Blood pools out of the Elder Goblin as Gordon removes his blade from its chest. Another of the monsters is laid close by and has been reduced to cinders thanks to Felicity's magic.

Rian, the Vagabond whose level was once the highest in the group, is now second to their leader Gordon. Trailing by only a single digit, he also stands one number in front of the Fire Mage Felicity and is two levels in front of the latest addition to their party.

After being drilled by his companions to take their mentor Sophie's words to heart, Gordon recruited a healer to their team. Well, sort of a Healer. When she signed up, Gordon was under the impression that the Cleric would be a great addition to their party and as she fulfilled that role perfectly, nobody was complaining.

Jasmine, a blonde woman with high cheekbones and a gorgeous smile. A woman not adorned in the usual white garments that signify one's status as a Cleric.

Jasmine, dressed as black as night and as beautiful as its embrace. The type of clothing worn by those at the Royal Halls and by many others that worked around town.

Jasmine, clever and wise, raised no suspicions from the three eager adventurers seeking a new party member. Not even the female Felicity, who could have easily misconstrued her arrival as a battle for dominance and a play for power on the chain of command.

Jasmine, the Necromancer. Born and bred on the streets of Varona. Her time spent healing under the eyes of Tilly and Anya.

Jasmine, member number four of Adventurer Party A, raises her arms and silently casts a spell. The scratches and burnt hair on Gordon's arm revert to new as she solidifies her status in their group.

Rian is a master of stealth and Felicity fights from range so neither of them need Jasmine's aid as often as their tank does, but both are still grateful for her presence as she saves them a fortune in potions.

The party have been pushing themselves against the Elder Goblins on floor 30. After fighting the Goblin Boss on the floor below and losing miserably - Obling being a sneaky, little-green bastard and all, the party decided that they should keep leveling and advance to the next tier before attempting to fight him again.

Felicity was a High Mage who used the fire element, but the Goblin Mage's magic had been stronger than her own. That had been a blow to her confidence, but she had shaken it off and was now putting all her effort into every spell. Rian also couldn't breach the Mage's barrier. Even after mastering Shadow Step and having the ability to appear in their opponent's blind spot, the Goblin's defense was just higher than the Vagabonds' attack and he was unable to do damage.That was before Jasmine had joined their group.

"Yes," Gordon shouts, "level fucking forty."

"Congrats. I'm on the cusp of 39. I can feel it," Rian answers.

"Well done, Gordon. I'm still three levels away, but the progress we're making on the floor is good." Felicity smiles.

"Thanks guys. How are you doing, Jasmine?" The Necromancer was inspecting the corpse on the floor and hadn't been paying attention, but she stood up after hearing Gordon call her name. Fidgeting with her robe as she did so.

"Erm... I'm fine, thank you?" The socially-awkward Jasmine turned back around and crouched down again leaving Gordon standing there.

"Ok. We're going to keep moving. Are you ready?" He asks as she prods the Elder Goblin. Its body convulses at her touch as it stands up, still as dead as it was when it was laid on the ground.

"I will follow," she says toward the reanimated monster, her words obviously meant for Gordon. So far, Jasmine has made eye contact once with each member of Adventurer Party A and that was the day she joined them. Since then she prefers to look anywhere other than into their eyes and her gaze generally settles on their feet.

Even with her quirkiness, the party doesn't find her strange. She is, after all, just one more oddball in a city full of beautiful weirdos and the party continue their assault on floor 39.

Gordon, Felicity and Rian, Adventurer Team A

Dungeon Stories Volume 4

Light's face was quickly fixed by our resident Cleric and the celebration went on for another hour.

Not many people were drinking and letting loose other than Light. With the need to return to work as the day was still young, the majority of my family kept their minds uninhibited and focused.

And then we were done.

I watched as most of them ported back to Varona whereas a few headed to Orad and Tune. When they had all left, only the triplets and Barry were left behind. The triplets I was expecting, any chance they get to put off attending the Coliseum by a few minutes they take. Little rascals.

Barry on the other hand, I was not expecting.

"What's up rockstar?" I ask before my eyes pick up on something I should have caught earlier. Coating Barry's star-filled mythril body is a soft, blue light. The glow of evolution. I shouldn't be surprised at the light - almost every member of my family has advanced at some point or other, but this will be my Mythril Golem's first evolution.

Granted Barry was already a seventh-tier being when he was summoned, but this is a major accomplishment. It's taken him two years to amass enough experience - mainly because I kept him and Colin confined to the dungeon for safety reasons, but he's finally ready.

Hence why he's still in the clearing with me and the triplets.

"Well look at you," I smile. The large creature starts shuffling on the spot in bashful embarrassment making my heart flutter. He's so cute to say he can smash through walls like no one's business.

"Shall we start?" I ask and he nods excitedly.

I can't say that I'm not a little nervous though as the light coating his body starts to shine brighter and his entire form begins to change. He shrinks down and in as the rocky features that square off his body alter themselves dramatically. They condense and tighten, sculpting themselves into muscle, giving his body and face defining features.

#!*%]¥ Error.

That's... confusing? Or is it? The once plain, but still beautiful, Golem has a brand new look. One that's so indistinguishable from humans that not only am I left speechless, but so too is Sis apparently.

Before I could think any further on it, Me ported back to the countryside location of our picnic. "It's been a while since that happened. What did you do this time?"

"Why do you assume it was me?" I asked, putting on my best 'It wasn't me' face and raising my arms.

Me slumps his shoulders and shakes his head. I then feel slightly foolish for answering so hastily. I don't even know why I did that.

"Quite," he raises a brow, exchanging glances between me and my Golem. The triplets are also looking at me with confusion written across their faces. Bad Abi.

"Ok, ok. It was me," I concede begrudgingly.

"Oh, I know it was. There is no one else here that it could have been," he states the obvious and it's my turn to slump in resignation.

"To be fair though, Me. I didn't actually do anything weird this time. I was only evolving Barry as you can see." The Mythril Golem beside me was no longer made up of the star-filled material. Instead it had been replaced with what could only be described as the light of evolution itself. His body was now all white and shone a soft blue. Lines of black could be seen tracing up the joints on his arms and legs and two more ran across his forehead in the shape of a cross.

A new #¢$×@#& Summon has been unlocked.

Orichalcum Architect: 50,000DP

"That's a lot of points you're worth now, Barry. Damn near broke Sis while you were evolving too. Is she meant to do that, Me? She's always glitching out and shit."

"I'm sorry, Master." Before Me could answer my question, Barry apologised as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. He even performed the dungeon salute while doing so.

How?

That's twice in ten minutes that my jaw has hit the floor and I'm not alone this time. Me is also sporting the same expression as myself whereas the triplets are watching with interest. Other than the pale, white skin and black markings, Barry looks like any other regular Tironian now so 'why wouldn't he be capable of speaking?' would be a better question. It's shocking because out of all the people and creations I've summoned, the Mythril Golem turned Orichalcum Architect was one of the first and in all that time hasn't uttered a single word.

Hell, Barry wasn't even able to utilise the dungeon connection properly and all I ever got from him was feelings. It was enough to help me understand what he needed or wanted, but it was still a little awkward.

Out of the triplets, Blondie began to get excited and was bouncing on the spot. She obviously wanted to speak with Barry as soon as myself and Me was finished with him. Amber had disappeared to find some leftovers and Violet had started to play with Bear.

"This isn't The System's fault. You keep creating weird things and changing the design parameters with your ideas. If anything, she's struggling to keep up with you." Me tries to defend his initial creator. Although, I could also be classed as his creator as I made the body he's using to wag a finger at me.

I almost feel bad for Sis now. Especially since she's still stuck in the Dragon Daycare. In fairness though, she has done a good job and I suppose I can offer her some relief now. Before that though, there's Barry to deal with.

"It's OK, Barry. Sis will be fine. I was only joking. If anyone was to blame, Me would probably throw it my way so don't worry about it. That said, you look fucking awesome. How do you feel?"

"I feel... different. Smaller, but stronger. I also feel faster and more flexible," he says while stretching out and trying some poses.

"You can also speak now too, so that's something. You're also an architect? I wonder if that's because of all the tunnels you carved and the maze. Not to mention those magma baths you've got kicking around. You're always creating things now that I think about it, I'm not surprised that Sis gave you a cool-ass evolution because of it. Seriously, if we weren't already outing ourselves as a dungeon, I'd be fine with you leaving the mountain as you are."

"I can be even more helpful now," he beams at me.

"You're already helpful enough. Seriously. You've been the man since the beginning, Barry. Without you, Varona wouldn't be where it is now and there's a good chance we would have missed all those refugees. I'm telling you, Barry, you definitely don't need to do more. In fact, now you like... that and can speak, maybe there are some other activities you can try. I know everyone has just eaten, but would you like to visit Ali's?" Me shakes his head as I'm blatantly ignoring the whole error problem while Barry thinks over what I said.

The monstrous element of my family doesn't have a need to eat, but can do if they so choose to. Certain conditions prevent that in some cases such as Golems for example. They have mouths, but that's about the extent of their anatomy. Behind their lips are nothing more than the element they're composed of and in Barry's case that would have been mythril. No throat, no stomach, just a wall of mythril inside his mouth.

Amber overheard me from three tables away and decided in a heartbeat that she still wasn't as full as she could be. It took her less than a second to arrive next to Barry, drooling at the thought of another meal at Ali's.

The Golem's attention had been stolen in that split second though by Blondie. She just wanted to talk to him now that he could finally answer her. She was after all everyone's best friend.

Me was deep in thought as he stroked Violet's Bear. I don't know if it was about the error message or how soft Bear's fur was, but it could have been the latter as he seemed to be smiling also. His pampering of the animal was also much approved by its rider.

Including the monster cleaner in my teleportation, I move us all to Ali's to show Barry what a good meal can do for the soul.