Corporal Augustine, Aug to his friends, had just arrived at the bridge barrier to check on how the training of the new recruits was going. It was only the first day, but there were a couple that might show promise.

He was also doing the rounds and checking in on all the guards, but for now, he was seeing if the guards manning the barricades across the bridge facing the Dungeon were performing their duty.

'Everything seems to be flowing smoothly. I might get an hour of sword practice today; after lunch.

Of course, Fate was listening, as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

What the fuck?

He turned to look at the Dungeon gates and stood in shock as the gates slowly opened.

He snapped out of his stupor as he saw a big spell circle inscribed with magical runes arranged in a particular pattern that rotated a foot off the ground appeared between the gates.

Wisps of energy started floating from the blue field that sealed the Dungeon entrance, drawn to the glowing circle.

The troops posted behind the barricades noticed the magic and started to panic and run around.

The small girl looked out of place next to the Corporal as she was staring at the circle with scared eyes.

She was nudged by Corporal Augustine and turned her scared face to him. He indicating the watchtower behind the barricade.

"Up the tower, Sonja, sound the alarm. Do you remember the code?"

"Yes, Corporal."

"Good, of you go."

He shoved her softly in the direction of the rickety tower that was built about an hour ago.

He sighed as he equipped his shield and sword that he received this morning from the blacksmiths.

So soon? I had hoped for a day or two to practice using the weapons before getting into the action, but needs must.

He saw the guys running around and the recruits standing around looking lost.

Better do something or they might run and then there would be a rout.

He shouted at the troops to follow their orders and the recruits to fall into line, he kept shouting and shoving till he had them all in three rows and start insulting them till they had their eyes in front of them and not looking to their right at the still rotating circle.

Make them scared of me and not thinking of the enemy that might appear. Not bad for somebody that only started this morning.

"Equip your shields, if I find one of you worthless pieces of dogshit running when you are told to stand then I will fucking kill you myself and I will wear your fucking skin as a new cloak! Do you hear me, dogshits?"

They startled as a loud shriek could be heard then cut off only to start again long then short then long again repeating over and over, 5times.

There were a few mutters.

"DO YOU HEAR ME!" He screamed in one recruits face covering her in spit.

"YES, CORPORAL!" He looked at them with their shields.

'Shields? pieces of plywood covered in beast hide.' He turned left facing the spell circle.

"Good. Now you will right face and then proceed three at a time to the first private, where you will stand on the left, you on the right and you behind the private. Each group of three will go after the other. Do you have me? RIGHT FACE! PROCEED!"

The scared-looking bunch of recruits turned right and fell out three at a time running to the troops lining the barricades.

There was a lot of shoving and stumbling but mostly they did what they were told.

Corporal Augustine looked over his shoulder and saw the Sargeant and a bunch of armed people, including the GSquad, in the distance, running to the bridge.

'They won't be here on time.'

He squared his shoulders and stepped towards the barricade.

"We will hold. We will hold till reinforcements arrive. Then we will hold till there are no more or till we are told to retreat. DO YOU HEAR ME!"

"Yes, Corporal!"

He nodded. "Good, prepare to defend your positions!"

Everybody slammed their shields into the ground and put their left shoulder behind them. There was a couple of recruits who had to be corrected by the veteran troops in the front, then there was a bright flash.

Suddenly he got an amonia smell up his nose as a couple of recruits pissed themselves. But they didn't move from their spots.

'Good, there might be some promise here. If they survive the day. Hell, if we survive this day.'

He himself wanted to run when he saw what was standing where the circle used to be.

As the light released by the spell circle faded from their eyes there stood the biggest meanest looking Dog, if a Dog was the size of a mini cooper and covered in spines, and beside it was a silver spider the size of a lion.

It calmly turned to the monster dog and jumped on its shoulders, shrinking while it is in the air, till its the size of a soccer ball.

Behind it stood three people, one with massive shoulders carrying a tall shield that covered most of his left side from ground to shoulder wearing an intricate set of half armour and what appeared to be a magical axe that disappeared soon as he realized there was no threat.

On the other side was a lean but powerful-looking man with another shield and a white mace, also covered in a full set of what appeared to be white ninja-like armour, then between them stood a woman wearing a beautiful armour set with her face covered by a solid shield-like mask.

All three of them had on what appeared to be, long jackets with hoodies covering their heads.

*****

They stood still not wanting to provoke any action from the troops and looked out over the camp behind the barricades as the Sargeant and the other armed people, troops arrived.

All three waited till everybody behind the barricades was looking at them before they reached up and pushed their hoodies back and unequipped their helmets with their masks.

They could see the troops relax and hear a couple of whispers.

"They look human."

"What the fuck is that?"

"Is that a bloody spider?"

*****

The Corporal squared his shoulders, but before he could step forward a hand fell on his shoulder. He sighed with relief and slumped a bit.

"We are here Corporal."

"They don't look like our missing people. Let's do this together Sargeant. I will take the lead."

"Yes, Captain."

They stepped forwards around the troops and the barricades and walked halfway towards the new arrivals and stopped, unsure what the creatures in front will do. Strangely the lean one turned to the woman.

"Are your paniers empty?"

She nodded, then they stepped past the monsters.

"BOB, you and Ansi stay here, we don't want to upset the people."

The creature gave a soft wine, and laid down on the ground and started chewing on what looked like a metal-clad leg that suddenly appeared before it.

They stopped two meters from the captain.

They stood at ease but the Sargeant noticed that they were tense. Like a snake ready to strike at any moment and they had a very dangerous aura around them.

The air felt charged with electricity as if they were standing in the middle of a thunderstorm.

The Captain noticed that the Sargeant had a puzzled expression on his face as he looked at the three strangers and raised his eyebrow at the Sargeant The sergeant coughed.

"Do I know you?"

The big guy turned to the lean one, who nodded and he then turned back to the Sargeant.

"Yes, Sargeant." He nodded his head at the captain."Captain. It's us Sargeant. . . Private Wilemse and Healer Van De Merve."

The captain and Sargeant stood in shock and couldn't picture these warriors as their missing people. The captain was the first to snap out of the stupor.

"We need to talk in private, aah ... These creatures, are they safe?"

The lean one answered. "They are our bonded companions. They won't attack anybody if we are not harmed."

The Sargeant looked doubtful at the 'Pets' but agreed that they must talk in private.

He turned to the Corporal. "Corporal Augustine. Please escort these guests to the command tent, and see to it that nobody is harmed on the way."

They turned and nodded at them before turning around and left back to the camp. The Corporal spoke to a little girl before looking at his troops.

"Stand down, the threat seems to be defused. Relax but stay sharp people."

He came over to the Party.

"Is it chewing on a human leg?"

Louie saw where the corporal was looking and chortled. "BOB? No, it's a golem leg, BOB and Ansi eat metal."

He looked slightly relieved before asking. "Ansi?"

Sher held out her arms and Ansi leapt from beside BOB to her arms, nearly scaring the Corporal to death.

"This is Ansi and she is my Companion. You may pet her if you want, she won't bite you."

He looked around and saw that the troops were watching him. So he slowly reached out and give it a quick pet and was surprised that it felt like petting a motorcycle helmet.

"It's smooth and hard."

"Yes Corporal, and she is 'Ansi', not 'it', Ansi, is smooth and hard. She is a metal spider. Not a flesh and blood spider."

He looked embarrassed. "Ah yes, I will remember."

Ansi took the opportunity to move up to Sher's right shoulder and placed two of her front legs on her head she looked at the soldiers and waved at them with her right leg, before settling down.

"That sure was a long leap."

"Yes, Ansi is a Spider Queen and the firstborn spider golem. I'm still trying to understand it all but I believe that she has all the traits and skills of all the different spiders."

"Ok. I think we should start at the command tent. Your ... companion, will they behave going through the camp?"

Louie looked at BOB who perked up as he noticed they were talking about him. "Who BOB? He is a good boy." He slapped his hand to his knees as he slightly bends towards BOB. "Come BOB, you are a good boy aren't you. Yes, you are."

The Dog . . BOB jumped up and ran towards Louie where he received a scratch behind the ear and then in pleasure laid down and rolled onto his back for a belly rub. His tongue hanging from the side of his mouth as he kicked his back legs while Louie and Joe rubbed his belly and praising him for a good boy.

There were a couple of whispers. "What the hell?"

"That's is a dog?"

"Biggest dog I ever saw."

"I want one."

Louie stood up and looking around, spoke to BOB who rolled back to its feet. "BOB, we are going through a lot of people, you will behave yourself. They are not enemies."

BOB looked around before shoving his nose into the chest and then into the crotch of the shocked Corporal.

Joe laughed as he saw the look on his face. "Don't worry. Join the club, I nearly shat myself the first time he did that to me."

Louie patted BOB on the head as he started towards the camp. "Let's get the show on the road people. I got things to do and places to be."

They were being escorted to the command tent when they passed close to a tent with a big red cross in front. There were a couple of big guys with clubs standing around the opening.

They halted as Sher stopped and looked at the rows of people that were lining up at the hospital tent.

There was also a group of injured standing to one side. Ansi had moved down to Sher's chest and flattened herself against her cuirass with her back four legs around her waist and the other up to each of her shoulders.

The corporal looked very nervous every time Ansi made a sudden movement.

Sher shook her head as she walked to the injured people.

"They are still up to their lazy shit. They are too lazy to learn healing spells but want all the benefits and more."

She walked up to an old man that was standing at the edge of the group.

"Oupa, why are you here?" The old man looked up at her and when he saw her in her armour with a giant silver spider on her chest, he shrunk away from her in terror.

The people before him also noticed and panic started to spread.

She reached out and cast and calm spread all around.

"I will not harm you. Why are you all waiting over here?"

A girl with an arm in a sling hesitantly spoke up. "They say that we must pay them in stuff before we can get medicine or see a healer. We don't have anything to give them for medicine so they don't want to help us, the one doctor said he will fix my arm if I come clean his bedroom for a week, but I did not like his smile."

She started crying.

Sher walked up to the girl and hugged her as Ansi suddenly released her shoulder and bit the girl on her injured arm.

There was a couple of shocked gasps from the people but before the girl could scream a stunned expression crossed her face. She stepped back and removed her arm from the sling and looked at it.

"Its . . . its fixed, you fixed my arm."

There was a commotion at the tent and she looked up at a couple of people in white coats that were rushing over from the hospital tent screaming at her to be off and go practice her witchcraft somewhere else.

People backed away as Louie and Joe spread out around her. BOB raised his spines and his growl vibrated the dishes on a nearby table.

"Witchcraft?"

She scowled at the Doctors and their guards, who had stopped a healthy distance from Louie and Joe who had both equipped their helms and masks, the guards were sweating buckets as they watched BOB, a small stream of fog started seeping from his growling jaws.

"I will show you lazy bastards Witchcraft!"

The Doctors bristled at her words but they did not dare to cross the line they perceived separated them from being alive and ending up dead.

She closed her eyes and reached into her inventory, taking out a small plant. She pushed her mana down her leg and the road shattered as she stomped her foot into the asphalt and then stepped back.

Joe used and threw a big ball of stinking mud in the hole.

Sher smiled at him as she bent down and placed the plant in the mud-filled hole.

She looked at the angry Doctors. "Witchcraft, hmph." She raised her hands to heaven and shouted so that nearly everybody around could hear

"Gaea grant me your Blessing!"

She used together with her and skills.

There were gasps from the people watching the spectacle as the tree shot up to six meters high.

She looked at the doctors as she stepped forward and using walked into the tree. She used and the people screamed as the tree shot up nearly thirty meters and broke the road apart as it started to widen its girth, the branches covered a big area.

Suddenly fruit started to grow on the branches and drooped till it was in the reach of the people standing slack-jawed looking at the tree. It did not go unnoticed that the hospital tent was outside the coverage of the tree.

Shocked whispers started going through the people as a healing aura passes through all those that were standing in the shade of the tree. Everybody, that is except the doctors that were still angry but more afraid as they slowly backed away towards their tent.

Sher stepped out of the tree and looked at the people that was looking at her with fear-filled eyes.

She reached up and plucked one of the fruit and walked to the old man she first talked to and handed him the fruit indicating he should eat it.

"Gaea's Blessing, oupa" she turned around and together with her party and the soldiers escorting them, they walked on to the command tent.

Behind her, there was a commotion as people rushed to the tree after the old man ate the fruit and was cured of his ailments.

The corporal looked over his shoulder at the tree. "How did you do that and will it last?"

"I'm a druid, Gaea's Druid, and the tree will last for years if not centuries but the blessing will last for two days, I will renew the blessing every morning till we leave here."

The corporal nodded. "Thanks." He turned to one of the mearby troops telling him to go to the medics tent and get the sick moved to the shade cast by the Tree.

He turned back to Sher and held out his hand.

"Derek Augustine, if you need anything and I can help, just ask."

Sher smiled. "Corporal, you do know that we are from this camp." She watched the shocked expression on his face.

"From here?"

"Yes Corporal, I'm Sheralee van der Merve." He did not blink an eye. "The healer that served the troops."

Slowly recognition dawned on his face.

"Yes, me and private Joseph Wilemse, are from here." She pointed at Joe.

The Corporal shook his head as he looked at their gear and companions.

"How, how is that possible? I can sense your power, your levels must be very high." He coughed. "Sorry, that was rude of me to mention your level."

She shrugged as she looked at the camp. "No problems Corporal, we are level ten." She heard gasps and mutters from the troops and the people that were following them.

The Corporal was shocked but said. "The Dungeon?"

"Yes, Corporal. You can easily level up in the Dungeon."

Her next words squished the looks of the people that wanted to rush off and go power up in the Dungeon.

"The Dungeon is filled with golems like BOB and Ansi, a dangerous place that you can't leave until you have killed all one hundred of them. And that's not talking bout the shadow assassins that move so fast you can barely see them and the Dungeon Boss. Who it is a monster, a 7meter tall powerful monster. We nearly didn't make it." She saw their dejected expressions.

"But we made some plans and we will help some people who want to go face those terrors."

They reached the command tent where a couple of troops are quickly trying to enlarge it.

Louie looked at the tent and shook his head.

"We can use mine."

He removed his tent from his inventory and walking to a clear spot next to the command tent he placed the tent on the ground and poured mana into the campstone and stepped back.

The tent unfolded and look quite underwhelming, like a very small two-man tent barely two meters high.

He stepped back and pulled the flap open. A very puzzled Joe stepped forward and vanished as he stepped into the tent. He was right back with a big smile on his face.

"Harry Potter's tent." Before he disappeared back into the tent.

Sher stared at him. "Really?" She also disappeared as she stepped through.

He stood perplexed. "What's with the Harry Potter stuff?" The officers stood uncertainly and looked at the small tent when BOB sauntered up and with his huge bulk disappeared into the small tent, they shrugged and stepped into the tent and into a smooth stone-floored room with stone walls and a canvas roof.

There were a couple of comfortable looking chairs around a big table with a coffee machine in the middle and strange stand lamps were arranged around the room.

Joe stood next to the table with a mug of coffee in his right hand.

Sher looked around stunned. "You . . did . . not."

He laughed at their expressions and the shocked look on the officer's faces. "Jip. You guys didn't figure it out? Rule No 9."

Ansi joined BOB as he made himself home on his poof that was laying next to the tent entrance.

The captain accepted a cup of coffee and shook himself out of the daze.

"Who are you and where did you get this tent and how is all this possible

Louie held up his hand.

"Captain, I really don't have much time, I need to be out of here in about seven days, and I can't afford to sit here the whole day and tell you a story while Joe or Sher can fill you in. The short story is that I made this tent. And no I can't make any more, well technically I can, but I was told not to, by somebody that I would not disobey."

He pointed at Joe. "Joe is going to make a system recognised town here. A town, that HE will own. You all are welkom to stay in HIS town. I made a deal with him so I'm going to go out and start clearing the ground and putting up a wall."

"Joe, you and Sher fill the Captain in on what we discussed last night. I'm going out to start. Sargeant, do you think that you can introduce me to some people? I don't want to upset too many plans and don't want to do something that has already been done."

The officers stared at him as if he had suddenly grown two heads.

The Sergeant bristled as he turned towards Louie, "What gives you the right to walk in here and start giving us orders?"

Louie sighed. "Sargeant, I do not have time for this, everything you build will start to be dismantled by Gaea after a while. Read your notice from her just after the pulse. If you want to build a permanent structure then you must get the plans from the system through a system shop or whatever. Joe is the owner of a set of non-transferable blueprints for a town. So I'm going to help him build a town here."

"Why here you might ask? Because of this Dungeon. It's a good way to train and level people up. It has a system vendor inside it. In other words, a shop where you can buy anything from weapons, armour, skills and spells. You can also sell your stuff to the vendor. The only catch is that to get to the shop you have to go into the dungeon, and once you are inside the dungeon then you can't leave before you have killed all the golems inside, there are a hundred of them. Like BOB and Ansi over there. Except Ansi is a newborn, think of 30tons of metal spider and you got the Queen and think 7meters tall metal golem with a bad attitude and you got the Dungeon Boss."

"We have talked about how to do the dungeon with a minimal loss of life and come up with some plans. Sher and Joe will tell you all about them. As for me, I'm going to go start on the town and then I'm going to Worcester to look for some people and stock up on trade goods. I plan to leave to Paarl in a week with a caravan of about twenty people and I hear some heavyweight baboons are blocking the way. So I got to get those people levelled up to face them. So I'm out of here, I got a lot of things to do. When you all are done just close the flap. Joe you and Sher can stay here if you want."

With that Louie turned around and left with BOB following him.