Squish! Zeke’s guitar crashed onto the greasy body of an orange slime.

“Nice one! Let’s keep moving.” Astral sheathed her sword and continued walking through the crystal forest.

The two were heading to Grognaks’s Lair, the first of the six demon lords, in hopes of obtaining more experience and skills. This dungeon was already way beyond Astral’s skill level, yet she was still happy to help out Zeke, a lower level player with the endeavor.

“So, about what you said earlier…” Zeke stuttered.

“Yeah?”

“Is there really no class upgrades for bard?” Zeke shyly asked.

“Nope! None at all!” Astral replied. “Sorry, but you’re stuck with these base stats forever!” Astral laughed.

“Alright, alright, you don’t have to laugh.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that I just…” Astral’s train of thought trailed.

“Well, then how the hell am I supposed to get any stronger?” Zeke wondered.

“To be honest I don’t know. I have heard it’s possible to become pretty strong as a bard. Some guy in the forums named Risoki claimed to be a level 999 bard once.” 

“Really! That must have taken frickin forever!” Zeke shouted.

“I’m pretty sure it was a troll.” Astral hated to burst Zeke’s bubble.

“Oh.”

——————————

After an hour long hike through the crystal forest they finally arrived at a large mountain range, the tallest of the mountains was directly in front of them. Furthermore a large cave entrance covered with neon signs sprawled this mountain and marked the dungeon they were looking for.

“Anyways, let’s go dungeon crawling!” Astral cheered.

Grognak’s lair was a very popular spot. Vendors and inns set up shop inside it’s large entrance way, and adventurers ran in and out of the catacombs constantly. That being said, no one was allowed into the dungeon itself without a valid pass purchased at a guild run facility.

Despite being a recent game, SeraphStar has a very large community-ran economic and political structure. Because of this, many of the dungeons and combat areas are run and maintained by guilds. These clans manage monster spawn rates, loot drop rates, and item pricing to ensure every player gets a fair chance. The largest of these guilds was the guild of Foretold. This infamous clan ran almost all dungeons and towns and had near entire economic control. They are even known to work directly with developers. The guild’s leader was a powerful man named Drimrock, a level 999 orc Warlord.

“Drimrock!” Zeke and Astral heard someone shout nearby as they entered the cavern.

“Now, now, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got some business to attend to.” Drimrock, a hulking orc man, clad in the powerful armor, said as he fought his way through a crowd of people.

“Who’s he?” Zeke asked.

“Woah! That’s Drimrock!” Astral gleeked. “He's the leader of the Guild of Foretold.” 

“Huh, really?” Zeke responded uninterested.

“Quick, I’ve gotta get a closer look!” Astral charged up into the crowd surrounding Drimrock. Unfortunately by the time she got there, he had already exited the cave, and was escorted into the forest by three other guild members.

“Awww. I wanted an autograph or something.” Astral complained.

“You’re a fan of his?” 

“Yeah, I really look up to him. I really admire his work ethic and what he’s done for SeraphStar. He’s a really noble person.” Astral described. “Anyways, let’s go ahead and buy a pass and get into the dungeon.”

—————————

After standing in line for a few minutes, Zeke and Astral walked up the counter and purchased a couple of passes.

“I’ll go ahead and fetch a guide for you two.” The woman at the counter said as she walked off.

“A guide?” Zeke asked.

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“Yeah, since it’s your first time in the dungeon, you have to have an official guild guide accompany you. I think it’s so new players don’t end up wandering into high level areas, but whatever. We keep all the loot anyways.” Astral responded.

“Oh, ok.”

The clerk returned and brought with her a short brown haired human ranger. She wore light purple and black armor, and held a long black bow at her side. 

“This is Setna. She’ll be accompanying you today.” The woman explained.

“Hi.” Setna muttered as she stared at something behind Zeke.

“Well, good hunting you three!”

—————

With passes bought, the three adventurers headed into the depths of Grognak’s dungeon. The catacombs were dark and dimly lit. Moss covered stone walls and distant cries surrounded the party. A slight chilly breeze and quiet droning left the atmosphere feeling hostile.

“This place is eerie.” Zeke said out loud.

“Yeah, it really is.” Astral muttered as she looked over her shoulder. “I’m surprised nothing has jumped us yet.”

“Busy day.” Setna responded.

“Huh, Yeah?” Astral put her hand on her hilt.

“Here they come.” Setna pointed out into the darkness to a pair of red eyes.

“What the hell is that!?” Zeke yelled as a large six eyed gray wolf emerged from the dark. A cohort of skeletons followed behind it. 

“Let’s go!” Astral cheered as she rushed into the fray.

She unsheathed her long sword and slid past a couple skeletons before slashing at the wolf. Her blade barely missed as the beast jumped backwards.  “Agh!” She yelled as she threw several grabbing skeletons off of herself.

The gray wolf let out a loud roar towards the party, inflicting a ten percent defense decrease. Using this opportunity, Setna charged her bow and fired an arrow into the mouth of the wolf. A mouth appeared on her bow as an arrow exited out of it.

“I’ve gotta do something!” Zeke, realizing he was just standing there, quickly began running into the crowd of skeletons. Surrounded by skeletons, he yelled out and cast howl. The large group of skeletons suddenly stopped in their tracks. 

“Nice, Zeke!” Astral cheered as she slashed up the stunned skeletons into piles of inanimate bones. 

Whimper! The gray wolf groaned as it watched its skeleton army fall to dust. Suddenly it jumped into the battle again and landed in front of Astral and Zeke. The wolf stared down at its prey and launched its head forward in a biting motion.

“Quick, get back!” Astral pierced her sword into the mouth of the wolf stopping its crunch. Zeke rushed back and strummed his guitar, casting power burst.

“Agh!” Astral twisted her blade, trying to keep back the wolf and free her sword from its teeth. Fortunately, a well timed arrow from Setna landed in the wolf’s eye. Jerking back, the wolf let go of her blade and roared in agony. Astral used this opportunity to counterattack the beast, nearly taking out all its health in a single blow.

“Alright, let’s take this thing down!” Astral yelled and charged forward. Zeke cast bardic inspiration and boosted the party’s stats greatly. Setna fired several arrows into the wolf’s mane. Finally, Astral dashed forward and swung her sword into the side of the beast. Blood sprayed out of the wound and the wolf let out a piercingly loud cry before collapsing to the ground.

“Aha! Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about.” Zeke shouted and high fived Astral. “What’d we get?”

“Hmm.” Astral kneeled down and inspected the loot. “Thirty nine gold and a silver rapier.” 

“That’s not bad! Though I can’t use the rapier.”

“I’ll keep it, you can take all the gold. Let’s keep moving.” Astral replied.

——————-

The party worked their way down the chambers of Grognak’s lair. As they progressed, the dungeon progressively got more intense. They hacked their way through skeletons, wolves, bugbears, zombies and ogres, as they adventured to the final floor of the cavern. Through all this, Zeke was able to increase his level to seventeen.

“So, just out of curiosity, what are you getting out of this?” Zeke asked Setna. “Since you’re not getting any of the loot.”

“I am paid hourly.” Setna responded without looking Zeke’s way.

“Oh, sure.” Zeke muttered. “Hey Astral.”

“Yeah?”

“Doesn’t she seem a bit, I don’t know, absent? Like she’s not here.” Zeke whispered.

“I see what you mean. It’s almost like there’s no emotion in her face.” Astral responded, making sure Setna couldn’t hear.

“You sure, she’s not an NPC or something?”

“She couldn’t be, the Guild of Foretold always uses real players for their guides. She must be an introvert, that’s all.” Astral replied.

“I guess.”

“Anyways.” Astral moved over towards Setna. “That’s a nice bow you’ve got. It’s got like teeth and stuff on the end.” Astral pointed at what seemed to be a mouth at the end of Setna’s bow.

“His name is Black Tar.” Setna, unfazed, responded.

“Huh, that’s cooooool.” Astral muttered before returning to Zeke. “I don’t know about her, she really is weird.”

“Yeah that’s for sure.” Zeke whispered.

———————

Finally, the party worked their way through the entire dungeon and reached the final room, Grognak’s boss fight.

“Alright! Let’s get this show on the row.” Zeke shouted as he took his in place in line and waited for his chance to fight Grognak.

After waiting fifteen minutes for other players to finish up, the group was finally able to enter the boss room. They walked into a large circular stone room. A large chandelier hung at the roof and ornate lights surrounded the room. An elegant rug withheld the feet of a large giant demon, Grognak. The fiend had a bandana, an eyepatch and light clothing on. He held a cutlass and laughed as the party entered the room. Flashy text appeared on screen, reading ‘Versus Grognak’ and orchestral music began playing. 

“Here we go!” Astral and Zeke shouted together.

“I’ll rush forward and take his attention! Setna you’ll provide support and make sure I don’t get into any bad situations. Zeke, you’ll buff my damage up and when I tell you to, stun him.” Astra barked orders at the party as she drew her blade and ran forth at the demon lord.

Zeke quickly charged in a circle left of the boss. He whipped out his guitar and cast consumption. 

As mana seeped into his body, he prepared himself for his next spell.

Chased around by a small fighter, Grognak jumped up and down, as Astral slashed at his feet. “That tickles!” He laughed jovially.

Astral plugged her sword into the boss’s leg flesh and twisted it around to inflict a large sum of damage before dashing to the other leg.

“Here you go, Astral!” Zeke struck a perfect chord and cast Power Burst and Bardic Inspiration at the same time. “Way to go!” Astral swung her sword around the giant leg of the demon lord and inflicted an increased amount of damage.

Feeling that serious damage, the demon lord suddenly leaped in the air above the party and came slamming down onto the ground. Zeke managed to dodge the following quake, but Astral felt flat on her face. “Astral!” Zeke called out.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I just tripped that’s all. I’ve still got plenty of health left.” She got up and began running back into battle.

—————-

Setna stood there silently watching as the other two adventurers faced off against Grognak. Beep! Somewhere within her head, she heard a sound ring out. She was mesmerized by that sound. Black Tar shook in her hands and growled rapidly. She fought against the sounds clouding over her mind. She attacked the overpowering urges that overcame her body. Nevertheless, she was powerless to control herself. Tears began to stream down her face as she realized she didn’t have a choice in what would happen next.

“Watch out!” Zeke cried as Astral tripped onto the floor. Seeing this opportunity, Grognak raised his foot and kicked Astral straight into the side of the chamber’s wall, leaving a large crack where she hit.

Zeke rushed over towards Astral. “Are you okay?” He yelled out loud . He ran with all his might, yet it still wasn’t enough to reach her. Out of nowhere, pain suddenly erupted in Zeke’s side and he collapsed onto the ground. A cold liquid stained his clothes as a large bolt had pierced his body. “Agh!” Zeke’s vision blurred as he realized what had happened. 

Astral stood up and witnessed Zeke fall to the floor. Setna’s arrow pierced him fair and square. “Damn it!” She yelled as she rushed over to Zeke.

“You, traitor!” Astral furiously shouted, no longer concerned about the demon lord behind her.

Setna stood there and stared at the poor sight before her, then got up and left the room.