James travelled through the Void as fast as he could. The same clouds of whiteness were in every direction as far as the eye could see, but still, James focused on the city called Port Ashmoor. James and Rocko had discussed which Dungeon they should tackle next. He vetoed the first Dungeon on the list because its theme was spiders. Like most people, James didn't like spiders. Small ones were okay, but he had problems when they were bigger than a dog. These were said to be as big as a horse, and he wasn't going near them without a bag of M67s.

James suggested they move on to the next Dungeon as they didn't have any hand grenades handy. The next one on the list was a sewer system Dungeon. It was not his favourite option, but he could hope that all the rats, snakes, alligators and roaches had drowned before he arrived. James couldn't understand why the Dungeon was not listed as completed. Champions might not find it very glamorous to do this Dungeon, but it didn't sound tough. The third option was a Dungeon in the desert. This Dungeon had some undead, scorpions, snakes and scarabs. But Rocko warned him it was a higher level and recommended doing it after completing this one.

"How the hell am I supposed to get the quests for these Dungeons if everyone is trying to kill the Champions?" James asked.

"You don't need the quest giver to get the quest," Rocko explained.

"What do you mean? I had to go see the watch commander get the quest." James stated.

"That wasn't for the Dungeon quest. That was for a quest outside the Dungeon," Rocko corrected.

"Of course, how foolish of me." James sassed.

"Sorry. You are right. I didn't explain it well. The quest you got from the watch commander was a lot like the quest you got from the woman who didn't like rabbits. They were just quests anyone could do. A Dungeon quest is different." Rocko explained. James noticed that Rocko was talking almost as fast as usual. He only slowed down when he got upset. "A Dungeon quest may appear when you enter the Dungeon or reach a certain point in the Dungeon. A specific event could trigger it. Sometimes it may appear at the end of the Dungeon to say that you have completed it already. It depends on the Dungeon. You didn't get any in the last Dungeon because it was a relatively low-level Dungeon."

"Well, of the first two, I would rather do the dungeon in the sewers than with the spiders," James stated.

"Then let's hope Port Ashmoor had a recent rain," Rocko joked.

&&&&&&&&&& Port Ashmoor &&&&&&&&&&

The city of Port Ashmoor sat on the coast of a large island with an active volcano. The air was dry and hot, the people wore different shades of grey, and few seemed to smile.

"This is what it is like when you live in the shadow of a volcano that may someday kill you," Rocko pointed out.

"When was the last time it was active?" James asked.

"It is currently active," Rocko corrected him, "It has not erupted in more than eighty years, but now and again, it spews ash into the air. A real choking hazard."

Most people wore a veil across their faces to keep the ash out of their lungs. You could tell who was native as they didn't bother with a cover. James enjoyed a meal at a tavern and waited for the sun to set. The Dungeon entrance was known to most of the city's people, but it wasn't easily accessible. As a result, James wanted to wait until nightfall before attempting to enter.

James had travelled to the city the morning after talking with Ferdinand. Now he was spending most of the afternoon and a lot of his money buying up all the Enchanted items he could find that was portable. Something interesting that he discovered was that scrolls were stackable. They needed to be, all the same, so he bought ten Tier 2 Flame Bolt scrolls. He also picked up a second Wand of Flame Bolt. The wands were great as they recharged daily.

The city reminded him of a couple of cities on Earth that were in the middle east. People were animated, and the sights and sounds were different from what he was used to.

When darkness finally fell, James slipped into the warm water of the harbour and cast Water Breathing. The Dungeon entrance was just behind a metal grate that sealed off the sewer system from the port. Swimming up to the grate, James noticed two missing bars, allowing him to squeeze through. Once he was on the other side of the bars, he rounded a corner and saw the blue glow of a portal. After swimming through the portal, a notification appeared.

Do you wish to enter the Dungeon, The Drowned Sewer Rat?

YES NO

James paused while staring at the blue box, 'Is this for real?'

Rocko shrugged, 'Not every Dungeon is filled with rainbows and unicorns.'

James held his breath before selecting YES and disappearing into the Dungeon.

As soon as James appeared in the Dungeon, he swam to the surface of the sewer. He suspected he would appear underwater, and he was right. He also realized he didn't want to keep 'breathing' the sewer water, and he was right again. He expelled the remaining water in his gills and ended the Water Breathing Power when he broke the surface.

Phosphorescent mould and green clouds of luminous gas lit the area. Gagging on the stench, James moved to the metal walkway that ran along the right-hand side of the tunnel. The last portion of the walkway had broken off from the wall and was half-submerged in the water. Using that portion, James was able to climb out of the water. The metal groaned under his weight but held. It would make moving around with stealth tricky, but there was not much he could do about it.

Behind him was a solid brick wall with a small opening in the bottom to allow the water to pass through. But this was intended to be a barrier and the start of the Dungeon. Rocko walked along the wall at chest height, seeming not to care about the filth and slime that crusted on the wall. "You're certain this was better than the Dungeon with the spiders?" he asked.

'Quiet!' James mentally reprimanded him.

"They can't hear me," Rocko reminded him.

'Yes, but I can,' James said flatly.

Rocko paused, "Your wit is improving. In small increments, but that was an improvement."

James had his sword in hand. If he needed to switch to his bow, he would, but he stuck to the sword for now. The path was pretty straightforward, as it only went one way. It rose to a second level and then crossed the tunnel and entered an observation room or a control room. Seeing the room, James could discern no movement and took his time examining the approach.

James was glad he took his time. The bottom step leading up to the upper walkway had a tripwire. After careful examination, James saw that the trap was connected to an explosive container.

'I wish I had the Disarm Traps Skill,' James mused.

"It only makes sense if you can't bypass the trapped area. If you can, do so." Rocko said.

'I don't like leaving a trap active behind me,' James countered.

"And did you use to do when you a trap you couldn't disarm?" Rocko asked.

'Flag it and tag it. Then move on,' James thought. He didn't have anything to flag the area or to tag the trap, so he didn't waste anymore time. With that decided, James stepped over the trap and continued up the stairs.

When he finally arrived at the room, it was empty. A broken chair lay on its side, and a small table with a leg chewed off stood near the doorway. An unlit lantern on the table provided a counterbalance to the missing portion. James noticed the door on the right wall led to another walkway.

Still moving carefully, James stepped into the room and looked around. There didn't appear to be anything in the space of value or interest, so he moved quickly to the other door. So far, he had been lucky, he had not spotted any creatures, but he was confident that was about to change.

Exiting the room, he moved carefully along the metal walkway. Suddenly, he felt the metal plate beneath him give way. Throwing himself forward, James grabbed at the grate before him as his body began to slide backwards through the hole. His sword fell from his hands and skidded across the metal grate to balance precariously on the walkway's edge. When everything stopped, he was dangling from the walkway at his armpits, his arms gripping the grate and his sword slowly teetered back and forth on the edge.

"Use your Telekinesis," Rocko shouted at him.

"What?" James gritted his teeth, his fingers beginning to slip.

"Telekinesis!"

James hadn't used it since he got it and tested it out. It had a range of 2 meters and a limit of 1 kg. He would struggle to lift the blade, but it should be enough to pull it from the edge. Activating the PSI Power, James pulled the sword towards him. Not far enough to grab ahold of, but close enough that it was away from the edge. With that done, he began to swing his legs and use that momentum to pull his body up onto the walkway, armour, backpack and all.

James lay on his stomach and tried to catch his breath.

"You okay?" Rocko asked.

"Ya, golden." James quipped.

Looking at the grate, it didn't look like it was a trap. It just gave way due to rust and age. Picking himself up from the floor, James grabbed his sword and looked around. Nothing had changed since his fall. Everything was still deathly quiet.

Moving forward again, James tested his footing as best he could. Bouncing up and down made the walkway squeak with metal on metal. Trying to move silently made him vulnerable to a collapsing walkway. Deciding to make the best of a bad situation, James used Shadow Sense to peer as far into the darkened sewer tunnel. The sewer tunnel continued for about fifty meters before arriving at a T intersection. The walkway crossed over to the right-hand side not far from James and dropped again to the water level. It seemed to continue at that level until the intersection. Not wanting to deal with any traps, James used Shadow Step and appeared a few meters short of the intersection.

Using Shadow Sense again, James was able to pick up movement down the left-hand tunnel. It looked like several large rodents were moving toward him. They were not moving in haste but with purpose. James quaffed a Potion of Mana and then switched to his bow. Nocking an arrow, he waited. He didn't have to wait long before the first rat appeared at the intersection. As soon as it was in view, the rat stopped and sniffed around. James released the arrow, and then Shadow stepped to the top of the raised walkway about forty meters behind him.

The first arrow was enough to get their attention, as it was driven into the rodents neck, but it was not enough to kill it. The rats were happy enough to charged toward him. Dropping to one knee, Jams aimed down the walkway and started shooting. James stuck to arrows as he didn't want to use his very loud and very noisy PSI Bolts. The lead rat died with the fifth arrow. It was half way toward him and James had missed once. There were two more rats behind that one. Deciding stealth was no longer an option, he started a barrage of PSI Bolts along with arrows. James could launch his PSi Bolts faster than he could fire his bow, but he still made sure each one counted. The second rat died ten meters from the stairs. The last rat made it to the top of the stairs but James killed it with a kick to the head.

When the last rat died, a blue box appeared before him.

Quest - Kill Rats 3/25

"Now I have a kill quest. To kill rats," James mentioned to Rocko.

"This is pretty basic so far," Rocko offered.

"Why didn't Glezda have a kill quest?" James asked.

"To do what? Kill goblins? You were already killing goblins, and her Dungeon was linear. Kill quests are designed to make you search a maze-like Dungeon trying to find every target. In the meantime, exposing you to the danger of traps and tougher creatures. It is very handy if the Dungeon has a short path to the exit, but all the creatures are hidden somewhere else."

"So it is a strategy to get Champions to expose themselves to more risk," James hypothesized.

"Most likely, yes," Rocko confirmed.

James decided to wait a while to allow his Mana to recharge. He was low on Mana and didn't want to use his Mana Crystal. He also didn't want to use Meditation, as that would leave him exposed to danger. Unlike the first two Dungeons he explored, this Dungeon seemed to have wandering monsters. Using the Inspect Skill revealed some information on the rats.

Name: Race: Dungeon Rat - Sewer Level: 8 Damage Range: 1d6 +24 Damage Type: Piercing Special: Bite - Disease

He was itching to go when he recovered all of his Mana. While he had waited, he had checked his notifications and was pleased to see he got two increases.

Strength +1

Swimming +1

'I hate waiting.' James told Rocko, 'It was the worst part of every mission.'

Rocko just nodded. Rocko spent most of his time waiting when he was with James.