“Are you dressed back there, buddy,” Silvia asked and once again Will rolled his eyes at her. She’d made some quick introductions as the group’s self proclaimed leader but again wasn’t that convinced. It was also immediately contradicted by the male halfling.

It took her a moment for her to get her faculties back and stop her eyes from wandering but after the third time he’d asked for a bit of privacy to get dressed, she relented. Normally Will wouldn’t have cared as much but having two people around the size of 4 year olds standing there was a bit awkward. Normally people had to actually look down to get a peek.

“Just about,” Will answered as he slipped on a wet pair of boots, opting to forgo the soaked socks. Once they were on he pinched the bridge of his nose while trying to blink away the spots.

“[Disorienting Flash]… Sorry about that but it was the quickest way to get this one to stop shooting at you. His Intelligence stat is low enough to be dragging below my knees,” Herald said, “You must have a pretty good Skill. It got your eyes but yout didn’t get the disorienting part as far as I can tell.”

“Attribute,” Will said as he strapped on his holster. Still blinking, he was pretty sure Herald nodded.

“The mind effect only lasts a few seconds anyway but the problems with your eyes last longer… Here, let me fix that for yout,” Herald said and a light emitted from the end of the staff in his hands. Unlike the previous one which was about as good as any strobe light Will had ever seen, this light was a gentle yellow, “Just look into it. Alvin, Silvia… Silvia, look at the staff.”

Will looked at the end of the staff and his vision cleared almost instantly. When the light faded he took in the staff. It was ornately carved with a crystal set in near the top of it. Just below an octagon shaped symbol that vaguely looked like an ax. He used [Identify].

Staff of Byolder (Blessed- God of War)

Details: A staff belonging to an acolyte or priest devoted to the Dowan God of War, Byolder.

Composition: 50% wood, 40% steel, 8% silver, 2% truegold.

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Will closed it and took in Herald.

“You’re a priest?” Will asked.

“Yes, though I'm not going back to the temple any time soon. I'm working on a class upgrade to [Cleric],” Herald said and leaned on his staff. Will nodded in only vague understanding. He said it like someone that was simply working towards a promotion, which, all things considered, is what it might really be.

“[Rogue]!” Silvia called out cheerfully and spun a knife around her fingers. Will looked at the dagger then down and realized she didn’t have a firearm at her side. Neither did Herald for that matter. Instead, the male halfling had a small war hammer on his back. It looked like a normal hammer on a long stick but at least had a wicked looking spike on the tail side of it.

“Guess, I should say mine… I’m a [Shooter],” Alvin said a little awkwardly.

“No one cares about that. You can tell people what you are when you get something other than a common tier class,” Silvia said kind of harshly then turned to Will, “Curious. Do you have someone just as naked hiding around the corner somewhere or is there a different reason for your lack of clothes?”

She was very excitable it seemed. Not to mean perverted, but she spoke quickly and cheerfully and seemed to be unable to sit still. A highly energetic individual.

“Down that tunnel, there’s a cavern full of giant mushrooms. I got some spores on me, “Will said and shrugged. He didn’t know for sure if he had spores on him but at 6% arsenic, he wasn’t going to take a chance of any of that getting into him. Even if it wasn't enough to kill him he'd still likely get sick.

“Oooh, What kind?” she asked.

Will listed the three of them off and described a couple of the smaller ones he hadn’t identified while Herald walked over to the wall and started carving into it with the spike of his war hammer. Will watched him do it, ignoring a brief moment of glee from Silvia at the news there were giant morels down there.

“He’s just marking the tunnel for other adventurers,” Alvin informed him, “You with the Union?”

“Ah. No,” Will answered, “What does it mean?”

“Direction… Danger ahead… poison in the air. And the way out” Herald explained his carving when he was done and moved to mark the exit at the other side of the fork.

“We have to go down there,” Silvia yelled out and went to glance down the tunnel to the mushrooms.

“We don’t have the equipment for it,” Herald said, “And we’re not going all the way back to Fairpoint to get it!”

“Eh-uh, we can get it here,” Silvia smirked, “When we passed through town some of the people there were talking about some guy that made a wand to clean his house. It was the one that… well, it was the clean one. There was only one clean one in town that I could see... If he made a wand, that means he’s an enchanter.”

“They might be mistaken. Maybe in a month or two one will set up shop but there’s no reason for an enchanter out here and if there was, they’d be on that ranch we thought was Silverstead to begin with. It looked far better off than the town,” Herald said. Will looked at them feeling a bit more awkward considering they were talking about him but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to speak up at that moment. He was also surprised that none of them had used [Identify] on him but there might have been reasons for that. Cultural or they assumed he was higher level due to the fact he was there alone and they were with a group.

“I'll bet you five that there’s an [Enchanter] in town,” Silvia said.

“We can figure it out when we get to town, can’t we?” Alvin sounded a little worried. Silvia and Herald’s voices had risen while they spoke.

“Fine… I guess we'll go this way,” Silvia said and marched down the other passageway.

“You’re welcome to join us. Artifacts go to whoever can use them best, the rest gets sold. Money and materials are an even split,” Herald invited him, “We could always use more range. I’m not going to ask your class, Alvin’s a [Shooter], so it can’t be worse than that.”

“[Gunslinger], but sure,” Will said. He wasn’t sure of their charge in method but he was a little curious about how they operated and quickly ran after them.

“We have slimes up here, that’s you Herald,” Silvia said and stepped to the side and let her fellow halfling by. Will started pulling out his wand when Herald didn’t hesitate to impale it with the end of his priest staff.

“Isn’t the acid going to eat away at that?” Will asked.

“You’d think but it’s blessed,” Herald said proudly, “It’ll take more than some acid to damage it.”

Herald yanked out the staff and shook it a bit to get rid of the acid before continuing at the front. Will briefly wondered about the staff and if he could identify anything on it with his [Arcane Artificer] Skills. It was likely a Holy enchantment. But that could maybe be for later because the group was already moving without looting the slime.

“You’re not going to get the crystal,” Will asked.

“Blessed sticks might last a while but fingers aren’t as tough,” Silvia said while stepping around the rapidly dying slime. Will waited for all three to get around and pulled out his wand.

“Hold up,” Will said and quickly sprayed the area around the slime and spotted the crystal. He doused it a bit more and picked it up. He heard a giggle from ahead and looked up to see a triumphant look on Silvia's face.

“See, I told you there’s an enchanter in town,” Silvia said mockingly in Herald’s direction. He gave her a disbelieving stare and turned around without another word. Herald pulled a wand out of a small pouch on his side, Will realized it was a miniature version of a bottomless saddlebag immediately. Then he saw a small flame ignite at the tip of it.

“Well, Would you look at that, Silvia. I have a wand. I didn’t know there was an enchanter near here. You can only buy them locally after all,” he said sarcastically. Will chuckled and wondered if he should just let them go on without telling them if nothing else but for the amusement. It’d be bad for business but he could probably let it go a little bit longer. Or maybe even till he got out of the dungeon, then he could at least claim it wasn’t important, so he didn’t mention it.

Silvia crossed her arms over her chest and made a rude gesture with her hands but only after Herald turned his back to her. Alvin chuckled but quickly stopped when Herald turned around curiously to see what was funny. It was clear where the power dynamic was as they continued down the tunnel until it once again split off.

Will tried to think of the map but it was a large mine complex, he hadn't planned on going down that route so he hadn't bothered memorizing it. He debated for a second about holding his cards for his chest but if it meant saving time or lives he couldn't rightly hold that back.

“Hold up,” Will said and took off his bag and after digging through it, pulled out his map. He held it out and used his lantern to light it up while tracing their route with his eyes. He’d have to go in and mark out the mushroom cavern but he could remember that much.

“You have a map of the place already? I thought it was just discovered!” Silvia exclaimed and quickly moved around to look.

“Hey, manners. It’s the man’s map,” Herald admonished her but it didn't stop Silvia from looking. Will didn't bother either.

“It’s not a map of the dungeon, just a map of the old mine before it became a dungeon. It’s changed a bit,” Will said and since she was standing there he squatted down and handed her the lantern, “Like this cavern here, it’s a lot bigger now and has a trap with a puzzle.”

“What’s the trap?” she asked.

“Locks you in and there’s three pedestals for… I’ll tell you about it later,” he said. They were no where near that room and heading the other way. He didn't feel like explaining it, “If you get the puzzle wrong a section of the wall opens and a giant centipede comes in after you.”

“Oooh, don’t tell me the answer. I like riddle rooms,” Silvia said, “Hmmm… We’re right there, right?”

“I think so,” Will said. Looking at where she was pointing.

“It looks like right is a… is that suppose to be- Yeah. It goes down a short way before reaching a vertical shaft. the left dead ends in a cavern surrounded by a labyrinth.”

“A labyrinth?” Will asked and looked at the map. It was a tight knot of tunnels twisting around each other with some intersecting, some going to dead ends… he’d bet money it was once the site of a large silver deposit they tried to get every nugget from in the past. Leading to a maze of tunnels chasing the veins of ore. But he could see it.

“How deep's the shaft?” Alvin asked but Silvia just gave him a rude hand gesture. This time to the man's face.

“Doesn’t matter. It's either a hole in the ground or a maze. Which sounds more exciting?” she said.

“Which sounds more dangerous?” Herald countered.

“I’d say the hole in the ground,” Will said honestly. He wasn’t sure what the left tunnel would hold but he was looking at the map and saw that the bottom of the shaft ended in another network that pushed towards town.

“Don’t say that, she’ll wanna go down the hole,” Alvin whined.

Will stood up to fold up the map and Silvia did take his lantern over to the right side passage but quickly shook her head and moved to the left.

“Nah. A labyrinth sounds like it’s still better. Ever been in the labyrinth section of a dungeon? Always some sort of treasure hidden in there,” She said, “We ready to go?”

No one had any reason to stay and they started their way down the passage.

“Herald, anything I should know about labyrinths?” Alvin nervously asked. When Silvia said he was new, she must have meant he was very new. Even Will wasn’t as nervous and he grew up in a place that didn’t have magic dungeons.

“It might not be one even if it looks like one on an old map,” Herald said but stopped, “But you’re right. Silvia, wait. Do you want to explain?”

“Sure… Ummmm…” She tapped her chin with a finger while collecting her thoughts.

“She’s been in more dungeons than me,” Herald explained with a shrug, "I normally take the monster eradication missions on the surface. Sometimes we have to go underground but it's almost never into a dungeon. Non-dungeon monsters usually stay away from them."

Will took the information and filed it away for later. He wasn't sure what the use was but just the fact that wild animals didn't wander into dungeons was potentially useful. He waited a moment for more to add to his growing knowledge.

“Well, labyrinth sections always have two features in common from what I know. One. Traps, usually a lot of them. Watch your step, don’t touch anything, and if it looks too good not to touch, have me do it. I’m a [Rogue], depending on what it is, I might be able to get whatever it is without setting off the trap.”

Will looked at her when she nodded but didn’t say another word. He glanced around awkwardly. Did she forget?

“Wasn’t there two things?” he asked. She was a bit wild but knowing there were traps ahead was good information and he wasn’t going to let the second part go.

“Oh, right!” She said and pointed up like she’d had an epiphany, “The monsters. They'll either be a group of them taking up residence with one bigger version as their… king or queen, I guess. That’s a den. Or it’ll be a lair. Lairs usually only have one really big and dangerous thing wandering around in there. So examples. Either a nest of giant spiders with a queen at the center or one big troll.”

“A troll?” Alvin asked.

“Don’t worry a big troll in a young dungeon is a medium sized one in an old dungeon,” Herald said and patted Alvin’s forearm, “They’re not too hard to kill.”

“Just shoot it in the face?” Will asked.

“A few times. They have thick skulls but that would work. They also tend to be incredibly dull creatures.”

Will nodded and grabbed his bag to pull out his carbine. It had better penetration than his sidearms and if the tunnel got too tight to use it, he could easily sling it and grab either one of his revolvers. He chambered a round and put another in the magazine.

“Everyone good? Okaaaay, let’s go,” Silvia ordered and headed down the tunnel again at a quick pace for her short legs, meaning it was a comfortable walking speed for Will and Alvin. Herald huffed and shook his head at her, giving a look worthy of an old man annoyed by the younger generation. Even though if Will had to guess he was maybe 30-35 to her 20-25. Then again he didn’t know halflings. Even though they looked like proportionally scaled down versions of humans, Herald might have been 150 to Silvia’s 75 for all he knew.

As they walked Silvia jogged ahead a little, just out of the range of the light and Will could make out her yellow hair disappear under a hood. It wasn't blonde but bright yellow, so hard to miss even in the failing light. A moment later she disappeared into the shadows. Will looked over at Alvin who didn’t seem too concerned about that at least, then he tried Herald who wasn’t paying attention to him, and kept his eyes ahead. Figuring that the experienced adventurers plus one noob had the right of it, Will directed his attention to the front as well. Though he hoped she’d make herself visible if something came at them. Will didn’t want any friendly fire incidents.

But after another minute of walking, she reappeared.

“Okay, scouting is done. It’s good news or bad news,” she asked.

“Just out with it,” Herald demanded.

“Good news is, there’s not likely going to be any tripwires or pressure plates on the floors. Bad news is it’s a den,” She said but Will was confused, wouldn’t that be better than one far more dangerous monster?

“How’s that bad?” Alvin asked before Will could, “And there’s no traps in dens?”

“No, there will be traps. Just not on the floor. It’s bad because dens usually have smaller treasure but good leveling… so good for you,” Silvia said but she didn’t sound too happy about it.

“What kind of den? Why no traps on the floor?” Herald reminded her.

“Oh, it’s a snake pit,” she said and Will suddenly felt the urge to growl, “There are a lot of lesser and regular ones and a handful of greater ones but I didn’t see the leader… As for the traps. You can’t have a pressure plate with them slithering all over the place but still, watch for tripwires higher up. Well, for you two. Just because they can’t be by your feet doesn’t mean there aren’t any around. And of course, watch out for anything else.”

They stood around for a moment to digest the information. Will had listened to it all but for some reason really wanted to wipe out the entire nest. Forget leveling and a reward, he just wanted the damn things dead.

“Scare tactics?” Alvin asked and looked sheepishly at Will. Probably thinking of the technique they used against him.

At least they didn't call him out for screaming like a little bitch... he didn't quite scream like a little bitch but his fellow marines would have called it that, with every retelling getting more and more exaggerated and embarrassing. He was almost naked and in an unknown environment, so it would have also been a little praise from them as well... He wished he had his fireteam with him.

“Against snakes?” Herald and Silvia both sounded bewildered. Though Will caught a slight smile on Silvia's lips, she was trying not to laugh at the man.

Herald shook his head, “Melee in front, range behind. Shoot the bigger ones before they get near us. As they advance, we’ll fall back into the tunnel and bottleneck them.”

They stood around for another few seconds before the two halflings turned and led the way. It was a sound plan, one that was going to lead to a lot of dead snakes. Will still didn’t understand why he hated snakes so much but he had a feeling it was something that he wasn’t supposed to look into.

They moved out with the two shorter melee fighters in front with the taller human [Shooter] and [Prodigious Gunslinger] in the rear.

“Hold, trap,” Silvia announced quietly and pulled something out of a pouch, she put it in her mouth and exhaled it on a razor thin wire extending vertically from the floor to the ceiling. Whatever she’d breathed on it made it glow ever so slightly. “I saw it on the way passed but I don’t see a mechanism. It’s magical.”

Magical? Will looked at it and activated his [Analyze] skill. He looked at the ceiling and didn’t see any magic, nor on the rock, but once he turned his gaze to the floor his eyes went wide. It looked like there were ten charged wands buried directly below Silvia’s feet.

“Silvia, don’t move,” Will said and got down on his knees and activated [Map Sight]… it didn’t help much. It wasn’t an arcane enchantment. Wil couldn’t see under the ground but he could see five different activation runes spread throughout the tunnel. They were faintly visible to him because they were only covered by a thin layer of dust but only barely. Will had no idea how Silvia had managed to get passed without stepping on one the two times she'd already passed it, “Nobody move.”

“What?” Alvin asked and moved to take a step back.

“Stop! The man said don’t move and I doubt he said it for the fun of it. Eyes don’t glow like that without a reason,” Herald snapped. It wouldn’t have done anything, Alvin was nowhere near the runes but still.

Also, Will’s eyes glowed? He needed a mirror.

Will looked around for a moment more and only saw five of them. After confirming he leaned over and quickly picked up Silvia.

“Hey! I was under a disorientation spell when I was talking about your penis! Watch the hands!” Silvia yelled in an exaggerated whisper. He’d grabbed her under the arms and thanks to the size difference he couldn’t really grab her without his hand wrapping around her a ways. He could have just grabbed her by the armpits and kept her up that way but all she would have to do is raise her arms up and slip down a little at the beginning... If she did, they’d both be hurting at a minimum.

“There’s five activation runes on the surface. Pretty sure it’s a mystic enchantment running underground to ten charged magical objects. Your right foot was right between two of them. Half inch either way…” Will said and looked her in the eyes as he set her down. It was lucky she was small. And lucky that she was apparently lucky in the first place.

“Okaaaay… leave the hands then, get a good feel. Gods damn. I thought I got the feat for spotting the wire while running. What’s that connected to?” Silvia turned to look towards the place she was just standing and pointed at the wire.

“Nothing, it’s a decoy,” Will said. He’d seen similar before. An obvious detonation pack sitting next to a crate but as soon as Explosive Ordinance Disposal arrived the unseen one in the crate would detonate. What looked like plastic explosives stuck to a wall would end up being clay but in the moment would force a squad to divert, only for them to get ripped by a small bit of actual explosive put on an insulated coolant system pipe. Despite the name, the contents were moving heat away from the station’s core and were superheated. Will had seen five marines cooked alive that time… He shook his head and got back into the game.

“...erald, seriously? A fucking anti-[Rogue] trap in a young dungeon?!” Silvia seemed surprised and went silent. After a moment she shook her head.

She hadn’t said a single swear word up to that point, so Will figured it was a big deal. Well, she hadn’t sworn as long as you didn’t count the various pseudo swear words she’d said when under the influence of the spell Herald had cast. Junk, little toad stool, weiner, dang it, things like that. Most being about Will, she said a lot in those short seconds.

But that was passed, even if he took offense to his privates being referred to as smuggling a little mushroom. He focused on the moment and took a chance to squat down to look at her and grip her shoulder. The fact she'd gone quiet was the issue at hand. She locked eyes with him and he knew… You could tell a lot from a person’s eyes, especially a fellow fighter. Especially one who had been reminded of darker times.

Will shook his head slightly and bowed it. It wasn’t right seeing them die like that, he could fucking smell it now that it was in his mind. And whatever her story was, he knew the moment she bowed hers that it really wasn’t that dissimilar from his. She gave his arm a halfling smack and he let go. But she didn’t look mad, annoyed, or violated. She nodded a mutual understanding.

Will stood but his gaze still immediately fell to the floor. He shook his head again, casting out the demons as they say.

“You two. This a good place to mark?” Herald said behind them. Will turned and saw him ready to carve into the wall. He moved closer and went through his Skills.

“Looks good to me,” Will said.

“Same,” Silvia agreed and immediately turned her head back to the trap while Herald started carving another warning into the wall, “So, is there a safe place to pass?”

“Ah…” Will dug into his bag and pulled out his broom again and stepped closer, making sure he didn’t go even a step further than he had previously.

“A broom?” Alvin asked.

“That’s silk on it from spiders. It looks like silver. So yeah, a broom. Shut up, Alvin,” Silvia snapped at the man. It had been a stupid question for such a tense moment but Will got a little pleasure from the look of approval Herald and Silvia had when looking at his regrowing cotton candy stick.

Will squatted back down and activated [Map Sight] before he cycled through to [Analyze] once he knew where the activation runes were again and began to draw circles in the dirt on the tunnel’s floor. He marked out a path that should get them across with only having to step over a portion of a single one. It was a wide tunnel but they were also largely drawn runes. He looked for Silvia's path initially but she had been too light to make any real marks in the dirt, even with his tracking Skill. Maybe just a [Rogue] class thing.

“Step in the circles. There’s a rune in the gap,” Will told them, just to be sure they didn’t think he was tracing out where the runes were and accidentally set off a magic land mine. He stepped out into the first stepping stone and then the next to double check there weren’t more beyond the range of his skill but thankfully, that was it.

“One more thing, William. I know I said I wouldn’t ask but your class?” Herald asked.

“Why do you need that?” Will asked and Herald pointed at the wall above his head.

“Union standard. Always put the… guess you could say tier of the person who found the trap. It’s just a number, not your actual class. So anyone else coming by knows if they can trust it or if they should have their own, more qualified individual look it over. Like this, If you were an [Appraiser] by profession with a-”

“[Arcane Artificer],” Will told him. He got it. It went back to what he was just thinking about. Like a marine marking a spot for EOD to check out.

“HAH!” Silvia yelled in Herald’s general direction, “You owe me five dollars.”

Silvia then did a strange little dance in celebration. Will was kind of weirded out about it, it was almost what he’d consider modern. In a dorky, ‘I win, you lose’, kind of way. Her arms crossed back and forth while she shook her hips around, gyrating while slightly bent over. Will knew people that danced like that.

“Are you really an [Artificer]?” Herald asked. Will stopped watching the spectacle that was Silvia dancing to lantern light and nodded to him and Herald grinned back, “Nope, you just lost. You bet an [Enchanter] was in the town.”

“What?! No! That’s just an upgrade from an [Enchanter]. It still counts!” Silvia countered.

“Again, can’t we wait till we ain’t in the-” Alvin tried to stop it but gave up before they could even cut him off.

“Not the same thing, he might have been an [Engi…”

Alvin looked at them and turned to Will as the two halflings started to bicker, “Are there any jobs in town for a [Shooter], [Hunter], and [Cook]? Not sure I can do this adventurin’ business. Not if we're doin' dungeons.”

“I know they’re looking for new deputies,” Will told him. He wasn't sure if the man would be a fit for it but that was up to the Sheriff to decide. He could at least send him over.

“Been in jail before,” Alvin admitted.

“What for?”

“Fightin’ at the saloon, drunk,” Alvin admitted after a moment and Will almost laughed.

“Talk to the Sheriff when we get to town, I don't think that'll be a problem,” Will did laugh a little then. He might fit right in with Jakob and Skunk. He stopped laughing after a second and looked at Alvin, “Seriously, if that’s it. Talk to the Sheriff. I don’t know the process but I know they’re trying to get ready for when the town grows because of all this.”

Alvin nodded and muttered thanks. Will was about to offer to go there with the man but was stopped when a rock hit him in the chest. He looked over to see Silvia standing with her arms crossed and her foot tapping rapidly. She looked like a cartoon rabbit.

“Which one is it, were you an [Engineer] first or an [Enchanter]?” Silvia poked him in the side and asked.

“I went to a university to be an engineer but never finished and never got the class. I got [Artificer] after finding an [Enchanter] tome. It upgraded as soon as I used it,” Will told them the truth.

“Hah!” Silvia pointed at Herald.

“Nope, he was working to be an engineer first and went straight up…”

Will was kind of surprised as it started again. In his limited experience with the group, Herald had been the voice of reason so far along with Alvin, even if the human wasn’t treated as nicely. He looked to Alvin and the man seemed to know the question.

“He’s a [Priest] for a war god. Keeps preachin’ bout ‘gold wins wars as much as soldiers’, one of his god’s tenements or whatever they’s called. He’s picky bout money.”

The debate about the bet didn’t end but Will cleared his throat loudly and the two halflings mutually agreed to take it up later. The four of them cleared the trap and Will walked alongside Silvia to watch for more as they made their way through to the cavern that split off into tunnels in every direction. Once they got there, Herald used his staff to cast light forward and Will saw the snakes. Hundred of them crawling over themselves, slithering everywhere. Some the size of rattle snakes, others as big as pythons, a few bigger than that… Will saw red. Fuck those things!

“Alvin, take the-”

*Bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang*

“What the-” Herald started but Will dropped the carbine to dangle over his elbow. He’d gone after the four biggest snakes in the room first. Not even using [Quick Aim] on them while he stared into their eyes. Then went for two of the python sized ones. As soon as he was out, Will drew his double action revolver and took aim.

*Bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang*

Then his hand cannon. The 50 cal turned onto another massive snake that entered and two more python sized ones, finally the closest little one. The little shit’s head almost disintegrated.

*Bang* *bang* *bang* *bang*

Then his hydro-cut wand. The bastards were all going to die.

He stepped in front of the two halflings and activated the wand. A stream of water speared out and he quickly started drawing squiggles in the cavern floor in front of him, slicing into silver crested snakes everywhere he saw them. They made it easy too, most rearing up like a cobra only to have their head sliced clean off or cut in two. When another greater snake made its way into the cavern, he switched to it and had to hold it for a few seconds. It thrashed around trying to avoid the drilling stream of water. He was kind of mad that it hurt the snake but didn’t break through its scales. Will left it and made another arc through the cavern and killed a handful more little ones but most of it was just slicing up already dead and dying danger noodles before the wand sputtered out and died. He looked at the big one still reeling slightly and dropped his bag and pulled out his rifle.

*Bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang*

“What in the hells was that?!” Silvia exclaimed as she let go of her ears and gestured to well over a hundred dead snakes. There were still hundreds more but Will had taken out every big one in sight. Still, he quickly started loading his firearms.

“I don’t like snakes. Don’t know why, just don’t like ‘em,” Will said. He kind of wished he knew. Didn’t he use to like snakes?

“I’ll say… Let me know if you’re ever thinking about not liking me, so I can move to Teyryn or Andalnya,” Silvia said during a lull in the violence. Even the snakes seemed confused by what had just happened. Though that might have been because of the noise. The sound had echoed quite a bit.

“You’re not just an [Artificer] are ya?” Herald asked.

“I said I was a [Gunslinger]. I'm also a [Bounty Hunter],” Will said as he holstered his revolvers and moved to reload the carbine.

“Alvin… if he’s willing to join us. You’re fired,” Silvia said.

“If he’s willing to join you, I’ll go on and quit for the sake of the Group.”

“Nope. Fired.”

“Alright, enough of that. They’re waking back up. Will… If you would, please spare our ears and only shoot the big ones. But feel free to use that wand again,” Herald said.

“I’ll try and the wands dead,” Will told him.

“Let me see it,” Herald asked, and without a reason not to, Will handed it to him. Herald rolled it around in his hand for a moment, paying particular attention to the crystal embedded in the bottom.

“Ah… one of these,” Herald remarked and brought it up and jammed the crystal into the larger one on his staff. Half a second later a powerful burst of water erupted from the wand that was even more powerful than by itself. The halfling priest wasn’t as accurate as if he’d been holding it normally but it was like a turret.

He lazily sliced back and forth through the densest ranks of snakes, cutting them to pieces. Will was awestruck by it. Not only was he very vaguely introduced to the possibility of magic artillery, but he hadn’t known you could use one mana crystal to charge another. He’d have to ask when they were done, make sure it wasn’t a Ski-.

“There’s the queen!” Silvia called out from the flank where she’d moved to start dicing snakes coming from the side. She threw a few things into the middle of the room and they ignited, leaving a considerable amount of light. A light that illuminated a massive head sliding out of a tunnel at the far side of the cavern. It was beyond massive for a snake. Its mouth was easily five feet across. Its hood shone a metallic hue in the light of the flares and when it opened its mouth Will didn’t see the fangs that the lesser of its kind had but a full set of teeth that would have made Void jealous.

“Why is that in- Will! Forget what I just said, screw our ears! SHOOT IT!” Herald yelled and Will grabbed his rifle first.

“We can't back up far enough with that trap, it can fit in the passage! Follow me,” Silvia yelled and-

*bang*

For the first time that day, Will missed on the largest target he’d seen so far. It wasn’t his own doing though because Alvin had pushed him towards Silvia at the moment he pulled the trigger.

Will looked at the man and saw that Herald was already moving too. He’d gotten tunnel vision.

“Come on!” Silvia yelled again and Will turned and ran. He briefly considered picking up the two halflings but after a moment didn’t’ see the need to. They weren’t as fast as a human but they were still quick and extraordinarily nimble. Or at least Silvia was, he saw her dodge a lightning fast strike from a snake and cut off its head with her knives in one fast, fluid motion. A moment after he saw a strike ring true on Alvin and Will drew and shot the snake at point blank range before grabbing the man around the shoulders when he started to limp.

Will saw a shadow go across the wall and looked back to see the queen snake gaining on them as it completely ignored the flare it slithered over. It even ignored some of its own den mates, crushing them below its bulk.

Surprisingly or not, the two halflings made it to sanctuary first. Will saw the tunnel Silvia had led them to and gulped. It was going to be a tight squeeze for a couple full grown human males and he hoped it wasn’t a dead end. Will looked back the other way at the main entrance to the labyrinth and shook his head. He had an idea but it was too late now. He made it to the entrance and pushed Alvin in while using [Quick Step] to get himself in. Just in time.

*THUMMM*