If we’re going to die here, at least our last sight will be this fantastic view. It really was amazing. The second level had been a vast expanse, but it was hidden behind the ever present jungle and misty ceiling. I had no idea how big the third level was, but even knowing where to go, we had been walking through twisting tunnels for hours. The fourth level though, was all spread out below us.

It was a vast bowl, the sides steeply sloping at the edges and gradually levelling towards the centre. At the centre, there rose a massive mountain. There was no way it could be as tall as it looked - I think the layout of this place was deliberately arranged to play tricks with perspective. It looked like it was 50 kilometres away, and a towering 2000 metres high, but I think it might have been much closer, and shorter.

The rest of the bowl was divided into triangular sections, like a pie, each with a different terrain type. I could see Arctic wastelands, a forest of tall trees, a swamp and open water. Past the water, I could see what looked like a sandy desert, but the final terrain was hidden behind the mountain.

Carved into the edge of the bowl were sloping paths that led around the edge and towards the nearer terrains. They all converged on a flat ledge about 20 metres wide outside of the entrance. That was where we all were. Liam and I, facing Reynard, and seven other men. They were split up on either side of us, blocking the paths down.

Liam didn’t seem too worried. “I thought we avoided your guys upstairs?” he said casually.

“You did,” Reynard stated. He pointed at me “But I had men watching this one - they came and got me as soon as they saw the Warner patriarch walking out the door with her.”

“Ah. Never was good at this subterfuge stuff,” Liam said. “So all I need from you is the name of whoever is behind all this.”

Reynard laughed. “What good would a name do for a dead man?”

“You think you can kill me?” Liam actually sounded surprised. “You’re going to attack the Bloody Moon?”

“Empty words, old man. You haven’t worn that armour in 10 years.”

“Fifteen, but so what? The numbers don’t go down.” Liam’s axe, which had remained in his hands the whole time, started to glow. It hadn’t done that in the caves, and now it was glowing bright enough in the near daylight of this level. Reynard tried to hide it, but that glow worried him, I could tell.

Liam looked back at me. “Girl, use the token and get back to town. I’ll deal with the rest myself.”

“Right,” I said, gulping. I took out the token, but I didn’t use it. Instead, I cast [Greater Invisibility] on myself. Then I took a few steps back into the shelter of the entrance. I had a feeling things were going to get dangerous out here.

Reynard didn’t make a move to stop me. He watched me disappear and then returned his attention to Liam. “My men outside will take care of her.”

“Reckon she might be a bit more slippery then you’re counting on,” Liam said. “Well, shall we get started then?” He was swinging his axe before he was even finished speaking. Two quick swipes sent two arcs of that red light towards the group behind him.

Your party has killed Samual Henderson - Your share is 53 XP

Your party has killed Declan Joyce - Your share is 53 XP

Your party has killed Owen Cooke - Your share is 53 XP

Your party has killed Luke Hunt - Your share is 53 XP

Just like that, it had begun. Reynard looked shocked, but the bodies hadn’t even finished falling before he was barking orders. “Fall back! Follow the plan!” he called out, even as he jumped backwards. I mean jumped. 30 metres backwards, landing unerringly. His surviving men also jumped back, but not as far, or as adroitly. It didn’t seem to make a difference to Liam, who simply swung his still glowing axe again. With this third stroke, as the red light flew off, the red glow faded and the axe looked like it did before. The red arc was just as strong as the others though, and had no problems reaching even Reynard. He managed to get his sword in front of it though, which absorbed some of the damage.

His men had mixed fortunes. One was actually still in the air as the arc flew out, avoiding being cut entirely. The other two staggered as they were hit full on, blood flying out. They were still able to run though, and they did, fleeing as if a demon was after them.

Maybe one was. Liam seemed pissed that his quarry was getting away and took off after them. Literally - he jumped as well. Does everyone with high Strength move this way? I wondered. I watched him follow the others off the path and jump their way into the forest. Within moments, they were out of sight. A few moments more, and a tree started falling. Well, they should be easy to track? First though, looting the bodies.

I felt a bit sick as I approached the bisected guild members. I’d grown used to some bloody sights from skinning lizards, but it was a bit different when the corpses were humans. I debated what to take off them. The armour was out, it would take too long to remove and be too bulky to carry. It was a shame though, even torn up as each suit was, they were still the most valuable equipment they had. Their swords were much the same. [Identify] labeled them a [Good] or [Great] quality, which meant I could probably get some gold for them, but they were just to big to easily fit in my backpack. I resolved to limit myself to their money and any small hidden items.

Your party has killed a Raging Boar - Your share is 167 XP

Your party has killed a Raging Boar - Your share is 167 XP

What was that? Had Liam gotten diverted into hunting boar? Whatever, I needed to focus. One of the dead guys had a small leather bag hidden in his shirt. When I opened it, I found something surprising. Gems! Not many, but bigger than the ones I’d spent all my money on yesterday. Suspicions aroused, I looked more carefully and all of the corpses had at least one gem concealed about their person. When I finished I had 10 gems of various colours.

Maybe this level drops gemstones? I wondered, but I didn’t have time to spend thinking on it. I dumped all the gems in one bag, and all the gold in another, larger, bag. Then I headed off after Liam.

Your party has killed a Davalik Bear - Your share is 120 XP

Your party has killed Logan Hughes - Your share is 53 XP

I headed off at a run. I was still slower than Liam, but he had to keep pausing to fight - and to rearrange the landscape. I passed trees sheared in half, shattered rocks… and corpses. After every fight, the trail changed direction, but it was always headed in the general direction of the central mountain.

Your party has killed a Faris Wolf - Your share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Faris Wolf - Your share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Faris Wolf - Your share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Faris Wolf - Your share is 80 XP

Your party has killed a Faris Wolf - Your share is 80 XP

Damn, Liam, are you going to carry me all the way to Level 4? I caught up with the remains of what must be Logan Hughes, and stopped to loot. Like the others, he had a few gems and plenty of gold. I spared a glance for the dead bear that was also in the clearing. I noticed that there were a lot of arrows scattered around, but none in the bear. Were they using the local monsters as traps for Liam? Didn’t seem to be slowing him down any. I started running again.

I must have run 5 kilometres before I caught up with them. That was approximately 5 kilometres more than I could run before coming here, but I wasn’t even puffed. I got a skill level even, so I was running faster at the end than I was at the start.

I heard them, before I saw them, so I slowed as I reached the edge of the forest. I don’t think the cover of the trees made much difference, but I was hesitant to approach. Ahead of me, jagged rock rose up steeply - the foot of the central mountain. It rose above, and like I thought, it was ‘only’ about four or five hundred metres high. About 50 metres up, Liam was fighting a dragon.

[Identify] : Lesser Wyvern - Threat : 13 - Condition : Injured - Qualities: Fire Resistance, Flying, Armoured Skin

[Identify] Level 4 acquired through use

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 1 XP

I don’t care what you say [Identify], I know a dragon when I see one. Maybe thats what you call the small ones? I wouldn’t call it small though, it must have been… 10 metres long? It was clinging to the slope with its four legs, wings flapping for balance while it tried taking bites out of Liam.

Giving them plenty of distance were Reynard and his men. Separated from each other and standing well away from the main fight, they’d found stable perches from which to launch pot-shots at Liam. There were five others, so he must have had more men hidden in the forest?

Liam… wasn’t looking good. He was dodging an parrying the dragon alright, but there were three arrows sticking in him and even from here, he looked covered in blood. What worried me though, was that he was screaming in incoherent rage as he fought, seemingly unaware of the other combatants.

Was this what the ‘blood-rage’ I’d seen on his weapon was? Well, whatever, I needed to do something to help, and I only had two tricks.

[Greater Invisibility]. Nothing happened. No mana was spent, even. Did my spell have a range? I’d have to get closer. Even as I started moving, though, the fight took a new turn.

Liam got in a good strike, and the dragon shrieked in rage and took to the air. It shot up and away from the mountain, but stopped at about 20 metres. I knew that wasn’t a safe distance, but safety wasn’t what it had in mind. As soon as it had achieved some distance, it unleashed a torrent of flame at its tormentor.

Two doubts of mine were dispelled in an instant. One - that was obviously a dragon, whatever [Identify] said. And two - Liam was definitely in berserker mode, because he leapt directly into the flame.

As I stared in horror at Liam getting engulfed in fire, everything slowed down. I remembered that his armour absorbed heat, so maybe it wasn’t as stupid as it looked? Certainly the dragon hadn’t expected it.

Your party has killed a Lesser Wyvern - Your share is 346 XP

For clearing the fourth level of Oakdale dungeon for the first time, you have earned 500 XP

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

It was still stupid though, because once the dragon was dead, there wasn’t anything holding either of them up. They fell down the mountain, onto the rocky lower slope. The dragon was on top.

After the bellowing roars from before, the silence that fell was uncanny. None of Reynard’s men said anything. They just stayed where they were, arrows trained on the corpse. After about 30 seconds, Reynard started heading carefully down. Before he’d moved far though, the dragon started moving, and he halted. We all waited in tense silence.

With a furious grunt, Liam pulled himself out from under the dragons corpse. His axe was still in his hand, and he started looking around for more people to kill. In the next instant, 5 arrows sprouted in his chest. He looked down at them, and then took another step. 5 more arrows. Very slowly, he toppled over.

Your party member, Liam Warner, has died.

There were scattered cheers from above, as they got their own notifications. They all started making their way down the mountain - the ground must have been too treacherous for their mountain-goat leaping method.

“Should we go up and collect the reward?” one of them asked.

“No.” Reynard answered. “The chests will only open for a party member. Strip him of his gear, its worth more in any case. Then we’ll head up and see if those losers managed to catch the girl.”

It took a few minutes for them to go through all of Liams pouches and strip him of his armour. Reynard took his axe, and looked at it reverently. “The Bloody Moon. Its got some history behind it. Maybe it will be enough to get the Lady Rankin to overlook this debacle.” Then he took out a red gem and teleported them all away.

Well this is a mess and a half. What were my options? I could teleport up to the entrance, but that was currently filled with people that wanted to kill me. I might be able to avoid them, but it would probably be a good idea to give them time to disperse. In the meantime, I’d just heard that there was a treasure up there with my name on it.

[Climbing] Level 2 acquired through use

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 1 XP

OK, now I was tired. And dirty. At least my scratches were just stamina damage, and started fading even as I watched. But I’d made it. Not to the top, thank God. Should I start saying thank the Gods? The wyvern made its nest in a fairly expansive cave about three quarters of the way up. I suppose, that if you could make your way up here without attacking its attention, this would be a much better ground to fight it on.

The chest this time was made of… jade? Intricately carved green stone… [Identify] didn’t work on it. Inside was. Wow. Gems. A pile of gems that put my current horde to shame. All different colours… I gathered up my riches and put them in my gem bag. I have a gemstone bag. Between this and the gold I’d gathered, I was rich, wasn’t I? But that didn’t help me with my immediate problems.

As I pondered my next move, a small passageway caught my eye. Curious, and looking for a distraction from my problems, I investigated. It was short, making one turn before opening out into a small cave. In the centre of the cave was a pedestal with a large, spherical, glowing crystal. I stared at it for a bit. This must be the Dungeon Core, and as per the rules, now that its final guardian was dead, it was there for the taking.

If I took it, I’d be in more trouble. Breaking the Kings law and all that. A new dungeon would probably grow back eventually, so long term nothing would change for Oakway. But in the short term, Oakway would no longer be attractive to Reynard’s boss, the Lady Rankin. And it would piss off Reynard something fierce.

That was reason enough to do it, in my opinion. But I needed more than that. I needed a plan for what to do next… well, I had a few ideas. Milly said I would be bringing trouble to nations, and I guess this would be the start of that.

I reached out to grasp the stone. To my surprise, there was a barrier in the way, but it wasn’t strong. Maybe the old me couldn’t have pushed through it, but I had no trouble now. As my hands touched it, I was struck by a sudden thought, and used [Mana Sense]. I really needed to get in the habit of using that. In my new vision, the smokey crystal somehow faded away, and I could see the immensely complicated mana working inside. Imagine the most intricate, complicated clockwork device, and then superimpose a half-dozen more on top of it. More than a thousand wheels and spirals of mana, some interacting with each other, some sliding through… I still couldn’t see half of the detail.

Do you wish to assume control of the Dungeon? Corporeal form will be abandoned. [Y] / [N]

What? [No]. I hadn’t heard of that being an option, but I wasn’t ready to abandon my body. With a simple tug, the stone came free.

Dungeon core has been removed from external mana construct. Five minutes before external construct unravels.

As the message popped up, the stone in my hands started to shrink. With my mana vision, I could see that the outer layers of mana machinery were now outside of the globe, and had slowly started to disintegrate. It was fascinating to watch, but I did not have time.

I could hold the globe in one hand now, which was nice. I grabbed my token in my other hand, and teleported to the entrance. Empty. Well, it had been a few hours. I guess Reynard figured I’d slipped through his cordon and he was better off searching for me in town. I headed out carefully (and still invisible, just in case) but there wasn’t even anyone on watch outside.

Running short on minions, Reynard? I thought to myself. This might work out well, it might be a little while before anyone notices the dungeon was gone. I tucked the dungeon core away in in my satchel - it had stopped glowing, which was nice. Time for my next move.

I knew roughly where it was, and it wasn’t difficult to find. I suspect any of the large houses in this area would have done, but I wanted the house where I had an in, so to speak. I’d canceled [Greater Invisibility] a while ago, but I was still in [Disguise] as I knocked on the door. It was opened by an older woman with a familiar look to her, that made me think I was in the right place.

“Mrs Warner?” I said. She nodded warily. “My name is Katherine, I’m a friend of Kyle. I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news about your family.”