The sun was just beginning to rise over the towering spires of Luka’s temple as Gunnar raced through the empty streets of Thailen. Wisps of fog hung over the streets, making it hard to see his own boots.

He sprinted across the temple square as the first worshippers began to arrive. Lower class citizens were funneled to a separate outer courtyard littered with tiny shrines, while nobles in carriages were alone allowed within the interior of the temple.

All of it was just another way in which Thailen was designed to keep the city’s elite at the top, and the rest scrounging for what was left. Even the thieves’ guilds were a part of this system.

And that was why Gunnar was running. For he had resisted this system, and had managed to piss off a very powerful and well-connected member of the underworld of Thailen.

Gunnar did not know how long it would take Sykes to round up reinforcements, but he had no time to waste. Sykes knew the location of the crypt, where all of his newly-formed allies were currently hiding, and if he didn’t reach them in time, his hopes of creating his own future in Thailen would be dashed.

He turned down a narrow side street behind the temple, and followed it to a small nook, where a stone door was situated. The door had once allowed adventurers in at will, but now that the crypt had been restored to its rightful management, Gunnar waited for the Crypt Keeper to open the doors for him.

He sensed the sorceress’s presence on the other side of the door before she spoke. The warmth of her Mana filled the air, and then drifted over him as she hit him with Scan from beyond the door.

Well, this is a new sensation…

It was the first time he’d felt himself being Scanned by the sorceress, or anyone else. He’d leveled up several times in one very eventful night, and still hadn’t had time to inspect all that had changed as a result of his achievements.

With uncanny awareness, the AI hit him with a notification.

[You have reached Level 20 in Perception, which has unlocked a new feature for the spell Scan. You can now detect when allies and lower level foes attempt to Scan you. Rest assured, your current adversary, Sykes, handily surpasses your current abilities.]

Thanks for that, Gunnar thought. The AI wasn’t dependable for much, but it sure knew how to give him hell.

The warmth faded, and the ancient stone shifted open. The Crypt Keeper shook her head as she looked him over. His chest was still heaving from running.

“You had quite the evening, my friend. When I said the hobos could stay, I wasn’t exactly sending an invitation to the entire— ”

“We’ve got a problem,” Gunnar said.

***

After a quick conversation, the Crypt Keeper hurried off to fetch the leaders of Gunnar’s new found companions, leaving him alone in the main burial chamber. The ceiling of the place towered over thirty feet above him, supported by massive rows of stone columns.

Only days ago, Gunnar had faced a horde of bewitched skeletons in this hall. The chamber was still littered with rubble and weapons and stone coffins, but it appeared that with the help of the hobos, the dead had been restored to their proper burial places.

Several hobos were working now to dispose of the rubble, move empty coffins out of the chamber, and restore the honored dead back to the nooks lining the walls from floor to ceiling.

Gunnar had begun to envision a bright and strategic future for this place, but he feared that ship might have already sailed.

“You look like shit.”

Sheira emerged from behind a pillar, smirking, as she approached. The middle-aged dusk elf had helped him free prisoners from a slaver the night before. She wore tight pants and a dark cloak, with the hood pulled up despite the current safety of this place. Her graying hair was pulled back in woven braid that draped over the front off her shoulder.

Gunnar smiled, surprised, but pleased she was still here. “Never a dull moment in this city, is there?”

“So says the one who died at the end of the quest and left me to get your prisoners safely here.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Well, I earned some of the best Glory I’ve had since my failed trial, so I can’t complain, I suppose.”

“There might be more where that came from.”

Sheira raised an eyebrow. “Well, I wasn’t waiting around to see your ugly mug.”

“Ouch! Why the personal attacks?” Gunnar asked with a smirk.

Sheira gripped his hand. “I hope you don’t act this sensitive around women your own age. It’s not very becoming.”

Gunnar shook his head. “You’re in, then?”

“What’s the quest?”

“Save this crypt,” the Crypt Keeper said loudly as she returned.

She was joined by Cork, the dwarf leader of the hobos, and Lex, the dawn elf leader of the freed slaves. The five of them gathered in a circle near the center of the room.

Gunnar met Lex’s gaze briefly. The Crypt Keeper began talking, but he caught himself trying not to stare at the dawn elf. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, but that was not what threw him.

It was the first time he had been able to get a good look at her since he realized she looked almost identical to the blonde girl from his memories of the drunken car crash that had landed him in prison—that had landed him here in the realms of Pantheon.

Why the hell was Alex Keynes—or someone who looked exactly like her—here in this game?

Lex smiled at him, and he glanced away.

Even her smile left him certain that hers was the same face. Only not covered in blood.

But she seemed to have no reaction to him that he could tell. Which, of course, had to mean that this was not the same person.

Obviously, Gunnar thought. Alex Keynes is dead.

Which meant someone was likely trying to throw him off his game. And it was working.

“Gunnar?” the Crypt Keeper asked.

“Sorry,” he said, snapping out of it.

“Kohli knows the location of two entrances to this crypt, does he not?”

Gunnar nodded. “We came in together through the entrance behind Luka’s temple. And we left through the entrance here.” Gunnar pointed to the thick door at the end of the room.

“Are there only the two doors?” Cork asked.

The Crypt Keeper hesitated, then shook her head.

“The passage beyond Angus’s ceremony chamber?” Gunnar asked, grimacing as he recalled the last time he’d been there. Before he’d learned Kohli’s true loyalties.

Gunnar had saved Kohli and Em that day, and now, Kohli wanted Gunnar destroyed.

And Em…

He did not know where they stood. The last time he’d seen her, he had rejected her guild, and she had cussed him out. Yet another uncertainty left for another time.

“There is another way out,” the Crypt Keeper said.

“What is to be deliberated then?” Lex asked. “If there’s another exit this Kohli fellow doesn’t know about, let’s take it and get out of here.”

“And go where?” Cork demanded. “We just got here.”

“Afraid he’s right, I cannot abandon the hallowed inhabitants of this crypt,” the Crypt Keeper said, glancing not at any of the people in the group, but at the wall of tombs surrounding them.

“We don’t have the manpower to defend two fronts,” said Lex.

“Maybe we don’t have to,” Gunnar said.

“What do you mean?” Lex asked.

Gunnar turned to the Crypt Keeper. “This place is basically a dungeon, right?”

The sorceress blanched at the comment. “This is nothing like a dungeon.”

“I’m talking—you know—like in gaming terms.”

The sorceress stared blankly.

“This place is an entity of its own,” Gunnar said. “It’s obviously much larger than is plausible for a city this crowded. It can be transformed, right?”

The Crypt Keeper nodded grimly. “Angus reshaped this place into a funhouse training ground from hell. If you have any thoughts of converting it into some sort of war zone—”

“I don’t want to transform the crypt itself, just the entrances. Could they be moved?”

The sorceress grimaced. “They could, but it is not a quick or easy process. It would require untethering the core from this city’s very fabric.”

Gunnar grinned. “You see? I knew it. A core. Like a dungeon.”

The Crypt Keeper was not amused.

“So, is it possible?” Lex asked.

“Yes,” the Crypt Keeper said, “but do we have the time?”

“We’ll make time,” Gunnar said.

“Those lowlifes are coming for you, Gunnar. Not for my crypt. Why should I let you stay at all?”

“If we leave, you’ll be back to taking care of this place alone again.” Gunnar gestured around the room. The place looked much better than it had before the hobos arrived, but there was still much work to do. “We can buy you time to move the crypt. And together, we can transform this place into something beautiful again. Someplace that truly honors the great people who reside here.”

The Crypt Keeper thought for a moment, then nodded. “What is your plan?”

Gunnar looked over at Sheira and grinned. “We need to create a diversion, and I think I know the perfect way.”