1

Rachel and Armando journeyed into the expansive courtyard adjacent to the portal room and stared at the Rukh’s remains, which still cluttered the floor.

“It’s a petrified bird,” the zoologist marveled.

The enormous wooden blocks looked like carvings. The two rookies observed the feathered details on what appeared to be a wing and the embedded eye socket on its ravaged head.

“We’re not here to sightsee,” Damon barked from the portal room.

The pair grinned at each other before returning to the crew as they stepped through the green portal leading to the next room. The first five rooms were empty. The veterans had expected that.

“The mobs in the next room are relatively easy to take out,” Damon told the group as he stood near the portal to the sixth chamber. “You can use your melee weapons if you want, but Harper came up with a good trick. She used Acid Fly, and the skeletons were so fascinated by the spell they chased it over the guardrail. The room is ten floors above the basement floor, so she killed a bunch at a time that way.”

The orc general glanced at the new members. “If any of you decide to rely on melee weapons here, you’ll want to load up on points. The mobs in the next respawn room will crack your blades.”

With that last bit of advice, he ordered the orcs through first, and the rest of the team followed. Like the previous encounters, skeletons rose from the earthy floor, each carrying 25 XP. While the veterans stood aside, the recruits attacked the monsters and leveled up many times. The orcs and hunters initially used their weapons, then they saw how efficient the fly spell was and resorted to that.

Like before, Epiphany clouds ascended from the defeated mobs, allowing the rookies to upgrade their weapons. Most of the mages and hunters already had the upgraded Nagamarrow swords, which were passed down to them from the veterans’ extra supplies. The lone exception was Thao, who watched short bones protrude from the sword’s edges above the handle. The sharp calcium daggers reduced in size and tapered one foot up the blade. The orcs’ gladius swords got the same upgrade, but their weapons were renamed “Gladosseous swords.”

“Try saying that three times fast,” Silo quipped.

The healers’ weapons weren’t eligible for the upgrades.

Armando and the Alabama orcs upgraded their battle axes to bone axes. Nine bone daggers extended from the back of the blade, making it a double-sided weapon. Similarly, a long, bone dagger jutted from the bottom of the shaft. Silo didn’t need the enhancement. Damon had given him the upgraded weapon, which had been converted to steel in the Kali room.

“How come we didn’t get any skelchion swords?” Jackson asked.

Zack shook his head. “We upgraded those from the original falchion swords we rummaged from the fourth room.” He shrugged. “Sorry. That’s all we had.”

2

Shortly thereafter, they reached the stoner head room. Once again, the veterans hugged the wall while the rookies piled up the points on the boulder-shaped mobs.

“Watch out—they’ll charge at you,” Zack shouted. “Hit them in the eye. It’s their one weakness.”

“And don’t use your melee weapons,” Damon added. “They’ll crack.”

While the mages and healers laid back, the hunters employed their bows to pick off the cyclopean creatures. Their arrows tore through the stoners’ large eyeballs, flipping the mobs amusingly onto their backs. Meanwhile, the Alabama orcs used their hammers, pounding the stoner heads into rubble. More Epiphany clouds rose from the carnage.

“Those will upgrade your weapons with a thick crust of stone,” Damon told the orcs. “But Hammer and Silo, you already have steel clipeus shields, and you’re better off sticking with those.” He glanced at the rest of the team. “These upgrades are available only for the orcs.”

The rookie orcs stepped forward and received their enhancements. Their Almain Rivet armor converted to battle armor, receiving an extra layer of stone as well as stone spikes protruding from their shoulders. Their clipeus shields transformed into battle shields. The rock veneer made the shields thicker and heavier.

“Next stop is the Rukh room,” Damon said, then nodded at Rachel and Armando. “You were looking at the remains of that boss on the courtyard floor.” He walked to the guardrail and his teammates followed. Rays of light flowed horizontally twelve floors up. It provided the only illumination the dark tower had. “There’s a hole in the wall up there where you can view the entire realm.” He paused. “Hopefully, we’ll see the next dungeon from there.”

3

After passing through more empty rooms, the recruits had to crawl over the tower’s first bridge. The narrow stone structure stretched over the courtyard, one hundred and fifty feet above the floor.

Damon turned to Kylah, Sierra, and Vlad. “Harper used Bridge of Vines to help us navigate to the other side.”

After Damon explained the method, the three mages cast the spell in sections. It created a thick mesh of vines and brambles that gave the teammates a handhold while crawling across the slick stone surface. The orcs had to cross without the aid of the spell because it wouldn’t support their weight.

They passed through more vacant rooms before coming to the seventeenth room of the tower, where they saw the massive hole in the exterior wall. The rookies followed the veterans to the edge and formed a circle around the hole. They stared out at the full vista of the realms. Long shadows from the setting sun stretched across the green landscape, making it difficult to spot anything out of the ordinary.

“Well, that confirms it,” Zack said. “There isn’t a second tower, which means we’re looking for a dungeon entrance.”

The teammates surveyed the terrain for a long period. To their left, they saw a trail of smoke rising from the wooded hills.

“I wonder what Emma and Brett are having for dinner,” Zack grumbled, but there was a hint of sadness in his voice. Although Emma was Jordan’s girl, the scruffy Marine had a deep affection for her.

“Does anyone see anything?” Angie asked.

The teammates answered her with only deflated murmurs. The tower stood on the realm’s west side, and most of the members were naturally inclined to look toward the east. But Kylah saw an object to her right and pushed forward through the group.

“Do you see something, honey?” Nevan asked, but she didn’t answer and just pointed toward a clearing near the realm’s western border. Embedded deep into the rough soil was a fifteen-square-foot section of rock. Painted on its surface was the boulder image they had seen back in the landing zone, above the disabled third portal of the earth realm.

4

“I don’t see an opening,” Sierra remarked.

Angie shook her head. “We could be missing it from this distance.” She turned to Damon. “I’m positive that’s it.”

The orc general agreed, and they decided to move on to their next goal—the final boss chamber at the very top of the tower. As they crossed the second bridge—three hundred feet above the courtyard floor—the veterans stared up at the top. The glitch had completely swallowed the aperture that had previously illuminated the building.

They arrived at the nineteenth room and paused just outside the portal that would transfer them to the last chamber. Damon pulled Zack and Angie aside. “What are the chances we walk through the portal and end up inside that glitch?”

The veterans’ expressions didn’t exactly fill him with confidence.

Angie shrugged. “The void appeared to be above floor level,” she offered unconvincingly. “But if there is a possibility that can happen, maybe we should call it off.”

The orc general shook his head. “The rookies need the supplies in there.” He sighed. “Okay. I can’t ask the new members to take that chance. I’ll go in first.”

Zack crossed his arms over his chest. “No, you won’t. You have Angie, and it’s not fair that you should take all the risks all the time.” He glanced at the female veteran. “If something were to happen to you…” He shook his head. “I’ll go in.”

Angie placed her hand on Zack’s shoulder appreciatively while Damon sighed. “Alright. But as you enter, crouch low to the ground.”

The scruffy Marine laughed. “Yeah. I will.”

5

“If it’s safe to pass through, I’ll come back and tell you,” Zack said. “If I don’t return, I’m likely dead”—he paused—“or worse.” He took a deep breath, hunched low, and entered the portal.

As the teammates waited, Angie pulled Damon aside. “You made a big mistake not taking out Brett when you had the chance. It’s going to come back to haunt us.”

The orc general stared at her, peeved. “I was following my intuition. The same thing you’ve been preaching about so much lately.”

She snorted. “Yeah, but mine has been proven right.” She smiled at her man. “We haven’t determined that with you yet.”

Damon huffed. “Women,” he groaned. “I stand by my decision.”

While Angie scoffed, Hammer walked up to the pair. “Shouldn’t Zack be back out by now?” he asked nervously.

6

Zack squatted low to the floor as he peered into the darkness. The final chamber was unusually cold, and he wondered if he had indeed walked into the glitch. He waited for his eyes to adjust, and when they did, they told him everything he wanted to know. The qubits’ small pin-lights illuminated just enough to make out where the glitch began and the room ended.

He stood up. The glitch’s highest point hovered slightly above his head, but it descended toward the floor in a fattening arc. Fifty feet ahead, the room was completely engulfed by the chaotic void.

Zack rubbed his chin. The beard that had started growing on the first day had considerable length now. His long hairs wafted horizontally toward the ravenous black aberration. He pulled the whiskers down, but they rose back up.

The loot they had come for was still scattered across the floor. Most of it had bounced from the two members who had died during the last boss battle. The four scimitar swords the monster had dropped gleamed under the hood of the ominous glitch.

“It’s a good thing the fight took place on this side of the room,” Zack muttered to himself.

The tower’s ceiling was swallowed by the black blob. In some areas, the space between the glitch—which hung like a distended stomach—and the floor was just a little over one foot. But all the loot still sat there, waiting to be picked up.

Zack shook his head, turned, and walked through the portal, transferring back to the nineteenth room.

7

“If we’re going to recover that loot, Thao, Kylah, and Silo have to go in with me,” Zack told the group. “Some of those weapons can only be handled by their assigned classes, and they’re the smallest members of each.”

While Nevan expressed concern for his daughter and Silo grumbled, Zahra approached the veteran orc. “What about us?”

Zack glanced at her and the other two healers, Rachel and Keshon. “The equipment you might want is designated multi-class, so anyone can pick them up.” He turned to the rest of the group. “There’s enough headroom near the portal to allow for a few people. We start there. Thao, I want you to go first. The others can mop up what you can’t retrieve due to your class.”

Zack had the three excursion members pass their extra supplies to other teammates, clearing as much of their inventories as they could. Thao passed her nagamati sword to Nevan, Kylah handed her extra baselard to Sierra, and Silo offloaded his one-sided battle axe to Jackson. That left Thao with four inventory spaces and the other two with five. Meanwhile, Zack discarded the Almain Rivet armor, opening up one spot.

“Anything else, we’ll just carry,” he said, then walked through the portal followed by Thao.

8

“Chết tiệt,” Thao whispered as she stared at the bulging glitch.

Silo glanced at her, amused. “What does that mean?”

The Grimalkin hunter only shook her head. Her eyes were focused on the undulating black blob. She squatted and peered into the tightest space. “I would suggest we try one of the spells to pull the items to us.” She paused. “But we saw what happened to Emma.”

Thao sighed and lay on her back. The coldness of the floor wormed through her chain mail and she shivered. “Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible.” She looked up at Silo. “Can you stay close to me? In case I get into trouble.”

The rookie orc glanced exasperatedly at Zack, who glowered at him, forcing him to keep his mouth shut. Silo groaned and positioned himself just below Thao’s legs.

Together, they crawled on their backs to the first items: the drop from Janna, the nurse who had died saving Zack’s life. With the glitch hovering a couple of feet above them, Thao deposited the two sets of armor, three wineskins, and a crescent knife into her inventory. She slid two swords and a leather whip to Kylah, who was standing near the portal.

Thao curled her fingers around a wooden staff, but it wouldn’t budge. She glanced at Zack.

“Leave that one,” he said. “That’s a druid staff. Only a mage can carry that. Kylah will have to get it.”

“Then why did Janna have it?” Thao asked, curious.

Zack appeared to grow impatient. “Inventories are different,” he grumbled. “Keep going.”

She gazed down at Silo and sighed. The boss monster’s drop was fifteen feet further into the room and, at that point, the black belly was eighteen inches off the floor. On an impulse, she unequipped her mail, then yelped as her bare skin touched the frigid floor. Silo followed suit, removing his battle armor. The maneuver allowed them to move more easily and lower their points of contact.

They inched closer to the scimitar swords. The engraved blades shimmered under the simulated starlight of the quantum qubits. Thao grabbed the first one by its leather handle and carefully pushed it toward Silo. The metal blade scraped noisily across the marble floor.

“Slide that over here,” Zack shouted. “You’ll need your inventory for Ethan’s equipment.”

Three more scimitars skidded across the floor, then the pair concentrated on the last few items. They lay scattered perilously close to where the floor and the glitch met. Zack instructed Silo to move ahead of Thao, as most of the remaining loot could only be carried by an orc. They traded places. As the black aberration got closer to their bodies, it created a vacuum of air and they both struggled to breathe.

Silo reached the loot that had once belonged to Jordan’s brother. He dropped the weapons and armor into his inventory, filling it up in no time. He threw the skelchion sword and bone-axe to Zack then stretched for the final items: three wineskins.

With the glitch inches from his face, he grabbed two but abandoned the last one. “It’s too close,” he said, grimacing. “I can’t take the chance.”

Zack muttered his assent from what seemed like millions of miles away.

Silo stared at the white qubits swirling above him. Afraid to move and hoping Thao was still there, he asked her to pull his legs. He was relieved when her padded fingers wrapped around his ankles.

9

They wriggled to the front of the room slowly. On the way, Thao grabbed the Nagamarrow sword Angie had discarded following the final battle. Her inventory was full, so she hung onto it as she moved back to the group by the portal.

Kylah dipped under the black glitch next to retrieve the druid staff. Her recently healed broken arm ached against the floor’s cold surface, but her excitement mitigated her pain. The staff would make a significant addition to the mages’ arsenal.

She shimmied back to the portal and as she stood, the floor suddenly shifted, tilting at an acute angle toward the glitch. The four members staggered as they tried to reach for something to grip.

“The room is disintegrating!” Silo yelled anxiously as he clutched at Kylah, ruining her attempt to lean away from the incline.

Zack, who had curled his forearm into the portal, grabbed him by the shoulder. “You idiot! Don’t let go of her now!” With his forearm planted somewhere against the wall in the nineteenth room, Zack’s bicep flexed against the portal’s elliptical green mass. He strained and lifted the two members closer to him. “Where’s Thao?” he grunted.

Her voice came from over his shoulder. “I’m right here.”

Zack couldn’t turn his head to see her. “Can you get through this portal on your own?”

Silo, who had pulled Kylah up to his chest and had his other arm linked with Zack’s, saw the Grimalkin hunter clinging to a fissure in the wall. She had extended her claws, helping her maintain her grip.

“I’ll have to jump,” Thao answered.

“Drop the sword and do it,” Zack said through clenched teeth.

A moment later, the Nagamarrow sword Thao had recovered dropped soundlessly into the black void, disappearing from sight. She vaulted for the portal, crashing against the rim. Like Zack, she reached through the green mass and grabbed the wall on the other side. From there, Thao catapulted her body through the portal, leaving Zack, Silo, and Kylah hanging like a human chain above the destructive glitch.