Will scratched his cheek, reminding himself once again he needed to shave but he’d have to go to the barber or use his shave kit some other time. Once again he was caught off guard by something new. He had a vague idea of what a dungeon was, if it was anything like games. Rather than question it, he leaned towards just accepting it.

“Wonder why they didn’t mention this when they pointed out the mine?” Will pondered quietly as he looked down the right side of the tunnel. He didn’t see anything in the light and moved to the other side. Once he was certain some monster wasn’t already bearing down on him he took his hand off the grip of his revolver and scratched his head.

“Okay, so I either check it out or ignore it and let the sheriff know back in town…,” It wasn’t an easy decision. He would inform the sheriff either way but he felt like it was an opportunity and unlike his run-in with the scorpion, he could at least expect something this time around. On the other hand, he didn’t feel like tearing his ears a new one by firing in such a confined space and considered going back to town to buy a lantern, earplugs, and maybe a machete.

He sighed, that was the problem though. He needed money to buy things. Before he could fully decide, he heard a slurping sound coming from the left tunnel. He glanced down into the darkness but couldn’t make anything out.

Will drew his revolver and slowly made his way further into the shaft. The squelch continued to get louder as he scanned all around him for movement, not sure what it was. He spotted a few cave insects crawling around but it wasn’t them making the disgusting noise.

A few more steps and what Will could only describe as a gray-colored water balloon filled with snot came inching its way into the light. He watched as it elongated from the top and toppled forward before pulling itself back into a ball with a squelch. As soon as it formed into a sphere the size of a soccer ball, it started to repeat the process. Will used [Identify] on the strange creature.

Lesser Silver Slime- Level 3 (Dungeon spawn)

Details: A member of the slime family, it gets its name from its color and minute traces of the precious metal. Often found in abandoned mines and caves. Its fluids are highly corrosive. As a dungeon variant, the slime will dissipate after death. Does not include harvested materials.

Age: Unknown

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Stats: Unknown

Will raised his revolver at the slowly advancing slime but lowered it a second later when he thought of the acidic contents of the living water balloon spraying all over the place as soon as a projectile hit it. Suddenly though, it squished itself flat and extended rapidly as it launched itself at him.

Will swung his torch at it out of reflex, it connected and the slime flew against the wall. It hit with a slap and slid down the wall to the floor. It didn’t look any worse for wear from his eyes, with the exception of a small burn on its membrane it was fine.

“You’re tougher than you look,” Will said as it flattened itself to jump again. He was ready this time but used the same technique. It played out just as before but he followed up by jamming the lit torch into it.

A hissing noise came from it as it flattened itself again and jumped away, though not as far as before. Will gave pursuit and jabbed it again while he put his revolver away to grab a rock. The slime retreated once more and Will threw the rock at it, only giving a glancing blow.

The rock split the side of the monster and an acrid-smelling fluid poured out of the wound. It made contact with the stone floor and sizzled in a slowly growing puddle. The viscous liquid spilled out with the consistency of syrup while the slime started to flop around erratically. A few minutes later and what was left of it, stopped moving.

“That wasn’t so hard!” Will exclaimed at his first victory against a monster that didn’t involve running away screaming. He’d probably still do the same if another giant scorpion had shown up, and definitely if whatever it was on the edge of his memory was even nearby... but he was still proud of himself. He approached his latest kill and squatted down next to it.

He picked up a rock and dipped it into the liquid to see it had dissolved. It was eroded and pitted when he pulled it out a moment later. He poked the membrane a moment later, it was untouched by the acid but his initial thought of it being a useful material was hit when he realized the inside was coated with a film of the acid. Although there was something else in there.

After a few minutes of trying to pull it out and half a canteen of water to rinse it off, Will had the item from inside the slime. It was a small crystal, only a centimeter long but it had perfect facets and angles. He had no idea if it was worth anything.

Slime Crystal-Lesser

Details: Crystal from a lesser slime. Limited use in enchanting and alchemy.

Composition: Unknown

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

[Identify] didn’t give him much but he at least knew it was useful. He’d have to ask around town what it was worth or if he could use it himself but he’d have to worry about that later. He carefully picked up the crystal and placed it in his pocket with a smile. He already heard another squelch making its way up the tunnel.

“Number ten,” Will said with a sigh as he rinsed his latest slime crystal. His excitement from fighting the things had greatly diminished. They were easy to kill and it took more time to poke around with a rock trying to get the crystal out than it did to kill the slime in the first place. The only other thing he’d done was collect a certain type of insect called a ‘Silver Mite’. They ate silver and he thought they might have some in their shells. “One or two more and I’m done.”

He moved further down the tunnel he was in. The place was far larger than he’d thought initially and as the name suggested it led deep into the ground. He felt confident about getting back as he took the left fork every time going in. Simply taking the right one on the way back would lead him to the surface.

He rounded a bend in the tunnel and came to an open cavern, he froze. He hadn’t come across anything of the sort yet and decided to proceed cautiously. He drew his revolver for the first time since entering the Dungeon after switching out to his final torch.

He looked around but didn’t see or hear anything moving around. The room was roughly circular with empty stone archways around the outside. In the center were three stone pedestals that caught his attention. As he approached them he heard the sound of stone grinding against stone. He looked around for the source and when he saw it his eyes went wide.

“Oh shit!” he ran to the entrance as a large stone rolled across the entrance and slid into a grove that wasn’t there when he walked in. He ran to the side of it and pushed with everything he had but all he managed to do was strain himself.

“Fuck! That’s just great!” He stared at the giant stone wheel before turning around to make his way around the room looking for another exit, only to find himself back at the now blocked entrance. He frowned and looked toward the three pedestals. He walked up to them and saw that one held a stone slate, with the inscription ‘the value of resources’. On another a coin, with the inscription ‘the value of currency’. The final pedestal was empty and had an inscription reading ‘More valuable than both’.

“Is this supposed to be a puzzle?” Will reread all three inscriptions again. After he tried [Identify] on the two items and learned one was an iron coin while the other was a slate. “Neither one of them is that valuable…”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an alien quarter. It was partially made of silver and was more valuable than the two on the other pedestals. It clinked softly as he dropped it on the third pedestal and stepped back quickly to look around.

Nothing happened at first but he breathed a sigh of relief as one of the walls within a stone archway started receding into the floor. He walked over to it but froze when he saw something move from the other side. He drew his weapon and took aim while the wall disappeared into the stone.

A yelp of surprise was let out as a long creature came crawling out of the newly opened tunnel. It was four meters long with a segmented body and a hundred legs. On its front were two massive pincers that it opened and closed with a snap. Will stared with wide eyes, "Why couldn't it be people or goblins? Why is it always bugs?"

Lesser Silver Shell Centipede- level 8 (Dungeon Spawn)

Details: Carnivorous arthropod that can grow to extreme lengths. Its kind fuses metal into its carapace to form a resilient armor.

Composition: Unknown

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Utility skill leveled: Identify level 4

William dismissed the information and switched to his rifle as the centipede started circling around the room and the passageway began to close again. Will hesitated to run for cover, not sure if he liked the idea of being trapped in the area the giant bug had come from. The centipede started crawling up the wall as he took aim and it gave a scream as its front half dangled from the ceiling to look down at him with wide-open mandibles.