(Dom)

Behind the dark wooden door was another dark room. As he pushed the door open further, watching for any movement, he let his head torch sweep the area.

The doors frequently used by the family were thankfully oiled, and so didn't creak at all, but any inclination that Dom felt towards stealth was demolished by the use of torches.

He knew this part of the house relatively well though, as he had visited May before when they were younger. He had thought her family strange back then, but now just thought of them as all insane.

The door swung fully open and Dom stood tense in the doorway. He had his knife held loosely in his hand, ready to strike. But nothing jumped out at him. Nothing moved.

He let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding on to. Then he led the others into the hall.

"Ok. Come on. It looks clear, but this is a big old house. Be wary of mimics."

He heard James whispering behind him.

"What's a mimic?"

Callum sighed in return, but May answered with a little more kindness.

"A mimic is a monster that disguises itself as things. Usually chests. Really big chests. That's why you always have to be careful when looting places. Imagine what a mimic would become if it got a hold of something powerful and started levelling up."

Callum visibly shuddered at the thought and accidentally knocked one of the chairs with his elbow. He jumped back with a shrill cry and landed in a boxers position.

The chair did nothing but rock back and steady itself. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Callum relaxed his body, but everyone else, including Dom, had been put on edge. That kind of reaction to every item instilled a deep fear of the unknown. Dom decided it was probably best not to think about mimics. They tended to make people go a little insane.

Dom was aiming for the far side of the hall. He guessed that if Mays family was anywhere, they would be in the library at the back of the house. It was by far the most secure room, and there were a load of snacks in there for Mays younger siblings, so a few people could live holed up in there for a few days. That was if nothing spawned in there.

The problem he had right now was his ignorance. He knew how dozens of dungeon systems worked, from games and books. But he had no idea what kind of dungeons were currently in the world. It could be full of monsters and traps and all manner of torturous puzzles. His only comfort was that the lack of level requirements informed him of its relative ease.

He really needed to get a class. And soon. He was the only one without neither a class nor occupation. He still had no idea what he wanted for either.

His scribe skill kept prompting him to become some sort of enchanter, and his use of the elemental knife could have gotten him a class called: Elemental Slayer. Honestly, it was a very cool sounding class, but neither it nor the occupation sounded right.

Honestly, without a class or occupation, his stats were probably lacking when compared to the others. Especially James, who had received a frankly unfair amount of stats when he got his master crafter occupation. The feature had given him so much more than Dom had expected.

Doms only feature that could be considered useful was one he had hidden from the others due to his fear of their reaction.

Sociopath.

He didn't know why the system focused so much on his mental state, but no matter how well adjusted he was, it seemed his curse had followed him here.

Perhaps it would allow him to receive a better killing class or one that reflected his preferred isolation. Regardless, it was a path he didn't want to go down.

Maybe he would take the slayer class. Elemental damage usually became pretty fun in the long run, and if he was able to enchant stuff at the same time, maybe it was worth combining the two.

But it was no time to be lost in the intricacies of the system. Dom had reached the back of the room without any traps going off, and nothing out of the ordinary happening.

But as soon as he touched the handle to leave the main hall, the previously unlit fireplace that dominated one of the walls roared into life. He heard a slight click from the door he was touching, and he knew with an inkling of dread that it was locked.

A deep slow laugh echoed around the room, and all five of the party grouped up. They stood almost back to back, but all were watching the fire as it grew, filling the fireplace. The red flames seemed to solidify slightly, and the flickering slowed. Bright yellow featured opened up on what was rapidly becoming a face of fire.

It grinned with a jagged smile filled with white-hot teeth, and its eyes stretched into little more than slits.

"Just try to escape, and face me!"

As it spoke out loud, it's message showed up in everyone's vision, similar to the jester at the door.

It must be a sentient monster thing.

"Ok guys, stay together. Someone analyse it. See what we're dealing with."

Dom was just out of range it seemed, so he hoped one of the others would be just within.

But before any of them had the chance, sections of the floor rose rapidly. The newly forming walls rose at an angle, effectively separating the group.

Dom fell hard onto his rear, losing his head torch that broke when it landed. The walls reached the ceiling, blocking out the light of the fire, and plunging him into darkness.

He swung his arms around in panic, and one connected heavily with a soft surface.

-1hp

"Ah. Shit!"

Dom recognised the voice.

"James?"

"Yeah. Danas here too."

Instantly, a bright flame grew from her palm, illuminating the corridor they were in. It was only the three of them, they must have been separated from Callum and May.

Dom only hoped they were together.

"CALLUM!"

A muffled reply came back quickly. He was probably on the other side of the wall, but his voice was so muted.

"Dom?"

"ARE YOU WITH MAY?!"

There was a pause on Callum's end.

"Yeah."

Dom was instantly relieved. The two of them were competent enough to get back to the entrance hall.

All he had to do was make sure James and Dana stayed in one piece.

(James)

As soon as the giant laughing fire face appeared, James secured his grip on Dana's hand. He had no idea what the fire monster meant when it effectively challenged them, but he felt this was exactly the situation that Dom had been warning them about.

And when the walls rose without warning, he noticed that he and Dana were about to be separated. Thankfully, she held on as they were both lifted, and he barely managed to jump over the wall to land partially on top of her. They knocked heads and he broke both their head torches. But at least they were together.

He immediately recognised the event as a total lack of luck. It was one of the worst possible outcomes of the situation.

And his mood wasn't helped as he was effectively slapped by Dom before he could even activate Mana Sight.

After the brief exchange between Dom and the disembodied voice of Callum, he had the opportunity to look around some. The problem was, even with mana sight on, visibility was limited. There appeared to be almost no mana in the walls or floor, but the mana in the air was dense. He tried touching the walls and getting an idea of what they were. And where they were.

They appeared to be in a maze. The walls had risen from the floor, but in the dark and confusion, they hadn't had a chance to get any idea of the maze solution.

And despite the walls having risen from the ground, they merely looked like the stone floor had been stretched up, as the pattern was warped and the stone was smooth where it met the floor.

James tried to use softening, but the wall didn't respond. Maybe it doesn't work on stone.

James drew his pistol and shot at the far end of the corridor. There was an explosion of mana as it hit, echoing down the narrow hall, but no damage, not the wall. Not even a scratch.

Dom smiled, slightly amused at the dungeons mechanics.

"Let's find our way out this maze. And keep an eye out for fire minions. I have this odd feeling the big one released small ones into the maze."

James picked a direction, and holding Dana's hand tightly, set off.

Heeding Dom's warning, he had his gun ready and charged. His stamina was fine, but the use of mana sight was giving him issues.

He let the skill go and just saw by the light of Dana's flame. He assumed that if they encountered any fire monsters, they would illuminate themselves enough for him to aim properly.

As they turned the first corner, James saw an orange glow from a branching path ahead of him.

He turned to Dom and Dana. Their expressions confirmed they had seen what he had too.

He crept forwards, and Dana extinguished her fire. It was irritating that he had to act off the barely functioning Mana sight, but he understood the need for stealth.

He looked around the corner but found no monster there. In the narrow hallway, sections of the wooden table and chairs were littered and burning. Something had ignited these recently but had since passed on. With no threat, he put his pistol back into its makeshift holster, and let go of Dana's hand. She tried to protest, but it would only be for a moment. He had an idea.

James picked up a thick chair leg and wrapped the thickest end with one of his few remaining bandages. He remembered then that there must have been some form of first aid at Dana's, and he had completely failed to take advantage of that.

Shrugging off his own fault, he lit his makeshift torch and handed it to Dom. As far as he knew, Dom was using a one-handed knife, so his combat potential wasn't massively limited by using a torch.

"If you lead, we can support better."

He expected some reluctance from Dom, but he actually accepted the torch with a smile and led them past the corridor filled with a rapidly suffocating fire.

"Do either of you know any ice or water magic?"

James didn't answer. Of course he didn't. He had little experience with magic, and it had almost killed him learning how to use his one useful spell.

"I have water bolt and frost."

"Do you know how to use them?"

Dana seemed reluctant to say.

"Not really. I haven't had a chance to use them yet."

James wasn't surprised. Danas magical girl Class had gifted her with a variety of elemental spells. All offensive. The only defensive and support spells she had were from previous experiments. She was getting worried about difficult it might be to actually heal someone with controlled magic without a gifted spell. She didn't even know where to begin with doing it herself. He had done his best to ease her worries by reminding her about her mana boost spell. If there was one for mana, there would be one for health regeneration too. And besides, they had potions anyway.

James just hoped that it would be enough.