Ben could feel the wand humming in his hand. The close proximity to the static shield that protected the bodies was enough for the receptacle of undead magic to start siphoning the power it needed. Ben didn’t stop it. Before their eyes, the shield began to shimmer and a thin beam of purple light was formed between the tip of the obsidian wand and the protective aura.

“Ben, what are you doing?” There was an edge to Shiraz’s voice and she spoke cautiously. If Ben had looked at the vagabond shadow mage, he would have seen her tightly gripping the hilt of her shadow dagger. “What’s going on?” she asked quietly.

Ben’s attention was focused on the wand, but he wasn’t so consumed by the magic so as to miss the dangerous edge in the woman’s voice. With a mental effort, he stopped the energy flow between the weapon and the magical barrier and turned to look at the others. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes still held the faraway, unyielding glint that caused the others to hold their breath.

“Red, is this where you triggered the trap?” He pointed toward the end of the narrow pathway, where they could all see a large pit where the floor should have been.

The warrior exchanged grim glances with the others. “Yes,” he said finally. “I went to examine the end of the pathway and I must have stepped on something because the floor just dropped under me.”

“You were lucky not to fall,” said Ben. “Here, I want to show you something.”

Red gave him his best “really, dude, you think?” expression, but Ben ignored him. The scout made his way carefully along the pathway, the others following his footsteps. As Ben walked, his eyes were drawn several times to the two piles of rotting and mutilated bodies around him. Empty eye sockets stared at him accusingly and torn limbs reminded him of the gruesome massacre he had witnessed. The body of an elf maiden who was savagely cut from cheek to shoulder caused him to miss a step, as he suddenly was back in the vision, amongst the dead and the dying. His scimitar slashed down, cutting down the soft skin and blood spattered everywhere -

Ben caught himself just before he lost his balance and fell right into the chasm that opened at the end of the room. He gasped, swallowing hard and forced himself to calm down.

“Well, what did you want to show us?” said Red from behind him, sounding pissed. “That you can stand very close to the edge of the pit and barely keep from falling? Truly, a grand achievement.”

Ben shook the image of the slain elf away from his mind. That wasn’t him. He was just a witness to that horrible event. Wasn’t he? He licked his lips and pointed down, trying to focus on the moment. “This here is the way to the second level of the dungeon,” he told the others.

They craned their necks to look. The chasm was 6 feet in radius and about 60 feet deep. Looking down into the dark pit they could see a burning torch lying on a floor strewn with debris. The flame danced this way and that - there was definitely a stream of air down there - and by its light they could see dozens of sharp spikes jutting ominously into the air.

“You see?” said Red. “The perfect, classic spike trap. DMs love that shit; one misstep and you are impaled.” The mercenary paused, thinking about what Ben had said. “And yet you think we should go down there? How?”

Ben had seen the trap before, in another life. He nodded to himself and looked up from the floor below to their own floor level. Around the chasm was a nearly full circle of a narrow stone ledge, that began where he stood and ended at the other side of the chasm. Along the ledge were deep cracks in the stone, but it was obvious they weren’t the result of time or erosion. The cracks were engraved into the stone in straight lines that ended in sharp corners and then continued to form other straight lines. All of the cracks were connected, beginning where the pathway between the mass graves ended, and spreading to both directions of the circular ledge. When they came together again at the other side of the chasm, they formed an open funnel that pointed downwards. Ben didn’t need his passive focus to tell him that these small tunnels in the stone were actually part of a special Duergar mechanism. One that he knew how to activate.

He pointed at the circular ledge. “There, see those cracks? Look closely now.” The scout sheathed his wand and instead drew his dagger. He positioned his hand above the first crack. Then he took a deep breath, braced himself and made a small cut on his left palm. Closing his fist, he let a few droplets of blood trickle from his hand to the floor. As soon as the blood entered the first crack, it split into two smaller portions and started to travel along both sides of the ledge, quickly crossing the short distance until it reached the funnel where the cracks came together again. From there the droplets gathered into one stream again, before dropping into the empty air of the chasm - only that now they could all see it wasn’t as empty as they first thought.

There was a collective gasp from the companions as the blood made contact with what looked like nothing but thin air - and suddenly they could all see the outline of another narrow pathway of stone, which shimmered into view where the blood hit it. It was there and gone almost in an instant but none of them had missed it. “A secret pathway!” exclaimed Milenna excitedly.

Shiraz looked impressed as well. “Revealed by blood…” She suddenly gasped and grasped Ben’s shoulder, turning him toward her. “This is what Melissa was referring to, isn’t it? ‘Not enough blood’... she didn’t have enough blood to activate this mechanism so she probably couldn’t get down there and the Guardians killed her…”

Ben smiled as he saw understanding dawning on her. “Yes. She would have to spill all of her blood into the mechanism and still it wouldn’t be enough. The only way to reveal the entire secret passageway is to spill the blood of many…” He looked over the shadow mage’s shoulder, his eyes full of meaning.

Shiraz followed his gaze and couldn’t suppress a shudder. “So that’s what you meant. You intend on using the blood in these bodies…” She swallowed. “How?”

In reply, the scout once again drew Throndrefeen’s wand. When he spoke his voice was somewhat distant. In his mind’s eye, he was seeing the ancient ritual performed by the Duergar wizard. “‘With the magic of the undead and the blood of the innocents, the pathway will be revealed’,” he quoted. “‘Nach fereeth jorelkum soth’.”

“What was that?” asked Red. The big man didn’t seem as agitated as the others by the prospect of spilling the blood of the dead, but his voice was tight nonetheless. “You spoke that language again.”

Ben realized that indeed he had spoken Nefereeth without thinking about it. “Power comes to those who dare,” he translated. “The Duergar were fond of devising magical challenges like this, to test the will and courage of those who wished to seek the treasures of their realm. I believe this is the second tier of the Maten Ghoren, The Path of Courage. The first was the encounter with the Guardians. I don’t know how many tiers there are, but whatever’s waiting for us below, it definitely won’t be easy.”

Milenna was studying Ben with a very penetrating gaze. “And you know all of that just because of that new title? I would think a scholar should receive general information about the world. Yet you seem to have a very… specific knowledge about this very specific dungeon.”

Ben had to remind himself that all three of his companions - well, at least the mages Shiraz and Milenna - must have pretty high ability points, especially in the intelligence and wisdom departments. He wouldn’t be able to easily fool them - not even with his relatively decent bluff skill - so he shouldn’t even try. Instead, he shrugged and told the truth. At least some of it. “I look around and I know stuff. Same as we all knew about the Sonadin insignia when we were confronted by the city’s guards, only much more. Look at it that way - it’s definitely better than roaming this dungeon in search of an old tome that would reveal this place’s secrets, isn’t it? I think I saved us quite a bit of gaming time.”

Milenna considered his words. For a moment he was sure she would push the issue, but the sorceress seemed to reach a decision. She nodded and even smiled crookedly. “Indeed. Though there is definitely something to be said about clearing all the rooms of the first floor of the dungeon before venturing to the second one… I must say I am intrigued.” Her gaze shifted to the wand in the scout’s hand. “I want to see it in action.”

“That makes the both of us,” whispered Ben. He had trouble as it was to keep concentrating while the wand was humming in his hand. The scout raised the wand and pointed at the mass graves. He half shut his eyes, this time letting himself willingly be drawn into the foreign memories. The others watched silently as once again a thin beam of light shot forward, connecting the wand to the magical barrier. The beam intensified and suddenly the shield was gone. All of them - Ben excluded - immediately covered their noses and mouths as the horrible stench of the rotting bodies assaulted their airways.

The magic didn’t stop there. Ben started murmuring in the ancient language, reciting words that were spoken in this room centuries before. This time the words had a more ominous tone, and Milenna’s eyes widened as she recognized the type of spell that Ben was casting. Her lips moved silently, forming the words ‘death magic’ in awe.

Ben didn’t notice. Energy flowed through his body as he completed the death spell - a spell he shouldn’t be able to cast at his current level. The wand, however, was a very powerful item and it was still connected to the vortex of energy - the Sphere of Undead Power - in the main chamber. That, together with Ben’s deep connection to this place and its history, made the spell possible.

Before their eyes, three tendrils of purple beams forked out of the wand and hit three of the bodies that lay on the top of the pile. At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds the bodies began to shrink, further decomposing and collapsing into themselves. The skin shriveled and the few limbs and internal organs that remained soon followed suit and crumbled to ashes. The one thing that didn’t go to waste was the blood; streams of the red liquid rose into the air and there it gathered in size, rotating in the air like a slow maelstrom. Ben moved the wand and three other beams shot forward. They made contact with three more bodies and the blood-siphoning process started all over again. When that was over, another three bodies were consumed by the eager magic that was wielded by the scout.

After only a few seconds, there was a huge amount of blood in the air - nearly six gallons of it. Milenna, Shiraz and Red all took an involuntary step toward Ben, edging away from the red maelstrom. Ben, for his part, was starting to feel weak. His mana reserves were long gone and the only thing keeping the magic active was the connection of the wand to the Sphere. Still, he knew he had to finish this and the sooner the better.

With an effort that was both mental and physical, Ben started to move the wand, directing the blood to the mechanism around the chasm. His hand began to shake from the effort and with alarm, he realized his failure might come from a very unexpected source - he didn’t have enough strength to move that amount of blood!

“Red!” he croaked. The tip of the wand was already pointing down and he was about to lose control of the spell. “Help me! Hold my hand steady!”

Red looked hesitant, but only for a moment. Seeing how the liters upon liters of blood were about to be spilled without getting any result, the warrior cursed and went to stand behind Ben, almost bear-hugging him as he grabbed the scout’s shaking wrist in both of his strong arms. With the mercenary’s support, Ben was able to finish his movement and direct the blood flow. Sweat began to form on his forehead as he concentrated, but then he sighed in relief as the blood began to stream into the cracks on the floor. The narrow tunnels drank the fluid eagerly and, like before, the blood quickly flowed along the cracks all the way to the funnel at the end of the mechanism, where it gathered and dropped into the empty air.

This time, unlike before, much more was revealed. A narrow path came into clear view, beginning near Ben’s feet and spiraling down toward the spikes that waited 60 feet below. It was no more than a foot in width - in some places even less than that - and while at first it clung to the walls of the chasm, as it spiraled down any supporting walls disappeared so that it floated, suspended in the empty air. As the blood kept pouring, the companions watched the pathway becoming more tangible and, when the blood stopped flowing, it remained, spiraling precariously into the darkness below.

Ben collapsed to his knees, thoroughly exhausted. The spell drained him completely, both mentally and physically and for a few moments it was all he could do to breathe slowly and try to calm himself - which immediately resulted in a fit of coughing. Now that the spell was over the stench of the remaining bodies hit his nostrils and he nearly gagged.

The others were doing better, but just barely. “How,” said Milenna in a muffled voice, covering her mouth with her wrist, “can you use death magic? You’re a goddamned scout!” She sounded truly awed and truly angry - Ben couldn’t decide which was more prominent. Her words, though, made him realize that he had, in fact, cast a spell. Closing his eyes both to signal Milenna that he was still not recovered and to give himself a bit of a respite, Ben examined the cascade of prompts that appeared in his vision:

Good job! You have discovered a new skill: Death Magic. We all aspire to make the most of our lives, but one would be a fool to dismiss the benefits of our deaths. Necromancers are not fools, however, as you - who seem to aspire to become one - can surely vouch for. Be warned, death mage - while a high skill in Death Magic can grant you great powers of blood and resurrection, it doesn’t come without a price. Choose your calling wisely. Death Magic: Level 1 You now have access to death spells. At level 1, you can cast basic spells without the aid of a magical focus. Chances of success: for every spell level above your current skill level, 50% less likely to succeed. You have learned a new spell: Blood Siphon. This powerful spell can be used either as a special attack against the living, or as a ritual tool on the dead. If used on a living target, the spell extracts the vessel’s blood in a speed of 1 liter every ten seconds. Note: living targets may resist the spell. If used on the dead, the blood is drawn twice as fast. Note: the spell cannot be used against undead. Requirements: Death Magic 21, Int 16 Components: a specialized magical focus. Cast time: varies. Minimum cast time: 12 seconds. Cost: 120 mana per target. VD Achievement: My First Spell. Magic has always been the blood flowing at the heart of many games. Without it, life in VD would simply be too boring, wouldn’t it? As you have mastered your very first spell, the system analyzed your actions and you receive the following boons: Additional XP: 500. Current XP: 4,300. Points to next level: 1,700. Intelligence: +2 A new spell. Your ability to learn things that are supposed to be beyond your understanding has led to a unique situation: you now possess a spell that you cannot freely cast. Therefore, you are granted a second spell of the Death school that is within your capabilities: Death Aura. You have learned a new spell: Death Aura. The very first spell most death mages learn, Death Aura is a protective enchantment that, while weak, may still grant you the precious seconds you need to survive. The caster may choose to use his own life energy to empower the spell or that of a living creature at a distance of 5 feet. Either way, the contributor loses 1 HP. Note: if drawn from another creature, it has a chance to resist. Note: siphoning energy from others without their cooperation may result badly. In fact, this is one of the main reasons death mages and necromancers are hated and feared - though one may argue that the sins of the few unjustly reflect on the reputation of the many. Requirements: Death Magic 1, Int 11 Components: none. Cast time: 2 seconds. Cost: 10 mana. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Effect: +5 to defense against physical attacks. +10 to defense against Life Magic attacks.

The amount of information was staggering and Ben didn’t even read everything, promising himself that he would do so later. Still, as he scanned the prompts he couldn’t hide the grin that threatened to split his face. He had spells! Well maybe just one spell that he could work with, but Ben never imagined that he would be able to cast any spell with his scout class. Which was exactly why Milenna was so furious, he imagined. Still, the sorceress’s ire didn’t make him stop grinning - which just enraged her more.

“Are you smiling?” Milenna’s voice became shrill. “Shiraz, is he smiling? Tell me he’s not kneeling there in the stench of the dead, grinning like an idiot with his eyes closed and ignoring me! Ben, tell me how - “

She stopped as Ben opened his eyes and looked at her. His mana and stamina had regenerated enough for him to recover, so he rose to his feet and did his best to look apologetic. “I’m sorry, I was reading some prompts. It appears I did use Death Magic. I…” He exhaled and gave the sorceress a serious look. “I don’t know exactly how I got it,” he said. “I think it has to do with the extended knowledge I have of this place. But I have a feeling it would be useful as we go on.”

Milenna must have expected a different answer because his words quieted her. When she finally spoke again, she shook her head in wonder. “The ever-surprising noob, indeed,” she muttered.

“Hey that’s my line!” said Red. The warrior was also covering his mouth and nose with his hand. “And Ben, that was some awesome shit you pulled - I never heard a ‘thank you’, by the way, for my timely rescue of your spell -”

Ben opened his mouth, but Red raised his other hand to stop him. “Don’t worry about it, bro - you know I’ll hold your hand again if you ask me to. Now, are we going down that ‘you shall surely fall down to your death from me’ path or are we enjoying our stay in a room full of stinking corpses?”

For once, all four of them were in complete agreement that further conversation could wait until they left the mass grave behind. That, of course, left them with figuring how they would get down the narrow pathway without, as Red so aptly described it, surely falling down. Indeed, now that Ben looked closely at the path he couldn’t suppress a shudder of fear. In some places the stone was so narrow that one couldn’t put two feet next to each other - they would have to step heel to toe and do it very slowly.

Surprisingly, it was Red who came up with a plan that made all of them feel just a little better about the descent. The warrior told them to wait and went back to the main chamber. When he returned, he was holding a coiled rope - one that he found earlier in a small room on the other side of the balcony. This finding made Ben regret somewhat their decision to abandon further searching of the first dungeon level, but he shrugged that regret as useless. Then he turned his attention back to Red, who was tying the rope around the first part of the stone walkway. The rope, 40 feet in length, served two purposes: it will be a lifeline if any of them lost their balance, and it could be the way back up if something happened to the newly discovered path.

Then they had to decide who went first. Ben, with confidence that was still boosted by everything that happened, said that he should be the one. “There are more traps down there as far we know, I will - “

“You will fall down and there will be no one to catch you,” interrupted Red. “No, I’ll go first. Let’s just keep close together okay?” The big man tied the second end of the rope to his waist and told them to grab it only if they lose their balance. Then, Red started down the spiraling stone path, putting one foot in front of the other. “Careful,” he said over his shoulder. “It’s a bit slippery.”

Milenna came next, showing little fear as she stepped onto the narrow ledge with her small ball of light still hovering above her head. Then came Shiraz, who looked completely in control as well. Before she descended, the shadow mage turned to give Ben a shrewd look and a small, thoughtful smile. “You are perhaps the most complicated, savvy and naive player I have ever met, all in one package. I guess that’s why Raxlon personally asked for you.”

Ben, who was momentarily lost in her hazel eyes, gave a small shrug. “I never actually asked him why - “ he stopped, suddenly wondering how Shiraz knew that Raxlon had invited him to this quest. Or had she merely guessed it and he just now confirmed her suspicion? Whatever it was, she now knew. Shiraz’s smile widened and she winked. Then she turned to follow Milenna.

Ben sighed and put his foot on the narrow path. As he did so, all thoughts of Shiraz fled his mind as he had to focus everything he had on pure survival. While Ben never had fear of heights he also wasn’t very fond of high places. And while his dexterity was decent enough, it wasn’t that good so as to completely negate his fear of losing his balance as he made his way down. Still, after a few steps Ben found out that, as long as he kept the slow rhythm, he would be fine. That confidence lasted thirty glorious seconds - right until Shiraz suddenly stopped in front of him.

The shadow mage, who seemed perfectly at ease on the narrow path, was looking into the darkness that encroached beyond the light of Milenna’s floating light ball. “We’re not alone,” she said quietly. Her tone caused the others to stop as well. The four of them were dead quiet as they each looked around. Ben realized that he couldn’t see any walls around them - it was if they were descending into a large cavern. He also couldn’t see anything else but the path, his companions, and Milenna’s light. He realized that once again his Darkvision could come in handy but was nullified by magical light.

Then, he heard it: somewhere in the darkness came the weak sound of fluttering wings. Ben’s eyes widened and he concentrated harder, putting every point of perception he had to use. Then he heard it again, louder this time - and more than one pair of wings.

“Ah, guys?” he said quietly. “Can you hear it?”

By Shiraz’s worried expression she had heard it too, but beneath them, Red was shaking his head. “Hear what?” The warrior’s hand went to his sword.

A weapon would be a good idea. Ben gulped - the prospect of an encounter while they were standing on the one-foot slippery path was not something that appealed to him - and slowly took the Skewering Crossbow from his back. He kept scanning his surroundings as he loaded the weapon with an iron bolt. “I don’t know what exactly, but it’s flying and there’s more than one. I think we should - “

But Ben never managed to tell them what he thought they should do as suddenly the sound of fluttering wings came from an unexpected direction - directly behind him! The scout’s relatively high initiative was the only thing that saved his life at that moment. He managed to half-turn toward the sound and got a glimpse of the thing that flew toward him: it was dark, it was big, it had wings. It also had a sharp beak and two bony hands with sharp claws that were extended forward. And it would hit him with those claws in less than a second.

Ben shouted - either in a warning or in fear - and released his bolt. It was a sure hit, shooting from point-blank range, and indeed the bolt from the magical weapon sank deep into the body of the nightmarish creature. The thing screeched in pain and retracted its claws, but if Ben was hoping that the impact of the bolt would cause it to change its trajectory he was sadly mistaken. The creature was simply too close.

A second after it was hit, the creature slammed into the scout with the full force of a falling boulder. Ben immediately lost both his hold on the crossbow and his footing and was torn away from the path. He flew into the empty space of the chasm, screaming.