Mathew stirred his spoon in the cup, watching the tea swirl around. Sitting in the room with him was Leo, who sat with his arms crossed.

“You know this plan is crazy, right?” Leo asked, staring intently at Mathew.

Mathew didn’t say anything for a moment. Once the silence got too heavy, he sighed and nodded. “But that's all I have left. What was once a contract to protect me and ensure a sound victory, is now a noose around my neck.”

Leo scoffed, “No shit. He has you locked down. Why are you so fixated on this? I didn’t care at first with your plan because I thought it wouldn’t turn out to be anything this drastic. After two months, what progress have you gained to even getting the Hearth Crystal? Why do you even want it anymore? Sounds to me like it paints a giant target on your back.”

Mathew looked up from his cup. “Leo, I already have one on me. This,” Mathew waved his black rod around, “Is one. What’s a few more?I need to gain more power. I want to get stronger. I feel amazing Leo.” He looked at his friend in the face, “Tell me honestly. Since you have been Level 10, how have you felt?”

Leo frowned, “Young and strong. That ache in my lower back was just gone. That doesn’t excuse or even justify your plan.”

Mathew shook his head. “Power is everything now Leo. Having a higher level, having stronger abilities and spells, being in a seat of leadership, those are what secures safety now. Not wealth, not blackmail, not bribes, and not laws.”

“I get that, but,” Leo just shook his head, knowing it was pointless. “Why keep fighting against him?”

“Because I set a goal, a then foolish, but now, required one. I refuse to go against something I promised to do.” Mathew said.

Leo’s face showed his disbelief. “Do you hear yourself? You are doing this for pride? So you can’t be proven wrong? Think about what you could do if you helped others Mathew. Just like you did as a Lawyer. Even if your primary goal was selfish, you still helped others.”

“I refuse to lose, damn it.” Mathew snapped. “Even if I have to almost kill myself to be stronger than everyone on this planet, I will do it. I told you what Di said. We are but mere specks of dust in space compared to the true powerhouses out there. I honestly doubt I even comprehend what is really out there. Do you know what that Imp, Agnox, told me?”

He didn’t give Leo a chance to answer. “That a contract can be broken as long as one side is strong enough to do so. He mentioned the leader of his Dungeon is almost at the next rank, which is Level 25. Now tell me, if someone is strong enough to break free of a contract, what's stopping them from forcing something like that? Someone or something can just float by our planet, kill us or even enslave us, and force us to dance for its entertainment.”

Leo shut his mouth and finally understood what Mathew was getting at. It didn’t excuse how Mathew was acting right now though. “Are you sure that’s possible? Why would anyone let someone do that?”

Mathew shrugged, “Control over everything. I would consider something similar as well to be honest. Not saying I am going to, but it’s a safe bet. If you know someone has potential to be stronger than you, why not ensure they can’t kill you? It’s the flaw of every movie villain. They doubt the good guy can be a real threat, and don’t treat them as such.”

Leo was about to get angry at Mathew, but knew his friend wouldn’t stoop to slavery. “Even so, that just makes you appear more of a bad guy wouldn’t it?”

Mathew rolled his weapon in his hand, “The Dark King may do something similar. I have one of his underlings after me. I refuse to let anyone have power over me anymore. That includes Payne. He won’t let go of the chains I put on myself, so I have to get out myself. I might as well take the golden eggs if the giant will chase after me for simply leaving.”

“You are in deep shit. Those orders he gave you hold you back too much. Why not accept it?” Leo questioned, but continued talking. “Behave, do your job, and then get out some other way. Better yet, how much money do you have? Couldn’t you just end it that way? You said we had over two years till The System protections go away. Just look at how far we've all come in two months. Imagine what we can do in two years Mathew. Shit, if you stopped focusing on yourself and worked with others, you could even do it safely. Just like with Madison and the other two you worked with.” Leo looked Mathew in the eyes. “So what if you lose a couple months of grinding, you will still walk away alive, and we have plenty of time to catch up to everyone else.”

Mathew clenched his jaw, “Leo, I’ve been pushing myself further than anyone else. Look at that leaderboard. It’s full of people stronger than me. People who have pushed themselves further and faster. I was wrong to want to be in a nice safe cushy office job. I didn’t know how this new world worked yet.” He looked down, already embarrassed at admitting he was wrong. “I can’t be wrong again, I won’t allow myself to be looked at like some sort of mistake.”

Leo sighed. He hated it when Mathew got this way. When a case went sour, Mathew blamed himself, and started to come up with elaborate and over the top ways of somehow turning it around. He was normally much more tactful about it, this was a new low for the lawyer. One that Leo was starting to worry about.

“So what clever idea do you have this time?” Leo asked. “Let’s hear it, I know that your brain has one.”

Mathew broke eye contact, “Nothing concrete, nor anything different really. I still trick Payne into poisoning me. Once he does that and I am notified of the broken contract, I take the anti-poison so I don’t die, then I run. He just finished the Goblin Dungeon, and I snuck a peak at the Leaderboard. He is Level 17! He jumped three whole levels, it’s insane. I’m barely one level higher than him. Not to count all our stats. He can see mine, I can’t see his, so I need to play it smart. Once I run away, I find a hiding place and see what options I have.”

Leo crossed his arms, “What about him reclaiming it through the crystal?”

Mathew grimaced. “I thought of that, but I don’t think he would do it that way. He has told everyone if someone does that they die. Plus I would be alerted, as he let slip such a thing would happen. I would know where he is, and can scare him away.”

“And if he doesn’t run away? He has the entire base at his command.”

“He is sending every person over Level 10 to the Dungeon. I will do it once he sends everyone away. I just have to hope I can get the people here to side with me.”

Leo stared flatly, “The people that think you are a lazy piece of shit?”

“Not everyone.” Mathew pointed out. “Mostly the military people. I doubt everyone else either won’t give a shit, or may like someone else in charge instead. Payne has put a heavy focus on battle. Look at those tanks, has he done anything for everyone else on the base? Safety? A new shop?”

“That’s….a fair point.” Leo stated. Leo hated to admit it, but Mathew wasn’t going to change his mind. If anything, the conversation helped solidify his choice. He was his friend, but could he help him with such a drastic plan? “So that’s the plan then? Poison yourself, and then if that fails just null the contract?”

Mathew nodded. “If that fails, then I run away until I am stronger than him. When I can remove that shackle I put on myself, that’s when it’s behind me, I can focus on the long term importance. Two years is all we have. Not to mention everything that will happen between now and then.”

Leo nodded once, “Okay, but you have to make a promise to me. If you fail, you stop these games. If you succeed, you do things right and take care of these people. There is no contract here between us, no oaths, no magically sealed promise, this is man to man. You are doing this to prove something, so follow it up by proving yourself even more.”

Mathew smiled, thankful Leo was with him. “Deal.”

“How do you want to do this? Anything I can do to help?” Leo asked.

Mathew nodded, “I need you to tell Henderson I plan to attack Payne. I’m emotionally distraught, and that I’m planning on killing him.”

Leo was now confused, “How is that going to work?”

Mathew patted his friend's shoulder, “Because Leo. He will expect that and not the poison. He will want to meet but with a bodyguard or two to feel in control of the conversation. He won’t be focused on the tea and poison, but on my weapons, or if I am going to charge a magical spell.” Mathew then thought to himself, “Because you are a shitty liar, and Henderson will know something is up.”

He trusted her the most out of everyone else on the base that has ties to Payne. She was smart, but not smart enough to know what he was planning. Once she realizes Leo is lying, she will wonder what Mathew had planned, and not be surprised when things go the way that they do.

Leo nodded, “Makes sense. I can do that in the morning when we leave.”

Henderson looked over the newest sword she was given from General Payne. He invited her to the team invading the Dungeon and gave it as a gift to help out. The metal had a yellow sheen. Apparently it was poisonous to Infernal creatures and it hurt them far more than usual.

When she questioned how he bought it, he simply said he purchased a building with a shop related to military warfare equipment. Hence where he got the tanks. She was under direct orders to not tell anyone.

She was confused as to why she was invited. He always viewed her as any other leader of a party that hunted. Once she hit Level 15, that’s when she realized what was going on. Her entire team was invited except for Damien. She thought it was because they were strong, but no. It was because of Mathew.

It was how he worded the order. It wasn’t “I want you and your team to report in to help remove these enemies.” Or anything along those lines. No, it was more like “I want you and your team there so I can keep an eye on you.”

The rank of Captain wasn't hard to earn, but she used to be enlisted before she became an officer. Because of that, she knew the difference between inviting someone because of a reward versus to keep them in sight and out of trouble.

She had a friend who used to never keep his mouth shut, so whenever high ranking officials visited, they sent her away to do something out of sight. This was a very similar situation but reversed. Payne wanted to keep an eye on the few people Mathew had relations with.

Did she blame him? Absolutely not. Mathew was out to get Payne, she knew that from the start. Why was he doing it? She didn’t know, nor cared. Mathew had started to talk like he was crazy from what Leo was saying. Something about attempting to attack General Payne for revenge.

She almost believed him, until she looked in his eyes. What he said was an outright lie, and because of it grew even more worried. “Just what did that man have planned?”

He was always off base training, and apparently hit Level 18 last night. The day her and the forward teams are to establish a temporary command area.

She sheathed her sword and looked at her team. They were all dressed head to toe in gear, she gave but the smallest of glances toward Leo before speaking. “We know what to do. Let's go kick some ass.”

Her speech, while short, was enough to activate her newest ability.

Inspire | Novice 1

You give those under your command a boost to morale through your encouraging words. Up to six people gain a bonus to damage and overall health. This boost is dependent upon the rank of this skill and your own level. If another source of [Inspire] is applied, the stronger of the two takes over and the weaker version is cancelled. This skill does not work on those of a higher level than you.

It didn’t work on herself, but she didn’t care. It worked on the five others that were on her team. Leo, Zack, Madison, Brown, and Lindsey were all ever so much safer.

Once that was taken care of, her and the nearly one hundred troops started to head north. They didn’t have the entire powerhouse Payne was planning on using. Nobody that he sent to scout out inside the Dungeon has come out, either dead or alive.

Her team was incharge of keeping an eye out and removing any enemies. That way a crude pathway could be created so all of the tanks could push through the forest. She almost laughed at herself hearing the plan.

It seems so old school. She hadn’t heard the need to remove a forest by hand in years. The military would just have a plane clear it out with chemicals and fire. No friendly casualties, and it was typically pretty fast.

“So, what do you think we will find waiting for us?” Zack asked. He was wearing a mix of bomb squad gear and actual metal armor. It was the best stuff he could find to fulfill his role as a tank. Because of this, he was slow, and if not for his high Endurance stat, he would probably die from overheating.

Henderson shrugged. “You are supposed to be the expert of this stuff. These are not the normal enemies anyone has fought, let alone the American Military.”

Leo shook his head. “Let’s just say nothing good.”

“I just hope when we go in, we won’t have to fight a hundred creatures with a small team. We still don’t know what the maximum number of people that can be in a Dungeon at once is.” Zack said.

“We will cross that bridge when we get to it.” Henderson looked around. “Where is that Madison girl at? Isn’t she supposed to be back already?”

At that moment she came crashing to the ground, having jumped down from a branch. “Good news. Nothing worth worrying about is nearby. A couple wildlife creatures, but I doubt they are worth our time. I couldn’t find a single Imp let alone anything else related to the Infernals.”

Leo refrained from asking if she was okay. Mainly because she seemed to be, but also because he couldn’t coddle her forever. Especially not here. He promised to protect her the best he could, but she had to equally promise to stay safe. If she truly wanted to either find her mother, or more likely get revenge, she needed to survive this.

Henderson nodded. “Good, keep rotating out with Lindsey and hopefully we won’t find anything.”

Three more hours of anxious traveling followed. They stopped once to scare off a few birds that were causing problems for another scouting team. At the base of the mountain a large section of land has been already cleared out. Stretching for at least a mile, all that used to be sparse trees and boulders was replaced with mostly flat land.

It was an eerie sight, all that open space, but still no sound. As if it was prepared for their arrival. At the other end was the Infernal Dungeon portal, but far larger. When Henderson last saw it, it was the size of a door. Now it was the size of a small plane. All six of them could walk side by side and have some room left on either end when walking through it.

“Please tell me this was already like this last time you all were here.” Linsey asked, a small tinge of worry in her voice.

“No, no it wasn’t” Brown responded. “Captain, we should report this swiftly. General Payne is going to want to know.”

She nodded, “Let’s head back everyone.” Before they could turn around, two figures walked out of the Infernal Dungeon.

The first was a huge red skinned creature. It walked on two legs, and stood easily eight feet or higher in height. He had two sets of arms, each of them showing large muscles. He carried no weapons, so his arms hung loosely by his side.

The other was an Imp. It floated next to his comrade. Compared to all the others Henderson had seen just a week ago, it was slimer and less ugly. The pair started to walk toward them.

Henderson grew tense, as did the others. “Nobody fucking move until I say so. That’s an order.” She muttered only loud enough so the small team could hear her.

She didn’t dare blink, afraid doing so would start a fight she didn’t want to have. There was something about the larger guy that made her afraid.

They made it halfway across the field and stopped. The duo motioned for the team of humans to walk over to them.

“There is no way we are actually going over there, are we?” Lindsey asked.

Zack flexed his hands. He was scared, but knew he couldn’t show it infront of everyone else. He was the tank, and as such it was his job to be in the scariest part of encounters, both social and combat. “I think we should. If they wanted to attack us, they would have already.”

Henderson looked at Zack, but nodded. “We do it slowly. Nobody attacks first or so help me I will bring hell upon you before we die.”

The team walked forward slowly. They stood just fifty yards away before Henderson shouted. “What do you want?”

“Humans of Military Base 331, I am Agnox, Imp Horde Leader. I’ve come to parlay and establish the rules of combat. Do you accept?”