Light filtered through the shades of Lilly’s window as she woke up from her dreamless sleep. Yawning, she rolled over and tried to fall back asleep, but after minutes of restless stirring, she sat up and stretched her arms. She was in the inn from yesterday, across the room from Amy’s slumbering body. Judging by the sunlight coming through the window, it was already nearing noon.

At least I didn’t get kicked out of the party, she thought. Yesterday had been a surreal experience, all things considered. From what she could learn from the others, realm travelers weren’t too outlandish, because kingdoms throughout history consistently resorted to hero summonings to resolve their woes.

Three crisp knocks came from the door. “Wake up, you two! We have a big day ahead of us,” John said. His heavy footsteps sounded from the other side of the door, fading away.

She groaned loudly and quickly got dressed. After spending the previous afternoon buying up all the necessary gear and stuffing it into her storage, they were all set to challenge the dungeon. Lilly’s heart rate quickened at the thought of exploring her very first dungeon in a fantasy world!

She checked herself out in the mirror. With her hardened leather gauntlets, matching greaves, a sword strapped to her left hip, a dagger on her right, and a hooded cloak over her shoulders, she looked like a bonafide adventurer. Topped off with her steel-toed boots and her cloak skill, she was satisfied with her kit. She picked up one of the pillows and chucked it at Amy, eliciting an irritated growl, then exited the room and headed downstairs.

Loud voices trailed from the cafe. When she arrived at the base of the stairs, she was met with the sight of a couple dozen people lounging around the cafe. Scanning the room, she found John and Eli sitting at the far corner, and weaved through the tables to join them. She slid into a seat across from John and waved over one of the waitresses, then ordered some bacon, eggs, and pancakes. By the time the food arrived, she was practically drooling.

“Sleep well?” John asked as she dug in.

“Kinda. I miss my old bed.” She sighed nostalgically.

“Your otherworlder bed?”

“Yes! I was so excited when I bought that bed. I guess the sleep was so good that I dreamed myself into another world.” She laughed at that. “So, what’s the plan, leader?”

“We’re going to go dungeon diving as soon as Amy is up. We want to get as much time out of the permit as possible, and get your levels and combat experience up to snuff.”

“Sounds good.” She grinned at the thought of monster hunting. This time, she had reliable teammates and no civilians to protect, just levels and loot to attain.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Amy stumble lazily down the stairs. She was rubbing her eyes as she approached. She asked a waitress for some oatmeal and orange juice. When she reached the table, she fell into a seat next to Lilly and yawned as they exchanged pleasantries. Her food arrived soon after and the waitress took Lilly’s empty plate away.

“So, today, we’re aiming to get to the end of the first floor and set up camp near the boss room. We won’t be challenging the boss until Lilly is at least level 30 and our teamwork is solidified. No point in having a fight where one of us gets pushed around,” John said.

“Aye aye captain,” Lilly said. The others nodded their affirmation.

Everyone finished up eating, ending with Amy slamming down her empty mug of OJ. After taking a quick check of their inventory, they were on their way to the west gate, and the dungeon passed that.

The highway leading to the dungeon passed through farmlands. Branching roads led to nearby villages and smaller cart tracks wended their way to the occasion grove of woodland. The sky was covered by a layer of low clouds; the sun occasionally peeked through cracks in the sea of grey. Looking ahead, Lilly could see other adventurer parties trudging towards the dungeon as well in hopes of attaining their own treasures.

“So, what’s on the first floor of this dungeon?” Lilly asked.

“According to the guild, skeleton knights roam the top floor, with levels around 30. They shouldn’t be too difficult. There won’t be any magic casters until we reach the lower floors,” John said.

She nodded and fell into a pensive silence. Knights would probably be the best thing for her to fight right now, considering her melee-oriented skillset. Maybe she should’ve bought a bow to increase her range somewhat.

After about thirty minutes of trekking along, they could see the entrance in the distance. A small settlement was built around the dungeon itself. Various inns and merchants resided there, hoping to make a profit off of would-be dungeoneers.

As they passed through, Lilly scanned the area. Adventurers crowded around stalls of weapons and trinkets, the sounds of haggling and heavy drinking drifted through the air, smoke drifted out of forges and apothecaries. Soon, they reached the entrance to the dungeon, and John provided the guild employee with their permit.

“Be careful in there,” he said.

“Will do,” John said as they passed through.

The entrance was a long descending stairway made of stone bricks. Moss encroached over the steps, walls, and ceiling, covering nearly half of the stairway. Small alcoves spaced regularly throughout held lamps, filling the area in a cool blue light. Once they reached the base of the stairs, the dungeon’s name flashed boldly over the top of their vision.

[Sepulchre of Sorrows]

In front of them, a stone brick hallway led to a semi-circular room with exits leading in five directions.

“So, which way do we go?” Lilly asked. “Let a sword fall and pick the direction it points?”

“Apparently, the pathways all lead to the boss room, they only serve to split up adventurers. A divide and conquer tactic, if you will,” John said.

“Alright, well I vote we go left. Objections?” Lilly looked around at the others.

“Wait, what about the sword? Can we do the sword thing?” Amy asked.

Lilly smirked. “Yeah, hold on.” She pulled out her sword and balanced it on its tip, before letting it fall. Clattering against the ground, its hilt pointed towards the passageway second from the right.

“Well, you heard the inanimate cut of metal. Eli, lead the way!” John said.

Picking up the sword, Lilly sheathed the blade and took her place at the rear, behind the near-silent elf, the hulking body of John, and Amy’s slim figure.

After a little bit of cautious walking, Eli put up a hand, bringing the party to a halt. He pointed ahead to a corner in the corridor and indicated with his fingers, four enemies. They nodded back to him and quietly approached. Reaching the end, they quickly turned the corner and found themselves face-to-face with a group of four skeleton knights.

With a glance, she saw that they were each wearing a suit of plate mail and equipped with a kite shield and broadsword. They had no flesh connecting the bones together, the armor seemed to float on non-existent bodies.

“Eli! Fall back!” John took point, brought up his own kite shield and took the attention of two of the knights. Lilly immediately switched places with Eli and flitted around the two knights John didn’t engage, parrying and ducking attacks.

“Amy, charge up some stone bullets for me!” John yelled out.

“Got it!”

Sparks flew left and right as Lilly moved like a leaf in the wind deflecting slashes and thrusts. Occasionally she threw out attacks of her own. Her blades skidded over the knights’ armor, and she ground her teeth in frustration. The mobs back in the forest didn’t give her this many issues when she tried dealing out damage.

John was handling his fight better as he expertly blocked incoming strikes with his shield and dealt out heavy-handed ripostes with his waraxe. One of his skeletons was missing its sword arm and elected to bash him with its shield in an attempt to create an opening. After the first few hits, it managed to knock John onto his back; the other skelly jumped at the opportunity.

John had been waiting for this moment. “Amy! Now!”

Bullets of stone ripped through the knights, obliterating the two hostiles. When the barrage of rock subsided, he got up and thanked Amy.

[Skeleton Knight (33) - Defeated!]

[Skeleton Knight (31) - Defeated!]

“Guys, a little help would be appreciated,” Lilly said as she fought her knights. Throughout the battle, she had maintained [Perception], but even with the increased situational awareness, a few hits had grazed her, leaving cuts on her body.

John braced himself with his shield raised high and activated [Charge]. Putting on a burst of speed, he bashed his shield into one of the bony warriors. The skeleton slammed into the wall, bones cracking from the force. Before it could move again, John used [Sonic Blade]. His waraxe created a trail of light as he slashed clean through the knight from its left shoulder to its right hip.

[Skeleton Knight (32) - Defeated!]

Without the stress of fighting two opponents, Lilly quickly disarmed the remaining skeleton then jumped out of Amy’s line of fire as she blasted the skeleton with lightning.

[Skeleton Knight (30) - Defeated!]

[Lilly (24 > 25) - Level Up!]

[Touch of Arkon (Active) - Skill Unlocked!]

You know your way around life and death. Provide healing or pain for those you make contact with. Healing at 25% efficiency.

She stared at the floating words, but before she could contemplate her new skill, Eli called out.

“More incoming!”