“Oh, for propriety’s sake. Won’t you relax? I’d rather not hurt you,” the unnamed Goblin told him. The mirth in its demeanor and smile never leaving as it continued, “unless… you’d rather find out just how dangerous I can be?” Its voice grew more profound and sinister with every word of that final statement.

Honestly, Colin didn’t want to. It wasn’t that the Goblin exuded menace like a fire radiated heat, which it totally did. It didn’t have anything to do the shadows around it that seemed to writhe and squirm like agitated tentacles. Nor was it how the colors around the Goblin were leaching away, leaving the area surrounding it fading to grayscale.

All these added to the ambiance, but what gave Colin pause was the relaxed and perfectly calm attitude the Goblin displayed. He remained open and vulnerable, but something about it felt wrong. Like he was completely safe behind wall after wall after wall with each defensive barrier made of stronger and stranger materials.

With reluctance, Colin released the daggers on his belt and folded his arms over his chest. The action was meant simply to keep his arms from using his dagger handles as emotional support tools.

“Glad to see you’re smart. If you’ll allow me to introduce myself,” it said, clacking it’s cane once into the ground before dipping into a bow. “My name is Nox LightSnuffer, Dusk Alchemyst extraordinaire. May I know your name?” He said, returning to his previous pose.

Coming to the quick conclusion that he might want to stay on this being’s good side, Colin answered. “I am simply known as DevilWalker, no class or title.”

“Really?” The Goblin Nox said, now definitely interested. “Why not?”

“I think I’ll tell you the same thing I told my wife when she asked me why I wasn’t married yet. I just haven’t found the right one yet,” Colin said, smirking at his small amount of humor. “Why else would I be in these ruins?”

“Ruins?” the Goblin asked curiously. “What ruins are we in, pray tell?”

Colin’s mind seemed to go several ways at once. Should he answer truthfully? Why does it matter if the Goblin knew? Why does it not know where it is? And what in the world is a Dusk Alchemyst?! And Why was it so intimidating?!

In the end, Colin just decided to ask. “Why don’t you know?”

For the first time, the Goblin’s smile faded to a hard stare as it seemed to have an internal debate for a few seconds. When Nox responded, it was low and straightforward. “Let’s just say that I woke up an hour ago, deeper in these tunnels. I have no idea how I got here or even where here is. So, DevilWalker, I ask again. Where. Am. I?” It said, its voice clipped as it gave off strong warning vibes. The swirling shadows around it went still with its annoyance.

Amnesia or something more unusual, Colin questioned for a moment before deciding very quickly that he didn’t need to know. He only needed to know what was immediately in front of him, and that was a very annoyed Goblin, waiting for Colin to respond.

“A dungeon,” Colin answered before Nox did something violent. “The Ruins of Old Willows Cross.”

“The limitless dungeon?” the Goblin asked. Stroking its chin as it pondered the information. “Do you have any idea what year it is, DevilWalker?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t,” Colin said.

“Pity,” Nox said. “A shame that you aren’t more useful. Might have saved you.”

Colin watched the Goblin with wariness as he crouched down a little, hands flying to the daggers on his belt. When the small creature across from him didn’t react to Colin’s movement, he found his caution rising another notch as Nox did nothing but smile wickedly at him.

Seconds passed without anything happening, and Colin finally spat out, “are you gonna attack me or what?”

“Oh, not me. I’m not the danger here,” Nox told Colin in tones too calm for the subject matter. “I came from a room farther down. That is the enemy for this room,” he said, pointing behind Colin.

Turning around, Colin felt his stomach drop at the sight of the creatures before him. A giant spider the size of a semi-truck, made of twisted and gnarled roots, with black flowers and moss strewn about its form. Its many eyes seemed to be made of shimmering amber orbs, and it kept them locked on Colin.

Colin’s shoulders slumped for a second as he looked at the eight-legged magical freak of nature. None of his training in the real world involved fighting giant wooden spiders, so Colin was unsure how to kill the damned thing. Unless the wood that made it up was a type of armor that he might be able to puncture, or maybe its amber eyes were a weak spot. The first seemed unlikely, but the second, maybe.

When it moved, each of its legs punctured the ground so fast that the spider looked like a blur coming right at him. Colin dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the spears that were it’s from two legs. Then before he could attempt to move out of the way, one of its other legs whipped out and crashed into Colin’s torso.

You have been struck by a Root Elemental Spider for 29 points of damage. You now have 111 out of 140 health remaining.

The blow knocked him tumbling back several feet away from the now named Root Elemental Spider. Colin controlled his momentum and managed to roll onto his knees and immediately back to his feet. It wasn’t exactly elegant, an effect of the stats he assumed, but he managed to look back at the spider quick enough to see it turn around and aim its thin thorax at him.

Colin moved to the side in an attempt to dodge, but the spider’s attack shot at him faster than he could move. A thorn-like spike as long as an arrow but as thick as Colin’s arm shot at him more quickly than he thought aerodynamically possible.

What little movement Colin had managed took him out of immediate danger but not entirely out of the path of the projectile. The spike impacted Colin’s shoulder but somehow didn’t penetrate the jacket. The blow still hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but it could have been worse.

You have been hit by the Root Elemental Spider’s Flying thorn for 29 points of damage. Initial damage reduced by the protective enchantment on your jacket. The damage has turned from puncturing to bludgeoning damage and has been reduced by 25%. You now have 80 out of 140 health remaining.

The notification was welcome since he was starting to think that this jacket was a waste since it hadn’t removed any damage he’d taken from the laser hallway. Now he was wondering if it only worked against specific damage types or if the enchantment only activated occasionally. He’d have to figure it out, but for now, he had a spider to deal with.

He spared a glance to make sure the Goblin wasn’t trying to sneak around him. While not antagonistic towards him, Nox had allowed the spider to attack him unimpeded and wouldn’t put it past the creature to decide just to end him. What he found was somehow more annoying.

Nox wasn’t doing anything. The Goblin was standing in the same spot, leaning onto its cane, and was just watching Colin struggle against the Root Elemental Spider. His gaze seemed indifferent as if what was happening to Colin didn’t matter compared to whatever he was thinking about.

Deciding that he couldn’t spare the small green creature another thought, Colin drew the dagger he got from the Surtr in the first room. Figuring that the larger weapon might help, he bared his teeth in a feral snarl as he charged.

Diving and rolling to the side, Colin managed to avoid another of the flying thorns as he approached. The spider scurried around to look at him in time to see him start to vibrate with kinetic vigor and charge just a little faster than before. It swung one of its forelegs at Colin, narrowly missing his head with the gnarled root, and thrust at him with the other.

Raising the heavy dagger with both hands, Colin turned and used it to deflect the blow. It didn’t work very well and sent him to the floor with the effort it took to block. With kinetic vigor still active, Colin rolled to the side to avoid the next stab that missed his stomach by scant inches.

With little else to try, Colin sat up and swung the blade at the foreleg impaled in the ground near him. The blade cut into it a little deeper than he would have guessed, but when each root-leg was as wide as your forearm, an inch deeper was a marginal improvement.

Falling to his back, Colin kipped up to his feet and sprinted under the spider before it could try anything. The goal was one of the nearby garden arbors that the fight had been strafing around and climb it to get atop the creature. The arbor in question had remained standing, and Colin hoped to capitalize on that. Now that he thought about it, the spider had been avoiding getting near every plant-holding structure. Maybe it was intentional?

His heartbeat was fast as he saw its legs go taut and raise the body of the spider higher into the air. He quickly ran through the possibilities of what it could be doing, but given the stout body of the Root Elemental Spider, he didn’t like what he concluded. With kinetic vigor active for a few more seconds, he was moving a little faster, and his adrenaline was adding more oomph to it too.

With both, he managed to avoid the main portion of the attack. This consisted of the giant root spider bringing its raised body down and slamming upon the ground with enough force that it would have splattered if it were a normal spider. The blow transferred through the ground, shaking all of the nearby vegetation and knocking Colin to the floor as the area-of-effect attack knocked him off his feet.

Then quick as a flash, the spider pounced and landed above Colin, all eight of its limbs spread out all around colin with its pincers set above his head. His eyes were on the pincers as he moved out of the way, but the creature was too fast.

Raising the heavy dagger with two hands between himself and the spider, Colin hoped that the force of its speed on the dagger might kill it all on its own. He doubted it, but he needed to try something. He shut his eyes tight and awaited the impact, not wanting to watch those monstrous wooden fangs approach.

Seconds passed, and Colin wasn’t sure if his perception of time had slowed or if something else had happened. Except for the creaking wood above him, the room was unnervingly quiet.

Opening his eyes, Colin let them fly all the way open in surprise as the sight before him was both fantastic and terrifying.

The spider was struggling against something hard to see. Its body quivered and shook as it tried to move closer to Colin’s face to no avail. With one particularly strong try, Colin caught a quick look at the bonds that held the spider only to look immediately at the Goblin. The bindings looked like glassy black chains that somehow seemed less substantial in the light, and the elemental was helpless to them.

Nox was still standing in the same spot as before, its left hand still on the cane with the right holding a single link of chain that smoked in its palm. The Goblin took a few steps closer to the two, Colin not daring to move in case the Goblin decided to release the spider. Once he was in easy earshot, the Goblin spoke. “DevilWalker, I’ve been thinking about this and have decided that you may not be useless after all.”

This casual display of power made Colin an excellent listener, “how so?”

“I want out, and I have a strong feeling that I cannot leave this place due to my current nature.” He took a deep breath, “I am, essentially, a dungeon monster. As such, I am beholden to the rules of the dungeon that created me. Let’s also say that I am not originally from here, and that might make the rules a little… fuzzy. You follow?” He asked.

Colin nodded, and Nox continued.

“So here’s where you come in. There’s a chance that if you finish the dungeon, and take me with you, I might get a chance to leave. So, here’s my arrangement. I help you defeat this dungeon, and you do your best to help me leave this dismal place. Is this agreeable?” It asked, a toothy grin reappearing on its face. “I’d choose quickly, DevilWalker. I am unsure how long I can hold this thing back.”

Sure enough, as soon as it said that, a part of the chain binding that held the spider in place shattered like glass. Releasing one of its back legs that immediately struggled harder to get close to Colin.

“I don’t suppose I have a choice?” Colin said, smiling at the ultimatum. He could appreciate this type of choice since he’d done similar when escaping prisons and killing certain marks. He’d been lucky since he’d always survived the experience, and his coerced compatriots weren’t always as fortunate.

“It depends if you consider dying a choice. Fortunately for me, I believe you do not consider it one. All I need is a yes,” Nox told him.

The Goblin was right, of course, so Colin only waited a moment before answering, “yes. I’ll do it.”

“Excellent,” the Goblin exclaimed happily. “Why don’t you climb out of there so I can help you kill this pest. Come here,” he ordered, and Colin complied quickly as another chain shattered.

Releasing the cane, it stood fast as if the Goblin were still holding it as Nox went into one of his long coats pockets. Seconds later, a single vial was withdrawn and held before Colin. Its contents were oily black with green foam that caught the light oddly when he took it. “Coat your weapon in this and be careful not to let it into any open wound. Trust me when I say that the results will not be pretty.”

Nodding to the Goblin, Colin removed the cock stopper on the vial and carefully poured the contents over the heavy dagger and waited for a moment to see what would happen. When seconds passed, and nothing did, Colin looked at the Goblin in confusion.

Nox let out a sigh, “just attack the damned thing and let us be on our way. I suggest you attack the main body for a quicker effect.”

Colin’s mouth clamped shut and faced the struggling spider again with conviction surging through him. He hoped that whatever the Goblin had given him worked as well as advertised because he was going to be annoyed if this was all a rouse by the Goblin. He doubted it, but he still wasn’t sure about anything that had to do with this creature.

Looking at his mana pool, Colin figured he had enough for a few seconds of kinetic vigor and came up with the easiest plan. Taking a step back, Colin held the heavy dagger level with his ear and did the quick mental math of the angles he needed. Then taking a few running steps forward, Colin threw the dagger at the Root Elemental Spider and watched as it flew end over end.

The weapon impaled the spider’s head, just left of its eyes, and Colin saw the reaction immediately. Whatever coated his heavy dagger had infested the wound and was spreading through the body of the spider. Its skin darkened, and bits and pieces of the creature started to crumble in foul-smelling pieces wherever the corruption touched.

In a snap, every shadow chain that held the spider shattered, and the elemental skittered towards Colin. Three steps later, however, three of the spider’s legs snapped off due to whatever was going through its elemental root body. It somehow managed to stand, and still, it tried to approach, every step it took creaked with the pressure its weakening limbs were enduring.

One more wet, wooden snap and the entire spider collapsed to the ground. The spider twitched, and each of its remaining legs clenched into itself as they crumbled further.

As it stopped twitching, Nox walked up beside Colin and nodded its head in approval. “Shall we move on then?”

Colin waited a moment longer to make sure the spider was dead before he walked over to it and withdrew his heavy dagger from its corpse. It came out as easily as if it were being drawn from sand instead of wood, and he took particular care since he could still see some of the substance still coating parts of the blade.

Colin caught up to Nox and held the blade out in front of him, “what was that stuff?”

Nox looked at it for only a second before looking forward to the stone structure in the middle of the garden. “It was an herbicide of my own design. As you saw, it was pretty potent.”

“Oh yeah,” Colin agreed. “What was that chain thing you did?”

The Goblin reached into a pocket and withdrew that single chain link that had been smoking earlier. “Oh, this? Just something I made in my lab one day. You’d be surprised what I can make with the right reagents, ingredients, and magical foci. Especially if I use my specialty,” The Goblin boasted, pocketing the chain-link again.

They walked around the stone structure, and Colin stopped to look at the door that he could now see and wondered. What could be inside there?

“I wouldn’t bother, but if you want to look inside really quick, go ahead,” Nox said, leaning forward on his cane as waited.

Shrugging, Colin walked to the structure and opened the oiled wooden door. He wasn’t surprised when the sight of gardening tools like hoes, shovels, and cultivators greeted him on one wall. The opposite wall was a series of cubbies with tags that had worn away over time, but their contents remained.

You do not have the appropriate knowledge skill to identify this herb. You do not have the appropriate knowledge skill to identify this herb. You do not have the appropriate knowledge skill to identify this herb.

Over and over, the prompts repeated the same message as he looked into each of the bags of herbs. He would recognize an aspect of one of them, but another part would deviate enough to make him think otherwise. Either way, he sighed as he grabbed all thirteen of the herb bags and put them in his backpack.

He took another minute to check the back wall of the shed and found a small box on the floor that almost blended with the floor. It was maybe six inches across and wide with most of the wood had nearly rotted away. The latch was locked, but it took almost no strength to smash through the top of the box with the pommel of his heavy dagger.

Inside sat a few smooth, dark pebbles with each having a rune clearly carved into it. He had no idea what these pebbles did, but he took the time to look at each in turn on the off chance that his one knowledge skill triggered.

You have found a runestone of fermenting. This runestone may be used to speed the fermenting process of many things, including Alcohol. (Knowledge Spiritcraft)

Cool, if he decided not to keep it, he could always see about selling it to Solis at the Brewed Perfection. But for the moment, all six of the stones went into his pack.

“Find anything interesting?” Nox asked as Colin caught up.

“Some herbs and a couple of stones with symbols carved into them,” Colin said nonchalantly. “I couldn’t identify most of them, so I wasn’t going to worry about it until later.”

“May I see one of the herbs?” Nox said, not breaking his stride as he raised an open palm.

Not seeing a reason against it, Colin reached into his pack and withdrew one of the loose pouches. He handed it to Nox and kept following the small humanoid as he led him out the back exit, through another archway similar to the one he entered from.

The Goblin opened the pouch and started inspecting it. Picked up a pinch and felt it, waved his hand over the bag to waft the smell to him, even taking a couple flakes of the amber and green contents and tasting it. Nox, of course, spat it back out and looked at the contents with a bit of a smile. “Well, that’s interesting.”

“Can I assume that it’s something good?” Colin asked, trying to look at the contents.

“Indeed,” Nox said, closing the bag and returning it to Colin. “This is a finished product called ignition flakes. You can tell from the aged smell and taste along with the little bit of static you feel when they rub against each other. It’s used commonly as a component in some fire potions and alchemical bombs.” The Goblin stopped talking and looked up at Colin. “I think that should do it.”

“Do what?” Colin asked.

It rolled its eyes, “what else? Get you the knowledge herb skill. Did it work?” Nox asked, yellow eyes shining with anticipation.

Colin waited a few seconds before shaking his head, “no prompt saying that I got one.”

Nox shrugged, “have you been getting all your usual prompts since you’ve been in this dungeon?” he inquired with a toothy smile. “Cause I’d wager that your messages have been out of sorts since you’ve been down here.”

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Colin inquired as they passed the archway out of the garden.

You have completed the third room of the Ruins of Old Willows Cross.

Nox must not have gotten a prompt because it just started talking and kept talking as Colin read the short message. “I helped create a dungeon once. There is always a chance of things acting abnormal with the magicks that create these places. This one is simply holding back most of your prompts until after the dungeon is complete, I’m sure.”

“Good to know,” Colin said, about to ask another question when Nox disappeared in a burst of vaporous shadow. Immediately, he ducked into a crouch and looked ahead of his position and found what spooked Nox.

Thirty feet ahead of him, the tunnel that had formed out from the archway had opened into a stone wall with a single gateway through it. Upon the top of the walls, stood two people in tactical body armor, including gas masks that glowed around the joints. They carried heavy looking machine pistols that hung loosely from a strap around each of their shoulders and what looked like lightsaber handles on their belts.

If he had his way, he’d take both out from the archway with a silenced rifle before advancing, but he had no gun nor the means to silence one. Approaching the wall would lead to him getting spotted without fail since there was no cover between here and there. He had no way to throw anything far enough that it might hit them, and getting their attention at all was a bad move with their superior weaponry.

Colin was still working through the problem when Nox reappeared next to him from a puddle of shadows. The Goblin was grinning wickedly as he talked, “I’ve got good news. This is the same passage that I used when I passed through earlier, just with the enemies respawned.”

“Good, but how does that help me? I can’t teleport like you.” Colin asked, still eyeing the two as they walked the wall.

“It means that I can cheat the dungeon,” Nox said as he grabbed Colin’s arm, and a cloud of shadow stuff sprang from the floor. It enveloped them, and Colin felt his stomach move for only a moment like he was on a bullet train that had just taken off, and then it stopped. The darkness faded, and he found himself looking at a doorway made of pure steel. Nox released him and took a step away from Colin as he worked his way up from his prone position.

“Where-” Colin started before Nox picked up the sentence.

“Are we? At the end of the room challenge, obviously. Step through that door, and it should be a short passage until we reach the last room. At least, I am pretty sure it is. That room is where I was before I walked out the only open door. With any luck, the room hasn’t spawned anything new,” Nox said, walking up to the door and opening without a sound.

“Wait, you were the last challenge? That would explain why you’re so strong.” Colin said, sure of that fact. He walked past Nox curious, excited and nervous for what laid ahead of them in the final room.

You have completed the fourth room of the Ruins of Old Willows Cross.

“Probably, but my strength can’t be accurately measured since I am a crafting class at heart.” Nox said with a shrug. “I wouldn’t worry about it, though. Any class can be dangerous if done correctly. Hell, I’ve met a healer once who you wanted to avoid pissing off. She was very adept at using her healing magic to make cells that didn’t need to regenerate, regenerate. It took a little time, but eventually, they popped like gore-filled balloons. Gross but effective,” Nox said as he fell into step beside Colin.

Despite the height difference, Nox somehow had no problem keeping up. His pace even matched his and not any faster; it made no sense.

A few minutes later, the two approached a building that seemed out of place with the rest of the ruins. This building was roughly the size of an industrial complex that Colin knew of back home; it was built from red brick and mortar with wrought iron fire escapes along the sides. Windows lined the upper parts of the building letting in what little light the crystals around the cavern emitted.

Above the door in front of them hung a large sign that read; Salazar Experimental Power. Unauthorized Personnel will be captured on sight.

With that sign acting as the foreshadowing of this room, both of them walked through the unlocked double doors. Only to have the unmistakable sound of dense fleshy footsteps with the scraping of claws accompanying it greet them.

“Any chance that’s not some crazy strong monster and just something more benign. Like a vegan dragon or a giant mutant bear?” Colin asked, trying to be a little funny and not imagine what could be making that noise.

“Unlikely. It is probably something that will eat you, digest you, and likely enjoy it. Who can say for sure,” Nox said with a shrug.

“What, it won’t eat you?” Colin asked.

“Unlikely,” he repeated. “Goblins are considered vermin and, therefore, disgusting.”

“Of course,” Colin mumbled, his hands going to his daggers.