Gem knew they needed to take action. But while the desire to go forward and save the world was strong, the path was not clear to him. He needed more information, and to get that, he needed more levels.

he thought eventually, trying to keep the melancholy he felt out of his mental words. He focused his attention on the dungeon.

“As long as you don’t promise you’ve got a good feeling about them. That’s how people die.”

The wisp nodded solemnly. “It’s called the Core Curse. You jinx them without them even knowing.” He waved a hand through the air. “But they should be safe, just as long as you don’t try to do math. Never do math while there are adventurers in your dungeon.”

Gem wanted to ask for clarification, but Chesu’s face erupted into a wide smile as he laughed at whatever joke he just made. It was such a full-body laugh that the wisp collapsed against the side of Gem’s core.

Chesu, unable to answer with words, nodded furiously while tears leaked from the corners of his eyes.

Somehow, that only made the wisp laugh harder. He gripped his sides and howled, head thrown back to the sky. Somehow his wings kept him from falling awkwardly to the ground.

Gem wished he had eyes, so he could roll them at the wisp’s antics.

Don’t forget, he told himself, this, too, is a lie. He could have made any joke and laughed this hard. It is how one copes with mortality and overwhelming danger.

Instead of teasing the wisp for his exaggerated laugh at a mediocre joke, Gem turned his attention to the dungeon below. The party was engaged with his first mob pack, and the Goosalope had added their beaks to the fray.

The party’s tank—Baldur, the others had called him—had everything under control. He made it look effortless. Instead of needing to navigate a sword through the crowd of monsters, Baldur was able to make wide swipes with his long arms. His attacks cleaved through the monsters, securing their attention and opening his teammates up for more coordinated attacks.

Gem watched as one of the Cicadossum activated Feign Death.

“It’s not out,” Baldur said to his companions in a matter-of-fact tone. “Leave it for now. Let’s focus on the other.”

With near precision, the others changed targets from the fallen Cicadossum to the one that was still standing. Gem felt almost sorry for his mobs.

Gem noticed his words held an awe in them.

The younger Urkin, Ata, danced around behind the other melee fighter with a high-pitched: “don’t mind me!” She was using daggers, and so Gem assumed she was another Rogue. When he grunted at her, she playfully shook her backside in his general direction. “Such a grump!”

“It isn’t my fault you’ve got enough energy for both of us. Like you steal it from me.”

“Are you calling me a vampire?” Ata stabbed at the Cicadossum with one dagger but the attack was half hearted. “Sakir,” she whined in a tone usually reserved for a child complaining to one’s mother, “Poulsen said I’m a vampire!”

“When did I say that?” the other Urkin said as he shook his head to get his hair out of his eyes. “You’re putting words in my mouth.”

“I will turn this dungeon around, both of you.” Despite her words, the older Urkin was grinning. “Now come on you two, kiss and make up.”

“Ick.” Ata stuck her tongue out. “No thank you.”

Despite their banter, Ata and Poulsen moved fluidly around one another. Chesu mentioned it was odd to have two melee adventurers in a party, since it required the three to crowd around a mob. It wasn’t so bad when their target was a Boss Mob, but for Gem’s smaller critters, it seemed to be a considerable bother.

This group adjusted, however, in a way that seemed practiced. Poulsen would move in close and swipe with a glowing green hand scythe that seemed to appear from nowhere. The attack moved fluidly through the Cicadossum as if the scythe didn’t exist, and then the weapon was gone again. As soon as his weapon vanished he rolled to his left, following through with the momentum of his swipe, and then Ata was there, closing in with her daggers.

Meanwhile their other damage dealer, Sakir, seemed to be doing nothing. Her hands and arms pulsated with a throbbing purple glow, but Gem could see no attack coming from it. He was sure she was an Enchanter, based on the staff and the magic that surrounded her. But he’d need no orbs of whatever element so he had no confirmation.

The Cicadossum soon activated Feign Death and Baldur had everyone focus on the Goosalopes. Gem wondered why the Goosalopes had failed to cause chaos. Perhaps they had wandered too close to the tank’s arching attacks and had gotten injured?

Regardless, they fell quickly without the high-hit-point Tank Mob protecting them. Gem was sure to shatter the Mob Heart in a burst of tiny trinkets and paltry coin.

“Right then. Let’s wake these ones up.”

Gem and Chesu both stared in awe as Baldur threw back his head and roared. The dungeon vibrated with the sound, causing all of Gem’s mob to grow uneasy. Even Shriek and his pals at the generators.

Still the Cicadossum didn’t move.

“Here, this might help.” Sakir reached a hand out towards her tank. The pulsing purple glow sloughed off her arm like a living ball of ooze. It traveled to the tank and burst upon touching his right-most exoskeleton claw. Purple ooze wound its way around the weapon.

“Thanks, Sakir!” Baldur threw her a wide grin before he turned his attention back to the Cicadossum. “Wake up time, you two!”

When his claws swiped down at their prone forms, two identical messages showed up in Gem’s mind simultaneously: Feign Death - Dispelled!

Gem thought warily.

“Corruption.” Chesu made a face like he’d bitten into a very bitter candy. “It’s the element of… It’s…” He frowned, shaking his head. “Doesn’t that color look familiar?”

It did. While it was much more liquid than the blocky shapes of the Ostrum, it still had the same color and viscosity to it.

Gem paused as his thoughts raced.

“No. See how she’s not a long-limbed monster? It’s fine. She’s not working for them or anything… It’s the base element from which they came. The thing they… took over. Easier to convert something already corrupt.”

Gem watched the Enchanter as she returned to monitoring combat. She was so different from Likara, the Enchanter that had been with the first group. Likara had aimed to spend every drop of mana the second she got it, while Sakir was happy to let her friends do things and then add critical help where necessary.

The group finished off the Cicadossum with ease. Gem burst the Mob Hearts into more trinkets or small amounts of coin. When all drops had been collected, the group paused to make sure everyone was healthy and that mana levels were good.

Gem watched the Sage drop into a cross-legged position as he rested his hands on his knees. His chin drooped against his chest as if he were asleep.

Sakir leaned against her staff, deep breaths taken as if to refocus herself.

While the others rested, Ata surveyed the dungeon. “Huh.”

“You got something?” Poulsen asked, as he flipped his hair out of his eyes.

She shook her head. “Not worth it to check now, but I think there might be something over there.” The Urkin Rogue waved a hand towards the left-hand side of Gem’s first room, where two trap rooms waited. The fall trap room was open, and the spikes room was closed, but they were still in that direction.

Poulsen followed her gesture, but he shrugged. “I don’t see any obvious signs. What’s your reasoning?”

“Too many trees.”

She turned around and looked at the right side of the first room, where there were no trap rooms. The makeshift path through the dungeon nearly touched the wall at one point, and there were just a few sparse trees in key locations. When Poulsen made a sound like he saw her point, she turned back to the left side.

“Either something’s hiding over there, or I’m losing my touch.”

“Doubt it’s the second thing,” Baldur said as he joined the conversation. He put one massive hand on Ata’s shoulder, careful to avoid touching her with anything more than his palm. “We did good with this first room. Do you want to investigate before we move on to the second?”

The Rogue seemed to think about the offer for a long time before she shook her head so hard her braids whipped around her body. “I don’t think it’s necessary. At best it’s extra loot, which isn’t our primary objective. But it could be dangerous and we don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.”

Baldur lowered his head once in a quick nod of affirmation. “I appreciate your focus. We are lucky to have a Rogue such as you among us.”

Ata grinned up at him, her small face stretched wide. “Aww. You like me.”

“Way to ruin the mood,” Poulsen said with a snort of laughter. “Hey, Helgi, how goes the mana?”

The Sage lifted his head. His gaze was sharp and alert, showing that he hadn’t been taking a nap in the middle of the dungeon. “Good. Are we ready to continue?”

As the party helped one another to their feet, or otherwise collected themselves to move forward, Gem turned his attention to Chesu.

The wisp looked to the sky, as if calculating their remaining time. “Yeah, sure, kid. Indulge a little. Always important to get to know the adventurers you might be working with anyway. They’ll be your boots-on-the-ground just as much as your mobs, after all.”

Gem tried to not get his hopes up that these, or any, adventurers would be at that final battle. From the moment they stepped in his door, any adventurer could fail. And if they did, there would be one less to join his mobs in their battle against the Ostrum.

It was a sobering, worrying thought.