With our deal struck, Malik agreed to meet our party outside the dungeon at sunrise. The plan was for us to bring all the supplies needed for the outing, and hopefully spend the entire day fighting in the dungeon.

The next stop was to the local blacksmith. Already having our swords and bows, we decided to buy 3 sets of armor. Freedom of movement was more important to us than a stronger defense. So the armor had a healthy mix of leather and chainmail to go along with the solid plate armor that covered the chest and back.

We wanted to be sure we could practice our moves and techniques properly. Having secured an experienced adventurer to go with us, I felt more comfortable sacrificing defense for offense, as did everyone else.

The helmets felt a little weird and would take some time to get use to. Meri in particular hated wearing her helmet. It pushed her ears down which impaired her hearing, and became uncomfortable very quickly. Sadly, they had no helmets for beastkin, so this one would have to do for now. At least they weren't too heavy.

After adding in 2 small sturdy shields for myself and Maddy, as well as a short sword for Meri, we felt as prepared as we could be. We were running low on gold coins with only 10 left. But hopefully we would make enough hunting monsters from now on.

The remainder of the daylight was used for sparring in our new equipment so we could try to get use to the weight and feel of it. With each sword swing, or pull of the bow in Meri's case, it started to feel more natural.

As agreed, we met Malik at daybreak outside the dungeon. He looked to be nursing a pretty nasty hangover, but was as clear eyed and focused as we could hope for. He gave my group a look over and lightly rubbed his head in an attempt to sooth his migraine. I was happy to see that he didn't leer at the girls when sober. But he did give Meri an extra look over. One of the few men I've seen do that to a foxkin. I wasn't a fan of it, but Meri didn't seem to notice.

Malik coughed into his hand before he started to speak. “First things first. Have any of you ever been inside a dungeon before?” I wordlessly gave him a shake of the head, with Meri and Maddy being only a heart beat behind me. He wasn't surprised by the news, but was still disappointed. He extended his index finger and brought his hand down in a chopping motion as he spoke to us.

“Let's get one thing straight, you damn greenhorns. I may have agreed to go with you, but I'm the one calling the shots. If you don't like it, I'm happy to go back to the tavern and leave you all to fend for yourselves.” He stood there as he silently looked us over. Maybe he was even hoping we would object to this so he could get back to his drinking.

We were all quick to agree. Why not? I can honestly say I didn't know what the hell I was doing. And I knew Maddy and Meri were in the same boat as me. Better to let the one with experience be the leader.

Malik continued. “You may think that a rank 1 dungeon isn't a big deal, but if you think that, then you're idiots. Make no mistake, everything in there will be trying to kill you. If you endanger yourself needlessly by not doing what i tell you, then that endangers me too. If that happens, I'll leave you all to die without giving it a 2nd thought. And don't any of you think I won't do it. But as long as you do as I say, and don't take any stupid risk, I'll uphold my end of the bargain. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

He waited for us to all agree before he would continue. As for myself I would have preferred to be saved even if I did something stupid, but i guess that wasn't in the cards. If I was in his shoes I can't say I would have done anything different.

Malik took in a deep breath before going on. “Since none of you have entered a dungeon before, I'm going to give you a quick summation of how they work. Once we enter, we're trapped until we complete the floor. Any parties that enter before or after us will go inside their own separate version of the dungeon. In case you're slow, that means we're on our own, and help isn't coming.

Once you finish a floor you can continue down or leave. Needless to say, the further down you go the harder it gets. If we leave and enter again we will need to start all over on the first floor. If we beat the third floor of any dungeon then we can all attempt the test, but each person must face their test alone. Any questions so far?”

I didn't have any, and neither did anyone else. With that out of the way, we turned and entered the mouth of the dungeon. After reading so many fantasy books which involved dungeons like these over the years, I had a number of ideas floating around my head of what it may be like to actually go inside one.

The first thing I noticed when entering the cave like opening that led down into the ground was how claustrophobic the atmosphere became. We had to descend single file at a 45 degree angle. After going about 2 stories deep it leveled off into a tunnel like cave with a bit more space to walk. With the light from the outside barely reaching us now, Malik lit a torch.

It wasn't long until we came to a strange looking crude door made out of stone and rock. While I couldn't actually sense any magic, I could tell that no human had made this door. Something about it just seemed so... off. It was eerie. Maddy and I lit our torches and held them in our sheild hands. The straps around our arm held the sheild firmly in place as we let go of the hand hold.

He opened the door and signaled us to follow. Before closing the door Malik spoke. “Once this door closes behind us, there's no going back. Now is your last chance to back out.” He gave us a look over. After seeing none of us would be changing our mind he closed the door.

I heard a small click. All light from the outside world was completely cut off. We were now in a small room that looked like it could fit no more than 10 people. It was already pretty cramped with just the four of us.

There was now a single door behind us and a single door ahead of us. Both doors looked exactly the same. I noticed a sensation similar to the one I felt when transported into this world. The things I remembered the most about that were the floating and falling sensations. But there was also the feeling that I was being moved while not physically being pushed or pulled.

Malik stood before us demanding our full attention. “The door ahead of us leads to the dungeon. It's impossible to open it unless the door behind us is closed. Once the door we entered through closes, it's impossible to open again, no matter what you try. You can give it a shot yourselves if you want.” None of us bothered to attempt it, which slightly disappointed him. I think he wanted to laugh at our struggles. He continued on.

“When I open this door you need to be ready for anything. We could see an empty cave and have to search a labyrinth, or a horde of monsters may try to burst in if they happen to be close to the entrance. Believe me, we don't want to get trapped in here with no room to fight. So once I open this door, move your ass and get through it.” We nodded that we understood.

Malik finished by saying the following. “Remember, stay close together, but also give yourself some room to fight. Once your through, if you need to fight instantly, toss your torch on the ground. Don't worry, the ground is almost never wet, and I’ll keep a hold of my torch so there will be enough light. Any questions?”

We all gave him a quick shake of the head. He walked over to the door and grabbed the handle. I felt my heart rate climbing. I started to jump around slightly on my toes. I held my sword and shield a little tighter and my breath quickened. I got in position to rush through the door behind him with Maddy right behind me and Meri behind her. Malik counted backwards while looking at us. "Three. Two. One."

He pushed open the door and ran through torch first, ready to strike any monsters with it if they were too close. I ran in behind him and Maddy ran in behind me. Meri brought up the rear with her bow. She was the only one of us without her torch lit yet. It was still securely strapped to her back.

The dungeon looked like a large cave with a wide opening. Several small tunnels in the distance led deeper inside. Two skeletons at the edge of the the wide entranced noticed us. Their glowing red eyes seething with malice. They drew their swords and began to charge. Malik yelled out orders.

“Maddy and Bill, take them. Meri, put your bow at the ready but hold your fire for now.” We moved towards the skeletons. My heart was pounding in my chest with each step I took.

Malik called out. “You've both gone too far from the group, take a few steps back.” I didn't realize we had moved such a distance. My adrenaline must've gotten the better of me. We moved back with our shields and swords still facing the monsters. We tossed our torches to the side as we put our hands around the grips of our shields.

With the skeleton now before me I could see it's body in detail. The empty eye sockets looked to have the red glow of hot coals. The bones were more gray than white, and had some skin and muscle still attached to them. The stench of the rotten flesh made me gag slightly. Its large, rusty sword swung down from above. I deflected it with my sheild and cut off its other exposed arm.

It disregarded the damage entirely, and kept swinging it's sword at me as if nothing had happened. This was not swordsmanship, this was the chopping of a mad butcher with no thought of defending itself. It didn't have it's own life to defend, it only knew that it wanted to take mine.

I knocked it's blade aside with my sheild, leaving my opponent open. With a slash across the neck its head fell with its body joining it soon after. Its head still looked at me with those eyes of burning coal. It's teeth were chomping madly, as if it would love nothing more than to bite my throat out and tear the flesh away, until I choked on my own blood.

I brought my sword down upon its skull, shattering it into a dozen pieces. The red faded from its eyes and the chomping ceased. Maddy finished up before me, and had already taken a few steps in my direction, ready to come to my aid if need be. I'd been so absorbed with my fight that I hadn't noticed. That wouldn't do. I needed to learn to keep an eye on my surroundings at all times

“Are you hurt anywhere Bill?” Maddy gave me a quick look over. With this being our first real fight to the death, her usual joking nature was gone, and replaced by genuine concern.

“I'm fine, how about you?” She gave me a nod to signal she was okay.

Malik interrupted our conversation with a shout. “Meri, there!” He pointed to a group of large red bats with long sharp fangs. They had tiny horns on their head but the same red eyes that looked of burning coal.. He waved us to come closer to him and Meri.

Malik yelled out orders. “Keep closer together for these. They can get behind you if your not careful. Use small compact swings when dealing with them. Meri, try to pick some off and leave one each for Maddy and Bill to deal with if you can. It's okay if you miss. If too many get through then I'll take care of it.”

Meri let her first shot go. It missed by a wide margin. She hurried to ready another arrow. Malik spoke to her in a calming voice. “Take your time. Don't rush. There's no need to panic.” Malik had his sword at the ready if need be. Meri slowed down, going back to her natural pace. She hit one of the bats right through the left eye. It fell dead instantly. She managed to kill one more and destroyed the wing of a third, causing it to flop around on the floor uselessly.

Only three of the bats were still air born. Malik took a few steps forward and with a quick strike took the head off of one of them. “You two finish the others. Make sure to watch out for the fangs.”

With how easily he managed to get his, I thought this would be simple. But these things were damn nimble. I didn't feel like I was in danger for my life fighting against a single bat, but I was growing frustrated as my sword missed time and time again. As it flew to my left I was able to smack my sheild into it. With the bat dazed, my sword came down and finally was able to hit home.

Maddy took a bit longer than me, determined to use her sword to kill it in a single clean stroke. She didn't want to use my rough methods and could be stupidly prideful and stubborn at times. I kept an eye out for other monsters, but allowed myself a slight smile. This was the kind of experience I needed. So far I've fought two opponents that were completely different from anything I've ever faced before.

With no other monsters coming to meet us, we would now need to hunt them by going inside the small tunnels. Maddy and I picked up our torches with our sheild hand. Walking side by side we manned the front, with Malik behind us and Meri taking up the rear. We worked methodically going down the tunnel furthest on the left and working our way to the right.

We moved slowly. Keeping our eyes out for any side passages so that nothing could suddenly jump out from behind us. If they came from the cavern, then at least they would need to run down the long cave and we would have plenty of warning.

There were a small number of stragglers in the cave, but none of them were grouped in unmanageable numbers. We finished clearing out around half the caves; only skipping the one directly opposite from the door from which we entered. That was done on Malik's orders. We made it back to the cavern after clearing out another tunnel, and decided it was a good time for a break.

We put one of the torches out to save the light. But stuck the other two, which were still burning, into the ground. We sat in a circle, passing around a canteen. After taking a sip, Malik went through the bag he had and counted the bat fangs he'd pulled from the slain monsters. They were the only thing we had manage to get so far that possessed any value. Malik wasn't happy with the haul so far, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Meri took a big sip from the canteen and leaned against the cave wall, trying to relax. This would be one of the rare occasions she would actually initiate a conversation . “So ummm... how much more is left to do? Before the level is done I mean.”

Malik rubbed his eyes and stretched his body. “We still have about half left. I hope these next caves are more profitable. Down that cave right in the middle, which I told you to avoid for now, is probably the floor boss. Once he's taken care of, we'll have officially cleared this floor. I should tell you now, you three will probably need to fight together to beat him.”

Meri subconsciously reached for her bow in alarm. “Floor boss?”

Malik was annoyed to see her surprise. “Don't tell me you three didn't know. Each floor has one monster that's stronger then the others. Usually he's in the deepest part of the level. Sometimes if your unlucky, you'll have to face him along with a swarm of other monsters. Thankfully, most of the time that's not the case. They tend to be loners and often hunt the other monsters here. So the weak ones tend to steer clear.”

Maddy was cleaning off her blade while she listened. “Any idea how strong it'll be?”

Malik shrugged. “They're pretty strong. They can be hard for even experienced level 9s to deal with one on one. Usually you don't win by just over powering them. That is unless you're a much higher level than them, like myself. For you lot, It's better if you can spot them first, then come up with a plan of attack.”

We rested until our strength was fully recovered. Once we were ready, we stood and went about the business of clearing out the rest of the dungeon. It was mostly more skeletons and bats that we had to deal with, as well as a horned weasel that tried to impale Meri

After killing it, Malik cut off the horn and tossed it in the bag with the bat fangs and let out a heavy sigh. This half of the dungeon had even less than the first one. “What horrible luck. We got a bad draw as far as loot goes. I hope the boss makes up for it.” No one really paid attention to Malik's complaints, or cared. We were all too focused on fighting these strange monsters for the first time.

After clearing out the other half of the dungeon, we took another short rest. We talked and made our preparations for the final fight on this floor. With everyone ready, we finally traveled down the tunnel that stood directly opposite from the door we entered through.

I don't know how Malik knew that was were the boss would be. Maybe it was just a guess. But soon we came across a closed wooden door with light peering through its holes and cracks. Malik got down on one knee to peek through a hole in the shoddy wood. A smile slowly stretched across his lips as he turned to us whispering.

“Not bad, not bad at all. That's a devil goat. The horns and hooves will fetch a nice price.” He backed away and encouraged us to look through the other holes in the door. Inside stood a large muscular goat. It walked upright on its hind legs and stood just over six feet tall. It had a wide chest and thick limbs. From it's head, two large sharp looking horns protruded that slightly curled inwardly.

Several torches hung high upon the walls around the room. It picked up an unlit torch between its 2 hoofed limbs, and touched it to a lit one. After placing the newly lit torch into the last vacant holder, the beast walked to the table. Splayed in the middle of the table laid a horned weasel, similar to the one that attacked Meri. Its guts already spilling out of its dead carcass.

The devil goat smiled, showing row upon row of long black razor sharp teeth. It violently brought it's head down towards its meal. Ripping flesh as it pulled away. Swallowing large chunks of meat as blood and gore ran down its mouth. I don't know if I found the sight more terrifying or disgusting.

Malik spoke quietly. “Bill and Maddy, rush in once the door opens. Bill, you go to the right, Maddy will go to the left. Move forward slowly and together. Don't try to fight it head on. Meri, hit it with arrows while standing by the doorway, as many as you can. Don't think that putting one arrow through it's eye will kill that thing.

If it charges any of you, try to wait until the last moment to dive to the side. It's hard for a devil goat to change directions once it's going at full speed. That room looks pretty wide and well lit, so you should try to fight it in there. If things get too hairy, I'll step in. Does anyone have any questions about what your job will be before we start?” We replied that we didn't.

For the first time ever, I would be facing an opponent intent on killing me that was stronger than myself. I put my sword at the ready and sheild up. Maddy did the same as Meri drew back on her bow with an arrow nocked.

Giving us one last look, Malik picked up his leg and kicked the door wide open.