than the ones they had to fight on their way here.

The second time he came and the obstacle course waited for him he complained it was boring and the dungeon listened. This time he could actually call what they did a proper dungeon delve, and while it was hard there wasn’t any moment that felt impossible to overcome. No, the dungeon was fair.

Jason looked up and locked eyes with the mighty looking protector. He realized that this must be the first floor boss, which made him ask himself why it wasn’t attacking. He looked at his exhausted party members and at the injured man that was still holding one arm up, aiming a pistol at the red eyed monster that was just sitting and looking over them.

“Jason,” Ben whispers, “Don’t do it. Don’t you dare do it.”

Jason stepped closer to the hole. They didn’t need to go back he thought, the dungeon was fair. He looked back at Hannah and thought that even if something did happen to him down there at least they’ll know that the only way to save themselves is to go back. They’ll make it back somehow, Jason thought and smiled at Ben.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Ben yelled and jumped to grab him but it was too late, he already disappeared out of sight.

“Jason!” the three rush to the edge and shine their flashlights down the dark tunnel but see nothing but smooth stone.

“... a.. Sli... enn... idde,” comes his voice from the opening.

“Jason,” they yell, “Are you hurt?”

“No,” he yells back louder, “Come down. It’s a Slip N’ Slide!”

“A what?” Locklear asks.

“A slide, a freaking giant slide,” Ben's yells with excitement and jumps into the hole headfirst.

The first few seconds he slides down through darkness, his phone light doing little to fight off the feeling of claustrophobia that is growing by the second inside of him. He’s gaining speed, enough to cause his stomach to form an empty pit for his heart to slide into. It is then that the mushrooms appear. Like bright stars in the dark sky they litter the ceiling of the tunnel he is sliding down in. Flowers follow, weird and elongated, pulsing colored lights like shooting stars.

Once he’s speeding down the slide like a bullet the sources of light weave and flow, creating an animation in front of his eyes. He gets a weird feeling that they tell a story but before he can put his finger on what it is about he starts to slow down and shoots into a brightly lit room. He lands on something soft and tries to get up, but blinded from the bright light he stumbles to the side and is caught by something before falling down.

“It’s a rest room,” Jason laughs, “A freaking restroom.”

Ben closes his eyes and gives them a good rub. When he opens them he sees a square room, about the size of his bedroom with benches made of stone and chairs made of giant mushrooms next to the walls. In the middle of the floor is a garden. A garden full of the biggest and most beautiful flowers he has seen so far. Amongst them are the unique fungi that look like weird corals of all shapes and colors. Glowing butterflies and fireflies fly around and in between the amazing garden, adding a whimsical nature to the scene.

Hannah flies out of the opening in the wall onto a mattress like mushroom that is placed on the floor to soften the crash. She tries to get up and stumbles the same way Ben did but there's no one to grab her so she falls to her knees. Her father exits onto the mattress mushroom a moment later. The sprayed ankle prevents him from even trying to get up so he just turns his body to face the tunnel he came out of and points the gun in its direction.

There's a moment of utter silence as everyone forgets to breathe as they watch the opening in the wall to see if the monster followed them down. A minute passes before they feel like they can breathe again, letting out the air held in their lungs simultaneously once the [Hunter] lowers his gun.

Hannah comes over to help him up while Ben takes out his phone and start documenting the wild garden in the center of the room. “What is this place?” Locklear asks.

“A rest spot, a safe place for us to prepare for the next challenge. “

“Monsters won’t come in here,” says Jason as he walks around the garden and explores the room.

With a breaking voice, Hannah asks, “So we’re stuck here?”

“Not necessarily,” Jason mumbles. He found what looks like a crude stone door on the other side of the garden, there is even a handle for him to use to open it. He doesn’t dare to try though, not yet. Who knows what lies on the other side and if he’ll be able to close it.

“There might be a way out of here,” Ben explains, “We passed the first floor. Some games will let you decide on whether you want to continue or leave the dungeon after each floor.”

“Oh…” she says.

“How do we know which one is this?” her father's asks.

“We decide between this and that door,” Jason says from the other side of the garden that separates him from their view.

“I’m pretty sure this leads to the second floor,” Jason points at the stone doors when the rest of the party joins him. “Question is, what is this?” he points at a perfect rectangle carved into the adjacent wall. It looks like a closet which door was removed, big enough for all four of them to fit in. A single small mushroom glows on the closets inner wall.

A similar mushroom was growing on the outside. This one wasn’t glowing and when Hannah touched nothing happened. Ben sticks his head inside and looks around. He doesn’t notice anything they didn’t see from the outside so he steps in.

“Careful,” Hannah says as he approaches the glowing mushroom and pokes it.

Nothing happens immediately but after a moment the air changes around them, “It’s the same feeling as when we entered the dungeon's territory,” Hannah says, hand moving in the air as if through water, “But much, much stronger.”

Her words hang in the air as the earth that makes the entrance of the closet slides and blocks the opening, hiding Ben from their sight. The wall becomes smooth, not even a mark is left to indicate there was ever a closet here.

They stare with jaws wide open at the bare wall without any idea of how to react. Moments pass while each of them just stands in place and tries to understand what happened. Before anyone even thinks of saying anything the small mushroom begins to glow. Absentmindedly Hannah pokes it and it begins to blink. A few seconds later the wall opens up to reveal the small closet again and the mushroom stops glowing.

Jason jumps forward to see what happened to Ben but doesn’t find him inside. In his stead are letters drawn in the dirt floor, forming the words ‘Way Out!’.

The other two limp inside and lean on each other with closed eyes. Jason takes a moment to look at the stone door embedded into the wall of the safe room, before raising a tired hand and pressing the glowing mushroom. They all inhale deeply as the tremor hits them and the air becomes thicker than normal.

A sudden noise of cracking stone follows and Jason sees the stone doors open and on its other side is a forest of some sort. He leans forward to look outside but the elevator already closed and he felt himself move upwards. They are plunged into darkness, with only the small glowing mushroom as a light source. Jason shuts his eyes, opening them only once the movement stopped and warm sunlight hit his face.

Ben was waiting for them and they soon joined him, a wall of the elevator shapes itself into steps that allow an easy climb back up to the forest floor. Next to them is the dungeon tree they came in through.

They started their adventure not even three hours ago, yet to Jason it felt like a lifetime ago.

“We made it,” Hannah fell on her butt and chuckled. Her father sat next to her and looked at the dungeon tree with newfound respect. The boys just gave each other a look and began jumping with joy.