At the end of the battle, Barbara was the only one left standing. James did get up off the floor quickly once he disentangled himself from Doris. She was conscious enough to tell him to watch where he put his hands as he got up off the floor.

"How is she?" Barbara asked him as she knelt next to Connie.

"Aware enough, I can feed her a potion. Once she is up, she can heal Connie," James replied, fishing out a Potion of Healing in his Bag of Holding.

With a sigh, Barbara returned the potion to her belt. Connie was hurt, but her shield protected her from what would have been a death blow.

Doris sputtered a little as the Potion went down her throat, but she quickly drank down the healing nectar.

When she was done, she lay her head back and closed her eyes, "Tell me that thing is dead."

James smiled at her, "Dead, yes, but Connie needs your healing."

Roland wandered into the room at this point with Onyx on this heal. "Tough fight?"

James glared but didn't say anything. He wasn't sure what he could say. Instead, he removed her destroyed shield and helped her to her feet. The green-tinted sword was still embedded in the shield, and James took a moment to remove it while Doris healed Connie.

Name: (Steel) Great Sword of Poisoning Quality: Good Rarity: Uncommon Damage Range: 2 - 16 +16 Accuracy: 6 Crit Range: 11 Durability: 61/61 Damage Type: Slashing/Poison Special: Two-handed, Enchanted - Poisoning

"Doris, you have been poisoned. You may want to cure yourself." That explained why she wasn't feeling very well.

James took a moment to Identify Doris and noted that the Poison Debuff did not appear. Doris growled, "I know how to read my Debuffs, but thanks all the same." She continued to treat Connie.

Talking a moment, he checked his notifications.

Luck +1

Back Attack +1

Resis - Debuff +1

Shield +1

Stealth +1

Congratulations! You have defeated the Large Were Rat!

A Boss of the Sandstone Temple.

Reward - 100 (40% based on contribution). (110) Experience and 4 (5) Free Advantage points

James checked his experience next.

XP to next level: 4615/5000

"Barbara, did you guys get a notification about killing he Were Rat?" James asked her.

Barbara took a moment and then shook her head, "No, nothing. Why?"

"I got a notification that we killed a boss," James explained.

'Rocko. Don't non-Champions get Advantage points?' James asked his friend.

"Yes, but they don't spend those points as you do. They accumulate points until they try to do something or need something, and then the System awards it to them," Rocko explained.

James frowned; he hoped the women would have more control over their acquired powers.

Connie was finally on her feet, and Barbara was on one side, keeping steady. James looked over at the Were Rat to see a human person instead of the Hybrid form. Walking over to check out his body, he found very little interest, but hanging around his neck was a green jade gem in the shape of a rectangle. It was even the right size for the slot by the main door.

"Looks like we found the next gem," he alerted others and held up the stone by the cord it was attached to.

"Anything else of interest?" Doris asked, "Like a chest full of gold?"

James smiled, "No, but there is a massive two-handed sword over there that causes poison."

Doris shook her head, "Tempting, but no. Any chance we could sell it?"

James nodded, "I know just the person.

Walking back to the main room was a sad affair as Doris was still low in health, and Connie was a little rattled from the attack she took from the Were Rat. Barbara seemed to be okay, for the most part and chatted quietly with her brother. Onyx followed James and was happy to receive attention from him. Once they arrived back in the main room, James took the thong off the gem and inserted it into the slot for the third door.

"What are we expecting, Doris?" Connie asked.

"Decay and Entropy. Not sure how that will manifest itself." She said.

"How much longer before you can take another Potion of Health?" Barbara asked.

"Well, after the Potion of Bonus Experience expires, let's just go."

James turned to Connie, "Does the Mana Chrystal still have Mana in it?"

"Yes, 210 Mana. Why?"

James turned to Doris. "Can't you use the Mana Crystal to cast your Healing Spells?"

Doris thought about it for a moment, "I don't see any reason not. I use Mana as a conduit for Nerissa to channel her power through me."

James waited for Connie to hand over the Mana Crystal. After a few moments, Doris started to heal herself from her wounds. She must have been seriously hurt as it took ten castings before she was satisfied and handed the Mana Crystal back to Connie.

"Thanks," she said to Connie.

"You should thank James. It was his idea and his Mana Crystal," Connie suggested.

Doris scowled but turned to James, "Thanks. I feel more confident going into the last section with full Health."

James didn't say anything but nodded in acknowledgement.

The third door opened directly into a room. It was not a large room, only about four meters by four meters, but an archway led to another room on each wall. The floor was solid stone, and the ceiling was concave with ribbed arches for support.

"I certainly wasn't expecting this," Connie stated, looking around the room.

Doris looked into the room on the right while Barbara looked into the room on the left. After changing places, they returned to the center, "The rooms look the same." Doris said.

"How does this represent Rot or Decay?" James asked.

"Maybe it is Entropy," Rocko suggested.

'How do you mean?' James asked him telepathically.

"Entropy means unexpected change. It is not a bad thing. It could also mean unforeseen change," Rocko explained.

James looked at Rocko, expecting more of an explanation. "The path to the exit may be random," Rocko went on. "Which fits the god of Chaos."

James shrugged, "Rocko says that he thinks the place may be a maze, and it is random."

"Close enough," Rocko chuckled.

"So, we just move from room to room until we find the right room?" Doris asked.

James shrugged.

"It would not be that random, would it?" Connie asked.

James shrugged.

"Do you think we can leave marks on the archways to figure out which paths we have taken already?" Barbara asked.

James shrugged.

"Stop that," the three of them said at once. Roland chuckled as he scuffled Onyx's ears.

"At this point, your guess is as good as mine, but I like Barbara's idea of leaving marks on the archways." James offered.

James moved forward to the archway across from the door they entered. He took out some charcoal and marked a number one on the floor. James moved to the center of the next room by stepping through the archway. Looking around, he noticed Roland and Onyx moving towards him on the other side of the right archway. Once they passed through the archway, they disappeared. Whirling around, he noticed Roland and Onyx behind the rest of the group.

"What's wrong?" Connie asked.

"I don't know. I swore I saw Roland in that room, walking into this room," he said, pointing to the right archway. "When they went through the archway, they appeared behind me," James explained.

The group looked confused. "Teleporting rooms?" Rocko offered.

"Each archway is a portal to a different room?" Connie asked everyone.

"Or that," Rocko conceded.

"I don't see how this changes how we find the exit?" Barbara stated.

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes as they let the situation sink in. James looked to Roland, "Any ideas? I confident that won't take experience from your sisters."

Roland narrows his eyes at James for a moment, "I am not being unhelpful because I want my sisters to gain more experience. I am being unhelpful because I have no help to offer."

"Even in the fights earlier?" James inquired.

"In those cases, I was being unhelpful because I wanted my sisters to gain more experience," Roland said with a smile.

James chuckled. He couldn't fault the man. "But you have no ideas in this case?"

Roland frowned and shook his head.

"I don't think we should wander around aimlessly until we have an idea of how to solve the puzzle," Connie suggested.

"Based on what we know so far, what would you create the path to be," Barbara asked.

"Based on the god, the opposite of what we think it would be," Doris chimed in with a chuckle.

"Or the opposite of that!" Barbara smiled.

"Let's not try to overthink it. We haven't figured out the pattern yet," James admonished them.

"Isn't it the point of Chaos to have no pattern?" Connie asked.

"If that were the case, why would they make the archways portals?" Roland contributed for the first time.

"He has a point," Doris agreed, "If the god wanted just to make it a random location, he would not make the archways teleportation portals."

"Do you think we have to return to the first room?" Barbara asked.

Connie looked around, "How?"

"I would say through the Archway that I saw Roland and Onyx come through," James suggested.

There was a moment when everyone looked at everyone else, but no one said anything. James shrugged and moved through the archway. He didn't see anything change, but he could see the main door that entered the maze from his left. That means the archway to his right was the one that led to the other room. Through that archway, he saw the rest of his group lining up to go through the archway to the right. Holding his hand to stop the others from coming through, James ran to the center of the room and looked to the right. Looking behind him, he saw no one.

"Okay, come through," he said, waving his hand to the people behind him that he couldn't see. One by one, they started to appear in the room from the archway.

He moved to the archway across the main door and saw the charcoal mark on the floor.

"Well, what's the pattern?" Doris asked. "And we don't have much time before the Experience Bonus expires."

"Right, Straight, Left," Doris suggested.

"Why that?" Connie asked.

Doris shrugged, "It is the order of the doors."

"Could be straight as we see it in reverse," Rocko suggested.

James shared Rocko's idea. "If you look back through specific archways in reverse, it will be a straight line," Rocko explained.

Connie scrunched up her face, "I hope not. My head hurts trying to understand what you said, let alone figure out how to employ it."

"Could it be related to who goes through the portals first?" Roland asked.

Barbara frowned, "Those are all possible, if not likely, options. Is there anything in this room that suggests what we should be doing?"

Doris looked up, "That's a good point."

Moving to the room's walls, the group, James, looked for anything to suggest a path. The walls were plain and unadorned; the floor was smooth and flat. The ceiling was out of reach, but he hid no secrets from what he could see.

"I can't see how we are supposed to do this," Doris grumbled.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the god?" Connie asked. "Maybe there is something in his doctrine or history. A legend or story about his past."

Doris moved to a wall and sat down, "Let me think."

James moved up next to Connie, "I understand that she is a Priestess and all, but does she have access to information that you guys don't? I figured you were all trained the same."

Connie nodded, "Doris spent a few years at a Seminary. She was training to be a Priestess long before she became one. I understand she was prepared to offer herself to the Major god Caritas. But when Nerissa reached to her directly. That changed her decision."

"The stars," Doris suggested.

"What now?" Barbara replied.

"Apep's teachings are that one can find meaning in the chaos of the stars," Doris explained.

James blinked, "Astrology?"

Doris stood up, "That is what some call it. Others call it Divination when a god tells you to look to the stars for your path. Or to look to the stars for the answers to your questions. Or a myriad of similar sayings, then I would say the answer is in the ceiling." Everyone looked up. James was amused that even Onyx looked up at the ceiling. Probably curious about what everyone was looking at.

"There!" Barbara shouted, pointing to the rib of the supporting arch. Four ribs went from the corner of each room to the centre of the room. James looked up and saw the mark on the side of the rib. It was not very large, but Barbara had one of the best Perception Skills in the group.

"What is the mark?" Doris asked.

"Why does it matter?" Connie asked.

"False trails," Rocko answered, even though James was the only one who could hear him.

"The stories speak a warning of following the wrong path. And that the right path would be marked accordingly." Doris

"With the symbol of four lines crossing in the middle with arrows at the end of each line," Doris explained.

James used Shadow Sense to move his senses up near the mark. The symbol was that of a solid circle with eight lines radiating out from the eight cardinal points. "I think I found the symbol." Checking both sides of each supporting arch was Mana expensive, but it did show that there were two symbols on one side of the room with a single door.

Connie pointed to the right-hand archway, "We should go through this one then and check for more marks." No one disagreed, so they filed through.