Soon enough, they had armed and armored themselves and gathered outside the dungeon entrance. The store itself had been quite similar to the one back on Solomon's territory. The aisles were a bit wider, and the proprietor seemed a bit less invested in their success.

To be fair, he had at least roused himself to recommend that they bring some antivenin along for the coming fight. An ominous sign, but it was nice to learn about the poisonous creatures headed their way before they were locked into the dungeon with them. Each of was carrying two of the magical epipens, with at least one kept out of inventory.

The antivenin was the beginning and end of their standardized equipment. Tiffany had sunk most of her money into an oversized mace. The spiked head looked deadly even without considering the enchantments layered onto the thing. Her only concession to defense was an armored vambrace protecting each forearm. Julie had taken a page out of Solomon's book, donning clothing made of stab-resistant fabric. She armed herself with a two-handed spear. Solomon certainly sympathized with the desire to keep monsters as far away as possible. He could easily see himself picking up a weapon like that if he'd had two hands to work with.

Everybody else was all over the place. Shields, swords, and spears were most common, but he did see one man wielding a pair of daggers, and another with a bow and arrow. Their overall appearance was perhaps the exact opposite of a well-coordinated army. It was a far cry from the uniformity Solomon had seen imposed on the red-armband wearing guards by the invaders.

Maybe that was for the best. The system didn't offer any bonuses for coordinated outfits. For that matter, it didn't offer a lot of bonuses for group effort in general. Everybody had to earn their own grid points. They'd just have to figure out how to work together under pressure. Fortunately, the dungeon would offer a lot of practice, and plenty of pressure.

"Everybody ready?" Solomon asked. The group didn't exactly come to attention, but they did at least turn to face him. "We're liable to be attacked as soon as we step through that door."

There was a bit of shuffling around. The guys with shields by and large made their way to the front line. Julie stepped up and turned so that she was half facing the group and half facing Solomon.

"Maybe we should all pair up?" she asked. "We can cover each other's weaknesses."

Solomon nodded. "That's a good idea."

It had been a while since he'd been on a field trip that used the buddy system, but he could see the logic in it. It was nice to think that everybody could look out for everybody else, but it was a lot more practical for each person to have one specific person's back. They couldn't transform themselves into a professional army on the fly, but pairing up was something they could do that would be better than nothing.

He stood to the side and watched as people found their battle buddies. His sister paired up with one of Julie's brothers, while the other matched up with another guy from the neighborhood. Being as everybody more or less knew each other, it didn't take long for them to get sorted out. In the end, Solomon and Julie were the last two left standing apart from the group.

"Looks like you'll be watching out for me," she said.

"All right," Solomon agreed. They should mesh together well, in terms of weaponry. He'd be able to clean up anything that got past her spear with his axe, while if he had to start shooting he'd be happy to have somebody by his side with a spear to keep monsters off of him.

He took one last look around. The guys with shields were still in the front. They hadn't formed into a phalanx, but buddying up had imposed at least a bit of organization. Everybody was watching him, so Solomon didn't waste any time. He turned and put his hand on the door behind him.

Would you like to enter the dungeon?

WARNING: Once you enter, you can only leave by clearing a floor.

At his mental signal, the door swung open. The eerie shimmering curtain was a familiar sight to Solomon by now. He ignored the whispers of surprise coming from behind him and stepped forward.

Teleportation didn't get any more comfortable with experience. Solomon bit his tongue and bore with it as a wave of nausea passed over him. Once the world snapped into focus, he took a quick look around.

First, much to his surprise, nothing was trying to kill him. The only other living thing he saw around him were his companions, each gradually fading into view as they stepped through the door.

That wasn't the only surprise. When he'd been told to stock up on antivenin, he'd imagined it was to deal with the poisons of some sort of jungle environment. Failing that, he'd figured the dungeon might be a woodland, like the last one.

Instead, he found himself standing in what was unmistakably the ruins of a city. His back was to the wall at the end of a dead end alleyway. It was the kind of place that would usually be used for delivery and garbage collection. Actually, now that he looked, the rubble ahead of him and to his right could be the rusted out remains of a dumpster. The concrete of the alley itself was cracked and uneven, while the buildings around him were halfway intact at best.

Outside it was a bright and sunny day. Here in the confines of the dungeon it was night time. The half moon overhead provided just enough light to make out the ravages that had been inflicted on the city by time. Or by the dungeon's simulation. Either way, it was an eerie glimpse of a future that awaited them if they failed to rise to the system's challenge.

The end of the alley was shrouded in shadow. Solomon thought he could see a flicker of motion in time with a soft rustling sound, but he couldn't be sure. He grimaced. He was in a dungeon. If nothing was trying to kill him right now, it's because they were preparing to kill him in the near future.