Surviving a dungeon 101: if the little lights turn purple, and someone yells that “a big one” is coming, get the fuck out of there. That’s what my brain was screaming, but when I looked behind me, considering its advice, I was staring at an impassable wall of guards who were readying their weapons instead of running. They fixed their eyes on the gate and whatever might come through it. A heroic display that I would’ve admired if I hadn’t stood between them and the incoming enemy.

Spinning back around, I had a front row seat as a huge, furry beast stepped out of the dungeon on two legs. It stood at least four meters tall and had a head similar to that of a wolf, with big, standing ears and a toothy smile. A leather strap held a shoulder pad in place, and a piece of cloth dangled from its belt, hiding its privates. Not that anyone would’ve focused on that, given the shield in its left and the ax in its right hand, each larger than a person and stained with blood that was dripping down from them.

I had to commend my mind for staying relatively composed in the face of this thing, as I calmly recalled the name of what I was seeing, as well as completing thoughts I’ve had earlier. A Kobold King... Oh. Right, “King” is kind of a generic title at times...

The guards who were protecting the gate got ready, but the monster only threw them a cursory glance before it brought down its ax on one of them, cleaving him in two with one strike, while using it’s large, bushy tail to swipe another off his feet and catapulting him into the stone wall of a nearby building. Two down, one found the courage to attack the beast, but his spear was blocked by its shield, which it then brought down to crush the guard flat under it. Only one remained, who decided to make a run for it, and the beast appeared to grant his escape, watching him flee out into the fields, while letting out an amused snickering sound.

In the blink of an eye, three guards had died, and nothing stood between the Kobold King and the camp anymore. It seemed entirely unperturbed by the captain preparing himself and yelling “Formation!” at his men. Instead, it took in its surroundings, scanning the fields and the town wall.

The Fighters around me positioned themselves to prevent it from going for the town. Grym, Bren, and Hati stepped up to lead the pack, while Berla quickly hopped over to the helpless, young girl, lying on the ground to the side. Everyone seemed to have a vague idea of what they had to do, except for Hayla and I, who just stood there, rooted to the spot. Though our respective thoughts were presumably not the same. Somehow, I had the feeling that I wasn’t in serious danger.

That thing is terrifying... right? Everything points to that, and it’s what my brain is telling me. But if that’s the case, why do I feel at peace?

I was waiting for something to happen. Maybe I was even anticipating it. However, Hayla pulled me out of this daze when she grabbed my arm and tried to hide behind me. Her eyes were glued to the beast, and she was shaking in fear.

She shouldn’t be here... Had I remembered this possibility earlier...

Suddenly, everybody stiffened, and looking back at the beast, I was staring it straight in the eyes. It had finished looking around and now focused on the humans in its path, including us.

“Ready!” the captain shouted, but none of them were ready for what came next.

The Kobold King took a step, and another, and then suddenly started running in our direction at high speed, but in a low stance, leading with its huge shield.

In that moment, muscle memory took over. I turned around, grabbed Hayla, and jumped out of harm’s way just milliseconds before I heard something barreling through the camp behind us. We hit the ground, but while Hayla grunted in pain, I barely even felt the impact. Huh... I thought, as I tried to make sense of what was happening to me.

The young woman in my arms was holding onto me tightly, and I had to practically pry her off me to be able to stand back up and take in the situation.

The beast was technically surrounded, standing in between all the guards in the camp, but it had reached that location by charging through a good two dozen of them, who now littered the ground amid broken wood, weapons, and various appliances that ended up as collateral damage. While some of the guards were still twitching, most of them were unmoving—either unconscious or dead.

Impressively, everybody on the frontline had managed to evade the attack, Captain Grym standing next to me, while the wolf and Bren were on the other side of the trail of destruction.

“Not so strong you said,” Grym spat.

Without waiting for a response, he and his son headed in the direction of the Kobold King.

It’s not that strong if you don’t let it escape...

They didn’t get very far before the beast turned around and looked me in the eyes again. Sneering, it prepared to charge in my direction once more.

Huh? Wait, is it coming for me?

I looked around in a slight panic. Hayla laid at my side, while Berla and the girl were right behind me. Even if I wasn’t blocking the view, I had my doubts that Berla would be able to get the two of them out of the way in time. And I couldn’t get to all of them quickly enough either. If I stayed here, someone would get caught up in the attack.

Deciding on the spot to minimize the damage, I ran back to the path of the first charge, where currently no one was in the way. The kobold’s eyes followed me, and when I stopped, it immediately started running again. With nothing standing in its way, it seemed even faster than before.

As if on autopilot, my body kept moving. Holding out one hand, a ball of water gathered in it and shot out towards the beast. It grazed its shield and hit its leg with pinpoint accuracy, making it stumble and fall onto a tent, dropping its weapon in the process. Tangled up in a tarp, it struggled to get back to its feet while I approached it. My mind was clear, and no matter what my brain had told me before, I was certain that I would win.

It had just freed one arm when I arrived in front of it, and it wasted no time taking a swing at me. It was fast, but thanks to a timely snap, its attack was repelled by a wave of mana erupting from my body. Even though it managed to withstand it to a degree, it was enough to push back its arm and distract it.

In that moment, and from an angle where I wouldn’t hit anything else, I aimed up at its head and fired a stream of water that hit it square on the chin. It didn’t penetrate it, but the force was so strong that its head was thrown back into a very uncomfortable position. An audible crack signaled the end of the fight. Its spine broken, the beast’s body became limb and fell. The tent’s remains caught it, however, and instead of hitting the ground, it hung there ungracefully.

Staring at it for what felt like minutes, my mind caught up with what I had just done. My body knew exactly what it was capable of, and while using mana in this way was supposed to be dangerous, I felt completely fine. I had used three scripts in rapid succession, and they didn’t seem like they had been particularly economical in their mana use. Assuming that this was representative of my limits, maybe I wouldn’t have had to worry about using scripts at all. And if I could actually make full use of scripts and raw mana, I could do so much more.

***

The guards in the camp carefully approached the beast, but quickly realized that it was over. When the dungeon gate started to crumble as well, they finally erupted into cheers.

“It’s over!”

“Look! It’s breaking apart!”

Some immediately jumped into action to check on the guards who had been hit by the kobold’s attack, while others were overwhelmed by happiness. Though Captain Grym didn’t look kindly on those who just stood there in jubilance.

“Men!” he shouted. “Look for any survivors and get them to the clinic! You! Inform the lookouts! And someone untangle this beast!”

““Yes, sir!”” came the collected voices of the guards before they all started scuttling around. Or at least most of them.

Half-hidden, two guards stood behind a building’s corner at a safe distance. They had seen everything that happened and were now watching their comrades clean up.

“What do you think?” Cullep asked.

“I don’t know...” Konnor said.

“Be honest to yourself. You see how suspicious this is. I know you do. We’ve been struggling with this stupid thing all day long, while he was supposedly at the doctor’s office. But does he look sick to you?”

“Not really...”

“Of course not! He was just waiting to swoop in and save the day when the situation was at its absolute worst! Just think about everybody we lost today, while he was relaxing! Worse, he let that beast kill two dozen more before he finally acted and defeated it in a single hit. He could have attacked it right away! I bet he could’ve even just destroyed that gate to prevent anything from coming through! But no... he bided his time. The joy of still being alive is blinding the others, but isn’t it clear as day when you take a step back?”

A frown on his face, Konnor finally gave in to the doubts Cullep was sowing. Tomar’s timing really was convenient. He strolled into the camp just minutes before that monster appeared, and he acted as if the guards’ hardship was of no concern to him.

Could he have been here earlier? Could he have done something sooner? And... “What was this ‘dungeon’ anyway?” Konner wondered.

“Now you’re asking the right questions,” Cullep said and patted his comrade on the shoulder. “They promised us no more beasts. Admittedly, there haven’t been any more of them around town, but instead we get new ones that we can’t beat easily? And don’t forget the cat ten they basically announced was coming for us! Beasts were always a problem, but us guards have protected Alarna for centuries. Until this band of freaks appeared. Let me tell you, I don’t want my fate to be in the hands of a bunch of kids with questionable motivations.”

“Aren’t they also changing things for the better though? People wouldn’t even need to become guards anymore, now that you can choose a Calling.”

“Hah!” Cullep laughed derisively. “Wouldn’t they like that, even fewer of us who have a chance to stand up against them! As if it’s not enough that the majority of our guys died or disappeared while in pursuit of that boy!”

Konnor’s head sunk, unable to think of any more arguments in the group’s favor. Somehow, Cullep had an alternative explanation for every one of their actions, and it all seemed to fit.

If it wasn’t for his hometown being at stake, Konnor might have still argued that they hadn’t shown any malice yet, but Cullep had a point. The longer they waited, the more difficult it would become to do something. And if the guard didn’t take action, or there weren’t any more Fighters, gods forbid, who could possibly oppose them?

“If it’s really that bad... What should we do? Actually, what can we do? They are way too strong already, aren’t they? And it’s just us...”

“Don’t worry, we’re not alone. And there are other ways to deal with them.”

“Really? Like what?”

“If you’re ready to hear more, meet me at the brothel on Merchant’s Alley tomorrow night. There’s so much more that I haven’t told you about yet. You won’t regret it, I promise.”

His worries aflame and his curiosity piqued, Konnor made up his mind. He was still certain that Lilly and her people had value, and that they could be beneficial to the town, but putting them at the top, far removed from any rules or supervision by a higher authority, might have been premature. He wanted to know what else Cullep had to say, and he wanted to be sure that his town would be safe.

“Alright, I’ll be there,” he said.

“That’s the right decision.”

“We should probably head back now though, right? Before someone notices our absence.”

“Good idea. You go ahead, I’ll be right there.”

Konnor nodded and peaked from behind the building’s corner before scurrying towards the camp.

Now alone, a devious smile crept onto Cullep’s face. “Well, that was easy,” he said quietly. “I thought it would take longer to convince this one.”

He looked up at the town wall in the distance and gave a sign to a guard standing at a tower. After receiving a signal back, Cullep left his hiding spot as well and went back to the camp with calm steps.

I do hope you know what you’re doing though, Ten. If you ever come face to face with this boy you’ll be in serious trouble.