“Well, go ahead, accept it” Maggie was the first to break the silence, everyone still processing the notification Margaret sent them.

“You think? It looks like I will lose my “Stabilize” Margaret asked, hesitant.

“And good riddance, I say” Lucas interjected “the skill proved to be a hassle”

Margaret nodded and closed her eyes. A moment later, she collapsed. Luckily, Lucas already went through the same thing, so he was ready to catch her before she managed to hit the ground. He gently put her down next to Ted, letting both of his party member rest safely.

“This dungeon will be a breeze now, I’m assured. Only Rat King himself might pose some problem and even that is not certain” Lucas said, facing Maggie and Chen.

“Don’t get to cocky” Chen retorted “we still don’t know how Margaret’s new class will show itself in the thick of combat” he finished.

“And how will Margaret adjust to it” Maggie said.

“At least she is rid of her shitty class.” Lucas said, trying to feel Margaret’s aura “she seems so much more powerful now”

“I just hope she adjust quickly. She was already afraid she was useless, I don’t think she will handle very well if she struggles” Maggie said, worry on her face visible.

“What? Why would she feel like that?” Lucas asked, shell – shocked by Maggie’s words.

“We go around and do all these flashy things and her only role was undermined by the feedback her skill had. It’s no wonder she was afraid we will replace her” Maggie responded.

“That is bullshit” Lucas said, trying his best not to shout.

“I know, but she was an outcast her whole life. She is finding it hard to believe she is part of the group, regardless of her usefulness” Maggie said, her voice carrying a note of sorrow “And you checking her power level immediately will certainly do little to allay her doubts” she finished with the meaningful tone. Getting the message and realizing what he had done, Lucas could feel his cheeks burning.

“I would never do anything like that, even if she somehow lost her class” Lucas said.

“I know” Maggie said before stating her intentions to go scout the depths of the dungeon and disappearing through the door Kra’zix used to guard, before his premature demise. Chen on his part had gone to make some food for the two currently incapacitated party members, aiming to have it ready once they woke up. Lucas was left with the guard duty, so he settled into quiet vigilance.

Ted was the first to wake up, as it was expected. Spotting Margaret next to him, he whispered a joke to Lucas, mindful of remaining silent. Lucas chuckled before speaking.

“Welcome back to the land of living. Are you good?” Lucas asked.

“Peachy. So, what have I missed?” Ted asked in return, prompting Lucas into retelling the event which took place after Margaret had finished healing him.

“Damn, that asshole was clearly packing some heat. Glad we are rid of him. And, Margaret getting her Advanced class, lucky girl. This is proving to be fruitful” Ted commented. At that moment Chen noticed Ted had awoke and rushed to bring him some food which Ted took with a grumbled “Thanks”.

As they were engaged in some small talks while Ted ate, Maggie returned from her scouting trip, looking mildly exhausted.

“It’s a bitch further in” she said without much preamble as she sat down next to Lucas, prompting a slight war feeling coursing through his body before he returned control over himself “the next boss is through some nasty traps. I triggered some of them, mostly poison and spikes” she finished.

“Were you able to get a good look at him?” Lucas asked and received his response when System informed him Maggie wanted to share a notification with him. He quickly accepted it and went to reading.

“Rak’azis, Chief Guardian of the Palace, Deadly engineer level 62”

“The class name is a little to descriptive” Lucas commented “I guess we start the encounter as soon as we leave the room” he finished his thought.

They settled back into small talk, soon to be replaced with silence as they waited for Margaret to wake up. Lucas had large amount of thoughts swirling in his head, most of them related to Maggie’s words about Margaret and her feeling of uselessness. He was as far removed from that as he could be, genuinely believing Margaret to be the soul of their little band.

“It doesn’t matter, does it?” Lucas thought to himself “now that she had advanced her class, all that will be water under the bridge”. As soon as he finished his thought, he remembered Maggie’s word, once again blushing. “No, the issue isn’t about her prowess. I will talk with her as soon as I have a chance” Resolving that matter mentally, Lucas settled in wait.

“Hey, I thought I was the one who was supposed to have a dramatic awakening” a voice from above Lucas startled him from the half – sleep he was in. Laughter filled with their camp as Lucas slowly got on his feet, still feeling slightly drowsy.

“Glad you are okay” he murmured to Margaret, who was standing surrounded by the rest of the party.

“Not only okay, better than ever. Now, weren’t we here to kill some rats?” Margaret spoke, her voice booming. Laughter was heard once again, Chen breaking Margaret’s bravado by giving her some food. She must have realized how hungry she was, because she dove into food immediately.

While Margaret ate, the party got together to discuss battle strategy for the next challenge, finishing just as the meal was finished, advantage of being used to one another. Spreading out, they set foot into the room, both Maggie and Lucas intensely scanning their path, looking for traps. After avoiding or disarming a first few traps, they started hearing strange clicking sounds coming towards them.

Soon, the source of the sound became visible to the party as constructs, strangely resembling ratmen they fought before, started charging at them. Lucas avoided strike from a long spear one of them carried using a speed boost his passive gave him, activating “Sharpsight” at the same time.

“Wooden engineered ratman, Construct level 58”

“Wooden engineered ratman, Construct level 58”

.

.

.

“Wooden engineered ratman, Construct level 59”

A mix of wooden and constructs made from some kind of metal were performing suicidal charges, Maggie and Ted dropping them as fast as they come. “Sharpsight” still active, Lucas looked at the metal constructs.

“Brass engineered ratman, Construct level 59”

“Brass engineered ratman, Construct level 59”

“Brass engineered ratman, Construct level 60”

Joining the effort, Lucas launched “Infused piledriver”, completely wrecking one of the brass constructs. He immediately followed it up with “Double strike”, damaging the construct that was standing in front of him, unfortunately not enough to down him. Going through the motions, he tried to found the aura of the constructs, stopping for a second, surprised he wasn’t able to find it before remembering he was fighting artificially constructed enemies who didn’t posses an aura. Unfortunately, that second where he stopped proved enough for the previously attacked construct to retaliate, his long spear piercing the flank of Lucas, his armor proving unable to stop it.

“You took 549 points of damage”

Grinding his teeth in pain, Lucas quickly activated “Dodge”, somersaulting backwards. Before he managed to get out a health potion, Margaret arrived, muttering “Life Tide”, wave of green energy hitting Lucas, spreading a pleasant energy through his whole body.

“You are healed for 800 points”

“Thanks” Lucas muttered, feeling his wound close in an instant. Before he returned to battle, Margaret activated another of her skills

“You will restore 100 health points per minute for the next ten minutes”

Flashing Margaret a quick smile, Lucas activated “Infused piledriver” once again, this time completely splintering one of the wooden constructs. Quickly scanning the battlefield, he realized the part constructs had, namely to push them back and guide them into one of the traps.

“Let’s move. Ted, how are you holding?” Lucas shouted, trying to be louder than the noise of the battle.

“Pretty good. Want me to take point?” Ted shouted back, Lucas quickly confirming. The party reshuffled and started trudging forward

“Maggie, take us trough the traps, we will hold them back” Lucas shouted from the back, his sword manically swinging to keep the constructs at bay. Slowly but surely, they gained ground and advanced forward, almost getting to the boss. As they moved, Lucas could see that what seemed as the endless tide of constructs was thinning, especially as the traps became more densely packed, allowing Lucas and Ted respectively to push constructs into them to force a trigger.

“Stop there, we have to disarm this trap, there is no way around it” Maggie shouted. Lucas immediately stopped, construct following him jolting right pass him, opening himself for “Guiding strike” that cleanly decapitated him. After a moment, Ted pivoted to his position, his armor battered, but the man himself looking in fine health, only some small bruises betraying the fact he was taking most of the heat.

After ten minutes of complete onslaught, two of them were started to feel fatigue settling in. Their opponents weren’t faring much better, however, most of the constructs laying on the ground unmoving. Lucas even managed to level up from all the killing he was doing. Just as Lucas activated “Punch Parry”, punching away the mace one of the wooden construct sent his way, Maggie voice boomed.

“It’s done, we are through”

The party immediately started retreating, Lucas and Ted still covering them, but now ceding ground at rapid pace, as soon as they were through, Maggie pulled the lever, rearming the trap. Unfortunate constructs immediately triggered it and soon an explosion of black energy consumed them, replacing it with the wall that was pitch black. Lucas swiftly turned around, spotting a ratman looking them intensely, his size mirroring the size of Kra’zix. His orange eyes radiated hate and distress in equal measure as the party quickly reshuffled, Margaret hard at work to heal every wound and bruise before the boss battle that was pending.

“Our turn now” Lucas thought as he watched the creature shuffling, preparing to meet them in combat.