“So what do you think?” Felicia asked. She was referring to my new workshop. It wasn’t much, just a narrow two room shed really. The previous tenant had moved to a place with a shopfront, and this place was now mine for a month for the low cost of 15 silver. It had come with a workbench that had been left behind, and I’d bought a stool. At some point I’d look at getting a bed, but for now I was still sleeping at the Green Tanner.

“It seems secure.” I said, and it was true. I’d spent my last gold on a [Good] quality lock to go with the door. Tomorrow I’d collect my enchanting equipment and start practicing, but for now there wasn’t much to be done.

“Got any money left?” she asked, lightly.

“Nope. Well some copper and a few silver. Another dungeon run tomorrow?” I said, knowing the answer.

“Sure,” she said. I don’t think she was anywhere near as hard up for cash as I was. I’d spent all my extra reward on tools, while she didn’t have anywhere near my expenses, unless she’d splurged on potions. “But Level Two right?”

“Right, right,” I said. There were a few good reasons I hadn’t gone to Level 3 yet. First of all was I wanted to try making my own runic protection from the heat rather than spend money on potions. I know, I’d already spent more than I would have for a set, but that spend was an investment in the future. Potions would just be drinking my money away.

The second reason was that the third floor, apparently, was a complicated maze of tunnels, and we wouldn’t get far without a map. Which was available, from the guild, but only to Silver members. Getting Silver rank was a matter of completing quests, which brought us to the third reason: most of the Guild quests were for the second level.

Its not that the drops on the third level weren’t valuable, but they weren’t as specific as the plant and monster parts of the second level. Third level was mostly inorganic rewards, and smiths just paid for what people brought in, avoiding the Guild cut.

Potions though, had specific recipes. More than one, according to Felicia, so each potion maker would change the mix according to what ingredients were cheaper. A glut of Savina flowers could increase demand for Baneld Orchids, for example. Specific quests were how the Guild and the potion makers responded to the needs of the market.

All that wasn’t any of my concern at the moment. There was something I wanted ask my friends now that we had a certain amount of privacy.

“Guys,” I said, looking over to make sure that I had Kyles attention. “Does the third level have a key like the second level?”

“I don’t think so, no.” Kyle said. “The key is to get you past the boss, so you don’t have to fight him each time you down and up again.”

“There’s nothing past the third boss, so there's no reason for it, right?” I asked thoughtfully. This had actually been mentioned in the quick Dungeon primer I’d been given by Paige on my first day, but I wanted to check with the others.

“Katherine, I can’t believe you’re already thinking about the third level boss,” Felicia interrupted. I held up my hand to stop her.

“Its not that,” I said. “That first time we went down in the early morning, I saw something before you arrived. A bunch of Reynard’s lackeys entered the dungeon, took out a red gem, and disappeared.”

“That sounds like they used the second level key, except…” Felicia looked at the doll I’d taken out.

“Exactly. The key is themed to the level right?”

“Bloodstones are a pretty common drop for the third level, right?” Kyle asked. “If the key was one of those, it would be on theme.”

“But if the third floor has a key…” Felicia’s voice trailed off.

“Then it must mean that there's a fourth floor, that only Reynard and his goons know about.” I finished her thought.

“Oakway Raiders, don’t go for the boss, that I’ve heard.” Kyle said thoughtfully. “But aren’t the Delvers pushing to get there? If they beat the boss, the secret will be out.”

“If Reynard wanted to still keep the secret,” I said slowly, “He’d have to kill them either before or just after they killed the boss. Would the death of an adventuring party in the dungeon be a reason to hold a hearing?” I asked.

Kyle and Felicia looked at each other. “Yeah, I think it would be required.” Kyle said.

“So,” I said. “Reynard wants me to cover up the murder of the Delvers.” I waited for one of them to disagree with me, but there was only a troubled silence.

“Is… there anyone that we can go to with this?” I asked. I wasn’t entirely sure how law enforcement worked. There was a Sheriff on the town council, appointed by the king and responsible for enforcing the Kings law, but…

“Guild members are supposed to be regulated by the Guild.” Felicia said slowly. “Guild Master Albrecht would be the one…”

“Reynard told me the Master would be away - do you know if he’s already left?”

“I don’t know…” Felicia replied. “But even if he isn’t, what are we going to tell him? This is all speculation…”

I thought for a minute. “If our suspicion is true, then there will be a passage after the boss - so all we have to do is get the Guild Master down there and kill it? Can Albrecht do that?”

“He may be old,” Kyle said, “But he’s level 6. He can kill it, and make sure Reynard doesn’t try anything, as long as he believes us.” He got a thoughtful look for a moment, but I was tired of talking.

“OK, lets go find him now.”

“How did you know the Master was going on a trip?” Paige asked, “And yes, he’s already left. Did you want to speak with Reynard?”

“Um, no thanks,” I said. [Deceive] kept an unworried smile on my face. “We’ll just wait until he gets back.” I rejoined my companions with the slightest shake of my head.

“What now?” asked Felicia once we were back in the shack. “We could warn the Delvers?”

“They’d probably believe us, at least,” I mused, thinking it through. “But without proof, all they could do is confront Reynard, same as us. Could the Sheriff do anything?”

“Maybe,” said Kyle, “But he wouldn’t want to go against a Level 5 on some story, and he wouldn’t want to go down to check it himself. He’s only level 4 after all.”

“How do you know that?” I asked, curious. “Do you use [Identify] on the townsfolk?”

Felicia looked at me like I was odd. “[Identify] doesn’t work on people, Katherine.”

“Oh, really?” I said, embarrassed. “All this time I’ve been thinking the only reason I haven’t been exposed is because using it was rude or something.” Relived, I tried it on Felicia, just to be sure.

[Identify]

There was no result. Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Back to the main concern.

“If we secretly accompanied the Delvers to fight the boss, could we make a difference?” I wondered.

“Do all your plans have to involve you going deeper into the dungeon?” Felicia asked wryly. “I don’t think Kyle and I would make much difference. Reynard will have his crew as well, and some of them are level 4. Maybe your invisibility might help?”

“Reynard has seen through my illusions before,” I said. “But that was a few levels ago. If I figure him for 5 points in Intelligence, Perception and Level, he’ll have a base of 125. I’ve got… 162 base, so they might work?”

“That's insane, being able to overpower a Level 5 like that.” Felicia said. She considered some more. “Reynard might have 6 skill… maybe even seven? He is a Ranger after all.”

I groaned. “And there's no way Reynard isn’t keeping a watch on the Delvers. He needs to know when they make their move. If Albrecht is away, Reynard might be ready to make his move the next time they go down.” I knew that the Delvers were on the same ‘every second day’ schedule that we were on - taking the extra time to heal and recover mana. Today was an off day, since I’d seen them in the tavern, so they could be murdered as soon as tomorrow. Without a better idea, we decided that I’d secretly contact them on their way to the dungeon and join their team.

“You’ll need a potion,” Felicia said. “I’ll get one for you.”

I wanted to say no, but we really did need to do this. “I’ll owe you,” I insisted. She shrugged.

“I just wish we could be more help down there.”

I nodded.

I had a lot on my mind while serving drinks that night, so I didn’t immediately notice when the old man entered the tavern. However, it was hard to miss the silence that spread as the other regulars noticed him, and stopped whatever it was that they happened to be doing.

To my eye, the most unusual thing about him was how he was dressed. Wait, wasn’t there a special word for it when you were dressed in armour? He was wearing matt black chainmail, with matching black metal armour pieces covering his arms and legs. Was that darksteel? I wondered. If so, he was a walking pile of gold. The axe on his back might have discouraged muggers though. It was made of some kind of… wait. [Identify]

[Identification] : Blood Moon Axe - Quality : Perfect - Properties: Runed, Blood Rage - Damage : 180

I still wasn’t used to being able to analyse things I didn’t actually know about. Wow, that was some weapon. While I was staring, goggle eyed like everyone else, he walked straight up to the bar, and to Harold.

“Harold,” he said, with a nod. “Need your girl Katherine for a bit.” Harold stared at him, then almost involuntarily looked at me. That was enough for the old man, who walked over to me. “Need some space,” he said to the nearest table. The men sitting down scrambled over themselves to take their drinks to another table.

He gestured for me to sit. All around, the noise of conversation suddenly returned as people started talking, about anything, just to avoid the impression that they were listening in on the old mans business.

“Who are you?” I asked wonderingly.

“I’m Liam Warner. Kyle’s my grand-nephew,” he said, sitting down. “I hear you’ve got a story to tell.”

“Kyle’s- He asked you to help us?”

“No. He knows better than that,” the old man said. “I’m retired. The problems of the Guild are none of mine.”

“But people are going to die…” I trailed off as he just shook his head.

“Anyone who goes into a dungeon knows they’re risking death. Monsters or humans, it makes no difference and is none of my concern.”

“Then why are you here?” I asked with anger in my voice.

“To hear your story, girl.” he said grimly. “Lets hear it.”

So I told him how I’d lied to the Guild, and how Reynard was blackmailing me. What I’d seen at the entrance to the dungeon. My speculation about what was going on. When I’d finished, Liam looked at me for a bit, his face unreadable.

“Thin.” he finally said. “Nothing like evidence.”

“Unless the fourth level is there - that should prove everything. Or if the Delvers die in the next few days.”

“True enough. You up for a trip?” he asked.

“What, now?” I asked, startled. He nodded.

“Its past midnight, that wyrm should be up again.” he said casually. “I don’t plan on putting this armour on any more times than I have to, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Um, I’ll have to get changed… will you wait for me?” He nodded again, and I rushed upstairs. I met Harold’s eye as I went up. He shrugged, apparently resigned to whatever the whims of the Warner patriarch were.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. By this time we’d avoided the guards on the gate and were walking to the dungeon. “If this is no business of yours, why confirm my suspicions?”

Liam snorted. “If Reynard’s pulling a load of treasure out of the dungeon, where's it going?”

“I… don’t know?” I said, confused.

“If he’d been selling loot in town, his secret wouldn’t stay that way for long.” Liam lectured. “And its not like he’s been displaying a whole lot of suddenly gained wealth right?”

“He said… there was someone who could get him out of this posting.” I thought back to our earlier conversation. “That must be where the wealth is going?”

“Right. And that person’s gotta be either a corrupt guild official, or a noble.” He thought for a moment. “Probably both, where there's the one, there's the other.”

“I see…” I said, but I wasn’t any clearer.

“That’s my business.” Liam said darkly. “Keeping the nobility out of Oakway.”

“Oh.” It was more clear now. “Did I mention that Reynard had people watching the entrance?”

“Yeah,” he said and then paused. “Ah I suppose it would be better if word didn’t get back to him. Do your invisibility then, turn it off once we’re inside.”

I complied. I wondered if he had some power to stop spells working on him, but if so, he had turned it off, and I was able to render him Invisible without problems. He continued walking towards the entrance and I followed the outline of his form. Had he been planning to just kill the people at the entrance? I shivered at the thought. Adventurers in this world became way to causal about death. I’d felt it myself - skills made it just so easy to kill, and I had to kill so many things to progress. Will I be the same way when I’m high level?

Once inside, he waited for us both to appear again and then asked. “You’ve got a key to the third level, right?” When I nodded, he continued. “Take us down then.”

“Don’t you have your own?” I asked, taking out my key.

“Ah. Lost it years ago.” he said, with a grimace that might have been embarrassment.

Is that even possible? I wondered. Mine returned to me whenever I tried to drop it. I didn’t ask any more questions though, just concentrated on the token for a moment, taking us down to the third level.

Darkness. Heat. After the bright light of the first level, the sudden transition made me freeze. As my eyes adjusted I could see that there was light, just not much. A ruddy glow ran down on a few spots on the walls of the large cave we found ourselves in. It took me a moment to realise they were also the source of the oppressive heat, as they were rivulets of lava flowing down to somewhere underneath.

They provided just enough light to see by, but I wanted better. [Light]. The spell revealed the cave in more detail, but there wasn’t much to see. Just 5 exits and my companion who’d also been waiting for his eyes to adjust.

“Good. Useful spell.” he said, and started off.

“Wait!” I exclaimed and started digging for my resist heat potion. I drank it and sighed with relief as the heat faded to a comfortable coolness.

“Don’t you need one of these as well?” I asked. Liam shook his head.

“Nah,” he tapped one hand on his black armour. “Darksteel’s good for more than light and sound. Absorbs heat as well. Makes it a bugger to forge though.”

Your party has killed a Hatap Wyrm - your experience share is 46 XP

Your party has killed a Tonasnys Creeper - your experience share is 120 XP

Your party has killed a Elm'vor Lizard - your experience share is 20 XP

Your party has killed a Elm'vor Lizard - your experience share is 20 XP

Your party has killed a Eona Giant Beetle - your experience share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Eona Giant Beetle - your experience share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Eona Giant Beetle - your experience share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Rogue Saycha Ant - your experience share is 46 XP

Truth be told, I was expecting my first trip to Level 3 to be more exiting than this. Liam stalked through the tunnels ahead of me - most of the time I didn’t even get a chance to react before he slew whatever monster came out of the darkness.

“How does it know?” I wondered aloud. “That we’re a party, I mean. Its not like I’m contributing here.”

“Dunno,” Liam grunted. “Just does. Its pretty smart about it too - they say if your XP is more than it should be, its because you have a traitor in your group.”

That level of omniscience is a bit terrifying, I thought. But maybe it made sense. The way that Skills inferred what you wanted, like they were reading your mind… it was clear that the System was capable of understanding much more complicated things than social dynamics.

“Right. Another question… could you explain more about the nobles trying to take over the dungeon? I’m not from around here.”

“Kyle said something about that.” Liam said. “Lets see. So dungeons are a big source of wealth - which is power, see? And ownership - no - controlling access to Dungeons is the Kings gift right?”

“Right.”

“So the King puts out about half the dungeons as available to the people, controlled by the Guild, and the rest are divvied up by the noble Houses. But the thing is, dungeons aren’t equal.”

“Some have more levels, or have better drops,” I say. “So everyone wants the best dungeons.”

“Everyone wants, not everyone gets,” he agreed. “Guild gets the dregs, so we only get a good dungeon when some noble’s left with a choice of it going to a rival instead.”

We paused our conversation to let Liam slay another two…

Your party has killed a Hatap Wyrm - your experience share is 46 XP

Your party has killed a Hatap Wyrm - your experience share is 46 XP

of those. We weren’t stopping to pick up loot. Liam had told me that the most of the monsters down here had small mana crystals in their heads, but that he “didn’t have the time, nor the inclination, to go rooting around their brains for them.” Using [Mana Sense], I could see a concentration of mana in a number of heads, but I wasn’t prepared to let Liam go on ahead without me.

“So if Reynard is working with a noble, then that guy has advanced knowledge that Oakway is a better dungeon than most people think.”

“Aye, so he can lay the groundwork in advance to get his dud dungeon swapped for this one.”

“And he gets whatever profits Reynard can extract from having exclusive access.” A thought struck me. “Does the Guild actually get much profit out of Oakway?”

“Not much. They take a cut from the quests,” Liam said dismissively. “Other places, they have different rules - like charging for access. Oakway’s always had a tradition of free access, and its not much of a dungeon, so they’ve never bothered exploiting it too much. Might change if there's a fourth level.”

We walked on in silence for a bit, when Liam stopped in a section of straight tunnel. He looked at me.

“Time for a little local lore,” he said. “Worth remembering that no matter what the guild tells you, the locals will always know more of a Dungeons secrets than them.”

“So whats the secret?” I asked. Looking around, this tunnel was one of the more boring ones. It didn’t have any of the lava alcoves that apparently held blood crystals - yet another treasure that Liam didn’t have time for.

“Ever wonder how the Guild can sell maps that don’t give away the bosses lair?” Liam asked.

“I haven’t seen them yet, but I presume they don’t show all the tunnels?”

“That’d be a bit of a give-away wouldn’t it?” he said, grinning. “All you’d have to do is find a tunnel that wasn’t on the map. Though you're right, they don’t show all the tunnels.” With a grin, he lashed out at the wall with his gauntleted fist. With a shattering crash, the wall exploded under his blow.

I was sort of used to superhuman feats from these people - and from myself - from time to time. But I wasn’t expecting the whole wall to shatter like glass! Liam laughed at my shock.

“Its a secret door,” he said. “There's a mechanism…somewhere, but this is faster than finding it.”

“Is that allowed? I thought there was some rule about a clear path to follow.”

“Seems so.” Liam shrugged, not caring. “Lets get going.”

Your party has killed a Giant Unt'acka Centipede - your experience share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Giant Unt'acka Centipede - your experience share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Giant Unt'acka Centipede - your experience share is 80 XP

In this section, the monsters seemed to come in greater numbers. Twice, Liam stopped and had us turn into a side tunnel, based on something he could hear.

“Swarm snakes,” he said the second time, after the threat had apparently past. “Probably too many for me to keep you safe.”

“Thanks for the consideration, but I could go invisible, if it would help?” I’m not just baggage here! is what I wanted to insist, but I wasn’t sure it was true.

“Nah, we’re almost there. Just one more door.”

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he’d punched his way into another chamber.

“Stay just inside the door,” he said, striding forward. The chamber we’d entered was large, too large to be fully lit by the thin streams of lava that flowed down the walls and converged into a central pool. The pool occupied the about half of the cave, leaving a ring about 5 metres wide of rough, rocky cave floor, broken up by thin channels for the lava to flow.

Liam walked straight up to the pool, letting his axe ring out against the rocky outcroppings in his path. It looked like he fully expected to see the monstrous head that rose out of the lava pool.

[Identification] : Greater Lava Wyrm - Threat 10 - Condition : Healthy - Qualities: Immune to Fire

”Wakey, wakey, little wormy!” Liam called.

He’s crazy. That thing was anything but little. A somewhat lizard-like head attached to either a thick neck, or a long body, rose up about 2 metres out of the lava, looking down on the old man as he taunted it. For about a second, before it attacked!

Liam jumped back and to the side as the head came for him. It flew past, bringing the rest of its body with it. OK, its like a snake then. I could now see the rest of the body as it came out of the pool, twisting around to get another strike at its tormentor. Who… jumped over it? Eschewing his axe, Liam just jumped over the wyrm, forcing it it to twist around further in a complete loop. Not that it had any problem with this, turning and striking with the speed of… a snake, even as its tail whipped around to try and bash Liam from behind.

Liam dodged both blows with the same movement, moving calmly to his side, further away from the pool. Undaunted, the snake turned to strike once more, but this time Liam seemed done with dodging. Instead his axe swung, right in the path of that incoming mouth.

Your party has killed a Greater Lava Wyrm - your experience share is 166 XP

For clearing the third level of Oakdale dungeon for the first time, you have earned 333 XP

For clearing the third level of Oakdale dungeon you have earned a reward

When I blinked the notification away, I saw that the lava had stopped flowing and the pool had started draining away somewhere. As the lava level dropped, it revealed a raised central section with a familiar looking chest sitting on it.

“Looks like you were right, girl.” Liam said grimly. He pointed to where the pool was disappearing. “Used to be, the lava didn’t go down all the way.”

Below the level of where the lava had been, there was a bridge, clearly intended to allow access to the central platform. Now I saw that a staircase extended down from one side of that bridge, spiralling down around the platform.

“Get the reward.” Liam said, his guard still up. I didn’t hesitate, jumping down to the bridge and going over to the chest. Inside was 50 gold coins and two red jewels. One was glowing brightly, the other looked just like the one I’d seen Reynard’s cronies using.

[Identification] : Fire Crystal - Charge : 500 : Qualities: Fire Mana

[Identification] : Oakway Token - Properties: Teleport

”This is it,” I said, holding out the token. “This is what I saw those guys using.”

“Alright. Grab the treasure.” Liam said. “Might as well see what all the fuss has been about.”

We headed down the stairway, and along the passageway it led to. It wasn’t long before we saw light ahead and entered the fourth level.

“Gods above,” Liam swore as we took in the view.

“Quite a view isn’t it?” said a familiar voice. We quickly turned to see Reynard and some others, about fifteen metres away, slowly getting up. “Took you long enough.”