Jay distributed the skill books during the walk to the dungeon. Jay held onto the ones for Cooking, Mining, and Survival. It made sense for him to contribute in ways that were easy to practice while traveling. Herbalism, Mining, and Survival should all be available as he went about his hunts. He was hopeful that Cooking would provide similar opportunities.

The Runic Imbuement book went to Jenny since she had an affinity for runes as a Rune Cleric. She seemed interested in the book. She was more familiar with the process of Runic Imbuement than Jay; her mind spun through the possibilities for modifying existing magic items to boost her healing. Taylor Lynn laid claim to the Enchanting book on sight, happy to have a way to expand her magic prowess. Ken had been surprised to receive something since they’d only recently mended things but was delighted to accept the Blacksmithing book.

Jay didn’t offer Lester any books, of course. The guild leader could acquire whatever he needed through his guild. The Alchemy book was left over, so Jay held onto it until the party could decide who would use it.

As they neared the dungeon, Jay remembered another task he needed to complete. He opened his character status screen and looked over the current statistics numbers, mulling over which direction to take his character. Ultimately, he decided to trust Ichibad’s opinion on the Perception statistic. He placed five of his available points there. Something about numbers outside multiples of five always bothered Jay. He put the remaining five points across Vitality, Insight, and Balance, bringing all three of those abilities to a nice round ten points. The compulsion made him feel better, despite likely being suboptimal.

As he closed the interface, he took in his surroundings. There was a slight change in the detail of the game world, thanks to his upgraded Perception. His sight radius had increased, allowing him to see further into the distance. The edges around the loose rocks of the pathway were also sharpened. He found it easier to notice specific things as he searched, spotting a squirrel hiding in the leaves of a nearby tree.

Jay was so enamored with the benefits of his upgraded sight that he missed the passage through the forest. He was surprised when Lester called out: “We’re here.” He made a joke to himself about missing the forest for the trees.

Lucille was waiting in front of a small rock patch nestled in the bend of the road. The rocks contrasted against a formidable treeline behind them. It was barely off the path, so it didn’t seem all that hard to find, but the stone didn’t look like an obvious dungeon, even with his new upgrades.

Ichibad was absent. Jay focused his eyes as he looked around for the Cat Sith but couldn’t find him.

“It doesn’t look like a dungeon,” Jenny said, oblivious to his hunt for the invisible feline person. Her voice held a slight disappointment.

“It’s not,” Lester agreed amiably. “The actual entrance is hidden in the caves below, protected by a small clan of Fishmongers. Some players found it while trying to farm them for special loot.”

“Can you tell us anything about these Fishmongers, Lester?” Taylor Lynn asked. “We should come up with a strategy.”

“There will be between eight and ten enemies guarding the entrance. They do call for each other when engaged, so it won’t be long before we need to deal with the full pack of enemies. The good news is the mobs are only level six, so they’re not as dangerous as the actual dungeon, even if we get them all at once.”

“What’s the plan?” Jay asked.

Lester smiled knowingly. “The plan is that you make the plans. I’ve told you everything I can. I’ve farmed in the area outside, but I’m unfamiliar with the dungeon. Take the lead. The only help I can give now is with this.” He gestured at the weapon slung across his back.

Jay knew his skill set was well-suited for dealing with unknown situations. The Analyze ability could help form a plan for dealing with specific enemies. He wasn’t the most stealthy candidate, but he could try to sneak down and activate the ability. He just needed to know what his contingency plan was.

“Do you know if the enemies will leave the cavern?” Jay asked.

“Good question,” Lester said. “The Fishmongers will not leave the caves below. When they notice enemies, they will guard the entrance for a period, but they won’t leave their cave.”

“Alright,” Jay said, his course of action determined. “I’m going to make my way into the area below. I’m fast, so I’ll see if I can get some information on them with my abilities. We can probably handle a group of level six creatures, but it’s better to start working together with real tactics.”

Seeing no protests, Jay moved decisively to the rough-hewn rock steps. As he descended, there was no light, but Jay didn’t want a torch or lamp to give away his position. He followed the carved spiral steps by touching the wall, aided by bare glimpses of shape to help him find the way. He idly wondered if it would have been even more difficult had he not bumped the Perception ability beforehand.

Near the bottom, Jay started to see some light emanating from naturally glowing moss on the cave floor and walls. The moss was similar to the moss used in the magic lamps in his inventory. He could only see the shadows of the creatures further in the caves. Still, he stopped to take a concealed vantage point and wait, hoping to avoid detection in the darkness of the steps. After a few long minutes of keeping his breathing quiet and body motionless, one of the creatures passed directly in front of a patch of moss. Jay took his moment, activating his skill.

System Message: Analyze Success! Fishmonger Sentry Entry: The Fishmongers are social creatures, dividing themselves into clans. Clans are known to fight with each other over territory, but respect within a clan is absolute. Their hierarchy revolves around the patterning in the scales of the fish heads on their bodies. As partially aquatic creatures, they suffer significantly from damage caused by lightning attacks.

The peek Jay caught in the low light revealed strange humanoid figures about half the height of an Elf. They were bipedal but were covered in scales instead of skin. On the top of each body was a strange fish head. The creature he saw carried a spear of some kind. He noticed no other gear, but that wasn’t a given in the poor lighting. They didn’t seem like much of a problem. Fortunately, the analysis also gave him something to exploit. He returned to his party.

“They have a weakness to lightning attacks. If we create the right opening, Taylor Lynn can blast them all to smithereens,” Jay announced.

“Sounds fun to me,” Taylor Lynn said, her grin revealing a power-hungry nature. She was still pleased with herself for the absolute destruction of the goblins they faced the day before.

Jay explained the plan and gave tips about the layout and how best to navigate the darkness, and then the party descended the stairs to execute it. Lucille and Ichibad took up stealth positions outside the dungeon to keep watch on the entrance.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

The downward spiral of stone steps went smoothly, with only a moment of hesitation on Jenny’s part, when the darkness swallowed them about halfway down. Jay felt the impression of movement between Ken and Jenny in the dark, finding in the slowly growing light of the moss that Ken was guiding his sister with a hand on her shoulder. Jenny briefly met his eyes, forcing him to look away from the defiant look, even though it wasn’t directed at Jay.

The party took their positions silently: Jay, Ken, and Lester arranged themselves in front of the entrance to the unnatural staircase. Taylor Lynn and Jenny could easily fit in behind them, protected by the choke point and fighters in front of them. In preparation, Jenny placed a Tag of Defense on everyone.

To bring the creatures running towards the ambush site, Jay aimed his crossbow at the same place his Analyze succeeded before, waiting for a shadow to cross the same patch of moss. Finding his opportunity, Jay fired the crossbow with his Aimed Shot ability. The creature shrieked at the damage, letting out a defiant, gurgling howl as the surprise turned to rage. The cave immediately came alive with activity as Fishmongers everywhere rushed to join the fight.

Fishmonger, Level: 6. HP: 60/60.

The opening attack didn’t actually eliminate the target. Jay cursed himself for not using his more powerful attack. He had expected the weak creatures to fall quickly. As ten strange fish creatures rushed toward the players, he switched to his dagger.

Jenny’s tag reduced damage taken up to a specific amount of total damage. The melee fighters released a flurry of blades from the front line, brutally slicing into the fishy enemies. In response, the enemies mustered minor damage due to their lower level and the defensive powers of the tags.

The enemies continued to flail against the party but could only engage the front line at a rate of two fish to one Elf. Even with their small stature, there was only so much space at the front of the cave. The Fishmongers managed to land superficial wounds due to their numbers but made no real impact. The level disparity and defensive buffs were too much as tendrils of lightning started to blanket the enemies.

Taylor Lynn blasted the enemies apart with lightning spells, smiling at each attack that rang true. She continued to mutter under her breath as each blast of lightning removed one or two enemies from the battlefield. Jenny deployed healing tags from her side, though they were ultimately unnecessary. In a matter of seconds, the clan of Fishmongers was wiped out. Jay activated his Catalog ability as the others conversed.

“Nice work, T-Lynn,” Jenny said. “Jay was right; that lightning magic tore them up.”

“I’d still prefer to keep it to Taylor Lynn. Please.” She used a hand to brush her hair out of her face, the gleeful determination from firing magic fading into mild annoyance at the next in a rotation of nicknames. “But it was pretty awesome, huh?”

“But nicknames are so much more fun,” Jenny protested briefly, balking at the look she received. “Anything interesting in the loot?”

Ken was busy looting, though he was disappointed with his efforts. “Not really, honestly. Just a bunch of crude spears. They didn’t even have coins. Stupid game logic. I’m going to see if I can repurpose the spears through Blacksmithing.”

“Good idea,” his twin agreed. Jay was of the same mind—it was a strong idea. If it worked, the party would have a use for outdated equipment beyond selling it off.

Jay finished looking over the new Bestiary entry. He was continually disappointed with the lack of extra information in the entries. With the looting and Bestiary completed, the party started to explore the small cave. It would be a few minutes before the game could respawn the Fishmongers. The game wouldn’t respawn them while the party was in the area.

Jay lit one of the magic moss lamps as they searched. He swept the magic lamp across the wall caverns, looking for any signs of secret doors. Unfortunately, there were no secret doors. There was also a distinct lack of neon signs. “Do you know where this entrance is, Lester?”

“Yes. There’s a latch by the chest.” He answered immediately, his eyes focused on Jay. “Actually, I was a bit loose with my description yesterday. No one has been able to pull the lever and make it past this cave. The player with Historian skill swears it’s a dungeon entrance.”

Jay stumbled upon the same area Lester had mentioned as he was fanning the lamp over the walls for clues. He saw the switch, too, but what caught his eye most of all was a small bronze plate. The plate was engraved with a single word: Angerine.

“What are the ‘Angerine’?” Jay asked. He couldn’t take his attention off the plate. Something about it meant... something, but it was out of reach. His spinning mind did wonders for suppressing his annoyance at the guild leader’s lie. Whether Lester thought it was a small lie or not, Jay didn’t appreciate the sentiment.

“The tangerines?” Ken asked. His hands were already on the chest by Jay’s feet. Ken cracked open the chest, rifling through its contents. “Nothing much here. There’s an uncommon dagger.”

“Look,” Jay said more insistently, pointing at the bronze plate. “Angerine. What does it mean?”

Ken’s head peeked over the lid, following Jay’s pointing. He frowned and ducked back to complete his search. “That metal in the wall just has a bunch of gibberish, Jay.”

The rest of the party joined up in the cramped little offshoot. They all looked over the plate and confirmed that, like Ken, the text on it was unreadable.

“Does the word ‘Angerine’ mean anything to you, then?” Jay asked, giving up on anyone else being able to read it. Everyone shook their heads.

Jay inspected the plaque one last time, moving in closer as if it might increase his insight. There didn’t seem to be anything else on the plaque but the single word. He ran his fingers over the individual letters carved into the bronze to help commit it to memory, then, shaking his head, he let it go.

“Alright,” Jay said, noticing the party had patiently waited for him. “I’m hitting the switch. We’ll see if this really is a dungeon.”

He followed his word, hitting the switch, and watched the wall descend into the floor, opening a space the party could pass through.

“He was right,” Lester said. With a frown, he continued, “the weird thing is—I actually don’t remember a plaque being mentioned when this was reported.” He was inspecting the bronze plate with a mixture of confusion and concern. “It worries me if we have members missing obvious things like this.”

“We know now,” Jay said with a shrug. The guild leader could deal with his own members and their mistakes. “Come on. Let’s start the dungeon. Lester, as the tank, you’re going out front. I’ll be behind you, and Ken will watch for ambushes from the back.” He handed the magic moss lamp to Lester.

Lester nodded as he moved to follow Jay’s lead, worry still on his face. He stepped through the opening, although his heavy armor and large weapon made the passage difficult. The rest of the party fell into step behind him. The short hallway opened up directly into the first room of the dungeon.

Inside the room, the stench of stagnant water lingered, wafting from small pools. As the rest of the party stepped inside, the door to the dungeon closed behind them. The only light was from the magic lamp, throwing small amounts of green light through the narrow room. The light reflected off of the same hewn brown stone, looking as intentionally carved as before. The stone was cut into neat sections, almost utterly smooth upon inspection.

Jay thought he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to watch, there was nothing.

“Guess we’re committed now,” Ken said, squinting to look at the closed doorway behind them.

Jay was still looking at the spot he had seen movement earlier. It was just a small pool of standing water. Before he could entirely dismiss it as figments of his imagination, the water moved again. On a hunch, he decided to activate his Analyze ability on it.

System Message: Analyze Success! Creeping Slime Entry: As ambush predators, they move slowly and rely on their ability to lie in wait and surprise enemies. These predators can surge in a blast of movement to set off their ambush. These creatures are naturally resistant to most types of physical damage. Their greatest weakness is rune-based magic, which exploits a weakness in the process of their creation.

“Wait,” Jay called out, haste making his voice boom louder than he had intended. The noise of armor clanking heavily reverberated throughout the room as Lester stopped, the lantern in his hand swirling to highlight Jay’s face. He was waiting for more information, but the damage was already done. Lester was standing by the pools, and the slimes knew it.

Creeping Slime, Level: 9. HP: 110/110.

Four slimes roared to life, all charging for Lester in a coordinated attack.