Jackson and Barbara sat around a camp fire now outside the dungeon. Several others, of various ranks, all came for the easy money. Around the fire pit that the pair were using was an older dwarf, a handsome young man with three women following him, a cloaked figure murmuring and one of the researchers. The researcher was a young man, with broken glasses and a weak physique. Jackson pushed his own glasses up while studying this person.

“…So, lads, what brings ya to the dungeon, other than some quick cash?”

“The chance to win over my loves once again!”

[…Murmur…]

“To watch the great Bastian Lance in action!”

“To heal my Bastian!”

“To support my Bastian!”

“My life depends on getting money!”

Barbara at first nodded with Jackson words, then turned to stare at him in fear. She clearly didn’t understand why he feared death so.

“Lass, what about you?”

Barbara looked at him, then slid herself around Jackson’s arm.

“She’s mute.”

“She said more than enough, lad. How does such a man like you get a wife like that?”

“She isn’t my wife. Stop blushing! What is this, the fourth time?”

“Really? How she clung to you, I thought you two had a deep relationship.”

“I don’t know what our relationship is. She dragged me off a battlefield that I should have died on. Now, I feel like I’m on borrowed time.”

Barbara squeezed his arm as Jackson spoke. This was the first time he’d spoke about himself to anyone and vented without thinking.

“She just picked you up on the battlefield? How romantic.”

One of the women with Bastian spoke. She was a mature woman, in overly revealing clothes with deep green eyes. Her black hair was long, and she was clearly an enchanting woman. When Jackson looked at her, he felt the circulation in his arm get cut off.

“Stop that, I’ll lose my other arm!”

“Don’t worry, girl, I only like men. I won’t steal him. Besides, there is another I seek!”

The other two companions turned to look at her. Each was equally beautiful and revealing in armor. One had brown hair, slightly tanned skin, and golden eyes. She carried a staff, and said she was a healer. The other had blond hair, pointed ears, and blue eyes. She seemed good with a bow and had caught the group’s dinner.

“Such luck, boys have these days. What of you, priest?”

The hooded man just murmured to himself. Jackson had seen his share of priests and nuns of this world. They all hid their faces with hoods, and the color of the hoods showed both position and what god they worshipped. This one had a purple color to his hood, meaning he worshipped the devil deity.

“Not that usual. Most can’t stop praying to listen to an old man like me.”

The dwarf sounded hurt by the fact he was ignored by the priest.

The group laughed and told stories of their adventures for several hours before they all fell asleep. Jackson was the first to wake in the morning, and he grabbed Barbara. They entered the Dungeon just as light broke into the small tunnel. It was dark, and narrow. The walls were dark grey with markings and writing on them. What was on them was beyond his ability to translate, and the dark pictures were mostly of large skeletons claiming several large bodies of humanoids.

Barbara walked with one of the large swords in hand, while Jackson readied his dagger.

“Fire!”

With that word, a small floating ball of flame formed in the tunnel. His mastery of the fire element was still far off, but after managing to light the candle he was allowed to move onto the second chapter. That chapter went into greater detail and introduced wind. Like fire, just saying wind could do a numerous amount of things, and it gave many more words to practice with. It also gave him a new exercise involving keeping a leaf floating over his hand without breaking it. The goal was far off.

Jackson used this time to activate body strengthening, as he didn’t want to have to activate it during a fight. He cast several more floating fire balls in the air and kept an eye open for any monsters. They reached a set of stairs, and with a nod, proceeded down. The stairs ran along the walls, with an opening in the center of the square room leading down. He cast a fire ball that would slowly fall as they descended to the next floor. Reaching the end of the stairs, they entered the second floor.

The second floor seemed much darker, and roots leaked through the walls of the dungeon. He casted small fire balls on this floor, as he feared that they might set the ruins alight. After venturing several feet, they saw movement in the low light. It was a small, greenish back with its spine showing. Its impish body seemed to try and escape the light.

“Burn!”

Jackson muttered one word, and the back ignited in bright flames. The body of the small creature started to burn and smoke. It screamed in pain, rolled on the floor, and tried its hardest to rid its body of the flame. Barbara used the opening to impale the creature. The ugly thing laid on the floor half burnt with a large blade sitting in its stomach. Jackson felt sorry for it.

“Get ready, it screamed quite loud, so it will attract more soon.”

Jackson perdition was correct. After a few minutes the tunnel filled with these small, ugly creatures. Jackson thought they looked like goblins from old games. They made the mistake of entering his line of sight.

“Burn!”

All the one in sight burst into flames like the first, screaming in agony. The few that escape the flame found a blade waiting for them. Barbara had no mercy. She’d dived into the flames and rampaged inside the burning horde. Despite the cramped tunnel, she could still swing her massive sword easily, and with such speed that Jackson remembered clearly his own fight with her. It was like she was dancing. She spun, and another Goblin’s head hit the wall. She impaled, cut, slashed, strangled, and ate the poor little creatures. Jackson caught her eyes in the flames of the Goblins, they were field with madness from back then.

“Barbara!”

His voice seemed to reach her, and she stopped the massacre. She looked at him like a puppy, smiling while covered in scarlet blood. Some of the Goblins tried to run away, now they had the chance.

“Burn!”

They collapsed as their bodies became fire. Barbara hopped over to him, and they started to collect the evidence of the victory. Jackson felt slight fear while standing next to his companion. He wondered if he could go another round with her, or will he die next time she went berserk. He couldn’t dough her now, as she was his first line in this fight. Without her, he couldn’t continue down.

“Thank you, but please restrain yourself.”

She looked at him with massive, golden puppy eyes. She clearly didn’t understand. Jackson rubbed his head, and they pressed on. They found more Goblins as they reached deeper into the dungeon, all feeling his fire. Fearing the monster to his side, Jackson tried not to have Barbara charge into the fray unless she truly needed to. After a time, they found the next set of stairs, and headed deeper into the dungeon.