The dungeon defiler, a twelve-foot-tall monstrosity of hulking muscles and a long maw of thick teeth, marched in a circle—likely right over Rhen’s dungeon opening. Its canine nose sniffed at the air, pulling a deep inhale. It must’ve smelled Rhen’s unoccupied dungeon and thought it’d scored big.

Defilers rarely rolled up on dungeons that were actively being mined, unless it was desperate. They survived off a diet of anima and meat, the latter which could easily be found in the forest, but the former was hard to come by in large quantities—except in a dungeon.

Rhen took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. He’d never fought a defiler before, but he imagined it was just like killing any other dungeon monster. If he defeated it, he’d get the thing’s massive crystal core, loaded down with anima from however many dungeons it’d suckled from… but that also meant it’d have a wide variety of syntials from different dungeons, and abilities that did not mesh in cohesive ways. It would be a wildcard battle.

And if he didn’t win, well he’d cross that rainbow bridge when he came to it. Rhen hadn’t saved at a Resurrection node recently. A death now would mean losing months of progress and a trip back to Shin’Bara.

He couldn’t distract himself with those thoughts right now. He needed to focus.

The defiler turned toward Rhen, sniffing again. Could it smell him? Rhen had been sweating profusely.

The dungeon hunting monster growled low in its throat, like a warning. “This is mine,” its guttural snarl said.

Rhen sucked down a deep breath and activated Primordial Breath, thinking, Darkness, when he exhaled. A black cloud billowed out from his lips and filled the air between him and the defiler. The monster roared in anger. Rhen moved, circling around left behind the cloud and into a cluster of bushes.

He knew he’d be able to use his breath another five or six times before his lungs couldn’t take anymore, but he’d rather use his other abilities with the anima he had left. If he ran his skills to the limit, the lack of anima in his body would make him weak, and could cause him to collapse… it had happened before, and now would be the worst time for it.

The defiler pushed through the trees, snapping roots with simple shoves. The trees bent under the monster’s immense strength, allowing it passage to the dark cloud Rhen had left behind.

Rhen wanted to pounce when the monster’s back was turned but waited. He wanted to see just what kind of spells this thing had up its metaphorical sleeves.

The defiler was still a good ten feet from the spot Rhen had been when a green syntial glowed to life on its muscled back. It dropped to all fours, arcing its spine as a rumble grew in the pit of its stomach. With a loud bark, it spat about a gallon of acidic green mucous into the black cloud.

What was it with monsters wanting to melt his skin recently?

The black mist dispersed, revealing not acid burned plants, but colorful glowing mushrooms sprouting at a much too advanced rate. The caps bloomed, and when the defiler stomped, they released spores.

Nope, that wasn’t good at all.

Rhen pulled in another breath and imagined a raging fire. He activated swift twitch and leapt forward ten feet in a single bound. The fire spell belched from his lips, eating up the mushrooms, their spores, and lighting the defiler’s sparse fur.

The defiler howled and swung around with a beefy arm. Rhen ducked, then slish-slashed with his crescent moon blades along the monster’s unguarded side. The defiler kicked hard, catching Rhen in the chest, and sent him pinwheeling into the air.

Rhen activated swift twitch again, twisting mid-air and landing in a somewhat graceful roll. His sternum hurt, and he couldn’t breathe as deep as he wanted. The defiler pursued him, its crispy skin oozing and its side bleeding.

Despite his limited lung capacity, Rhen activated his fire breath again. The defiler shied away from the flames, giving Rhen just enough time to turn tail and run for the rushing river. A thick branch sailed past him with near-deadly accuracy and Rhen looked back. The defiler pulled a sapling from the ground, lining up to spear Rhen through.

Rhen grabbed a fist-sized rock and ducked behind a thicker tree for shelter. The sapling crashed against the trunk behind him with a sickening crack. Rhen imagined his bones crumpling against the tree when the defiler got hold of him.

No, Rhen had a plan. A stupid plan but whatever.

He pulled the rope from his pack and tied one end to the rock. The ground trembled at the defiler’s coming. Rhen dashed for the next tree, getting to its shelter just before another something smashed against it. Sounded like a rock this time.

The retching sound of mushroom spore splat came again. Rhen made one last mad dash around the nearest tree, spinning the rock-ended rope in a tight circle. The defiler spat out his mushroom goop over the tree Rhen had been taking shelter behind.

The passive healing had done its work on Rhen’s chest, and he was able to take a deep breath again. He thought light this time and charged toward the beast.

The defiler flexed, activating a deep blue syntial on its chest. Rhen didn’t want to discover what that was, so he unleashed the light spell early, a few feet out. The defiler growled in pain. Rhen squinted through the bright mist, finding the creature had reared back, trying to avoid the spell it thought was fire.

Rhen activated swift twitch and fired his makeshift grappling rope at the closest tree trunk big enough to hold the defiler. The rope swung around the trunk, smacking the defiler in the face, and disorienting it. Rhen ran around the tree, pulling the rope tight and slamming the defiler against the trunk.

The monster pulled and the rope whined. It wouldn’t hold long, but hopefully long enough. Rhen ran around the tree again. The defiler reached for him, and Rhen dodged wide, managing to wrap a loop around its wrist. He ran around the tree and pulled hard again, pinning the defiler’s arm across its body. He wrapped one last time, then tied an awkward, shaky-handed knot.

The defiler pulled and strained, red syntials lighting up along its arms. The rope began to slip into the defiler’s arm, like he was phasing through it. Rhen couldn’t give it a chance to finish whatever it was doing, and crescent blades wouldn’t do their job fast enough. Rhen summoned all his anima and channeled it into his arms. He placed his hand on the beast’s stomach and activated tremor blast, imagining the strongest vibrations he could.

His hands shot backwards at the force of the spell that ripped the defiler’s guts open. Thick, yellowed blood exploded out of the defilers back and splashed against the tree. It gave a weak groan, legs kicking into the bloody dirt, and then its syntials went dark. The defiler slumped forward, held against the tree by the rope running through its body.

Rhen sat back and sighed. “Shoulda just let me have my dungeon.”

He allowed himself a quick rest to regain some anima, then cut through the nasty, goopy guts to find the thing’s core. It wasn’t as large as he’d hoped, but still considerable. As soon as he found a mastery node in his dungeon, he’d be leveling up again, and getting whatever cool powers his new dungeon had to offer.

The river was near enough that he washed before getting started. It would be a good source for him when trying to clean and refine his ore. Oh, and regular baths, and cooking. He realized then just how lucky he’d gotten to have the river so close. If not for that, he would’ve had to travel back to town for his water needs until he could dig a well.

After a moment of searching, Rhen located the dungeon entrance. It was a hole in the ground not more than five feet wide, with a ten-foot drop to a rocky bottom. Moss covered the sunless edges of the dark stone, and roots snaked out across the walls. There was a tunnel leading off into the earth on the sunny side, but Rhen couldn’t see more than two feet in from his angle.

He was giddy to get inside, but knew he would be tired when he emerged later. If he didn’t set up his tent first, he’d be sleeping with the elements tonight. He found a nice flat spot under some trees and made his temporary home.

Rhen really wanted to get in the dungeon, but maybe should secure some more water before going in. He’d be thirsty and hungry after fighting, and would need to be prepared to cook whatever monster meat he found—he sure as hell wasn’t going to eat the defiler with its yellowed flesh.

With water gathered, and tent erected, Rhen looked around at his little camp. Something was still missing.

Ah, a fire pit. He didn’t want the whole forest burning down while he was sleeping.

After a good thirty minutes, he’d built a suitable pit for cooking that night. Rhen paused, arms crossed, and glanced about his space.

His space.

Boy, that felt nice.

He turned his attention on the dungeon opening, determination swelling in his chest. He was going to delve the ever-fluffing s—

A bush ruffled behind him and Rhen dropped into a crouch.

“It is only me,” came a familiar rumbling in Rhen’s chest.

A watery hand slipped through the underbrush, then Aki’s body appeared, carried on a wave between the thick branches.

Rhen stood, his hand resting on the hilt of his crescent moon blade. “What are you doing here?” He tried to keep the accusation from his tone. Aki said he was on a pilgrimage, but that didn’t make it so.

Aki stopped a few feet away. “You were right about Desedra. I was never going to get to Tertia with them, so I took your advice about a smaller dungeon.”

“And you want to try your luck here? I don’t even know if this dungeon has enough to get me to Tertia, let alone someone else.”

“I will do whatever you tell me to do. Please, do not make me go back there. You were the only person kind to me.”

Rhen winced. He was playing at his pity, and somehow it was working.

No. He had to resist. He didn’t want to be responsible for anyone, plus, the paperwork, and it became so much more difficult to manage the proper delving of the dungeon so early on. There were so many good reasons to send Aki away, even some for his own good.

“There are other more profitable dungeons in the area. I don’t have the…” Rhen gestured at his camp, searching for the words. “Anything. I have no inn, no second tent, no baths or food. Nothing.”

“I can fish, very well. There is a stream not far. I can also make fires. I can refresh my biosphere with the river water, no bath required. I sleep in three-to-four-minute increments throughout the day, so a tent is also unnecessary.”

Rhen scowled. His only argument left was the one he hadn’t told him. “It could be very dangerous, Aki. There is no Resurrection node yet, there’s not even a Mastery node. If you died or became gravely injured, you’re going back to wherever you last saved your anima essence.”

“Then I would return home. I have not made any imprint in the other realms, as is the custom of my people.”

Rhen opened his mouth to protest further, and Aki stopped him.

“Please. If you do not wish to have me here, be forward. I will accept your wishes and depart. If your objections are for my safety or comfort, understand that I have been through far worse than a forest camp.”

Rhen sighed. “No. It’s…”

What was it? A little paperwork wasn’t that big of a deal. He was aware of the risks. He didn’t seem completely incompetent, and survived a week with Desedra. If Rhen got in trouble, having backup would be nice, and Aki’s psionic abilities were a wonder.

“Well… I guess you can stay for a while and see if it’s profitable here.”

Aki fluttered in a circle inside his waterbody, skin pulsing colorfully. “I will make my presence appreciated, I promise.”

“Whatever you say. Technically I’m not supposed to let you in the dungeon before your paperwork is signed…”

“I am an adept liar.”

Rhen snorted. “Somehow, I doubt that. But it’ll be fine. I’ll get your paperwork, you sign it, I turn it in. You won’t need to lie to anyone, just… don’t say anything at all.”

Rhen pulled his bag up onto his shoulders and motioned for Aki to follow. There were plenty of stable roots around the edges of the dungeon opening, so Rhen used those to climb down since his rope was currently indisposed. When he reached the bottom, he realized that Aki’s body was made of water… and he probably couldn’t climb.

“Should I get a bucket for you?”

Aki poured his watery body over the edge and landed with a contained splash at the bottom. He floated around in the bobble of water for a moment, skin pulsing a vibrant pink and white. Then, he reformed his water in the shape of a human and put himself at the top, like a head.

Rhen hadn’t given it a second thought before, but realized Aki could move the water into any shape he pleased. There was something uncanny about a cephalopod head at the top of a man-shaped body.

But enough of that. It was time to delve.

“I’m a fighter type. I get close to the monsters with these,” he paused and pulled out his crescent moon blades.

“Yes. I’ve seen you fight.”

Rhen scowled. “Oh?”

“The defiler.”

“And you didn’t think to help?”

“You were not in danger. I would have assisted when necessary.”

“Wait, so you watched me set up camp, too?”

Aki’s glow faded and he went pale. “I was nervous to approach.”

Rhen laughed and patted him on the back with a splash. “You are definitely cooking on your own tonight to make up for it. But good, so you know how I fight. What can you do?”

Aki split his watery body in two and controlled the second, half sized body—making it do a weird little jig. Then his tentacles glowed a bright yellow, and an aurora of color projected from him, winding through the water. It was hypnotizing to watch, and suddenly Rhen realized his hands wouldn’t move, nor his legs, or any other part of him. He’d even stopped breathing.

“Kay, got it,” he said through his clenched jaw.

“I can control the water, and my Aurora Wave spell has several different cebrum and kinse uses. I have five ancilla appended to that one.” He dismissed the magic and brought the water back into his body.

Rhen sighed, happy to be free of the spell. “You can be the crowd control. Just try not to get in my way, and I’ll try not to get in yours.”

Rhen turned to the narrow opening of the dungeon entrance and strapped on his hand-drill.

It was time to get to work.