382 days until the Arkon Shield falls

1 day, 9 hours until Dungeon Purge

Your majesty,

I regret to inform you that our assets in Duskar’s court were captured two days ago. By now, I expect they are dead. Fortunately, the news is not all grim. Before his capture, our senior agent managed to convey the results of his work.

It seems the human Orgtul pursues managed to wrest a portal away from the high shaman’s control. Even more curiously, Orgtul doesn’t know how the human managed to accomplish this remarkable feat.

Given the loss of our spies, I am unable to delve further into this matter. Hopefully, this information suffices. —Paladin Jan Lin.

Regna surged to his feet, hammer in hand. I followed less gracefully, levering myself upwards with my staff.

All over the lobby, worms rained down. There were too many, too close, and all around us. There will be no keeping them at bay.

“Fall back to the corridor,” I barked. But even as the words left my mouth, I knew it was already too late for that. A large clump of worms had dropped to the floor behind us, cutting off our only possible avenue of retreat.

Regna came to the same realization. “Burn a way out,” he yelled and spun about to face the worms advancing on us from the center of the room. “I’ll hold the others as long as I can.”

“No, don’t!” I shouted, thrusting out a hand to stop him.

But Regna was already out of my reach. Not waiting for my response, the dwarf had taken off.

“Damnit,” I growled, watching the fighter race towards the approaching worms, a battle cry on his lips. At the dwarf’s ear-splitting roar, the worms—both those on the ground and those still wriggling through the ceiling—orientated on him.

I didn’t hesitate. The way out was free, but I couldn’t abandon Regna. He was about to get himself killed—or worse. Calling dragonfire to hand, I set my staff aflame and stepped deeper into the room.

A worm fell down, blocking my path.

Before the creature’s tentacles could reach for me, I chopped down with my flaming weapon and cleaved it in half. Limping past the burnt-out husk, I resumed my advance.

Up ahead, a worm snuck up on Regna’s flank. Lowering my staff, I hurled a fire ray at it.

Midway to the target, my strike was foiled as another worm crawled into the flame lance’s path. Bloody hell! I thought, opening my mouth to yell a warning. The dwarf was alive to the threat I’d spotted, though. Spinning around, he smashed his hammer down into the creature.

Two more worms were closing in unseen on the dwarf, one from his rear, the other from his right. “Behind you!” I shouted as I sent dragonfire rippling towards the creature on his flank.

I didn’t get to witness the outcome of my attack, though. My bursts of dragonfire had attracted attention, and the other mindworms were no longer ignoring me. Forced to see to my own safety, I wrenched my gaze away from my companion and eyed the three monstrosities advancing on me. They were already too close for comfort. Aiming my staff at the nearest, I hurled a fire ray into the creature.

The worm detonated.

Damn, that was stupid! I cursed, belatedly realizing that my choice of attack had not been the wisest for such close quarters. I squeezed my eyes shut, lest the gore blind me, and waited for the blowback to pass. A heartbeat later, I snapped them back open.

A pair of tentacles were waving in my face.

Heart bursting with fear, I staggered back and, swinging around my staff, burnt away the spindly appendages before they made contact. The worm wailed. I ignored it; without its tentacles, the creature was of little threat.

Turning about, I searched for my third attacker. It was creeping up from my rear but was still out of melee range. Pointing my staff its way, I flared into the creature.

Dragonfire roared out, and in a flash, the creature was transformed into a smoldering pile of ash. I smiled grimly. For some reason, it was only fire ray’s concentrated beam that caused the worms to explode. Flare killed them with much less fuss.

Unfortunately, my latest spate of attacks had only made me more of a target. Another pack of the worms was homing in on me. Knowing I didn’t have much choice in the matter, I pivoted in a slow circle while flaring and scorched the ground all around.

A conflagration of flames spewed over the encroaching worms, leaving only cinders in their wake. I swayed, momentarily lightheaded from the sudden loss of lifeblood. Resting my staff on the floor, I leaned on it for support and searched for my companion.

He wasn’t immediately visible, but he had to be somewhere in the squirming mass in the right corner of the lobby. That’s where I’d last seen him. Fearing for the dwarf, I straightened abruptly and took a step in his direction, my gaze flicking upwards in passing.

More worms were still joining the battle, dropping from the ceiling to add to the dozens already wriggling about the room. Despite our efforts, we had done little to quell their numbers. Just how many are there? And where are they coming from?

Regna cried out, and my eyes dropped back down to sweep the room.

The mass in the right corner had parted, revealing a worm with its tentacles buried deep in the eye slits of Regna’s helm. My eyes widened in horror. They’ve got him, I thought. The creature was too far for me to burn with flare. Thrusting out my staff, I pointed it at his attacker.

Before I could get the shot off, though, another worm stepped in the way. Snarling in frustration, I released the fire ray I held ready anyway. The creature exploded.

Impatiently, I waited for the shower of guts and blood to pass, and when it did, I was greeted by the sight of Regna and his attacker locked in stasis. Purple lightning streaked along the feelers conjoining the pair.

Dread curling me, I flung a lance of fire at the worm holding Regna captive. The creature wailed as it burst apart, but I paid it no mind, my eyes fixed on my companion. Regna turned my way.

His eyes were lifeless.

“No,” I whispered.

The dwarf was still in the worm’s thrall. Why? I had killed the creature that had enslaved his mind. Regna should be free. Why is he still bewitched?

Motion at the corner of my eye pulled my attention. My head darted left, then right, recognizing my own predicament. The remaining worms in the room had reorientated themselves.

On me.

Even those that had been close-packed around Regna were doing so, I realized with a start. That’s because they don’t see him as a threat anymore.

My gaze flew back to the dwarf. Regna was moving my way as well. His expression was placid and his eyes dull, but his steps were firm and precise. Any doubts I harbored that my companion was enthralled vanished on seeing his stiff, mechanical gait. The dwarf would attack me without hesitation, I knew.

Is he beyond saving then?

No! I couldn’t believe that. The spell over his mind will wear out. It must. I only needed to wait for that to happen.

In the meantime… My gaze swept over the approaching worms. In the meantime, it falls to me to take care of our attackers.

I dropped my staff. There was no further need for restraint. No matter what happened from here on out, there was no way I would face the guardian prime today. My lips turned upwards into a vicious smile. I am going to enjoy this, I thought.

Curling my hands into fists, I cast invincible and flared from both hands. Then I stepped towards the closest worm.

I would pummel the creatures to death if I had to, but one way or the other, I was going to slay them all.

✽✽✽

I flared hard and bright from both hands, letting the unbridled fury of dragonfire rage through the worms, killing whole dozens of them in the first few seconds alone.

The remaining ones took a little longer to deal with, mainly because I was forced to work around Regna’s lumbering presence. The dwarf tracked me around the lobby, trying to close with me.

I, in turn, walked a circuitous route about the room, keeping him at arm’s length while I saw to the last of the worms with carefully timed bursts of flare and my own flaming fists when necessary. And in surprisingly short order, nothing remained of the worms but smoking piles of ash.

There was only one more thing to do after that.

With only a few seconds remaining before invincible expired, I trapped Regna in a wilting ward and fled the lobby.

To my relief, the dwarf didn’t pursue me, or if he did, he failed to find me. I waited a full twenty minutes before returning to the room. Tiptoeing through the corridor, I peeked into the lobby.

Sitting in the center of the chamber, covered in ash and with a stupefied look on his face, was Regna.

The sight cheered me no end. The dwarf appeared dazed and confused, but the deadpan glazed look he’d worn earlier was gone. Moving openly, I limped into the lobby. Regna didn’t react.

Reaching the dwarf, I knelt by his side. “Regna?” I called.

He didn’t respond.

Reaching out, I shook the dwarf’s shoulder gently. “Regna, can you hear me?” I repeated.

The fighter’s eyes refocused, and he turned slowly towards me. “What happened?”

I did my best to hide my relief. The dwarf was going to be okay. “What do you remember?”

Regna didn’t say anything for a moment. “Nothing…” he said finally. He frowned. “No, that’s not right. We were eating and talking. Then—”

He broke off, his eyes widening. “Worms!” Fingers reaching blindly for his hammer, Regna tried to rise. “We have to—”

“Easy,” I said, holding him down. “The worms are gone.”

“Gone?”

“Gone,” I assured him, gesturing to the ash littering the lobby. “I took care of them.”

“Oh,” Regna said, slumping in relief.

“Take a moment to catch your breath,” I said. I’m going to look around and make sure there aren’t any other surprises nearby.”

Rising to my feet, I approached the double doors at the end of the lobby. They were still closed. Leaving them be, for now, I tapped the walls, probing for hidden openings. In hindsight, I realized we should have taken more precautions earlier. But after our success on the floor, we had grown careless and had nearly paid for it with Regna’s life.

As it were, our sloppiness had cost us dearly. My spirit was depleted, and it would be a full day before invincible was ready again, and on top of that, I had nearly no mana left. We would not be venturing further in the dungeon today, I knew.

And the last thing we need now is to be ambushed again.

I completed my circuit of the lobby but found nothing else out of the ordinary. As far as I could tell, the room was secure. Only then did I turn my gaze inwards and check the latest Trials messages.

You have gained in experience and are now a level 46 Trainee. Your skill in unarmed combat has advanced to level 4.

The day’s slaughter had netted me another three levels, and to my surprise, a few levels in unarmed combat too. Not bad.

“Find anything?” Regna asked, coming up behind me.

I turned around. “Nothing,” I said, studying the dwarf critically. He looked less wan and more alert. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.” He fidgeted before going on. “Thank you for saving me. It seems I am in your debt again. If you hadn’t—”

I clamped down a hand on Regna’s shoulder, stopping him. “Return the favor, and we’ll call it quits, all right?”

Regna jerked his head in agreement. “All right.” He glanced at the double doors. “Do we go in there?”

“Do you think you’re up for it?”

“Yes,” he said with grim determination.

I wasn’t so confident, but I didn’t think we had a choice. We needed to clear the floor before resting for the night if only to ensure we weren’t ambushed again. “Let’s do it then. But this time, I go in first.”

✽✽✽

A few minutes later, we were set. Regna was braced against the left wall and I, against the right. Holding dragonfire ready in my mind, I gently turned the gem-encrusted handle.

The door creaked open.

I stayed put, waiting to see how whatever lay within reacted.

There was no response.

The seconds ticked by and still, nothing emerged. I glanced at Regna. He nodded, indicating his readiness. Inching forward, I peered around the open door.

The room was empty.

But it had not been so always. There were trails of ichor all over the chamber, evidence enough that mindworms had been here, and recently too. I followed the lines of slime with my eyes.

They lead to the room’s left wall and directly up it—the worms could crawl up vertical sections, it seemed—before disappearing into three darkened holes near the ceiling.

The tension eased out of me as I realized what had happened. It was the mindworms from this very chamber that had attacked us. Somehow, the creatures must have sensed our presence in the lobby and used the concealed vents in the ceiling to ambush us.

“It’s clear,” I said and stepped into the open doorway.

Regna’s own stance relaxed as he joined me. “Ah,” he said, seeing the worms’ trails and coming to the same conclusion I had.

Advancing into the chamber, I took in the rest of its furnishings. There was a round table in the middle of the room. In the table’s exact center was a prominently displayed gold jewelry box. I jerked my chin towards the object. “What’s in there, do you think?”

“It must be the key,” Regna said, confirming my own suspicions.

I limped forward, and reaching out with my staff, gently lifted the box’s lid. It swung open without protest. Inside was a small silver key.

The target is a ward key. This item can be used to deactivate door wards in the Primal Keep.

I smiled. “Excellent,” I murmured. Pocketing the key, I turned to Regna.

“Now what?” he asked.

“We search the room,” I said, “After that, we find somewhere to rest, and tomorrow we tackle the guardian-prime.”

✽✽✽

A cursory examination of the chamber turned up nothing of value, and we moved on quickly. For our camp, Regna and I chose a small room with only a single entrance that could be easily defended.

I alarmed and trapped the doorway with wilting ward and life monitor, and we settled down for the night. Before we fell asleep, though, I questioned Regna at length.

This was likely going to be my last opportunity in a long while to speak to an Overworld native, and I probed Regna on every aspect of Overworld life that I could think of, from the dwarves’ caste system to what daily life was like, from the strength and power of the numerous races to the location of the various domains.

The dwarf spoke to me freely on every topic. Religion, politics, players, or the Trials, it didn’t matter; Regna held nothing back. Unfortunately, he knew nothing of the Human Dominion. Even its location was a mystery to him.

According to my companion, new Dominions were always placed near the Patron’s territory, but with the orcs’ territory spanning continents, that did not narrow it down much.

I quizzed him again about the deadlands and the dungeon mechanics too. “How does the Trials do it anyway?” I asked. “Turn players into dungeon creatures?”

Regna smiled. “It doesn’t, at least not in the way you’re imagining.”

I waited for him to go on.

“You know what a purge does, right?” he asked.

That much was obvious. “It wipes the dungeon of every living inhabitant,” I replied.

Regna nodded. “That’s right. Well, one of the reasons the Trials conducts the purges is to incentivize trapped players like me.”

My brows lowered. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

Regna leaned back. “A purge is only initiated when a dungeon run’s time limit expires. Think of what that means for a trapped-player-turned-dungeon-creature. If he, or she, kills the dungeon party, the dungeon run ends, and the timer stops—meaning no purge.”

I stared at him in consternation for a moment, then gasped when I realized what he was implying. “Wait, so you’re saying for a trapped player to keep on living, he has to wipe a dungeon party before the time limit expires?”

“Now you got it.” Regna laughed hollowly. “Dastardly, isn’t it? I told you, the Trials is harsh.”

I nodded. It truly was. It gave a trapped player hope, but of the dark and bleak kind. I glanced at the dwarf. “But what if…”

I kept at my questions, not letting up until both Regna and I were yawning and barely able to keep our eyes open. Only then did I reluctantly call it a night.

I learned a lot from the dwarf and rued that we wouldn’t have more time together. Still, the knowledge I gained from him gave me a more complete picture of Overworld than the wiki had and no longer did the tasks before me look as insurmountable as they once did.