Dusk fell to the world six hours later as the Runners waited in the void of activity.

Silence fought, trying to shield the world from what would come, to hold the order of the coming night and bring the promised night after the day’s activity.

Silence was powerless to stop what was coming as it was beaten into submission with each crack of the first seal.

From within the ruined city, the sound of chaos erupted like an overcharged Shard of Heaven. As noise went to war against silence, shrapnel screamed through the air as it flew, buildings had their legs swept out from under them, and when it was all said and done, dust rose from the corpses of the once-massive buildings.

As it should have been since life vanished from this place, Silence once again began to rise to power as gargoyles flew from the ruins like bats from the Mists. The guardian of all that kept noise at bay rallied to the call of the void. Its power grew, taking hold once more as if the noise had been an isolated event.

Then the world moved.

It was subtle at first, barely above the whisper of the wind against the river, but it grew steadily. Rubble shifted and glass cracked ominously as the felled buildings were forced aside by something beyond their power to constraint. From the grave of where the seal once stood guard, a glowing, blue orb began to rise, casting its azure light like a newborn star.

Like the sleeping, immortal form of a long-forgotten lord, the decrepit bones that made up the walls began to rise again. Well-fit stones broke apart with sharp snaps as they pulled into the well of power, refit and repurposed into what they had always been destined to be. Glass and more reached with newfound life for the core as if they were newly planted sprouts reaching for the sun.

The core accepted their offerings, and its torso grew.

Stone overlapped stone as the heartbeat of the world moved to the sound of grinding stone and its word began to cast a cloud of fine dust over the area, blanketing it like newly fallen snow as more and more of the buildings fell and rose again to feed the needs of the growing guardian, of their king.

Then, and only then, silence rose again as a hulking form of The Broken King, of Shardking, of the Feller of Heroes, stood motionless in the dying sunlight, drinking in the last light of the day. The core withing glowed gently, pulsing with a soft sapphire light as it looked out from Shardking’s chest.

Unknowing, uncaring, the sun continued to disappear over the wall.

The world heard nothing, and for a moment, just a moment, there was a blissful silence as the creature waited, unmoving in the center of the ruins.

Then Silence was felled like a diseased beast, and an inhuman roar of challenge echoed across the first floor of the Grand Dungeon of Kess.

There in the dying light of the day, Sharding, The Broken King, The Ender of Heroes was crowned in a baptism of twinkling starlight.

But, the night was new, and the Runners were ready to usurp his thrown.

***

“Now!” Sindra called as her army of Runners assembled at the edge of the ruins. All mirth was gone from her tone as something switched on in her personality. No one could match the steel in her tone as her small frame called out their last, combined order. “You have your orders, engage when necessary! Wipe out the monsters that arise as you can! Don’t move in unless the group before you falls or you are called. Don’t die for nothing, my friends!”

The Runners cried out in agreement as they cheered the call to arms. Even from there, they could hear the Broken King’s dark silhouette lumbering through the ruins, crashing through anything in its wake as he worked his way from the center of the ruins.

Even with all the narrow streets and buildings it would have to break through, the zone wouldn’t hold Shardking for long, and the last thing any of them wanted to do was fight a giant golem without having any advantages.

Myles and crew were no different as they itched in place, feeling the excitement as though it were pure mana running through their veins.

“Go! [Bard]s, Marching Beats!”

With that call to battle, the assembled force of Runners flooded the streets, meeting the smaller monsters head-on to the beat of [Bard] song.

“Bard song two, Ballad of Battle!”

Sindra’s call triggered a chance as soon as the battle began, half the [Bard] song changing to the familiar, heart thudding ballad that sounded the night of the fight against Gregor. The denizens of the ruins had seen so few of the sapient races since the first day and rallied as a single mass to Shardking’s call, but their numbers meant nothing against the swarm of buffed, proficient, prepared warriors.

Steel met stone to a chest-thumping beat as gargoyles and lesser elementals were felled by sheer numbers where power alone wouldn’t serve groups. The breakpoint of the grounds used daggers, clubs, swords, and magic to decimate the weaker foes, lighting the night like grim fireworks as monsters vanished into piles of loot and were quickly claimed to clean the streets.

Then, the real work began as the teams began to break off.

Myles and his team worked their way through another of the rivers of combat. Because of their position in the city, they were near the edge of the front of the pack, picking off small targets from the sides before breaking off into a small plaza a few streets into the ruined city. A few calls for luck followed them, and then they were on their own.

Then, the only silence was that of combat.

Darkness was not their friend, but the glowing night sky full of moon, stars, and aura gave them a strange half-light to work by as they looked for the best path.

Buildings rose in all directions as roads, clear and blocked, dotted the rest of the landscape. The directions they had were simple: Find a clear line of sight to the raid, clear out any monsters they could in the plaza, clear the streets if possible, and make sure the exit was clear.

Easier said than done as no less than four towers rose to meet the sky.

“Preferences?” Myles asked.

“Not to die,” Lyna joked. No one laughed, but no one blamed her either as the gemstones on her helmet gleamed in the light.

“Clear the streets then the buildings,” Kendra offered.

Tail shook their head. “We should clear as many floors of the towers as we can. We can be attacked in the streets from the towers, but it’s much harder the other way around.”

“Agreed,” Will said, then pointed to the one closest to the groaning grind of Sharking’s body. “Closest first, that way we have less chance of being caught in the open.”

Myles nodded, waiting to see if anyone would argue. When no one did, Myles pointed to the furthest building, the one closest to the chaos, and the group began their approach. At one time, the building had to have been regal. Faded stone made up the wide building. It wasn’t the tallest of the four, but as they got closer, Myles thought he saw a balcony that wrapped all the way around the roof. If it was still in a single piece, that kind of view would be worth its weight in dough.

Keeping with their usual setup, Kendra took point as they approached the entrance, a pair of massive, time-worn wooden doors that must have at once time been more regal than they were imposing.

Their aged form meant nothing to the [Berserker].

Kendra pushed through the wide double doors, and the group was greeted by a familiar symbol of a kite shield embossed with the royal seal of Kess in front of a sword and wand, the seal of the Adventurer’s Guild of Kess. The group said nothing, not wanting to draw the attention of anything nearby. It made sense that in the ruins of an old city, there’d be some kind of guildhall from the days long since forgotten. From the decayed dressings on the walls, this branch was as old as the dungeon itself.

The group picked their way through shattered armor stands and cases as they examined the darkened room. Shields lined the walls, rotting in their disuse as swords rusted half drawn from their scabbards. Knives were mixed in with broken glass and wood chunks Myles couldn’t identify as anything more than decay. Footsteps echoed and nerves grew tense. Breadstick raised, Myles and team moved slowly through the dark, wide, open hall. Despite the constant noise of the massive golem moving outside, the hall was quiet.

“Hold it,” Myles said on instinct, holding up a hand to emphasize the order.

There in the center of the lobby was the first real find of the night— a sealed, crystal case holding a few objects obscured by dust and grim. Myles instantly began to distrust the object and was fully prepared to have Kendra smash it to the Mists if it made a move. From a safe distance, Myles observed it with the intent to identify whatever it was.

Stasis Display Case

Value: 400

Furniture - Enchanted

Description: A display case made from inscribed wood and glass that has been weakened by the sands of time.

Detail: Used to display items of significance, this locking display case is enchanted with stasis and will minimize the wear of time on whatever is placed within. Scripts on the exterior are for show and do not affect the stasis spell form.

Do not eat a stasis display case.

Myles sighed, though the reason for it wasn’t quite clear as he reread the message.

Sadly, the powers that be were not getting bored with that.

“It’s safe as far as I can tell,” Myles said as they carefully approached.

No one teased him about his mimic issues this time, and Lyna looked the case over with Kendra. Myles wasn’t sure why, but moments later, that answer came.

“I don’t see anything that could be trapping it,” Kendra announced.

“No extra gears either, just a lock. I can break it pretty easily, but Rocky doesn’t think it’s a good idea, and I agree.”

When Rocky was the voice of reason, Myles worried, but he did have an idea he was tinkering with.

“I think I’ve got this.”

Approaching the lock, he summoned the smallest unit of dough he could. The thin sliver of dough didn’t even register as it appeared and sat in his hand. Better to test the theory now than later.

He pressed the dough against the lost and willed it to flow into the lock. His awareness with the Skill grew by the day, but overall, he still couldn’t manipulate it as finely as he wanted for something like this. It was just a simple lock though, and that wasn’t a problem for his plans. When the dough pushed inside, he kept it slender enough that it could do its job.

“You’re kidding me,” Will said quietly and was quickly silenced by Tail.

A moment later, Myles enchanted the dough with Crust and expanded it to push against the tumblers. The theory was sound, all he had to do was make it act like a key and…

And the entire lock exploded in a shower of light, metal, and bits of fresh dough.

“Mists!” Myles cursed, shielding his eyes.

“You alright?” Kendra asked.

Checking himself for any bleeding, Myles found nothing amiss and sighed. “Just my pride if that counts.”

“I’m surprised you have any left,” she joked, offering him a hand.

He took it, was hoisted up, and the team gathered around the case. Inside were three small items sitting on velvet pillows: a ring made of what looked like black crystal, a necklace of silver and gold, and a ring of glowing starlight.

Myles identified each item before he touched them.

Ring of the Legion Commander

Value: Unknown

Accessory - Ring (Rare)

Description: A ring carved from a resonating black crystal.

Detail: The Ring of the Legion Commander was a commissioned item by the Adventurer’s Guild of Kess for field commanders during a time of war. This enchanted item allows messages to be sent across long distances to anyone designated within a registered list of recipients at the cost of one SE per message sent.

Primary Effect: Send messages by focusing Soul Energy into the ring followed by a short recording after the chime.

Secondary Effect: Shake hands with an individual and speak their name to register them as a recipient for messages.

Ring of Light

Value: 300

Accessory - Ring (Uncommon)

Description: A ring crafted and enchanted from a shard of glowstone.

Detail: The Ring of Light is a common adventurer tool used in dungeons and caves alike. By focusing between one and ten SE, the user can summon a wisp of light to hover over their right shoulder for ten minutes. The spell will be optioned to renew after nine minutes.

Primary Effect: Summon a glowing wisp of light.

Locket of Lost Truths

Value: Unknown

Accessory - Necklace (Rare)

Description: A locket carved from celestial mana crystal with a True Gold chain.

Detail: The Locket of Lost Truths can detect most forms of magical deception such as mimics, illusions, and magical forgeries. When near an illusionary construct such as these, the Locket of Lost Truths will warn the wearer by warming noticeably against their chest. Though this form of Truth Sense isn’t as useful as the true Trait or Skill, the learning curve is well worth it. As the truth is best kept to one’s self at times, the locket is unable to be seen by others without the Truesight ability.

Primary Effect: Greater Truth Sense

Secondary Effect: Self-Camouflage

Myles immediately reached for the items and explained each one to the party. After a quick vote, Tail requested the Ring of Light to support their illusion skills while the others didn’t even bother.

“Myles takes them,” Will said bluntly.

“Agreed,” Tail said as they slipped the ring under their bandages.

“No doubt,” Lyna chorused.

“I’ve already got one,” Kendra said, holding up the horn pendant they’d found the first night of the run. It was glowing a soft red, but Kendra didn’t seem bothered by that fact.

It was unanimous.

He looked at the two items and didn’t argue as he slipped on the black ring. It was smooth on his right hand, and the necklace was weightless and surprisingly warm, no cooler than the skin under his shirt.

A moment later, Kendra’s locket flared, and the swords and shields on the wall rattled. In the wide hall, the sound of metal grew as they clattered against their confines. Having better vision than the rest in the low light, Myles groaned as new information came to life.

Monster Lore Unlocked!

Sword Elemental information obtained!

Shield Elemental information obtained!

Sword Elemental

Dungeon Creature - Elemental: Combat

Rank B Threat Level

Best trait - Movement

Preferred Method of Attack - Slashing

Special Attack: Rend

Breeding Groups: None

Special Ability: Slash, Rend, Cleave, Decapitate

Known Drops: Weapon (Slashing)

Most common where battles common occur, sword elementals are the will of combat given shape. Though their powers vary based on the weapons used to construct them, these elementals all share the same qualities. They are excellent at close combat and are often seen working with other combat elementals.

Continue combat against Sword Elemental to increase your knowledge.

Shield Elemental

Dungeon Creature - Elemental: Weapon

Rank B Threat Level

Best trait - Movement

Preferred Method of Attack - Bashing

Special Attack: Rend

Breeding Groups: None

Special Ability: Shield Bash, Rush, Shield Toss

Known Drops: Armor (Shields)

Most common in the ruins of castles and other locations where sieges have occurred, shield elementals are the will of protection given shape. Though their powers vary based on the shields used to construct them, these elementals all share similar qualities. A shield elemental is not eager to battle but will assist its allies by deterring other attackers and drawing attention from them.

Continue combat against Shield Elemental to increase your knowledge.

Of course, there was a trap.

There was always a trap!

“Sket!” Myles cursed as the necklace warmed, albeit too late for him to do anything about it. “Form up!”

The metal creaked from the wall before disconnecting with a loud crack. The rusted weapons defied gravity as they began to gather and swirl. The noise grew into a maelstrom of steel and sound as sword and shield joined their kin, clashing and fusing until two beasts stood in their place. The first was a simple thing, if a man made out of swords could be called simple. Though, a man wasn’t quite the right word. It was a skeleton with rusted blades for ribs, longsword and broadsword blades for bones, pommels for eyes, and hilts for feet. As Tail called for more light with their new ring, the spectral glow gleamed off the metal skeleton of blades and simply illuminated the domed creature next to it.

With a shell of shields, the metal turtle was the less threatening of the two, but it had its own problems about it. The face was warmed armor, its jaw was curved steel, but the shell concerned Myles the most. There had been a few dozen shields around the room when they’d entered, not counting any hidden under rubble or grime, but more than that made up its form.

Did they fight or flee?

The sound of steel being drawn reached his ear as if responding to the thought.

Why did he even ask?

His mind reached out, taking the connections to feel for his allies and their emotional states before the orders came. “Lyna, Kendra, smash the shell! Will, Keep the sword elemental off them. Tail, pick it apart! I’ll run interference.”

There was no question.

“Got it!” came the group consensus, and they went to work without question.

A pair of war hammers came down on the slower creature before it even had a chance to realize it had come into the world. The shell curved in from the impact, taking the creature’s legs out from under it as its sharp brother came to defend it.

A chain erupted from the side and tangled the bladed legs as the sword skeleton crashed to the ground, but didn’t break. The rusted body bleed orange dust as it clanged against the surface, and the team kept attacking.

The sound of metal scratching the wood floor ground their ears, but that was easily dealt with. Myles had practice, after all.

Globs of dough shot from his resource cache and splattered against exposed blades and armor, hindering their performance as the two creatures began to right themselves. The turtle slipped as it tried to crunch Lyna’s leg and fell flat once more as Kendra’s hammer crushed another shield on its back. The crater was as large as the first time, but a familiar glow about her eyes told Myles everything he needed as he reached out to check. She was already starting to enrage.

With the sword skeleton struggling as Tail’s chain roped around its struggling form, Myles made a call. “Will, switch targets.”

He nodded, keeping an eye on the damage the [Berserker] took as Myles turned his focus completely onto the skeleton…

Just in time to dodge a detached, bladed hand flying off its arm to clatter against the wall in the distance.

Sket! What had that been? Decapitate?

“Careful of…”

The words were rendered moot as the turtle’s shell exploded a moment later into a hail of large barrier pieces. Myles was far enough away to miss the worst of it, but Lyna and Kendra took the brunt of the damage. Tail dodged from their distance, and Will was missed entirely as he seemed to move around the pieces more gracefully than an elder should. The worst was yet to come.

Losing the chain in that moment gave the metal skeleton the leverage it needed to rise again. Disarmed from its previous attack, the creature wobbled on its two legs, but a glimmer of murder showed in its grimy, pommel eyes.

The two regrouped a moment later and the sword elemental took to the front as the point. It wasn’t hard to see why. Its shielded ally was a shadow of its former self, held together by straps, grips, and other pieces Myles couldn’t begin to identify without more focus as the group began to recover, but what Myles assumed were more of the shield’s grips made up a twisted spine inside the remains of where its shell had been. As he studied it, the remaining turtle looked like a hollowed-out, domed greenhouse had a child with a beehive. Armor still protected the head and legs, but the majority of its armor had been lost when it detonated. That’s when a new sound reached Myles’s ears— distant metal scraping against the floor again. A quick glance told him all the news he could handle. The pieces of fallen shield elemental were moving, wobbling, clanking as they wiggled their way back towards the voided shell.

A new orb of dough formed, and Myles redirected the tactics as he picked up on the flow of battle.

“Finish of the shield first! I’ll stop the pieces from reaching it. Kendra, smash the sword elemental!”

There was no response as the orders went into action, and Myles watched each aspect of the battle play out. For his part, he fired dough at as many of the large chunks of metal as he could target. Wet, slapping collision after collision slowed the material from returning to the turtle, buying Lyna time as she switched weapons for a more effective strike. The blade shone in the magical light, gleaming in an arc as it went, but the leather straps holding the shell and spine in place were more resilient than they looked. Her gleaming blade severed strings rather than straps, but she was making progress as she dodged the menacing bites of the beast’s hooked jaw. Sections collapsed as pieces were broken down and the live granting magical spine exposed.

Tail worked from the shadows, firing glowing daggers of mist and occasionally their chain at the two targets from a place they hadn’t been. The blades deflected many of the strikes, ignoring the weaker strikes for the more impending death blows of the [Berserker]. Every movement she made brought red streaks for her trouble and exchanged dents on its outer arms as it defended.

For what good it would do, Myles switched targets for a moment and launched a ball of dough at the face of the skeleton when it committed to a block. With a wet thunk, the dough hit home, and Myles gave it a simple command.

Constrict.

The leavened projectile wrapped around the sharp-edged skull as Myles commanded in an attempt to blind the beast as Kendra moved. Metallic scraping followed as the entire skull was encased in the dough, and the skeleton of metal began pulling at its face in a fury.

Apparently, skeletons did need eyes.

Well, they needed them when they were alive, anyway.

“Gwarrrr!”

Crunch.

Kendra’s war hammer came down hard on the elemental’s head as red mist blazed like twin rivers of blood from her eyes. Despite the dough cushioning the blow, the dome of the skull collapsed inward, and the neck crumpled below it. In a death kell of metal and magic, the body staggered, scraping like nails on the slate before the blades making up its form fell apart.

A moment later, the turtle had reformed half its shell of dough and metal and wood before Lyna landed a critical blow, snapping the spine as her newly equipped axe finished the job her blade started.

In a dust devil of rust and the smell of rot, the elementals vanished.

Guardians of the Guild Floor One Defeated.

Combat Analyzed - No Bonus Awarded (Trap Triggered)

Treasure Distribution has been set to Need before Greed

Assigned Treasure:

Myles Chase

10 Silver coins

Lyna Hugea

1 Gold coin 2 battered blades 1 battered shield 1 Shelled Elemental Core 3 Building Vouchers (Comfort Supply)

Tail

6 Silver coins 3 curved battered blades 3 Building Vouchers (Comfort Supply)

Kendra Kessa

2 Gold coins 1 battered whip blade 3 Building Vouchers (Comfort Supply)

Will Rigs

10 Silver coin 1 Elemental Hide - Shield Elemental

Myles took a deep breath before looking around now that the danger had passed. A spark of mana called his dough back to him from where it lay on the floor as he spoke. “Is everyone okay?”

“Fine,” Will called, hands glowing gently.

“Fine,” Kendra grunted through the mending process.

“Alright,” Lyna said already looking at the blades and shield quality. “I think most of this is salvageable.”

Tail gave a thumbs-up as they collected the odd piece of trash.

Relaying the information he read on the combat analysis, Myles sighed. The next few floors were going to be rough.

***

Sindra and her seekers pushed with the final groups into the city plaza where the first dungeon seal once waited. Despite the large ring of destruction, the ground was clean, cleaner than it should have been anyways. There were a few pebbles here and there, but most of the rubble and seal itself made up the bulk of the Shardking. The unnatural stone simulation of life loomed over everything, casting a shadow of darkness darker than the sky over an already darkened city.

Sindra had planned for this though.

She’d gone over everything tenfold.

Now all they had to do was listen and perform as well as she expected.

At least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

Her confidence was as sturdy as the buildings around them, which wasn’t saying much as they continued crumbling around her as the large beast still hadn’t noticed them. Though her confidence wavered, she hid it well.

No, they’d be fine.

They had this.

“Ballad of Battle!” Sindra cried, and a pair of [Bard]s answered her call.

Plans never survive the first encounter, Sindra reminded herself, blocking out the Ballad of Battle with one of her Traits. For their survival, she needed to keep a clear head.

The music did what it had during the first real battle and more. It gave heart to those that could hear it, gave them strength, gave them direction. It made them powerful, but it made them dumber. It was the trade-off for the song’s power but worth it.

With her teams in position, Sindra acted. Her confidence surged as she pulled out her rapier and pointed it towards the looming golem. It moved slowly but surely as it broke down and repurposed the buildings around it. Each booming step of Shardking left Sindra’s heart beating like the strikes of a lightning storm.

It was time.

“Runners, attack!”

The music had done nothing to draw the slow creature, but the words of the raid leader came to its ears as if they were crystal-clear chimes. The grind of stone had a new purpose now as the Runner’s lit the air with spell and spear, but it took no notice. The eyes of the golem flared like exploding stars as they locked onto Sindra, but they couldn’t stay long.

The Ender of Heroes turned towards the group of Runners, the sound of grinding stone grew louder as Shardking moved to engage, and the world became the tune of war.