He readied his stance, ready to riposte. The monster struck and he stepped sideways to strike.

"Die, ugly snake!"

Nero stabbed the rock serpent. It squirmed and started to melt into light and mana. After they went through the rat tunnels gathering a score of crystals, the cavern floor changed from rock and gravel to fine sand. The serpents lurked underneath the sand to ambush the trespassers. Still no level up. Although they got a white [Sword] card.

"Don't call me lucky," Nero grimaced as he picked up the card and added it to his deck.

Altia nodded sympathetically. She moved closer but halted and then pointed to the sand. "It is better if I walk ahead. I can tap the sand ahead with the staff."

"No. Let's go back, fight more rats. These snakes are level four, too hard. I had to use a potion because of the first one."

"Yes. But we either use these potions we summoned or we lose them. Maybe we should summon only one at a time."

"That's... pretty smart," Nero bent and picked up the Essence crystal. Measuring it against his Arbitrium, he shook his head. "The Crystal may have seventy points, but it is too risky. Back."

She nodded and took a step back, turning to face the tunnel wall and give him room to get past her, "You're the boss."

He hit his buckler against her staff as he passed, grinning. "C'mon. I hear scraping and squeaking."

They backtracked, heard and found two rats. After fighting almost two dozen of them, their attack pattern was well known. Nero could kill them with almost no splatter on his clothes. Two more crystals and a [Kite Shield] card. White.

"Jackpot," Nero cheered. "You keep this one, Altia. Sell it or trade away. And we have more than two hundred points of Essence. You should level up."

He handed her the shield card. She took it but frowned as she sensed the card back and front slide against one another, revealing a flash of silver underneath. "Nero!"

He made eye contact for a bit longer in silence and then grinned. "These trinkets are weighing me down. You should keep all our loot. And slot the [Egress] so you can trigger it whenever."

She leaned forward, still burning a hole in his brow. He froze. "Nero! We either leave together..."

"Nah. You... I have to protect you. Come, take these level 1 crystals. Level up."

"Okay."

After Altia gained 1 level, the rats stopped giving 10 Essence per kill to the default five. They were the same size but the tens were clearer. Nero gave her the fives one by one until she hit the twentieth and her Arbitrium shone. Nero could glimpse the numbers 2/179 at the top-left corner before she twisted her forearm to spend her Attribute.

"Dexterity," She spoke to herself and pressed the corresponding glyph.

Not a bad choice, Nero thought. It would increase her coordination, including the accuracy of her staff's blows. And maybe help with handling delicate glassware and dangerous chemicals.

"Ready?"

"Lead on, brave warrior."

He sighed then nodded. And after the next squealing monster they went. Altia increase in coordination helped more than Nero wanted to admit. The boost the Attributes gave was no small thing. No wonder high-leveled individuals were like demigods to normal people. 'More and more families are saving every penny to buy an Arbitrium for their kids. What does it mean to the world as the number of powerful people increase?' He mused as they walked down the tunnels.

On an intersection, they found another duo of delvers.

"Hey, what do we have here? Two lovebirds, that's what!" The bigger of the newcomers boasted.

"He-hey, guys. How's it going?" The other stuttered.

"We're fine. Just farming rats, you know?"

"Us too. We leveled thrice already! Check these muscles," He flexed and then swung his club, banging the cave wall. Dust fell on them. Nero looked up with an eyebrow raised.

"Cool. We are going... that way," Nero pointed and with his hand on his back, nudged for Altia to go ahead.

He didn't trust these bullies. And if they were really level three already, it meant trouble. He was sure the dumb thug had dumped everything in Strength. At least his accolades enhanced his perception and the speed of his reflexes. He'd be ready if they tried any treachery. Altia took the lead and Nero followed her, trying to not stare at her curves. He still heard a burly bully click his tongue, mutter something about waste and then take another tunnel.

"Did you see he had a Class slotted?" Altia asked after a few minutes without an encounter.

Nero stopped, then sucked a huge breath. "No."

The implication was clear. If that guy wanted to do anything to Altia, Nero was powerless to stop. A slotted Class meant at least 10 more Attributes. Not to mention Skills. He remembered what his mother told him. Do not fight the Goblin. The Goblin was a rogue. With [Stealth], [Poisoned Blade], [Smoke Bomb], and [Backstab]. Four out of six Skills. A deadly combo. Last year, five died to the Dungeon boss. Nero felt bitter. He also felt the drive to go and find another [Egress] card soon. Altia wouldn't leave him behind. He paused, listened, and then overtook Altia.

"Rats ahead," He whispered. "Several. Leave a potion ready."

Altia just nodded.

They moved forward for a while and found rats, three. Dead delver, one. They'd interrupted someone's dinner.

"Timmy!" Altia cried.

The rats glanced up, their bloodied whiskers feeling the air currents. They squealed and rushed in for the kill.

Nero lowered his center of mass, readying his buckler to parry and his sword above, an overhead stab. The scorpion's stinger, the name of the stance. He poised himself to block one rat and brain another. The third would go for either him or Altia. He'd have to trust her and move fast.

They came and one of the rats jumped, the other crouched. Nero moved his hips forward, putting the weight and momentum of his heavier body on the buckler as he punched the leaping rat, then driving the sword down on the low one's neck. He felt the pressure as the former was blown back and the sword scraped against the spine of the latter, tearing the right side of its neck.

The dying rat still bit Nero's boot. He spun and kicked the rodent away, frantically trying to see where the third went. He saw a descending blur and an impact on the third's shoulder blade, breaking bones. The rat limped and bit Altia's leather trousers. She yelped in pain. He felt a sting on his calf, the rat still gnawing on him.

But he ignored his own pain. Nero's blood boiled as he saw fear in Altia's face. He brought his sword at an awkward angle and cut a gash on the third rat's haunches. Shallow. Altia hit him on the back, the heavy staff snapping a rib. Not enough. Another slash, a severed tail. Twitching. Another bite, more of her blood spilled. The rat that flew away shrieked vengeance. Nero felt his leg burn as the rat gnawed on him.

"Altia, ´[Egress]! They leveled."

Monsters could raise in level by killing Adventurers.

"NO!" She drove her staff down, enraged. She cracked the rat's spine, doing considerable damage. Her rat lost control of his rear paws. Nero twisted and slashed again at the head of the rat biting him. He cut an ear and dragged the edge of his sword across its skull.

The leaping rat leaped again. Mouth agape, fangs bared, he came for Nero's sword arm. Sideways, his buckler was useless. His sword, off-balance. Altia shoved her staff down that mouth, pushing it down the rat's throat. A whole foot of the shaft went in. Nero winced in pain as the rat's bite washed away his dirty thoughts. The choking rat still bit down, breaking the staff with its bite. It gagged, retched, and fell down.

The rat biting Nero's leg twitched and bled his last. Bugger had a half-severed neck and last that long on spite alone.

"Potion!" Nero cried. He drew one from his belt and saw Altia with an open bottle, offering it to him. "Fine. We interlock arms and give it to each other," He showed his own potion and bit off the cork.

Altia snorted then blushed. "Awkward. Just drink yours."

They didn't swap potions that day.

Healed, Nero saw the three rat bodies fading into light. He poked a finger through the hole of his padded trousers. "Daaamn!"

"Cheer up. At least you are alive," Altia chastised him.

She moved past Nero and went to check Timmy's half-eaten body. As she looked at the state he was, she turned around and puked. Nero felt glad her hair was tied in a ponytail. He rubbed her back.

"Stand aside and loot the rats. Keep watch over the tunnels, I'm going to check on Timmy."

He went and looked around. The Arbitrium hadn't a single scratch. The bandolier was there, Timmy's deck of cards way less impressive than Nero's at least in volume. Timmy had a backpack, drenched in blood. Inside, more blood and a blanket. Nero grimaced but pulled the blanket out. He could wrap the body in it and take it back to the surface. At least he'd have a funeral, he mused.

Curious, he opened the pouch, no longer protected after death, and checked his cards.

"Fuck, Timmy!" He cursed.

Altia came over, fidgeting with the fingernail-sized Essence crystals. "What is wrong, Nero?"

He had the cards in Timmy's pouch spread, like a casino dealer. He showed her the front. A sliver of silver could be seen.

"He had one. But he couldn't bail out because it wasn't slotted. What did we get?"

"Three [Antidote Potion], Essences, and a [Canteen] card."

"Altia, I think we..."

"...Should leave now. We got two tickets. I agree."

Nero slotted the silver card on his Arbitrium, glancing to check if Altia still had hers. She did. "Lesson learned. Keep the [Egress] slotted. And don't be afraid of using it. It was better to get out than suffer a TPK. Sorry, Timmy."

Nero took Timmy's Essences, Cards to himself. His pack had some pieces of red-soaked parchment, an inkwell, and a bloody pen. He gathered the remains of his tribesmen and placed them on the blanket. He lifted the strangely light bag and dropped his summoned and bent buckler. Then he offered a hand to Altia.

"Together?"

"Together."

"[Egress]!"

The world was an unfair place. Some were born into power, most were born into a life of poverty. Dread creatures born of corrupted mana, monsters, prowled the land. Where they gathered and the mana distorted, Dungeons were born. People couldn't fight against monsters. Not until the Gadgeteers invented the Arbitrium, allowing Adventurers to harness the power of Essence to grow and strengthen themselves.

To push back the Darkness. Even if just to earn another day under the sun.

And thus, out of hope, another tragedy was born. The people, eager to survive, would cast their own youth into those dark pits, to forge the warriors they needed. Some of them truly [Warriors], even. It is easy to look only at the success stories of the heroes that ascended into unimaginable power, that bent the world to their knees, that slain dragons. It is easy to forget the kid that died on his first day.

Not to Nero and Altia. As they squinted under the glare of the setting sun, a blazing torch compared to the dimly lit Dungeon they were used to, the weight of the bloody blanket almost made the young hairless ape-kin kneel and cry. He didn't even notice the crowd gawking on how he was still holding the girl's hand.

"Nero!" A female voice called for him. Mom, he recognized.

He looked around. His parents, a lot of parents were gathered around the Dungeon entrance, a bit off the beaten path, outside the village, walled to keep monsters from spilling out in case of an Overflow. The delvers didn't appear all at once. They popped out with a few minutes apart, in order of activation of their [Egress] cards. Some would pop back into the surface well into the night. Some would never.

Timmy, at least, did. Nero met Timmy's mother, a widow. Tragedy liked the company. He took a step toward the shopkeeper. He clenched his teeth, imagining how much she'd saved for his Arbitrium. The woman soon realized what happened and rose her hands to her mouth. By his side, Altia squeezed his hand.

"Mrs. Simmons," Nero addressed her.

"No!" She cried.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," He steeled himself. "We could only avenge him. The monsters died."

Mrs. Simmons, widow, shopkeeper. From now on, alone. She fell on her knees, splayed on the dirt. Bawling.

"Let me see him," She mumbled.

"Agatha, I don't think it--" Altia tried to dissuade her.

"LET ME SEE HIM!" Agatha Simmons shrieked.

Nero looked at Altia. She shrugged and nodded. He respectfully lowered the blanket. The woman hugged it. She opened it, looked inside. The oranges and reds of the sky were fading. The last rays of sunlight lighting up the top of the trees and nothing else.

And Agatha Simmons screamed like a banshee. Altia hid her face on Nero's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her back.

The portal hummed. "Ha! Level four! I did it!" A boy cheered. He read the mood and shut up.

There would be a feast tonight. Someone else's tragedy was easy to forget when another one had something to commemorate. Nero even forgot about his weird level cap. He and Altia just stood there, guardians and witnesses of a mother's tragedy. Behind him, Byron and Rhynne stood, far past the twentieth time they witnessed something like that. One by one, the Adventurers returned from their first delves. They would shout a warcry or some cheer before reading the mood, then quickly depart with their parents.

Night fell. Four other couples still stared at the swirling portal. Out of twenty-three, five didn't make it.

Those that measured that across the world, on the other hand, would say it was a good batch, with high survivability.

It was too much by five if someone asked those that remained inside the Dungeon's protective palisade in silent vigil.

Nero [0/0]

Perception: +1

Altia [2/179]

Endurance: +1

Dexterity: +1

Willpower: +1