The small alley led out to a small street. The streetlights were dark where they weren't shattered ruins. The half moon overhead gave off just enough light to see their immediate surroundings, leaving large swathes of the ruined city hidden in shadow.

The road itself was cracked and broken. Weeds grew through the concrete rubble, and Solomon had to watch where he put his feet on every step if he didn't want to trip and end up on his face. The street also meandered back and forth just enough to make it impossible to see more than half a block ahead.

The mouth of the alley in which they had arrived had disappeared into the darkness behind them by the time they saw the first new exit from the street. Another alleyway, between another set of dilapidated buildings. Solomon took a look around to make sure that everybody was ready for a fight before he led them any further.

This time, they weren't taken by surprise. This time, they had been looking up when the first wave of vermin came flying at them by jumping off the roofs. It was still an awful lot of raccoons to fight off. They still fought with insane rage. They still carried poison in their claws.

Despite that, Solomon's companions were beginning to show a deadly edge of their own. He saw weapons moving just a bit more crisply, hitting home with just a bit more confidence. Some of it from practice and improved skill, and some no doubt the reward for spending their first batch of grid points.

Either way, the end result was impressive. Nobody was knocked off their feet. Solomon kept one eye on Julie the whole time, and she was never close to being in danger. When the pile of dead raccoons was all that was left of their enemies, it didn't even look like anybody had been poisoned. They had risen to the occasion.

If this had been a video game, they probably wouldn't be getting any more rewards for killing raccoons now that it was too easy. Unfortunately, the dungeon wasn't set up to let them skip tasks that they had mastered. They had to gather up and march forward for the next fight. And the next. And the next.

Even when they had a clear edge in the fight, there was still some danger. A moment's inattention or a single ill-timed swipe could lead to a raccoon clawing at your face. Nobody actually lost an eye, but there were a few close calls as the grind went on. The system was keeping them all physically fresh, but the stress of the constant battles still wore at them.

When they walked past an alley and found no raccoons pouring out to meet them, Solomon couldn't hold back a sigh of relief. He called out to the others to let them know that they had cleared the outer stretch of the dungeon. He was hesitant to hand out orders, but he found his suggestion that they take a break before moving further into the dungeon interior received unanimous approval.

Solomon had been through a dungeon before, and he was still feeling the strain. Having to worry about keeping other people alive added a whole new dimension to the worries on his mind. That burden had lightened now that they had cleared one section of the dungeon, but it had hardly vanished. The hardest part was still ahead.

Nobody was inclined for chit chat during this break. After hours of combat, Solomon was just glad for a chance to rest his feet for a while. Judging from the people sprawled out around him, staring off at nothing, he wasn't the only one.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Solomon waited for a solid quarter of an hour to pass after his MP had filled all the way back up from disassembling the last of the raccoons. Finally, he couldn't put it off any longer. He climbed to his feet with a groan. Everyone else slowly clambered up from the ground in fits and starts. Solomon was glad that they all still seemed to be eager, or at least willing, to go on.

The next step was reasonably straightforward. They had walked in a big circle, always turning right to explore alleyways that were on the outside of the circle. They had passed a single footpath leading off to their left, far narrower than the alleys. Solomon had held out hope that a broader and safer pathway into the heart of the dungeon would appear at some point. He'd been disappointed.

Now, they made their way to that narrow path. Solomon took the lead. He wasn't exactly optimized for hand to hand combat, but between his massive haul of attribute points and the miscellaneous special abilities he'd picked up, he was a lot safer up front than anybody else would have been.

He could feel the walls pressing in around him as he walked. The buildings here were holding together much better than the ones on the outskirts of town. Either that or they had just started out that much taller. The moonlight barely reached the street. With every step, Solomon expected an ambush to begin.

As it happened, the only casualty of the walk was Solomon's nerves. They continued down the walkway unmolested until it ended at a small park. Solomon noticed a few picnic tables, a jogging trail circling the area, and a small playground. Then he noticed that the cloud overhead was moving with a purpose.

"Above!" he called out, bringing his own shield up to shield his head. All around him, people followed suit. They had spread out a bit on exiting the walkway, but they were still standing fairly close together. That meant that everybody was able to get to shelter before they heard the series of heavy thuds as something hit their shields. A lot of somethings.

One of the men standing next to Solomon was careless or just unlucky. His shield was knocked to the side. As soon as the opening appeared, a blur came down from above, striking at the junction of shoulder and neck. Solomon stared in disbelief at the jumbo-sized pigeon with its beak buried to the hilt in human flesh, feathers dyed red by the spurting blood.

He took a step to the side, keeping his own shield in place thanks to the strength boost granted by the system. He reached out and took a firm grip on the pigeon's neck, then ripped it free. He ignored the invigorated outpouring of blood. The system healing would take care of it. Solomon focused on thoroughly squeezing the bird's neck until it stopped struggling.

One down. A whole lot more to go.