One hour ago, inside the Dungeon…

“Hold up!” Garie said, raising his hand into the air for the party to stop. “This is where the last party said there was a trap. Erlon, check it and give a shout if you sense something, yeah?”

“Will do boss.” Erlon said, stepping out in front, his face taking on a focused frown as he tried to sense the surrounding flow of Mana. He didn’t actually have [Detect Magic] or a similar Skill, and was just relying on the natural sense for Mana he had being a Mage, helped by his Spirit enhancing Glyph. Which wasn’t perfect, of course, but it was certainly better than Garie’s own. The way they had decided to think of it is that a positive detection is reliable enough, but a negative one is not. So in the case that Erlon didn’t find anything up ahead, that didn’t necessarily mean the trap had been disabled. It wasn’t a foolproof system, to be sure. But it had worked out for them so far, so he wasn’t going to not make use of it. They just had to be sure to remember to not become overly reliant on the answers Erlon could give.

“Anything?” he asked.

“Hang on…” Erlon said. “I think so…” He shut his eyes and reached out a hand, tracing a line through the air. “There might be something here… Going… from the floor somewhere here… up through the wall.” He opened his eyes and shook his head.

“I can’t sense anything more specific than that.” He said. Garie frowned.

“That’s unfortunate… We can’t really avoid it if it’s not a pressure plate or something similar, but instead a general area on the ground.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be more specific, but if I hadn’t known there could be something here I wouldn’t have sensed anything at all.” Erlon shook his head with a sigh. “The trails are just too faint for me to detect with nothing but stats.”

Dalia stepped up and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up. We get how tricky this is. We’ll find some other way to deal with it.” The [Warrior] turned toward Garie and gave him a nod.

“Of course”, he said immediately. He thought for a moment. “If it’s a general area trap, you think we could trigger it by tossing something into it?”

Erlon blinked. “That could work, though I doubt it. Most of the traps in here require the one entering to have Mana for them to trigger.”

“Still worth a shot.” Garie said. He signaled for them to come back while he reached into his pouch and pulled out a silver coin, then he paused and looked towards Erlon.

“You say Mana is needed to trigger it?”

“Yeah. I think so at least. The mechanism is too sophisticated to be tricked just by something moving.”

“Great, great. Then I have an idea. Give me your pack for a second.” Garie said, reaching out a hand. Erlon frowned, but still handed it over. Garie reached inside and pulled out a [Mana Potion], holding it up for the Mage to see.

“Would this work, you think?” He asked, handing the pack back over. Erlon took the bag with a thoughtful look on his face, looking back and forth between the potion and the tunnel ahead.

“...I don’t know.” He said after a moment. “It might. It certainly has plenty of Mana, so that part’s covered. It wouldn’t work if the trap can somehow sense whether the Mana belongs to a living creature or not. And nobody has checked that yet, so far as I know.”

“Not surprising.” Narim said, speaking up from the rear for the first time. “Not everyone is well enough off to be able to bring a [Mana Potion] in the first place, not to mention wasting it on a ‘maybe’.” The [Druid] cocked his head. “Though I will admit it might work. And it’s definitely better to try it with a potion than with your own head.”

“We could always go back, try the alternate path instead? It won’t make us fight any additional fights, and we could avoid the trap entirely.” Dalia said.

Garie shook his head. “We could avoid this trap. But remember the alternate path is filled with the things. Sure it might not have as many enemies, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous.”

Dalia shrugged. “Fair enough, just thought I’d point it out.”

Garie nodded. “It’s always good to know all your options before you decide. Still I think pushing on is the better choice here.”

“Agreed.” Narim said. “Assuming this trick with the [Mana Potion] works anyway.”

“If it doesn’t we’ll just have to think of some other way.” Garie said. “Unless you want to give up without even making it to the Guardian?”

“No way.” Narim said. “We didn’t struggle our way through that damned pool room just to give up at the first trap we can’t easily go around.”

“I heard from the messenger station that the Order was arriving later today.” Dalia said. “Several parties along with the freaking Bishop himself. Just thinking of what they’d say if we just ran away makes me feel gross.” She shivered dramatically, and Garie chuckled.

“Yeah I figured as much.” He said. Then he frowned. “But just because the Order’s here doesn’t mean we’re going to act foolhardy you hear? When we make it to the Guardian I want a proper discussion of whether we fight or not. We have nothing to prove.”

“Got it boss.” Dalia said. “Calm, cool, collected.”

Garie nodded and held up the bottle. “Ready?” He called out. Once he got three confirming nods he tossed the bottle into the tunnel, making sure to aim it where Erlon had indicated the disturbance in the Mana was. It crashed against the stone, shattering and spilling its contents all over the Dungeon floor. The Mana contained within exploded out in a wave, causing a tremble Garie himself could sense even with his meager Spirit stat. A second later it was over, and the Mana settled back down. Nothing happened with the trap. At least nothing he could see. He sighed, and turned to Erlon with an apologetic look on his face.

“It seems I wasted your…” he began, but the Mage cut him off.

“No! I think it worked.” He said quickly. “Not the way we thought, but still. We have to hurry though, I don’t know how long it will last.”

He started forward and Garie reached out a hand to stop him.

“What are you doing? Explain first.” he said.

“The trap's disabled. Not triggered or destroyed, but I think the Mana temporarily overloaded something. I can’t sense anything apart from normal mana in the area anymore, but the part going up within the wall is still there, so the trap is not completely gone.”

Garie blinked. “That… I don’t completely follow but a lot of that sounds like pure guesswork. How can you be so sure the trap won’t trigger anyway? I thought you could barely sense the thing.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“It makes sense though.” Erlon said. “Think of it as a similar reaction to what would happen if you drank a potion too high Tier for you, or if you already had full Mana. Overload, I think it’s called.”

“I’ve heard of it. Not a pleasant condition.” Narim said. “But it wears off after a while, and it won’t leave any lasting damage.”

“Exactly, so if we want to pass we have to go through quickly.” Erlon said. “Trust me.”

Garie hesitated for only half a second, then nodded. If he wasn’t going to trust the Mage’s opinion on magical stuff, what was the point of even asking his opinion in the first place?

Still as the leader he felt he should be the one to go first, so he went on ahead with the rest of the party staying a few steps behind, just in case something unexpected happened.

Nothing did, and they quickly moved on towards the mouth of the tunnel. There was one more pack of bats they had to deal with before the final chamber, but with the knowledge from the main room they made quick work of them without any issue. Soon they found themselves standing in front of the entrance to what they felt was the Guardian’s cavern. Garie felt he could almost touch the tension in the air.

Unlike what the investigator's report said, the Guardian wasn’t standing in front of the entrance looking at them. Like what had happened with the other Challenger parties that had entered since, the cavern was hauntingly empty. The scholars seemed to think it had something to do with this being a proper Challenge rather than an investigation, though how the Guardian could know that Garie had no idea. Whatever the reason the creature wasn’t there to stare at them, which he now found he would have preferred. Even with the creepiness of having a bat monster staring at you, at least then he’d have known where it was. Now all that was in the cave was darkness.

He shook himself. He couldn’t let himself get scared now. As his father always said, if the leader was frightened, the soldiers always followed.

Now leading soldiers and adventurers wasn’t the same by a long shot, but the principles of leadership were the same. He had to be an example for the others to follow.

“Alright.” He said. “Here we are. The final Challenge. How’s everyone feeling? Not just System wise. Are you up for risking your lives today?”

“Here we go.” Narim said. “The speech.” Dalia chuckled.

“No speech this time.” Garie shook his head. “I just want to make sure you know and are ready for what we’re about to get into. If you don’t feel up for it, there’s no shame in going back. Everyone else who made it this far retreated once they got here.”

“That would make us ‘first clear’ then, wouldn’t it…” Dalia said with a grin.

“That’s true.” Erlon said, also smiling.

“And a bonus; just think about the faces of the Order people when we defeat it right as they get here to try and steal our glory.” Narim said.

“Don’t get too eager now.” Garie said. “This will be a real fight with our lives on the line. Some of us really could die in there.”

“We’re adventurers.” Narim said. “We risk our lives all the time. And sure the creatures in here are dangerous, but at least it isn’t actively wanting to kill us. Unlike most things we’ll go up against in the wilds outside.”

“Don’t worry about us, boss.” Dalia said. “We know what we’re getting into.”

Garie studied the faces of his three companions in turn, and saw nothing but assurance and confidence from each of them. He nodded.

“Good.” He said, then smiled. “Then let us go show everyone what we’re capable of.”

***

Garie swung at a swirling bat with a shout as his injured arm screamed in agony. The blade hit, but he couldn’t put any strength in it, so all it did was knock the creature back slightly and open a small but not really dangerous cut on its belly. He grunted in frustration, turning back towards Narim and Erlon, who were busy avoiding a dive from the Guardian. Vines sprouted from under Narim’s feet, trying to catch the beast, but all it was doing was slow down its descent enough that both casters could dodge out of the way. To his right Dalia struck down a bat, then blocked a [Water Bolt] with her shield, though he could see her gasping for breath as she did so. They were all pretty drained of their stamina, and Dalia and himself were both down at least a third of their health. There was a flash of pain from his side as yet another [Water Bolt] struck. One Dalia hadn’t been able to block. Luckily most of the damage was prevented by his armor, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they managed to eat away at his health. This was like the pool room all over again, which had been hard enough already. But with the addition of the Guardian as well it was just too much to avoid all the incoming attacks. They had to change their strategy.

“Fall back!” He yelled, clutching his bleeding arm. “Return to the tunnel, fight the Guardian there. Keep the Mantas from getting a good shot!”

“Got it!” Dalia yelled. They backed away towards their companions, who both also started to move towards the cave entrance.

Then the cave got plunged in [Darkness].

Garie scrambled to reach into his pocket for a [Sunstone], but heard a shriek from Narim that chilled his bones just as it shattered against the stony ground. He swiveled towards the noise, to find the [Druid] falling to his knees, a spiked tail sticking out of his chest.

“NARIM!” He yelled. His feet were running before he finished speaking. Before he finished thinking. But he still didn’t get there in time to do anything. The Guardian withdrew its tail, and Garie saw the light go out in his friend's eyes.

He screamed louder, joined by his friends. But the Guardian didn’t care. Neither did the Mantas. A volley of water shot towards Dalia just as the Guardian dove. She tried to dodge, but her movements were sluggish. Garie saw it, as if in slow motion. Her gaze kept flickering towards Narim. In desperation he tossed his sword towards the charging Guardian, hoping to do something, anything, to distract it long enough for Dalia to get out of the way. His desperation paid off, as the blade struck true. He felt a moment of hope rise in his chest, only to have it instantly be quashed as the blade did little more than bounce off the creature's hide. The beast struck Dalia with a low thud that rang like the bell of death in Garies ears. Dalia fell backward, just as the volley of [Water Bolts] struck from the side, each hitting the woman and making painful sizzling sound. He cast a glance towards Narim and Erlon, and saw that the Mage stood hunched over the Druid, a [Health Potion] in hand.

Good. He let himself feel a tinge of hope once more as he ran towards Dalia.

The Guardian wasn’t going to let him get away with that, as it leaped off the woman to fly straight at him. That was exactly what Garie wanted though. Dalia may be knocked down, but he didn’t think she was completely out of it. As a defensive [Warrior] she had more health than he did. One large blow shouldn’t be enough to take her out completely, even with the damage from the [Water Bolts]. She’d be back up in no time. He just had to distract the Guardian long enough.

He dodged low to the side, letting the beast fly past over his shoulder, then rolled away from a diving attack that would have pierced through his back.

Any second now. He glanced toward Dalia, hoping to see her up on her feet again.

She lay where she had been. Motionless.

Erlon screamed something from his side, but Garie didn’t catch the words. He stood stunned for a moment, staring at the fallen body of his friend. There was a sharp twinge on his shoulder.

Then world-blackening pain.

***

I told Stalker to let the last one run. The Mage, seeing all three of his companions fall in under a minute, had screamed in horror and turned to flee. Even though he hadn’t said the words, I knew he’d given up the Challenge. There was no need to chase him down. I felt like sighing. It was a sad ending today. And they hadn’t really done anything substantially wrong, either. They had planned ahead, thought through a strategy, and executed it.

They just hadn’t been strong enough.

Or rather, Stalker had been much too strong for them to handle.

Maybe I had to remove some of her helpers? She might be difficult enough on her own.

No. it might be better not to rush to make changes like that. Something I’ve learned over this week is that people are quick to adapt to difficulty. Something that is too challenging one day becomes manageable the next, and trivial to deal with the day after that.

Okay maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. I didn’t expect Stalker would ever be trivial, but it might be able to give them a chance to overcome the Challenge themselves first, before I go in and make it easier. I'd think on it some more at least.

A surge of experience drew my attention back to the last remaining Challenger. Or rather, what had once been the last remaining Challenger. He’d run in a panic the way he’d come. Through the cave of defeated Bats, and right into the trap they had so carefully avoided on their way inside. Now nothing more than a corpse lay in the pit trap, impaled by half a dozen stone spikes sticking up from the floor below, a look of confusion frozen on his face.

…I'd forgot about that. Shit.