&&&&& ASTRAL SPACE &&&&&

James stepped through the Astral Portal and arrived in Astral Space. The others soon followed him. The area looked as featureless as it usually did with its blanket of white in all directions. Taking a seat on the ground, James indicated the others should do the same.

"Why are we resting here?" Roland asked. "We just arrived."

"I just used five hundred Mana to get us through the Portal. I need to recover to get us all out quickly if I need to." James answered.

The sisters looked at each other with concern, and Roland frowned, "Don't you think you should have advised us of this before we stepped through?"

"If I have to, I can get everyone back into Real Space, but it would take potions and a loss of Health. I am willing to do it if necessary, but if I Meditate, I should be ready to go in half an hour," James advised.

"What do we do for half an hour?" Barbara asked.

"I am happy to read," Connie offered.

"Meh, this place is already boring," Doris said.

Roland took off his small pack and started taking out armour pieces, "Then why don't you help me?"

James got into a comfortable position and activated his Meditation Skill. He was always impressed by how fast time passed when he was Meditating. The short time he was Meditating passed in a few seconds for him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Roland standing near him in Steel Platemail armour. It was impressive and shiny. He had a Full Helm with a visor, Gorget, Pauldrons, et cetera. Everything was made from Steel and matched, unlike James' mismatched set.

James saw that Onyx was being given attention by Barbara and was curled up in front of her, "Ready?"

Roland nodded and picked up a large heater shield from the ground. Roland had an arming belt but no ranged weapons. He wore a Warhammer on one side and an Arming Sword on the other. It looked very much like the weapon Doris got from the Dungeon. With everyone looking at him expectantly, he figured it was time to start their journey.

"When travelling in Astral Space, movement is controlled by your mind, not your feet. You don't have to take any steps if you don't want to. Now, I have no idea how we move together, but I suspect that since we are a Party, we should stick together. So, we will need to experiment." James explained.

The next twenty minutes were spent figuring out how to move as a group. James had a better sense of movement than the others and could tell they moved faster when they all held hands. James also gave Doris his Ring of Intelligence +5 since her Intelligence was the lowest in the Party. He was sure that helped a little, but it would be hard to measure. On his left, he had Doris and then Connie. On his right, he had Barbara and then Roland. The trip through Astral Space was uneventful, although Doris was not happy with the amount of time it took to get to Darkkon Ard Desert. A big part of that was how featureless the terrain was. They only had James' word that they were moving at all. James could feel the movement and how sluggish it was, but the others said they felt like they were standing still.

During the journey, Rocko chatted with him and ensured he had a firm image of the Dungeon he was heading toward.

'Why would you want your Dungeon so far away from civilization?' James asked Rocko

'You don't,' Rocko responded.

'The first Dungeon was located at the Temple, which wasn't near any town's either.' James offered.

'Yes, but it was close to an Amulet, so it was bound to be found, just not in the first six months of the Challenge.' Rocko suggested.

'That doesn't make sense. You told me that by the six-month mark, I should be around level 30. If the rest of the Champions are in the same ballpark, then they would be twice the level of the Dungeon.' James countered.

Rocko was silent for a few moments, 'You're right. The only other thing that I can think of is a Quest. It is possible that there was a quest that would send people to that location, and they would find the Dungeon or a Quest specifically for something in the Dungeon.'

James shook his head, 'Are they still going to be using a broken Quest system? The Champions can't get close to the Quest Givers anymore. So, these Dungeons will be screwed out of having Champions sent to them.'

'I don't know, James.' Rocko admitted.

'Are there any Quest for this Dungeon?' James asked.

Rocko hesitated for a moment, 'Yes, there are three of them, but I don't know how you will get them.'

'With my Alter Self Power and my Conceal Status Ability, I should be okay to get the Quest,' James suggested.

'These are not mindless Quest givers, James. They know that anyone asking for the Quests would likely be a Champion. They would most likely kill any stranger asking for the Quest.'

James scowled. The gods fucked up their game by turning the Quest givers against the Champions. If James could figure out a way to get the Quests without risking his life, then it may increase the speed of his growth.

James stopped suddenly in Astral Space. The only one to notice was Connie, "What's wrong? I felt we stopped."

James let go of Doris' hand and grabbed his shield, "Ambush."

Everyone equipped their weapons, and even Onyx lowered her head and growled.

"Can we not backtrack," Barbara asked.

James shook his head, "I can sense them already surrounding us."

"What are they?" Doris asked.

"No idea. I know there is something around me," James tried to explain.

The first creature leaped out of the white clouds and landed on Roland. Roland brought his heater shield and blocked the attack, following up with a swing of his Warhammer that crushed the creature's skull. "They have a very high level of Stealth," he pointed out.

That seemed to release the flood gate as several more dog-like creatures leaped from the white clouds, only appearing when they were less than two paces away. Doris did the same thing as Roland and caught the creature on her shield. She was stronger than her brother but nowhere near as skilled. She blocked the creature's attack but couldn't follow up with an attack as the creature Dodged and then leaped away.

Barbara and Connie didn't fare so well as the creature that leaped at them got an arrow in the chest, but Barbara didn't have anything to stop it. The animal bowled Barbara over and landed heavily on top of her. Connie struck it with a Flame Bolt but didn't knock it free. James stuck the creature that launched itself at him with a Shield Bash and Thrust his blade into the beast on Barbara. Between the three attacks, the animal died. James only had a few seconds before the one on the ground in front of him broke the stun, so he stepped forward and stomped on its neck. It took two solid stomps to hear the neck snap, but it was enough to kill it.

Name: ? Race: Astral Wolf Level: 5 Damage Range: 1d6 + 18 (x2 for Back Attack) Damage Type: Piercing Armour Rating: 12 Special: Melee - Claw, Melee - Bite, Stealth, Back Attack

There were six waves of wolves that attacked. Roland shared an Ability with everyone, which meant they could not be surprised by an attack. This significantly reduced the damage the wolves could inflict if they did land a hit. James and Roland were almost immune to their attacks, and Doris was safe so long as they didn't land a critical. Connie and Barbara stayed in the middle of the group and helped when they could. The creatures were not that much of a threat now that their most significant advantage was neutralized.

Even after the last creature was killed, the Party stayed alert and at the ready for several minutes in case more joined the fight.

"I can't sense anymore," James reassured them.

"I am surprised you can sense them at all," Roland stated.

"I have a Skill called Perception. It helps," James explained. Roland nodded, saying nothing more.

"Is it safe to continue?" Connie asked as she watched Doris heal Barbara's minor wound.

"Yes," James confirmed, "I have only ever met ambush predators while travelling Astral Space."

"Were these the strongest you have ever encountered?" Barbara asked.

James shook his head and held his hands to Doris and Barbara. "Let's go."

When they arrived at the spot that James knew felt right, he had everyone let go of their hands and get ready to return to Real Space.

&&&&& REAL SPACE &&&&&

This time, Roland was the first through the Portal, and James went through the last. The area was not what James was expecting. Instead of arriving in the middle of a sandy desert, they arrived in thick undergrowth and high palm trees.

"Over here," Roland called out before James could look around.

James approached and saw a large oval pond of water. It was easily a hundred meters across and three hundred meters long. All around the edge of the pond was thick vegetation. Around the outside of the oasis were tall palm trees and, in some places, a stone wall. That drew James' eye to the three buildings at one end of the pond. There were two small buildings at the foot of a hill, and on top of the hill were the remains of a tower.

"Can you tell where the Dungeon is?" Connie asked James, who just shook his head. He had opened the Portal a few paces from the Dungeon location, but that was all he knew.

Moving as a group, Roland took the lead. Onyx scouted a head, and James took up the rear. The three sisters arrayed themselves between Roland and James. It didn't take them long to arrive at the adobe buildings. The two buildings were in a state of disrepair. The smallest only had two walls standing. The sign of dung on the ground suggested that it was used as a stable. The larger building had the door section damaged, and two portions of a palm tree were used to support the roof from falling in. The walls were weak, and none of them felt safe moving around inside the building. Fortunately, it wasn't very large, and the roof didn't look heavy. Moving on, the Party climbed the hill towards the stone tower.

The tower was a square. The walls were mostly destroyed, and anything that may have been in the building was long since looted. The outside of the tower appeared sandblasted, and the interior was covered in thick, hardy vines. The top of the hill offered an impressive view of the land around them. The sun was straight above them, so James didn't know which direction was north, but a row of mountains and high hills were in one direction. Everything else was sand.

"Over here!" Barbara shouted, "I found something."

Not waiting for the others, Barbara pushed aside a block of stone. Brushing away the dirt and leaves, she revealed the outline of a trap door.

"Careful. It may collapse if we all stand on it," James cautioned.

Roland stood back on the packed ground and observed Warhammer at the ready. There didn't appear to be any handles or way to grip the trap door, so Barbara used a Summoned Arrow to pry up the door and flip it open. Stepping back, they waited to see if anything would pop out. James eased himself forward when nothing did and looked into the darkness below. It was hard to notice, but James could make out the tale-tell sign of a glowing blue portal. Getting a closer look, he saw a wooden ladder and a cellar-like room under the tower's ground level.

James signalled to Connie to cast her Flash Spell at the trap door's entrance. James charged forward when the Flash Spell went off and moved down the ladder as quickly as possible. When he saw that the cellar was only three meters deep, he dropped down the rest of the way, his weapon at the ready. Nothing leaped out at him. The basement wasn't empty of items, but they were primarily crates, sacks, barrels and bundles of cloth.

"Clear," he shouted to the others.

Doris came down next, followed by Connie. Barbara stayed at the top of the trap door with her bow and an arrow.

"What a mess," Doris muttered.

"I am sure they didn't realize they were going to have guests, or they would have cleaned up for you," Connie teased.

Doris shook her head, "No, I mean, this is all haphazard. See how this pile here is closest to the trap door? It is almost as if people were tossing things in the cellar instead of storing them."

Sand filtered down from the ceiling as Roland walked to the trap door, "Most likely, the tower fell to attackers, and they didn't find the cellar."

"Well, this is what we are looking for," James said, pointing to the glowing blue Portal in the far corner of the room.

"Then let's get to it," Barbara said, following Roland down the ladder.

Onyx surprised James by jumping onto a pile of crates and then to the floor. He figured she would have stayed above, but she seemed eager to explore the Dungeon.

James looked around at the group, "We ready?"

Rocko appeared beside James, "Lead on." The others just nodded.

James turned, took a deep breath and touched the Portal.