As Zach moved the dagger down his deaden calf, Grim appeared next to him in his usual jeans and a tee. Zach gritted his teeth, angled the dagger point towards the head of the leech and pushed down into the leeches soft head. Blood dripped out of the leech’s stump, as its mouth loosened on Zach’s flesh. Grim looked at Zach making a face like he would throw up as Zach reached into his inventory for a bandage. Zach placed the clean rag around his wound, as he looked up at Grim, “Thanks for all the help, damn Leeches nearly overwhelmed us.” Zach said through his teeth as he applied pressure to the wound.

“No problem, we are kind of joined at the hip.” Grim said as he looked over the platform. “You know…” Grim continued, making Zach look up at him, “since the Leeches have a poison you could cast Purge Poison on everyone, that way if anyone gets attacked we won’t have to wait for the poison to be neutralized.”

Zach sighed as he tied off the bandage. He felt stupid and guilty as to not having cast the spell before they had left the jump point. Just as he was getting up the slimy head of the leech dissolved into a small pool of what looked like black tar. Zach stared as the small black specks floated up from the pool into the air to drift away. Zach scooted his body over to Alexa and Andy as Hayze patrolled the waters around the platform. Alexa and Andy looked over at Zach has he continued to move towards them.

Finally, as Zach seemed to settle down in one place, he looked over at Andy as the man bit his lip trying not to laugh. Shaking his head, Zach wanted to move the conversation forward. “Grim reminded me that I have a new spell Purge Poison. I just…” Zach realized that everything he wanted to say was an excuse. He had screwed up, and he needed to own it. “I am sorry. Next time before we enter I will use the spell.” Andy and Alexa both smiled and nodded their acceptance at his apology.

Sighing, Zach focused on the [Purge Poison] spell, as arcane words and hand gestures came to him, a small part of his concentration split and he felt like there was another way to perform the spell. The details were hazy, but a focus, chant and an octagon came to mind. Pushing the strange knowledge away, Zach completed the words for the spell and felt a small ball circling around him. The feeling was of cool air blowing over your skin, yet instead of staying in one spot it moved around him and had the feel of a circle.

Starting again, Zach chanted the spell eight times in a row giving each member of their party the buff. As he completed the last spell, he felt a mental fatigue settle about him. As Alexa spoke Zach turned his head to focus on her. “… how much…. Mana….”

Zach took a large yawn as his eyes shut close. He needed three, maybe four minutes of rest, and then he could get up and walk around. As Zach felt his arms and neck relaxed, his body fell against a rough surface keeping him upright. Hard hands gripped Zach’s face and forced open his mouth. Struggling Zach tried to push away the hands as he choked on a liquid that was a mix between blueberries and leather. As a little of it went down his throat, he felt like a wave of caffeine went through his entire body.

Zach drank the potion in the clay bottle as he looked up to see Andy holding his head roughly while pouring the potion down his throat. “There you go Zach, you nearly passed out from using all of your mana. Thankfully, I bought a few mana and heal potions in case we got into trouble.” Zach weakly took the potion from Andy and Andy slowly backed away from him. As Zach continued to drink the bizarre tasting potion, the sense of energy filled his body. It was like drinking a cup of coffee on an empty stomach. It filled you up, but it also gave you the sense it wasn’t what you needed.

Taking the last sip from the bottle Zach offered it back up to Andy. "Nay lad, toss it against the wall or throw it in the sewer stream. Let the dungeon claim the bottle and whatever is left in it, it may reward us for adding to its loot table." Andy said. Unsure what to say, Zach threw the bottle into the water to watch it float for a few seconds before sinking into the current.

“You act like the dungeon is alive, Andy?” Zach said as he felt a small tingle of pain going down his paralyzed leg.

“Can’t say it's not, Zach. I know that the City Core controls the dungeon, but there are a few wild ones out in nature. Elemental monsters come out of them and they change the surrounding land until someone notices and then they send in as many people as possible to kill the dungeon.” A dark look passed over Andy as he spoke about dungeon killing. “It’s a right bloody mess. People dying left and right, mana monsters coming at you. Natural dungeons don’t have jump points either, so there is no rest until someone finds the exact center of the dungeon and pulls the crystals from its pedestal, and once that happens the extra dimensional space around the dungeon becomes unstable. Massive mana pulses wash over you and you have to be strong enough to harness the mana or become corrupted. If you are lucky enough to survive the mana pulses and dying mana beasts to get to the entrance, you find a bunch of other adventurers watching you leave with a crystal that someone can sell for a small fortune.” Andy turned to Alexa and Zach and smiled, “Thankfully, City controlled dungeons don’t have a dungeon heart.”

Zach, Alexa, and Andy sat in silence as the poison slowly worked out of the two young adventurer’s systems. Once the poison was neutralized they continued down the series of tunnels fighting two more ambushes of leeches. Thankfully, the plan to not get caught in the overflowing water worked and everyone was unhurt. It wasn’t until the sixth platform they encountered rats.

Zach looked out from the stone walkway across to the platform to see around twenty rats the size of cats pawing through a large garage pile on the platform. The black and gray rats with open sores seemed to dig through scraps of cloth, broken wood panels, and unrecognizable junk with their long pale paws. Small fingers seemed to grab bits as their large mouths chewed on the rubbish to see if it was edible. Zach pulled his eyes away from the closest rat to a mound that seemed to move. The back end of a rat came out of the pile that was twice the height of a surrounding rats. As the creature continued to move backward more of it came into view, as large growths appeared all over its body, while its tails seemed to be chopped in half and on the end, it exposed a spike of bare bone.

“Shit, a Dire Rat! Alexa cover the platform. Zach I need you to back up.” Andy said.

Yet with morbid fascination Zach watched as the Dire Rat brought out its head with a torn bloated arm in it. The monster looked to the group, and the rat had one clear black eye, while the other one looked to be sealed close in pus and damage. They heard the loud growl that came out of the Dire Rat’s throat over the rushing water and Zach finally moved behind Hayze and Alexa.

“Zach, cast at anything that moves!” Andy said as one of his spinning chains shot out of from location and the bladed end pierced the Dire Rats shoulder, making it drop the arm it held. As the Dire Rat screamed in pain, Zach started to cast [Flaming Arrow]. Rats appeared from behind the garbage pile as the ones in front sprinted towards the wooden board that served as a bridge between the platform and walkway. Zach could see Andy’s chains flying out and breaking limbs, while Alexa crouched down sword in hand waiting for the rats to come.

Zach finished the hand gesture and aimed at a rat leaping across the board to attack Alexa. A line of red light flashed forward going into the side of the rats neck. Instantly in a spray of blood and gore, half of the rats neck were gone and the remaining flesh smoked. Zach looked for his next target as Alexa slammed her shield in the next rat that was coming forward.

Hayze stepped forward into Zach view of vision and thrust his spear into the incoming swarm of rats. Zach powered through the spell, and another [Flaming Arrow] went into the mass of the rats. Flames spread on the slick fur of the rat that Zach had hit, but instead of catching more rats on fire the pressing bodies of the rats smothered the flames. Zach released spell after spell, trying to keep a few seconds between casting, until he got a stabbing ache behind his left eye. The spell killed another rat as they choked the heavy board walkway with dead bodies. Feeling useless while he waited for his mana to regen, Zach looked over at the stone platform to see that Andy had used the club end of his chains to break the Dire Rats legs and skull.

Over the next few seconds the stabbing ache went away as Zach’s teammates killed three more rats. Zach felt useless as Hayze stabbed another rat through the neck and pushed its dead body forward blocking more rats on the wooden walkway. Alexa and Hayze were using their weapons to their advantage and keeping the rats at bay from over flooding the walkway that everyone was one. Zach realized that small group tactics played a large role in dungeon diving then high powered spells or overpowered weapons. Looking over at Andy, the man was rolling up his chains to attack rats that fell off the board and were swimming in the water. Could Andy solo this dungeon?- Zach thought.

Casting another [Flaming Arrow] at a rat in the water, Zach felt the stabbing ache return. No, Andy couldn’t solo this dungeon. The reason is that he needs additional people to block rats or force them into a specific place. It's all about crowd control and picking the best advantage of your team. It was an epiphany for Zach as he felt something unwind in his mind.

Congratulations! You have truly learned your first skill without DP or the help of your Grimoire. To truly possess a skill, one’s mind and soul are connected to it. You have gained a bonus for having learned the skill on your own.

Divine Store Item:Skill: Small Party TacticsSkill Level:1 (0%)Item Description:The skill allows the individual to feel his teammates and the flow of battle. By spending a small amount of mana he can influence his teammates to take advantage of the terrain and formulation by giving them subconscious feelings on where to step, defend, or attack. This skill has been enhanced, for everyday of active fighting and training, the party will gain +1 to one weapon, dodge, and armor skill (max bonus equal to the [Small Party Tactics] skill level).

Zach dismissed the window to see that all but two of the rats were now dead. Alexa, quickly gave brutal slashes to the rats, opening deep cuts that showed viscera. As the last rat died. Alexa and Andy looked covered in sweat. “Good job everyone, the dire rat was a surprise, but we were able to hold them off.”

Light flashed back and forth as Grim activated auto-loot as no one else was around. The stabbing ache in Zach’s eye spread to his the top of his back molars as Grim continued to use his mana. Leaning up against the wall, Zach waited as Andy and Alexa moved over the board to the platform. It wasn’t over thirty seconds before Zach once again could move and headed over to join the rest of his party. Walking over Zach looked down at the arm that the Dire Rat was eating. It looked human, and so he walked over to the garage pile and moved aside the debris. Having pushed aside most of the rubbish, Zach saw blonde listless hair under a damp rag. Clenching his teeth and readying himself for the shock, Zach removed the rag and saw what looked like a young boy with missing bits of flesh on his face. Before another thing could happen, a blue screen appeared.

Congratulations and your party has killed multiple rats and a Dire Rat, you have gained multiple rewards! Know this your curiosity about the body of the boy before you has opened a new quest!

You have gained +4 to your mana pool!

You have gained +32 to your experience!

You have gained +2 to your Wisdom!

You have gained +1 to your Constitution!

You have gained +5% to your Mastery of [Spell: Flaming Arrow]!

You have looted 3 Mana Cores containing Death Mana!

You have looted 7 lbs of Rat meat!

You have looted 1 Dire Rat Fang!

You have looted 7 Copper Coins and 8 Iron Bits!

As you have killed your first Swarm Rat, you have gained 2 mana points. Kill another 79 Swarm Rats to receive another bonus!

As you have killed your first Dire Rat, you have gained 3 mana points. Kill another 99 Dire Rats to receive another bonus! You have discovered a hidden Quest!

Quest name: Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

Deep in the Bellmare first level, they have left the rats and leeches to their own devices. Due to the inactivity of Adventurers, the Bellmare dungeon has evolved them into tougher opponents. During this evolution, a Rat King has been born in the dungeon and has challenged the current boss of the floor with his minions. You are the first Adventurers to have entered his domain since his birth.

Main Objective: Find the Rat King’s nest and tell the Adventurers Guild about its location. (0/1)

Reward: 4 Silver Coins, +25 Slime Kill Count, +50 Swarm Rat Kill Count, and +35 Dire Rat Kill Count

Optional Objectives:

Kill the Rat King. (0/1) Kill the Rat King in less than two hours of accepting the quest. (0/1) Map all new tunnels and spawn points (2/18) Collect 6 Dire Rat Fangs to lay them at the feet of the Rat King (1/6) Before the Rat King dies, break his crown in front of him (0/1)

Reward: Variable.

Do you accept the Quest?YesNo