We woke up early with the sky barely showing any light. Thea has been unsure of how to act around me. She understands that I'm still trying to figure this world out, but she is struggling with how to help me. We got started after a quick breakfast of dried meat, cheese, and bread.

I decided to do something I should have done a lot sooner. I’m worried about the fact that I burned through five mags of ammo yesterday. So Thea and I sat down and did an inventory of what I still had. After counting, I was thinking that this amount was not great, but it could be a lot worse. However, it will get bad before long unless I manage to figure out how to make more.

Between all my ammo cans, I still have a pretty good stock. I have two cans of 5x56, so just over twenty five hundred rounds, counting what's loaded into my magazines. My .308's are a little lower with me having just shy of twelve hundred rounds of assorted. There is a mixture of soft tipped hunting rounds and regular ball ammo. The 45-70's are by far the smallest number with me having seven hundred and eighty rounds, but they hit a lot harder than anything else.

My pistol rounds were the biggest stock as I have just over five thousand assorted rounds; twelve hundred hollow points and the rest being solid target ammo. In this world, the target ammo is just as intimidating. It would stay solid of it hit armor, or at least more so than the hollow points. It's not like it was a total waste of space. Between four pistols using the same ammo, I will have to be careful not to blow through it.

After completing a basic inventory, we got ready to explore the dungeon. By Jacob's guess, we stopped around twenty miles from the dungeons entrance. He wanted to get closer, but by that point I was tired of driving. The fact that I was thinking about a certain sexy elf had nothing to do with it. Or at least that's what I tried to tell myself.

I drove the truck as close as we wanted to in the early morning. I stashed it once again in the trees beside the road. I ended up putting an ammo can in the bottom of one of the backpacks. After nearly running out of ammo fighting the lamia, I don't want to risk running out again.

I put Sarge's harness back on him and he gives me an excited look. I check that the pistol on it is secure as well as the spare magazines and med kit. As an afterthought, I put a handful of road flares in the side pouch because you never know when they will come in handy. Plus, if the dungeon is dark, they will give some light for a limited time. I give one final check on his gear and he's ready to move out. He briefly plays with the handle I made for Thea as he chews lightly by turning his head.

Jacob placed my rifle and plate carrier in his void bag before we left the truck. He explains that it will draw less attention if I put them on inside the dungeon. I reluctantly agreed, feeling naked without my armor and rifle. My pistol is a small comfort, I catch myself pulling and sheathing it repeatedly.

As we got ready to go, Thea tries to carry the bag with the ammo can. This led to an argument between us that lasted longer than I want to admit. She kept saying that it will draw too much attention to us if the slave isn't carrying the gear. While I maintained the stance that I wasn't going to make her carry my gear.

"Just let her carry it when we get close. Till then, you carry it." Of course it was Shiva who had the compromise that we could live with. Once that was all settled, we set off for the dungeon. Thea seems to decide that since I was going to carry the bag, she would tease me.

Thankfully, she was busy chasing Sarge around some of the time. When she wasn't, she was finding new ways to distract me. I would be zoning out in the walk and there she would be, fingers trailing over my skin. A soft whisper in my ears followed by a gentle kiss. She would stop in front of me and bend over, peeking at me from around her legs. It's when we are almost to the dungeon that she gets mean.

"So how is your mana cycling practice going?" She pulls the bag off my shoulders and slides it on her own. She ties the chest strap and settles it under her bouncing breasts. This causes them to be pushed up and together by the straps. She looks back up at me and raises an eyebrow.

"What?.... I mean I haven't been practicing today. Just figured I would when we made camp tonight." Thea's hand connects with my face with a loud crack. I shake my head and turn to look at the angry elf beside me.

"You have to practice all the time. Not just in the evening. Until you actually get it under control, it's no good to us." I find myself looking down at my feet as she berates me. I know I should have been practicing more than I had been. I just assumed everything would work out and I had slipped into a lazy pattern.

"I'm sorry, you're right." I start to cycle my mana as I apologize, feeling the fatigue disappear from my limbs

"You better practice all day. You need to keep practicing until it's second nature." Thea turns back to the road, catching sight of Shiva and Jacob watching us.

"What!?" Thea tilts her head at the two, causing them to turn back around. "That's what I thought, come on Sarge." The elf begins to practically skip down the road with Sarge walking beside her. It takes me a few moments to catch up with the group. When I do, I grab Jacob's arm, pulling him behind Shiva and Thea.

"Why is it that Shiva and Thea are carrying our packs, but you still have your void bag?" Jacob tilts his head at my question, seeming to decide how to answer.

"That's a tricky one to answer. Long story short, there is a chance of slaves running off with it. Void bags are expensive, and can hold a lot of gear or supplies." He motions to the women ahead of us with his hand.

"Imagine someone like Shiva with a void bag on the run. Odds are, no one would ever see them again. So a slave carrying a void bag would attract too much attention." I nod my head in understanding.

"Not saying I like it, but I get it. Sorry if I annoyed you. I just noticed you were still carrying your bag." We are just clearing the trees along the road as I talk to Jacob.

"Now remember, low profile." Shiva is agitated as we get closer to the dungeon settlement. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. The settlement reminds me of the shanty towns in old westerns. A mix of tents, wagons, and thin walled buildings that look like they are about to blow over.

"Low profile, I got it." I come to a stop before we get to the settlement and take in the sight of it.

"Something wrong?" Thea wraps her arms around my waist as she comes up behind me. Her hand slips inside my jacket and her fingers go under my shirt.

"Just taking it all in. I'm not sure what I was expecting." Shiva shoves me, nearly knocking me off balance.

"It's a new found dungeon. Give it a few months and there will be a city standing here. It works out better for us. It's easier to hide in a small camp like this than it is in a big city." I can't help but give her a confused look.

"How would it be harder to hide in a big city than a small camp?" Shiva lets out a long sigh, her tail whipping back and forth in annoyance.

"In a city that surrounds a dungeon, everyone is on guard all the time. Usually by the time a city is formed, the dungeon starts sending monsters outside." At my confused look, Jacob takes over.

"Monsters are spawned in dungeons. When enough people surround one, the dungeon gets stronger. Eventually, they will start sending their monsters outside and try to expand their influence."

"Expand their influence?" Somehow, I end up with more questions than answers.

"Shit, I keep forgetting you aren't from here." Jacob laughs as we start to walk again.

"The way a dungeon expands and gets bigger is by killing. People and enlightened races give it the biggest boost. The more it kills, the faster it grows. When it gets a lot of people around it, it sends monsters to help it expand." Thea hip checks me as she explains, nearly causing me to stumble into Jacob. Jacob laughs as he helps me straighten up as he keeps a hand on my shoulder to steady me.

"Enough kidding around. We need to find the entrance and check in." He is still smiling, but he is definitely acting more serious.

"How do we find the entrance?" I look around to scan over the tents we are passing. Most are closed off with a few of them having snores drift out of them. There is a large tent ahead of us with several nearly naked women and men sitting around the front. As we get near, one of the women try and take my arm to lead me inside. Thea and Shiva both step in to force the woman to back off with a pair of glares.

"The entrance will be closest to the center. The closer we get, the easier it will be to find it. Just have to look for an adventurer’s guild." Jacob waves off one of the women from the tent, smiling as she curses at him.

"How do you know the guild will be there?" I feel like I am asking too many questions, but they don't seem to mind answering them.

"It's a new found dungeon and the guild has to stake its claim. So they will have a guild hall built before any other buildings. They will then start taking their cut of all the goods coming out." Shiva wrinkles her nose as we pass an open trench, the smell causing me to do the same as I pass.

"What do you mean by their cut?" Thea bounces over to me and smiles as she starts to explain.

"The guild takes a tax off everything that comes out of the dungeon. Usually just a small cut, but they have been known to take big amounts of certain goods." At my raised eyebrow, she continues. "If you bring out rare minerals or powerful enchantments, don't be surprised if the guild tries to take them all. They have to pay you market value, but.." She trails off and shrugs her shoulders.

Something about the way she said it makes me stop to think. If I was guessing, I'd say the guild controls the market price here. So whatever they decide something is worth, that’s what is being paid.

"Is the market value controlled by the guild like I think it is?" I ask Jacob as the women walk ahead of us.

"Yeah, but what can you do." He shrugs and then walks between two tents, leaving Sarge and I following Shiva and Thea. The set up of the guild controlling the prices reminds me of the stories of coal towns back home. The company owned everything and set the price on everything in it, from the labor of the miners underground, to the food and clothes in their stores.

"How much farther do you reckon?" We are passing a wagon loaded down with some kind of purple fruit. The merchant at the head of it is loudly arguing with a man in heavy gray plate armor.

"Shouldn’t be too much farther." Shiva points to a building that is half framed up ahead. The roof is being put on before the exterior walls.

"That's the guild house now. We should be there in a couple minutes. We check in and see how deep we can dive in a day." I nod my head, trying to get a better view of the building. I haven't exactly had a chance to examine the buildings here. Somehow, I have always been too distracted by one thing or another.

"Well, well, well, fancy seeing you here, Shiva." The voice comes from the shadow beside a tent, causing Shiva to stiffen and come to a stop. She turns slowly to face the direction the words came from. She has an angry scowl on her face.

"What are you doing here, Jen?" Shiva takes a step back from the shadows as someone steps forward. She's wearing tight fitting brown leather armor. It seems like it has been painted on her. Someone had cut away part of her chest armor, showing off an impressive amount of cleavage.

A small straight nose sets between a set of orangish brown eyes. Her dark brown hair is cut short, almost like a pixie cut back home. A pair of reddish fox ears are sticking out of the top of her head. Each ear covered in studs of diamonds and multiple golden hoops. Trailing behind her is a bushy fox tail.

"Oh you know, just living the dream." Jen gives Shiva a smile and moves closer to her before she can step away. One hand comes up to cup Shiva's face as the other wraps around her waist. Shiva pushes away from the fox girl to no avail. Shiva struggling makes Jen laugh.

"Get the fuck off me you bitch!" Shiva's elbow catches Jen in the face, giving her a second of breathing room. Shiva struggles out of the fox girls hands and practically runs to hide behind me.

"Don't be like that Shiva! I'm just trying to have some fun, you know like we used to." Jen blinks her eyes, seeming to realize Shiva is hiding behind me. "Got you, kitty!" She tries to reach around me to grab Shiva again. I snatch her hand out of the air before she can get ahold of her. I twist her wrist in my grip and spin her around.

"I don’t give a shit who you are and I don't care how you know her. Shiva said get off, so you back the fuck off. If you don’t, I'll break your fucking arm. Do you understand!?" The fox girl struggles in my arms as she tries to kick and slash at me with her claws. She is unsuccessful. Finally, she seems to settle down after I apply more pressure to her already straining wrist.

"Hey, who the hell do you think you are?" The loud voice accompanied by the sounds of running pulls my attention. Coming at us is a well built man wearing half plate armor. A giant axe slung across his back slaps him as he runs. I let go of the fox girl and step back with my hand falling to my pistol.

"Zeke, I found Shiva. Then this meanie wouldn't let me play with her." Jen is bouncing up and down as she waves to the charging man. She moves at the last second to stand in front of him as he runs which causes both of them to crash into the ground in a heap of limbs and curses.

"The fuck is going on?" I'm about to unholster my pistol when Jacob grabs my hand.

"Don’t." He gives me a hard look while shaking his head slowly. I force myself to relax as I let my hand fall away from the grip of my gun.

"Who the hell do you think you are manhandling my slave like you did!?" The man, Zeke, is on his feet now and puffing up in my face. It reminds me of all the stupid fights in high school. One person gets loud, then both end up yelling back and forth. By the time it's all over, a punch barely gets thrown. Unluckily for Zeke, I never was one to play those kinds of games when it came to a fight.

He stands in front of me, trying to intimidate me. All I can think of is how he looks like a chihuahua picking a fight with a bigger dog. He barely comes up to the center of my chest, but he's puffed up like he towers over me. I start to step around him when he reaches out and grabs the front of my jacket.

"Hey! I'm talking to…" He gets cut off as my elbow buries itself in his face. As he falls to the ground, I take half a step backwards.

"Don’t touch me. I didn't lay a hand on you, don't lay a hand on me. Do you understand?" Zeke is glaring up at me from the ground. There is a flurry of movement to my left that causes me to look that direction. Thea has Jen on the ground with the fox girl yelling loudly.

"Who do you think you are?!" Zeke jumps back to his feet, reaching out to grab at me again. His hand stops inches away from my jacket with his eyes open wide.

"Zeke, you don't want to do that." Shiva is behind him and presses a slim blade against his throat. His throat bobs as he swallows, trying to turn his head to look at Shiva.

"Shiva, good to see you again." Shiva laughs at his words, the blade pressing tighter to his throat.

"Bullshit! I know you wish you hadn't ever seen me again." For a second, he looks like he is going to argue. Instead, he turns to me.

"You want to tell her to let me go?"

"Not especially, I'm debating on letting her kill you or not." His eyes widen at my words, and I can see the fear in them from where I stand.

"No need for that, it's just a misunderstanding. There's no reason to kill anyone." His hands come up in a surrendering motion.

"Maybe not as far as you are concerned, but Shiva really didn't like your woman on her. Then you laid a hand on me as I was trying to walk away. To top it off,Thea ends up with your woman on the ground. As far as I can tell, killing you might just simplify my problems." I hear Jen whimper from the ground beside me. Giving her a quick glance, I see Thea still has her pinned and is currently smiling up at me.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't kill anyone right now." A deep voice from behind me nearly makes me jump. I turn around to get a look at the giant of a man behind me. He is easily seven feet tall, and almost five feet wide. He is heavily muscled, but not overly like a bodybuilder. Instead, he has a kind of wiry muscles like a big cat in the wild.

He is dressed in simple leather armor with a heavy mail shirt over top. A half helm is fastened beside a straight bladed sword on his waist. There is a giant kite shaped shield strapped across his back.

"What's it to you?" I try to keep my voice calm and not show how surprised I am at how close he got to me before I noticed.

"As sad as it is to say, I'm his party member." The giant man nods behind me, causing me to look. There a nondescript man in a staring match with Jacob. "So is he. If you kill Zeke, then I have to find someone else to party with. I really don't want the headache."

"Maybe you should make sure he keeps his hands off strangers." Seeing that the rest of my group has it under control, I turn back to the giant.

"If you let him go, I'll make sure he gets a lesson in manners." The man's face is completely serious as he speaks. I pretend to think for a moment, then motion to Shiva. With a curse, she let's Zeke go, kicking him towards the giant of a man.

"Bitch, I'll get you for that." He starts to curse at Shiva more when he is literally lifted off his feet. The man turns him around until he is looking at him in the eyes.

"You are going to what now?" Zeke hangs loosely in the man's grip, mumbling something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said I'm going to go wait by the dungeon and not make any more trouble." At his words, the giant let's go of Zeke, who crashes to the ground.

"Sorry about him, he gets excited." He holds out a giant hand towards me.

"He’s a fucking hot head and trouble maker." Shiva mumbles from where she walked up behind me. I take the man's hand, feeling the strength behind his grip as it nearly crushes my hand.

"How about making him let Jen go!?" From behind the mountain of muscle, I hear Zeke complaining once again.

"Thea, let her go." I'm calm, but I feel the man's hand tightened on mine momentarily.

"But, she said…" Thea starts to complain, but I cut her off before she gets very far.

"I don't give a damn what she said! I said let her go, that means now." Thea grumbles, but I hear the two getting to their feet.

"My name is Martin." The giant of a man let's go of my hand as Jen walks around him.

"Silas." I nod to him as I feel Thea wrap her arms around me.

"Nice to meet you. Maybe we will see each other around the dungeon." Martin nods to me again, then turns and starts to walk away.

"Why do I feel like this isn't actually over?" Thea traces her fingers over my stomach as Shiva answers my question.

"Because it's probably not. Zeke might leave it alone, but Jen won’t leave it at that."

"I'm guessing you know Jen from somewhere?"

"You could say that. I fucking hate that bitch!" Shiva visibly shakes, her tail going stiff as she turns around.

"She sure seemed to like you." Thea is smiling as she teases Shiva. I can just see her as she steps around me.

"I had to pin her down to keep her from pouncing on you again"

"Thank you for that. If you hadn't, I probably would have killed her." Shiva starts to walk away, effectively ending the conversation. After a moment, the rest of us take off after her, catching up quickly.

As we draw closer to the adventurer's guild, Sarge goes stiff. After a few moments, I finally realize why. A loud hiss and roar makes Thea jump. Next to a large wagon is a multitude of cages, each filled with some kind of wild animal or monster. Giant cats, some striped like tigers or spotted like leopards pace back and forth. Giant rat like creatures hiss from behind cramped cage bars. Several large bird like creatures of various colors stare at us from inside thin wire cages.

"Easy Sarge, it's alright." I reach down and pet his head as we pass. He starts to turn as one of the cats let's out a wild hiss, but I keep him focused ahead of us. As we are about to pass by the cages, the merchant working it comes out to intercept us. His green robe hangs from his thin frame and his long black hair clings to his scalp in a greasy mass.

"Going into the dungeon? Of course you are. You need my wares if you’re going in. Your dog is well trained, anyone can see that, but he is still just a dog." His voice feels slippery to my ears like he is trying to sell me what I don't need.

"No thanks, I'm not interested." I try to wave him off, but he is persistent. He follows us a few steps before he cuts us off by stepping in front of us.

"Come on, with your tamer skill and my large cats, you could clear this dungeon on your own. Why would you want to stick with such a weak dog?" Shiva catches my hand as I reach out to grab the front of his robes, hissing in my ear.

"It's not worth it. If you attack him, he will press charges. We don't need that kind of attention right now." I let out a long breath, forcing myself to calm down.

"Listen jackass. I don't have a tamer skill, and if I did, I wouldn't be interested in your animals. I don't like people cramming animals in cages too small. If you can't give them the space they need, don't keep them to begin with." He doesn't stop, merely shifts gears as I berate him on the treatment of his animals.

"Not a beast tamer, no problem. I have plenty of slaves available as well. Good strong slaves, able to get you as far down as you want to go. You need a shield bearer? I have several. Strong as oxen, able to hold up to any attack you need them to. Use them to dive inside then sell them back, or leave them behind if you need to run."

I feel myself getting angrier as he talks. The longer he speaks, the more I want to hit him. Thea takes my arm and tries to lead me away before I snap. When the man sees her, he cracks a smile, shifting direction on his sales tactics.

"If it’s female slaves you want, I have a first class selection. You like elves, I have elves. They are freshly caught, guaranteed clean, and unspoiled if that's what you want. You like beastkins? I have them too; cat, fox, squirrel, even have a bear if you want a bigger woman. First class merchandise at sale prices. What do you say?"

This time, Jacob and Shiva have to help Thea hold me back. Sarge moves between me and the merchant, baring his teeth at him to force him back. Between the three of them, my feet are off the ground and kicking out. I'm about to order Shiva and Thea to both let me go when a loud female voice speaks in a calm clear tone.

"I believe I already warned you about harassing adventurers here. Now I think you need to go." I crank my head around, trying to catch a glimpse of its owner.

She is fairly short with blonde hair that has mostly gone gray. A sharp hawk like nose splits her face and a jagged scar bisects it. She is wearing a plain looking black shirt and pants, tucked into calf high boots. Pale blue eyes stare harshly at the merchant in front of us, causing him to lick his lips nervously.

"He already has slaves. I was just seeing if he wanted to purchase more. There is no law against that." The merchants eyes shift from me to the woman that is now walking up to stand in front of him. She pulls a heavy leather bound tome from under one arm, opening it as she stares at the man.

"This is your third infraction. You are being blatantly confrontational to a man clearly not interested." She turns to look at me, her blue eyes staring into mine. "Do you wish to file a grievance against him? If you do, he will have to vacate this area immediately."

I shake away from Thea and Shiva's grips and straighten my jacket as I stare at the merchant. Right now, he is mumbling and staring down at the dirt, a far measure from what he was acting like just a few moments ago.

"No, I don't have an issue with him as long as he leaves me alone." She seems vaguely annoyed at my answer. I start to think she is looking for a reason to get rid of the merchant. With a long sigh, she turns back to face the man.

"You heard him, he's not filing a grievance. I would avoid him if I were you." The merchant backs away, turning and sprinting as soon as he is a few feet away. I'm getting ready to step around the older woman and continue along our way when she turns around.

"Now, what is your business here?" Everyone glances at me quickly, then turns back toward the woman. After a moment, Jacob begins to speak.

"We are just here." She cuts him off with a raised hand, making Jacob trail off quietly.

"I was asking him, not you, Jacob." Jacob seems surprised that she knows his name, but remains silent. "So, why are you here?" I glance to Shiva and see her give a small shrug.

"I need money and heard there was a dungeon here. I figured it would be a good way to make some money quickly." I give her a small shrug of my own, relaxing back on my heels as she stares at me.

"Party name?" She opens her book again, turning to a blank page. She taps a quill on the page, the tip soaking in ink from nowhere.

“Sorry, what now?” The woman lets out a sigh and gives me an evil look over the top of her book.

“What do you call your group? You are party leader so it's your responsibility to name your party. So what is your party name?” I stare blankly for a moment as my mind is unable to come up with a name.

“Uhhh, the Jolly Band of Misfits.” At my words, I hear Thea burst out in laughter. Shiva lets out a low groan, and Jacob’s eyes seem to bulge from their sockets.

“Oooookay. The Jolly Band of Misfits it is.” She scratches the page of the book with the end of the quill. “Two free, two slaves, and a familiar?” She arches an eyebrow at me and Thea elbows me in the side when I remain silent.

“Yes, all except the familiar. Sarge is just my dog, not a familiar.” She nods again as she makes quick notes in the book.

“Do you require a rundown on the rules inside the dungeon, any maps or supplies?” She closes the book with a loud snap, causing me to flinch momentarily.

“We stocked up on supplies before we came here. Silas has never been in a dungeon, but the rest of us have hit several. We will keep him in line and explain rules as needed. As far as a map, we would love one.” Jacob takes the lead when I don't immediately answer the women's question. At his words, she nods and pulls a tightly rolled piece of parchment from somewhere on her person.

“Maps are five silver. They are guaranteed accurate to the twentieth floor. After that, the walls shift daily so there is no guarantee.” Jacob digs into a pocket to pull out a handful of coins and trades them for the map.

“Thank you very much.” I nod my head to try to be polite.

“No need to thank me, it's all part of the job. My name is Melania, and I'm the guild master around here.” She starts to walk off, stopping in between the rows of tents to turn back towards us.

“The dungeon entrance is right next to the guild hall, be careful in there. From what I have heard this morning, you already made some enemies.” She disappears between the tents. Jacob eyes the unrolled map in his hand silently as I stand and wonder what to do now.

“So do we keep going to the dungeon?” Sarge huffs at me as Thea giggles beside me.

“Yes. We go on to the dungeon, then we dive deep as we can and as quick as we can.” I start to follow along behind Shiva as she takes off again. Jacob trails behind the rest of us, still engrossed in the map.

“Did she say the walls move every day on the floors below twenty?” What she said finally kicks in inside my head.

“Yes, and we need to go deeper than that for the best loot we can.” Shiva seems more agitated than usual as she pushes a stumbling adventurer. In no time at all, we are standing beside the still under construction guild hall. Beside it is a stone archway nearly twelve feet tall, sticking out of the ground with stairs leading down.

“So this is a dungeon?” I tilt my head as I look at it, not knowing what I expected, but this wasn't it.

“Yes dumbass, this is a dungeon.” Shiva walks over to the arch and begins speaking with a small man next to the arch. He is sitting behind a shaky desk.

“One party going in.” The man looks Shiva up and down before turning back to the papers on the desk. “Hey did you hear me? I said one party going in!”

“I heard you, but without your master, I can't allow you in.” I lay a hand on Shiva’s shoulder and I glare down at the small man.

“One party going in.” I try to keep my voice calm despite the anger I feel at his dismissal of Shiva. The man looks up, peering over his glasses. With a huff, he shifts his papers and pulls a quill out from below the desk.

“Sign in here. There is a five silver entrance fee, and if you don't return inside of two weeks, we assume you are dead. Any goods left on the surface become property of the guild. If you need an extension on the two weeks, notify me now and we will hold it the agreed upon time.” He shoves the quill into my hands and holds out his for his coin.

I let out a low growl before I can stop myself. This man is really starting to piss me off with his attitude. Thea takes the quill from my hand and makes several marks on the paper. I dig into my pocket and drop five silver coins on the table, causing the man to sneer at my childish actions.

“Anything else I should know?” He looks at me for a second, blinking his eyes before responding.

“The dungeon is tenitavely rated bronze, but no one has made it past the forty third floor. The guild is not responsible for any information obtained about the dungeon from third party sources. I would suggest you prepare accordingly.” I’m about to fire off a smart assed reply when a voice behind me cuts me off.

“Can you please hurry the fuck up. Some of us are trying to get in the dungeon today.” Turning around, I see Zeke standing at the front of his party behind us with an annoyed look on his face as Jen shoots Thea an angry glare. I start to tell him to shut up when Shiva cuts me off.

“Lets go, we are wasting time.” She yanks on my arm and pulls me into the dungeon. As I pass over the threshold of the arch, I feel a tingle run over my skin. I’m about to ask what it is when Thea nudges me from behind.

“We will answer questions when we get deeper. For now, let’s just go.” I glance down at the beautiful elf to see her face is flushed and her ears are twitching. I struggle to follow along as we quickly descend the stone stairs. When we reach the bottom, Shiva pulls us all into a side room before I have a chance to look around.

“Jacob, his armor and weapons.” Without a word, he pulls my plate carrier from the bag. I shrug out of my jacket and pull it over my head. As the familiar weight settels on my shoulders, I instantly feel more comfortable. Taking my rifle from Jacob, I check the chamber before tossing the sling over my head. I hand Thea my jacket and she stows it in the backpack she is carrying.

"So what's the plan now?" We really should have planned this out better. It feels like we are flying by the seat of our pants here and it's annoying me.

"Now, we go deep and fast. Dungeons spawn monsters at random intervals. Also, when one is killed inside a dungeon, it doesn't just die like they do outside. When you kill them, they turn back into raw mana, but they will leave loot behind when they do. The top floors are usually copper coins or iron weapons. The deeper you go, the better the drops." Jacob is looking out the door, seeming to be watching the steps as he answers me.

"How deep are we going to try and get?" I shift my rifle and the sixty round mag makes it feel heavier than usual. It’s throwing off my usual balance.

"We need to get to at least floor thirty. That has the best chance at higher drops. Till we get past floor ten, don’t even stop for the monster drops. It's not worth our time on this dive." Shiva checks her daggers to make sure they are all set proper.

"We are going to be relying on you for the first few floors." Jacob turns back to look at me as he speaks. "Monsters attack in groups. Our plan is to plow through and get deeper. So you need to take out the groups before they form up and surround us. I'll be in front with you, Thea and Sarge in the middle with Shiva bringing up the rear. Everyone understand?" We all nod to Jacob as we prepare to leave the room.

"I'll keep an eye out for Zeke and the rest behind us." Shiva seems to shudder as she says that, visibly forcing herself to relax.

"You expecting them to be a problem?" The question makes her punch my shoulder.

"Zeke and I have a history. One I don't want to go into right now, but I wouldn't put it past him to try something down here. So I'm keeping an eye out."

"Try something like what?” I ask as we step into the hall. We are moving fast, not quite a run, but an easy jog.

"Like try to kill you and Jacob, then take Thea and me for himself." At her words, I see Sarge bristle and I regret not killing the bastard while we were outside.

"Wouldn't the guild have something to say about that?" I raise my rifle, seeing a group of five goblins ahead. In a matter of seconds, they are down and we are running past where they had been.

"Inside the dungeon, it's kind of a no man's land. Whatever happens here, stays here unless you can prove otherwise." We take a left turn, then an immediate right and run into three more goblins. As I dispatch them quickly, I glance back at Shiva.

"Good to know, but it works both ways." She grins at me as she keeps jogging. Soon, we are going down another set of stairs. These are narrower than the entrance steps.

"That means what I think it means?" She gives me a nudge as Jacob checks the corner at the bottom of the steps.

"Means if they try anything, Jim will kill them all." Thea seems to be bouncing as she answers. She seems to have more energy than usual, so I ask the question that's on my mind.

"Are you ok? You seem kind of hyper right now." She blushes as we continue on passing a room with a wooden chest inside.

"Dungeons are places where mana is concentrated. It's like I'm getting a boost to my mana by being inside one. You probably feel it too, the tingling on your skin." As soon as she says it, I'm aware of the fact again. It’s kind of like how you ignore something until someone points it out, like the hum from a refrigerator in a quiet room.

"Huh." The next group we run into are seven goblins with three smaller things dancing around them. They fall quickly to one round apiece.

"Imps. Nasty little shits. Don’t let them bite you unless you like infections." Thea seems to read my mind about what they were. I give her a nod then we are jogging again. I notice in the back of my mind that I'm not feeling the usual fatigue from long distance running. I assume it's the mana in the air helping my stamina recover as fast as I use it.

Over the next half an hour, we make our way through the first twelve floors. The few monsters we run into are dispatched quickly by me. It takes me a while to realize Jacob is leading us on a direct route down by passing most of the floor. When we reach the steps for the thirteenth floor, he holds up a hand which signals us to stop.

"Let's take a break here." He pulls a water bottle from his bag and passes it down. We all take a drink and I give Sarge a long drink from my cupped hand.

"I'm surprised we haven't run into any other adventurers." I remark as I stand back up. Thea is loading my magazine while sitting on the ground, her brow furrowed in concentration at the stiff spring.

"Most will just be starting now, not counting the ones who slept here over the night." Shiva pulls out a piece of dried meat and chews on it. "Our biggest worry will be a group following us." I nod to her as my eyes are drawn to the way she is playing with the jerky with her tongue.

No! Dammit Jim. Don't even think about it. She is liable to try and cut you if she thinks you just pictured that. Plus, you are with Thea remember? I have to mentally remind myself for a minute. Yes, the cat girl is sexy, but I'm happy with the partner I have. The last thing I need to do is screw up the best thing that happened to me by looking at other women.

Thea seems to realize I was looking at Shiva, but instead of being angry, she gives me a smile. She stands and hands me the freshly loaded mag then shoulders the backpack again. Leaning in close, she whispers in my ear.

"She's doing it on purpose." This causes me to gawk at her when she speaks. Behind me, I hear Shiva choke. I turn to look and see her shooting Thea an angry look.

"I'm not doing anything, you pointed ear bitch." Just like that, they are fighting again. Luckily for me, they seem to just be exchanging words and not blows this time. With a sigh, I turn to Jacob.

"You ready to keep going?" He gives me a nod then we start off again. The next seven floors pass quickly. The only time we stop is when Jacob spots a chest made of wood and iron.

"Let's check this one." He kneels and starts to work on the lock. At my confused look, Shiva starts to explain.

"Chest are ranked different. The deeper you go, the more secure. The plain wood ones without a lock are worthless to us. The harder to open, the better the reward." As she finishes speaking, Jacob opens the chest.

"Looks like three gold coins and a vambrace." He swipes the items and stows them in his bag. "Come on, the steps are this way."

When we hit the bottom of the steps on the twentieth floor, we are met by a low growl. I pivot, trying to track down the source. The floors above had multiple torches burning all around. This one seems dimmer with not as many lights, leaving deep pools of shadows between the torches.

"Fucking Graywolves." Shiva practically hisses as her tail twitches back and forth.

"They attack from multiple sides at once, usually four to seven in a pack." Jacob is calm, taking position to watch my back. Sarge is stiff legged and answers the growl of the wolves with one of his own. Taking my cue from him, I face the hall to our right and wait.

In the dim light, I can just barely see a pair of eyes reflecting the light. Without hesitating, I squeeze off two shots. The sound of a yelp makes me think I didn't score a good hit. I steady myself and scan the room. I mentally kick myself as I start to channel mana into my eyes. I scream out in pain at the bright light that covers my vision.

"Fuck!" Shiva is yelling as I drop to my knees which cuts off the flow of mana to my eyes. I blink rapidly to clear the spots in my vision, firing into a mass of gray fur ahead of me. It's a mess, bodies running towards us in the halls as I struggle to see. Something hits me in the chest which knock me down again. A snarling wolf's snout snaps at me as I try and force it off me.

Sarge comes to my rescue as he tackles the wolf and drives it off. The two end up as a tangle of limbs beside me. Shoving the barrel of my rifle into the wolf's maw, I pull the trigger three times. The beast goes down. I stand, still not able to see clearly.

"What the fuck!!!!" The bodies of the wolves are already gone, leaving various items and coins behind.

"Stupid!" Shiva slaps me on the side of my head. "Channeling mana to your eyes in a dungeon? Only an idiot does that! The mana overload to your eyes can cause you to go permanently blind, you moron."

"How the fuck was I supposed to know dammit?!" I keep blinking. I can barely see Thea and Jacob move around to gather the loot.

"I guess you wouldn't. Fuck that was stupid though." Shiva walks off, leaving Sarge and me by the stairs. I sit down and whistle for Sarge to come to me. He practically leaps into my lap to see if I'm ok. I shush him gently while I check him over to make sure he is ok too. The rest of the group comes back over to me while I'm still checking Sarge.

"Can you see yet?" Thea's hands are soft as she runs them over my face.

"Still a few spots, but I'm good." I take Shiva's offered hand and pull myself to my feet.

"You good to go?" Jacob is looking around nervously as I reload my rifle. I pass the half spent mag to Thea to reload. I give him a nod and we start off again with Thea and Shiva whispering behind us.

It takes longer to find the stairs down on this level than the others. Apparently, the walls moving daily really fuck with the maps, though it does give us a rough idea. Eventually, we reach a deadend in a hallway after fighting another group of Graywolves. Having no better idea, Jacob and I spend some time going over the map when I make a startling realization.

"Fuck me!" I lean my head back and let out a groan.

"Maybe later, sexy." Thea gives me a provocative wink.

"Don't start. Look at the walls." They crowd around the map and stare at it blankly.

"Ok, I'll ask. What about the walls?" Shiva gives me a bored look like I am wasting her time.

"The walls have to have support to hold up the upper levels. On all the variations of this floor, these four walls are always the same." I point to the variations of the floor, all sketched together. Jacob seems to understand first.

"If these walls stay the same, then there is only a set number of variations there can be." Thea and Shiva stare down at the map.

"That means to get down we need to backtrack a little ways. The stairs should be in that direction." I motion vaguely ahead and then to our left.

"What are we waiting on then, let's go!" Jacob stows the map as Shiva rushes towards the direction we came from. She suddenly skids to a stop just before the door.

"Fuck!" She backtracks, running to get behind me.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here." Zeke walks into the room and Jen’s right behind him with the man who had tried to stare down Jacob. Martin, however, is nowhere to be seen, which makes me wonder where the giant of a man is.

"Funny running into you here." I try and remain calm as Shiva cowers behind me. I don't like this. It feels like they followed me and I don't like that.

"Where's Martin? I seem to remember he was on his way in with you." Zeke turns towards the rest of his group, his face in a wide evil grin.

"He had an accident. Right after we agreed to come find you." Jen let's out an evil sounding laugh at Zeke's words, making my skin crawl.

"So you killed him, huh?" The man beside Zeke is inching towards us on the left. Sarge lets out a low growl which makes him stop.

"Amazing dog you have, not many would have noticed me sneaking around." He gives me a grin as he is back with Zeke. Zeke's face is an angry scowl which gives me the idea that their plan was for him to attack us from behind.

"What do you want, Zeke?" I ease my barrel closer in line with the small group, ready to fire into the middle of them.

"Oh, that's simple." He smiles at me, opening his arms wide. "I want Shiva. Jen wants to play with her like we used to. What baby wants, baby gets. So hand her over and no one has to get hurt."

"And if we don't?" My finger creeps around the trigger, my plan forming. One second to get my rifle in line and two seconds to put two rounds into Zeke. I’ll shift to the man next, he seems to be dangerous. Either Jen comes next, or I let Shiva have her.

Zeke spreads his arms wide and a ball of flame appearing in his palms. Jen drops into a crouch with a slim dagger appearing in either hand. The man seems to fade into the darkness behind them, blurring around the edges.

"I kill you and take…." My first round catches him in his chest. The second enters his throat just below the line of his chin. I sling the barrel and try to track the man that is fading into the dark. I squeeze the trigger to put three rounds into his chest. He falls to the ground, eyes wide.

"How the fuck…." Then he's gone, the light fades from his eyes. Turning around, I see Jen pinned to the ground below Jacob.

"Get off me, you limp dicked boy fucker!" She screams more curses flowing with each second. I walk over slowly, squatting down beside her.

"What did you do to Martin? Did you really kill him?" She glares at me angrily, spewing curses before she stops and grins.

"Yeah, I killed him. Zeke let me do it to. Want to hear how I did it? Or would you rather hear how I fucked your little cat bitch. Cause I did that too, you know." Shaking my head, I stand up.

"Strip her weapons then let her up." Jacob gives me a questioning look. "Just do it!" I feel myself snapping, this bitch is pissing me off. Jacob quickly strips her of her weapons and lets her stand, but positions himself between her and the hall.

"So what now? You wanna fuck me? I'm game, you took down Zeke. You’re strong. I like a strong man."

"What's your plan, Jim?" Shiva is quiet behind me, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Your call. You are the one with a history with her. Kill her, let her go, fuck I don’t care." Shiva walks around me slowly, eyeing Jen warily.

"I'm good with a threesome. You know how well I can make you purr kitty cat." She raises her eyebrows and licks her upper lip slowly.

With a loud shriek, Shiva pounces on the fox girl in front of us. One of her blades flashes in the dim light. The fox girl’s screams are almost as loud as Shiva’s as she stabs and slashes her. Sarge backs away and Thea hides behind me as Shiva stabs Jen over and over again. Jacob watches for a few moments, then turns to face the hall. I feel like I have to watch. If I allowed her to do this, I need to see it happen.

Shiva finally stops stabbing Jen’s lifeless body, sobbing as she kneels on her chest. I walk over to her, calmly kneeling down beside her. Laying my hand on her shoulder, she flinches away from my touch. I don't try to speak, just let her deal with whatever it is in her past she is remembering.

“It’s ok.” I say quietly to her, feeling her flinch as I speak. I start to think I pushed too far when she turns to face me. Before I can react, she is in my lap and sobbing as her hands ball in my shirt under my armor. Thea starts to kneel beside us, but I wave her off gently. I don't know how long we wait, but I don't move until I feel Shiva’s grip loosen.

“Thank you.” Her voice is so low I can barely hear her. She leans back in my lap, looking up into my eyes. “Thank you.”

Next thing I know, Shiva’s lips are pressed against mine, forcing me back onto the ground. My hands swing wide, not knowing what I’m supposed to do. Luckily for me, Thea moves in as soon as I hit the ground, pulling Shiva off me.

“No! If you want to jump his bones, you wait till we are out of the dungeon, and you wait your turn!” She is glaring at Shiva from where she has her pinned to the ground. Shiva starts to hiss and fight against her when Thea slams her into the ground hard.

“He is mine! I will share, but he is mine. Do you understand?” Shiva glares at Thea before slowly nodding. “Good.” Thea stands and pulls Shiva to her feet after she gets up.

“I’m sorry.” Shiva mumbles, hanging her head down.

“It’s fine, you just have to understand the way things are.” She takes Shiva’s hands, making her look into her eyes. While the two are having their moment, I climb to my feet and give Jacob a confused look. He shrugs and goes back to watching the hall. I turn to Sarge who huffs at me and shakes his head.

“Now go, kiss him if you want to, but nothing else while we are in here.” I’m nearly knocked over as Shiva slams into me again, her lips mashing into mine. Just as suddenly as she crashed into me, she is off me. She walks towards the hall and throws a hand up when Jacob starts to ask her a question. Thea skips happily behind her, the two of them disappearing around the corner. Jacob shrugs and follows the two. Sarge is close behind him, leaving me alone at the dead end.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” My scream echoes through the halls, bouncing off the walls. From around the corner, I hear Thea and Shiva laughing along with Sarge’s bark. I realize I’m standing alone, so I hurry to catch up with the group, my armor rattling as I run.