“Hold on for a moment,” Calvin said as we gathered our gear and started to cross over the barricade.

“What is it?” Marie asked with concern.

“Nothing bad, I’m just getting some updates on the other teams, the first few teams have emerged from the dungeons and they’re saying to hold until they give their report, it shouldn’t be long,” Calvin said.

I hated waiting, especially when there was danger involved. If the other teams had valuable information that could save lives, I’d stick around for as long as Calvin wanted. Elliot gave a sigh of annoyance and rolled his eyes, but Marie and Quinn were waiting patiently.

“While we wait, Marie and Rico, hand me your firearms. I’ll take care of them until you return. If you bring them in there, they’ll just be ruined,” Julio said. I’d forgotten what Calvin had warned us about, and it must have slipped Marie’s mind as well in the rush to get everyone ready for the dungeon.

One of the Grimslade people gave Julio a gun case for the pistols and were looking for one to fit the shotgun when Julio suddenly raised the weapon and fired. The boom of the 12-gauge hit me like a hammer, and normal hearing was replaced with an unpleasant ringing sound. He wasn’t aiming at me, but that didn’t stop me from checking to see if there were any new holes in my body. To my surprise he racked the slide and fired again, this time joined by the entire Grimslade security team covering the dungeon entrance.

Looking back at the dungeon entrance, I could see that several creatures had emerged. The creatures looked like someone had bred a spider with a scorpion, chopped off the tail, and grew them to the size of a cat. Even from a good twenty yards away I could see the huge fangs of the creatures, fangs that looked like they could shred human flesh in seconds.

Thankfully, firearms worked just fine outside the dungeon, and the little monsters were quickly blasted apart. Only a few seconds after dying, the insects dissipated into mana vapor. We all stood there staring at the dungeon entrance waiting for more of the things, or something worse, to come pouring out.

“You want me to go in the dungeon with those things swarming around inside!” Elliot shouted loud enough for me to hear him over the ringing in my ears.

“Any idea what they were?” Marie said, ignoring the freaked-out Elliot.

“They looked like the camel spiders I saw when I was deployed in Afghanistan, but those things never got bigger than five or so inches across,” one of the security guys offered.

“I think you nailed it; they’re a kind of scaled up camel spider, or something like them. I’ve seen them when deployed as well,” Julio confirmed.

“It’s not unheard of for dungeons to spice up local fauna for nearby dungeons. Can anyone give us a rundown on how these things operate in the real world. I’m sure the dungeon versions will be different somehow, but knowing how they normally hunt could help us out,” Marie asked.

“I’m no expert, but I was told they normally hunt other bugs and small prey like that. They aren’t venomous, but their bites were supposed to be nasty. They used to freak out new soldiers because they try to avoid the sun and would follow your shadow around. They’re fast, but usually not dangerous to humans, but with a dungeon, I guess anything goes,” the security guy who spoke earlier said.

“Elliot, instead of freaking out, get on the phone I know you probably have hidden in your pack, and research these things. When you’re done, drop the phone off with Julio so it isn’t destroyed. Everything electronic will be wrecked in the dungeon, and Refuge isn’t going to cover the cost of a new phone for you if lose it to being stupid,” Marie ordered.

She’d called it right; the kid did have a phone squirreled away in a pocket of his tactical vest. He began to calm down and tap away on his phone, distracted by the task. Belatedly, one of the Grimslade security team handed out those cheap, orange foam ear plugs for us just in case another swarm of bugs emerged, and gunfire became necessary again. Thankfully, I was starting to get my hearing back, but there was a background ringing that wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

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“Now that all our heart rates have calmed down, I’ve got more information from the other teams,” Calvin said, gathering us together by the train car. Once we were all there, he began reading from his phone.

“Okay, here’s what we got. So far, five teams have returned from their respective dungeons. Each one has reported a different dungeon type, so we can’t count on your experience being the same. Once inside, anyone that was a summoned being was prevented from leaving by the system. Anyone who wasn’t a summoned being could come and go, but everyone was ejected when the boss was eliminated. The dungeons seem to be small, only two or three levels at the most, and five or six chambers on each level.

“Oddly enough, none of them found a dungeon core. Once the final boss was slain, the dungeon disappeared. There was a combination of traps and creatures each team had to deal with. So far, none of the threats were anything they couldn’t handle, and there have been no casualties, though a few were injured.

“In addition to the mana regen, healing is accelerated while inside the mini dungeons, but that ends shortly after you leave. When the boss was killed, the team appeared right where they had entered the dungeon, and the dungeon and energy field they are giving off, were gone,” Calvin said.

“What tier and rank were most of the teams?” I asked. We had a couple people that had just received their class and were lower ranked. Marie and I were close to tier two, and from what the database said, my summoning power was on the higher end of the class power scales.

“Most are mixed, but every one of them had at least someone near, or at tier two. We also had someone on each team who barely had their class,” Calvin said.

“That’s good, they aren’t too far off from our power level, we should be able to handle this. Elliot, did you find anything interesting about those critters?” Marie asked.

“No, they’re freaky looking, and not really spiders, they’re arthropods, like a scorpion. They’re fast, so watch out for that, and my flames should cook them up nicely,” Elliot said, trying to show a bit of bravado after his earlier freakout.

“Anything else before we go in?” Marie asked.

“That’s all we have for now, but it’s thought that the dungeon will become more dangerous the longer we let them sit,” Calvin warned.

“Quinn, you’ll lead the way, you’re the tankiest of our group. Elliot and I will follow, and I’m counting on Rico to bring up the rear. Once inside we deal with anything in the immediate area, then prepare before we head further in. Nobody moves forward without me or Rico telling you to,” Marie ordered.

With that Quinn stepped into the dungeon’s cave mouth, quickly followed by the rest of us. I felt a strange tingle as I passed through the entrance and into the dungeon. Once inside I immediately summoned Grulnok as I looked around. We were in a cave that looked almost exactly like the fake mine we had just ridden through. Maybe the dungeons changed to match the area they appeared in?

At least the cave around us was empty and we weren’t immediately swarmed over with camel spiders. The entrance was now covered by stone, and the only path from the small chamber we were in was a narrow trail that wound deeper into the dungeon. Everyone was focused on their individual preparations, and I joined them by bringing out the rest of my minions.

“The orc, elf, dwarf, and gelatinous cube are mine, don’t freak out and attack them,” I warned as I continued summoning. Last out was Melvin, who sent me feelings of excitement to be on an actual adventure in my world.

“Sorry Melvin, this is some kind of dungeon that we have to deal with. Hopefully, you can see my apartment after we finish off the boss here. Do you want to ride with me, or go solo?” I asked. Before, when we needed to move fast, Melvin had sort of draped himself over me. Now, we’d be proceeding slow and steady to clear the dungeon and he seemed to want to stay on his own.

Casting Duplicate on Grulnok, the small area we were in was starting to feel cramped. I handed off the set of body armor for Lillia and Rupert to wear, as well as one of the police batons for Rupert to use. It was funny seeing them in modern body armor, and I suspected it was far better than anything non-magical that we could scrounge up during a regular summoning.

Quinn had also changed as the system generated an appropriate quest. The police body armor remained, but in his hand was a glowing mace. It looked like it was ethereal, but Quinn was confident it would damage whatever he hit. Surprisingly, the ballistic shield also had a slight glow to it. The system upgraded it to be lighter and easier for him to wield.

Marie said she was prepared and was channeling a spell that should alert us to any traps. The spell also had a small chance to detect anyone or anything trying to ambush us. Elliot had a small ball of flames in one hand, but that was about the extent of his preparations. He’d only recently received the class, and it would be a while before he unlocked the bulk of his class abilities.

The trail leading from the space we were in was lit by torches every thirty or so yards, and I had my minions take the lead as we started. Grulnok and his duplicate should be able to deal with a few of the camel spiders with no trouble, but what else was waiting for us in the dungeon, and what boss would we have to face to end all this?