The group, with Robert in the lead, they walked towards the nearest wall of the cave. As they closed the distance, it became apparent that the wall was unnaturally sheer and jagged cliffs of white stone. Joan, who was studying geology, walked up to the rock wall and said "It's limestone. Most caves are."

"Any sign of any ore?" Robert asked.

Joan looked at Robert, "You serious?"

"Yes," Robert said. "We'll need to build stuff. So if you see any metal, iron, copper, that kind of thing, say something. Anything that we can use to build. Even if we melt down the cars in the parking lot, we'll probably need more."

Joan nodded. "I'll keep an eye out. Though I haven't had much practice doing fieldwork."

"No worries," Robert said. "Do your best. Besides a handful of people who took Rocks for Jocks you know more about this subject than anyone here. This is just a quick look over the area. So don't stress it. I'm not sure that anybody wants to spend their time, right now, mining out the walls anyway."

"Cool. Cool cool cool." Joan said.

"How durable is limestone anyway? Should we worry about cave-in's and that kind of thing?"

"It's a soft stone. The lime in limestone is an important part of cement and concrete. Of course there is sand and usually, steel rebar involved as well. Still given the size of this cave, well… I'll be I'm not sure how the roof is staying up. It doesn't look like there is a dome or any arches from here. There must be some other minerals or Magic keeping the ceiling from falling in. On the other hand, Mammoth cave in Kentucky is huge so that the ceiling could be completely natural. I think Ahmed would probably do a better job at it. He knows a lot more about structure and support."

The group decided to move in a clockwise rotation around the cave wall. Walking past the offices then though the parking lot. The back half of someone's old Chevy Blazer managed to appear a third of the way through one of the cave walls. Walking around it, nobody in the group could tell where the Chevy Blazer ended, and the wall started.

Ahmed said, "It looks like someone stuffed a banana into jello. Except the jello is the rock, and the banana is a car."

Continuing onward they crossed the parking lot and made their way down the hill and over to Westmount Road. Pine trees were growing down the medium, but the street itself was chopped off.

As they crossed the parking lot, Andrea, a short skinny girl who was majoring in Economics, caught up to Robert. "I had meant to ask you, and I haven't spent my gemstone yet, what do you think I should say I should take?"

"That's up to you. It is about what you want to do with your time here."

"So you don't think I should take lovemaking?"

Robert turned to her and saw the half-joking smile on her face. "If you want to take that skill, I'm not going to stop you. Hell, if you let me know, I'll buy you dinner and a movie."

"Sounds exciting. I might even let you take me out. Do you think we'll find anything out here? All I see is rocks, rocks, and more rocks."

"Well, we have to know what kind of rocks, and we need to get a lay of the land. For example, what would you think if we assigned this area for crafting." They were standing on the pavement of Westmount road. "In my mind, this spot isn't too close to the main building and so if the crafters make a lot of noise, it won't wake anyone up. And if they need more space, they can dig into the walls." Robert said.

Andrea looked around, "I guess that makes sense. The way I see it, economics is all about moving of goods and services around. This is a good spot. If you can make an easy way to go up that hill and onto the driveways, you could use the University Campus Lane to move the stuff they make anywhere in dorm."

"Have you given any thought to setting up an economy?" She continued, "Or are you just going to try for a kind of socialist utopia where everyone pitches in? The population is small enough that that kind of thing might work." Andrea said though she sounded like she had her doubts.

"I'm already having enough trouble finding someone to take over duties in the kitchen, Andrea. Pure socialism won't work here for long. We'll need some economy. And I have some ideas about that. But right now it is still too early. We need to know more about this Dungeon." Robert said.

"It's cute the way you have everything planned out. Let me know when you want to talk trade and barter. I agree though it is too early."

Robert blinked a few times. She was coming on to him really strong. He usually didn't mind aggressive girls, though they were few and far between. Somehow, right now, he felt like he was cheating, even if he wasn't actually with anyone.

Stop being ridiculous, Robert thought to himself, so he put his hand on Andreas' shoulder accidentally touching her back as he did so. "Hey, any ideas you have are welcome."

They continued to walk along the wall heading towards University Campus Lane and the forest. Despite the odd shape of the cave, the walls stayed relatively uniform, though, in a couple of places, Robert saw indented areas that might lead to deeper caves up high. Someone would have to climb the wall to see what was in them.

Looking up at the indented area, Robert called out to the group that was following behind, and said, "Did anyone take earth magic? Or maybe air magic?"

Ahmed and five other people stepped out of the group. Five of them had earth magic, while the fifth, Dave, had air.

"Dave I don't suppose you can use your air magic to fly?"

"No, not yet. Is that what air magic is about? I just took it because I like cool breezes, and the air seemed dead in here."

"I think so," Robert said. "Oh well, never mind. Would one, or all of you earth magic people, dig some handholds, so we can climb up and see what is in that indenture up there."

Ahmed stepped up, and soon there was a rough ladder climbing up. When he was done, since nobody wanted to go up and look at what was in the hole, Robert went climbing.

The space in the indenture was about four feet high and went about six meters back before dropping off again. Robert crawled forward over layers of dirt. He hadn't been walking with his light during this entire trip. Someone else had taken light Magic, and the group had been walking using their illumination. Now Robert recast the floating ball of brightness.

Spread out in front of him was a vast underground lake. He was overlooking an inlet, but his light tapered off into the darkness before the remote edges of the lake ever appeared. The hole entrance between their cave and the lake gently sloped down on the lakeside until it eventually formed a limestone beach.

Deciding not to taste the water because he didn't have access to the purify spell, Robert turned around and went back into the main cave. Idly he wondered what the fishing would be like, and then he realized that an underground lake probably had blind fish and so the traditional way to catch them wouldn't work.

When they got to the forest the sound of running water was clear, and when they pushed through the undergrowth, a waterfall out of the underground lake and a far stronger torrent of water than the stream which been there before — it was almost a river now, and would be soon as it washed away the detritus on its banks — winding its way through the trees along the path the stream used to follow.

Markus, who was in civil engineering, said "We should probably clear the underbrush from the river, and maybe consider building up a levy. Just in case. I'm not sure that the banks will hold. We might be able to convert that waterfall into a small amount of hydro electric power. This is a great find if the water is potable. When we're done, I'm going to come back here and run some tests."

Robert nodded.

Andrea came over to him, hugged him like she was staking out territory, and said," you look concerned."

"I'm just worried if the lake and the river are ways to access the cave. Who knows where that underground lake goes, and what lives inside of it," he said.

Instead of pushing through the underbrush, most of the group decided to walk along the bike path that paralleled University Campus Lane. Robert decided that he couldn't leave any part of the wall uninvestigated, so he shimmied across a downed tree which crossed the river and pushed his way through the undergrowth. Nobody came with him, not even Andrea, who had been clingy for most of the walk.

Nobody took care of this forest, and as a result, along with the trees and bushes, was litter. Empty fast food wrapping, used condoms, student newspapers, that kind of thing. It made following the path the wall took unpleasantly. Added to that was the constant barrage of thorns, and branches pummeling his face and body made pushing through the underbrush more like breaking a trail than surveying a cave.

In one place the curve of the cave wall jutted into the river and Robert had to find handholds he found in the white sedimentary stone to dangle long enough to get to the other side. There wasn't any reason not to wade into the water except that he didn't know what was in the water. And because the new current was fast and he was worried about being swept away.

He followed the second arc through the forest until it rounded back toward the dorm room. From the other side of the river, Robert heard voices shouting for him to come and see what they had found. From where he was standing the river tumbled down another small waterfall, and then disappeared into the darkness of a hole in the wall. He sent his light traveling down the corridor and saw a narrow twisting turning passage-way that the water was escaping through.

"Just a moment," Robert called out.

He needed to backtrack about 15 meters before he found another tree that crossed the river to shimmy across.

The reason why the rest of the group was calling out to him was that University campus lane opened up into another long tunnel.

"The tunnel is pointed to where the health services building used to be. I wonder if it is still there." Ahmed said.

"We'll check eventually. It would be good to know if it is still there. After all, we might suddenly need a supply of free condoms and prescriptions for the pill." Sarah said.

"Don't joke." Andrea said, "That might become a problem."

Joan said, "This looks like a dried-up underground river. I wonder if our cave used to be an underground lake. Before we got here."

"The walls are pretty uniform," Robert replied.

"Only in places. I noticed that in a couple of spots that the natural cave walls were still there."

Taking the lead, Robert advanced to the first branch. The passage was narrow in places and wide in others. When they got to the first branch, Robert said, "We may have to come back to explore this at another time. If this branches too much, it'll become a maze. And we might get lost. We need something to mark our way in so we can find our way out."

Joan looked over at Robert, "I wonder if there is a magic way to do this."

Robert thought about it, "Not that I know of. But I don't know much. Maybe if someone combined Scry Magic with Space magic and the cartography skill."

"Or we could find out if someone has a drone with a video camera. I think the Dean of Residence bought one for taking pictures of events and advertising the college. It might be in the office supply." Ahmed said.

"For that matter, Huang wanted to go adventuring; maybe this can be his chance. We sort of need to know where this tunnel goes. For that matter, we need to know where the lake goes, and the same goes for the river," Robert said.

They walked back to the entrance to the cave and continued their circumnavigation of the space they had been summoned into until eventually, they'd made it back to the place they'd started from.

"Well, that was informative," Robert said. "Okay, thanks, everyone. Joan and Ahmed, do you mind sticking around. And if anyone sees Huang or Jennifer tell them I wouldn't mind talking to them."

The group broke up, most people heading back to the main dorm.

"What's up to Rob," Ahmed said.

Taking a deep breath, Robert said, "Both of you have earth magic? Right? How much earth can you move with it? And can you sense what is underground?"

Joan said, "I can," while Ahmed said, "I can't."

"Do you mind my asking what you each took from the Species Stone?" Robert asked.

Joan went first "Earth, Scry, Magnetism, and Analyze Magic. Just like you suggested a couple of hours ago."

"So much has happened today, I'd forgotten about that," Robert said. "And you, Ahmed."

"Earth Magic, Body Magic, Taunt, and Dodge. I told you I was going more the tank route than the architect route."

"That's fine. Well eventually need both your skills. What I want the two of you to do is find the water and sewage lines if we don't figure out a solution for the plumbing pretty soon. I don't want people pooping wherever that's unhealthy. Plus I suspect that most people have been using the toilets even though they don't flush. Which is gross and can't last."

Ahmed looked at him and said, "If we find the pipes, then what?"

"Map out where it goes. If it heads towards the University campus, or towards University Campus Lane, as I suspect, then we can figure out a way to use the river to fill the pipes and flush out the sewage. If the pipes head towards downtown, then we'll have to rig up something else. Maybe a water tower and enchanted water runes and a septic tank. Or an aqueduct. Or something."

"Neither of us have light, mind setting us up with one of those runes?" Joan said.

"I don't have anything to put it on. I used a plate last time, but I can't keep using plates, or we will run out and not have anything to eat on."

Joan walked over to the cave wall and as Robert watched six-by-six inch tile of limestone peeled off and fell into her hands. Then another one the same size peeled off. She walked back to Robert and said: "Will these do?"

"They'll do perfectly. Can you make a bunch more after you track down the pipes? It is getting late, but I am gonna spend a good chunk of tomorrow making this kind of light for everyone."

Joan nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty easy."

"Cool. Remember, if you see Huang or Jennifer, send them my way." And with that, Robert walked off towards the cafeteria.

He had gotten about half of the way there when Neil caught up with him. "Shit, Rob, I can't get anybody to give me their points. Am I like fucked, or what?"

"I've been thinking about it," Robert said, "And I can think of a couple of possible solutions. Come on, let's go find a place to sit where we won't be bothered."

Instead of heading towards the cafeteria, Robert brought Neil to the Library. The door was locked, but Robert used his key to unlock it, then leaving the door opened the two of them found a chair and sat down. "I'll have to think about leaving that door unlocked. People might want to work in here, or come for something to read."

"Come on Rob, tell me you can fix this," Neil said with exasperation.

"I've been thinking about your situation, and it occurs to me that you have a couple of choices. The first is to continue doing what you are doing right now. Some people want to leave and try their luck escaping this Dungeon. More power to them. But the closer it comes to the day they want to go, the more likely they might be to give up their stone."

"I had the same…"

Rober raised his hand, "I'm not done. The second idea was to gather the remainder points. After I bought my skills, I had like 15 experience left over. There was a way to withdraw those points into smaller gemstones. When I was playing with the Species Stone, I got a blue stone and a Green stone. It occurs to me that I could withdraw those 15 points, give them to you, and you could use them like a bigger 1000 point stone. You wouldn't get the same Magic, but you would be part of the system. And then you could probably convince other people to give up their remaining points so that you could get some nifty skills."

"That sounds like… "Neil began.

"There is one more idea that I had." Robert continued with reluctance. "It isn't one I like, but it is one that I think we need to try out and which you seriously need to consider."

"What?"

Pausing before letting it all out in a rush, "In most Role Playing Games, how do adventurers get experience to level up?"

"By killing monsters," Neil said.

"By touching the gemstone to the rock, I became part of the Dungeon. Hence I am a monster. You aren't, because you haven't used the stone."

"I think I see where you are going with this Rob, and I don't like it," Neil said.

"We need to test out the respawning mechanism before other monsters, and actual adventurers get here. And it might be good to have someone on our team who can go out and interact with whatever is outside of the Dungeon."

"Yeah but…"

"The one thing that worries me is that supposedly I respawn as a monster but if you become an adventurer you might not. But if you had the experience, you might be able to lead the people who want to get out of these caves — something to think about.

"Neil, if it helps make up your mind or do to do the deed, I should probably tell you that when that Squid monster was handing out gemstones, I stole two more when it wasn't watching. I used both on myself. My excuse is that I completely forgot about you, but I think that maybe I subconsciously remembered you, but I just wanted to have more abilities and power, so I didn't care. It was a dick move at your expense, Neil."

Robert turned, got up, and left. "Think about it, Neil, and get back to me."

"Fuck you, Rob."

"If it bothers you so much, Neil, why don't you kill me? Did I mention that I slept with your ex-girlfriend Mandy Li while you were still dating her? Did you even get past second base with her? And what did Akiko say about you to me… oh yeah that you are a limp dick poser and she would rather to out with a real man like me." Robert said.

The next thing Robert knew was that he was on the ground and Neil, who had tackled him, was whaling on him with his fists. Though it was painful, Robert didn't fight back.

"Neil, you fight like a girl, use something heavier, I can barely even feel anything. Did I mention that Akiko let me feel her up when we met up in Toronto? She said she wanted to be with a real man, not some creep like you. Nice boobs. Soft, but sharp in the right places. And her womanhood, soft warm wet, everything you feebly wack off to in your silly tentacle movies, but will never get…"

Somehow Neil had gotten hold of something sharp and heavy. Robert saw it coming down, and the…

Blackness.

Then Robert found himself in the chapel. He was dressed entirely, but when he patted himself down, he discovered that he had lost his wallet. The catatonic people were still there, sitting in their pews staring off into space.

Quickly looking over his characters sheet, he saw that the only change was that his sanity had changed from 310 to 290/310.

Robert then decided he couldn't put it off anymore, so he made his way down into the cafeteria. About six people were restraining Neil, who was covered in blood. Andrea was the first person to see him, "you're alive!" She said. Leslie and Ahmed were crying.

"Yeah. Let Neil go. I'm fine. Sorry, Neil."

"Take it back. Take it back, or I'll kill you again."

"Calm down. I was lying. And the only person I have to apologize to is Akiko since nothing at all ever happened between us. What happened after you kill me."

"Swear that you were lying asshole."

"I swear I was lying," Robert said. "Everything I said was a lie. I just wanted to make you angry."

"Fuck you, Rob."

"So what happened after I died. I came back but from your end. What happened?"

"You just lay there. A blue screen popped up in my head saying that I had killed a dungeon monster solo and had earned 200 experience points. Then it asked me if I wanted to choose a class. The screen is still there. I can still see it right now. I ran and found Leslie, told her what had happened. She and Huang went to the Library, while the others kept me here. They got back about ten minutes ago."

"We watched as your body disappeared. It was like seeing thousands of tiny blue fireflies, and then you were gone. The only thing that you left behind was your wallet." Said, Leslie. "Then, we came back here. We were debating what to do with Neil."

"Hmmm. My wallet must be part of the loot system. Though what an adventurer would want with my drivers' license, 12 dollars, my Loblaws discount card, and some Canadian tire money is beyond me. So I was gone for about 20 minutes?"

Neil nodded. "This isn't over Robert. But yeah, about 20 minutes."

"Why don't you look at what classes you can take."

"Fuck you, Rob," Neil said, but then seemed to stare off into nothingness.

The group waited. Then waited some more. Huang and Leslie came over to him. "What did you say to make Neil kill you?" Leslie said. While Huang said, "Ahmed said you were looking for me."

"Yeah, Huang. There is a system of tunnels near where University Campus Lane heads towards the main campus. You said you wanted to be adventurers. It would be helpful if you and your team mapped out those caves. See where they go." Then he turned to Leslie, "Sorry Les, but that is between Neil and I. Mostly I lied my ass off and provoked him. We needed to see how the respawn system worked, and he needed direction since he couldn't get a gemstone."

"You bastard, you laid out three ideas. I could have gone with one of the other ones." Neil yelled distractedly, briefly looking away from a point in a distant nowhere.

Suddenly there was an orange glow around Neil.

"So…" said Robert.

"What happened," Leslie said.

"You are now looking at the newest paladin for Chert God of Justice," said Niel. "Killing that son of a bitch got me enough experience to get to level 2."

"So it works differently from the dungeon system?" Robert asked.

"As far as I can tell, ass hat. I have access to predefined spells. I also have a good sense of who the gods of this world are and what their area of influence is. Didn't gain any new skills though. I seem to have to learn those on my own. And no, before you ask. I don't seem to be linked to this Dungeon in any meaningful way."

Robert nodded. "Neil, I'm going up to my room. Deal with your bullshit on your own. If anyone wants to talk to me, I'll be up there. Dying is painful and kind of sucks balls."

As he was walking through the hallway, Darnell caught up to him. Opening a binder he held in his hands, he said. "Hey Robert, I'm building a dictionary of Runes."

Robert looked through the book. On every page, there was one rune drawn. Underneath it were notes about what the person who wrote it thought it did. He could see multiple handwriting styles.

"I had Gary, and some of his buddies get started, but we wanted you to sit down and write out any runes, you know. Could you follow the same format? One rune per page. Simona is trying to get the electricity going again, and when she does, we can photocopy this. It'll be an invaluable learning tool."

"Sure. Good idea." Said, Robert. "Do you mind if I do it later. I was planning on taking a nap. I'm still not on my best form after betraying my friend and dying."

"Sure. Take your time. I should point out that, I went up three points in Rune Lore just from studying what we have already."

Robert climbed the stairs, went into his room. Opening his beer fridge, he took out a bottle of Molson Canadian and opened the top. It had been a long day. He wasn't stressed out or anything, but he did want some time on his own.

Laying back on his bed, he thought about what had happened and what he needed to do tomorrow. It would take a lot of work to regain Neils trust. It might be best to give him some space for a while. Maybe hook him up with Huang and have him help map the tunnel out of the cave.

There was a knock on the door.

Robert got up and opened the door and said, "Look, give me a half-hour, and I'll be up to help out with whatever…"

Then he saw who was standing there. It was Andrea the economics major he’d talked to as they walked the perimeter of the cave. "Are you going to invite me in?"

Robert opened the door. "Sorry about the mess, can I offer you a beer? They are warm, but we're probably going to run out pretty soon, might as well enjoy them while we can."

"I understand what you did for your friend." She said.

"What of it? And I don't think he is my friend anymore."

"It was brave. Sometimes being a leader isn't about how much people like you, or how much you know, but about making tough choices and following through on them. I just wanted to tell you I took some points in the lovemaking skill."