Agtius woke up as the Dungeon wall closed itself completely, changing the constant painful pressure to the more normal pain of a recently lost limb.

Naturally, he woke up screaming.

His scream turned to painful groans and grunts as the giant ran out of breath and began performing first aid on himself. As one of the Order's frontliners he had been in Dungeons often enough to always carry around his first aid kit. He even had a half filled bottle of leaves from the numbing bush. Leaves he immediately grabbed a couple of and began chewing on to help him deal with the pain.

Having cleaned and bandaged his armless shoulder, he packed the kit away again and took hold of his smaller, emergency axe with his remaining, non-dominant hand.

Having lost both his much more expensive primary axe and his dominant arm to the Dungeon wall hole, he had mistakenly made, was a great tragedy for the Axe Master.

How can I possibly help anyone like this?

But despite his despair, he knew he needed to press on. He needed to locate and rejoin the flock, so he could at the very least distract the monsters for his fellows. He might even be able to get a couple of hits in with his remaining arm and lesser axe!

And the longer he waited, the farther away the rest of the flock would be. The less he would be able to help them once he joined.

But I'm so tired… The blood loss… I need to rest… Rehydrate…

Why does everything keep spinning? Am I hyperventilating?

I can't possibly defend myself long enough to even reach them like this…

I…

Agtius took a last gulp of his water canteen and packed it away.

Just…

Placing his bag behind him he laid down on the ground, right underneath where the hole once was, with his head resting on his bag.

Need…

Agtius closed his eyes, too exhausted to keep going now that his wounds had been tented to.

To rest a little…

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Reid Alvarado had unexpectedly been unable to even crack the floating mana hands attacking them every time they opened the door between the first and second room on the 6th Floor of the Dungeon.

I don't know if it's simply a well placed trap or a puzzle door. Not that it matters. I should still have been able to shatter those hands in two unSkilled attacks! While it was true both traps and puzzles got more durability for every additional Floor tier they were on, Reid had been on the 6th Floor of many other Dungeons and it had been years since he had needed to use a Skill before he could break a simple 2nd tier puzzle door, and 2nd tier traps had the same durability.

In the end, the mysteriously masked - and apparently elven - woman, he had been introduced to as disciple Talindra Delonix-Regia, had been the one to shatter the floating hands with Skill powered arrows.

Paladins weren't the fastest Class out there, and those mana hands could seemingly dodge attacks and stop people from entering the next room at the same time.

It was very different from what Reid had originally trained for. His father was a knight of the Windin Kingdom, who had trained Reid and his twin sister Kathrin in combat since they were children. And with the training being the only real quality time the twins got with their father, they had naturally savored it and done their best to make their father proud by doing well.

However, as the twins grew up it became clear that while Reid was on the right path for knighthood, Kat's real talent was with their mother's craft: spycraft. For while their father fought Windin's enemies head on, their mother went undercover to locate and reveal foreign spies.

This naturally meant their mother sometimes left home for weeks at a time with strict orders to her children that she was only to be contacted in life and death emergencies. But despite that, Kat and Reid had long since agreed she was still the best mother in the world!

Before joining the Order of the Broken Goddess the twins hadn't seen each other for weeks as Kat had been out on a mission with her spy mentor. And they had only seen each other briefly for months before that, due to their difference in training and lifestyle.

The Kingdom of Windin had strict rules stating that no one could finish an education for a job related to security or leading to a leadership position without going through a lengthy examination with an unbiased expert. And of course, it was illegal to hire someone for such a position without making sure they had the proper education for the job.

So, while both twins had been taught their chosen craft from their parents - with private tutors teaching them everything else they needed to know - they couldn't legally finish their education with their parents and had each gotten a mentor.

Reid's mentor had only taken a week to conclude that Reid already knew everything he needed to know to be a knight. But as the examination needed to officially last at least 6 weeks, Reid had been told to join the local Security Guild to get some practical experience by dealing with minor criminals. At the end of each week Reid was then to meet with his mentor to discuss what had happened that week and how he could potentially do better next time.

At the last week of both twins' examination periods, Kat had been told by her mentor to take the newly gathered information - what it was Reid was never told - and deliver it to a certain baron. While this particular piece of knowledge wasn't earth shattering - she wasn't officially a spy yet, after all -, it was ill-advised to give certain pieces of information any other way than in person. So, experience in getting undetected to your target, identifying said target, and delivering a message to them without being overheard by undesirable would only serve Kat well later in life.

Having gotten her mission, it didn't take long for Kat to devise a strategy which would allow both twins to finish their examination together.

Reid would be escorting his sister to the baron. Escorting a VIP was something a knight sometimes had to do, after all!

Their mentors agreed with Kat's plan and soon the two had time to catch up as they traveled. Kat's mentor would afterwards ask several of his contacts along their route if they had noticed anything off about any travelers. If the twins finished their mission without drawing attention to themselves, they would both pass their examination and would immediately be hired for their respective craft.

The twins arrived at their destination without incident and were almost immediately granted an audience with the baron.

Reid wasn't quite sure what Kat had done to make it happen so quickly. Some trick of the trade no doubt!

The baron had been in an audience with a muskin bishop of The Order of The Broken Goddess as they entered. The baron had been a member of the Order himself for barely 2 weeks at that point and needed assistance in converting his barony.

Kat, following her training, had politely asked to be alone with the baron for a moment so she could deliver her message. With a nod from the bishop, the baron led Kat out of the room and into another.

With no one to disturb them, Reid and the bishop stood frozen in place as the human was initiated and made a member of the faith.

Once Kat and the baron returned, the bishop attempted to convert Reid's sister as well, only for Kat to reject the true faith.

Not that Kat realized that's what she did. She immediately accused the bishop of trying to mess with her mind.

Something the three members immediately denied.

Kat ran off in distress.

Reid didn't follow.

The twins hadn't seen each other since.

Back in the Dungeon the floating hands had finally all been shattered and with it came the standard 'you failed the puzzle and got no EXP' message solving one part of the Paladin's question: the floating mana hands were a part of a puzzle door.

However, why he couldn't damage the puzzle would have to wait till their crusade was finished.

Though Reid doubted he would ever know.

The seemingly everlasting fog meant they only spotted their enemies mere seconds before they attacked. Still plenty of time for a seasoned guard like Reid to defend himself and the others in.

With how many beasts had appeared after they had abandoned left disciple Agtius in the care of the goddess, they had started ignoring them even more than before. Only actual attackers were dealt with alongside an occasional stab at one of the pixies.

At the end of the second room there was an exit block by Fire with the words 'Trust me' next to it. Bishop Marthox was quick to declare the words 'a message from the goddess'. And true to his word, the goddess prevented the Fire from burning them as they walked through it.

The exit of the third room had a similar sign, this time telling them to take the left doorway despite it leading back to the first Boss.

A Boss which had mysteriously reappeared despite disciple Agtius still being on the 5th Floor.

He's not dead, he's not dead, please tell me he's not dead!

With the success of the previous puzzle, they had no trouble putting their trust in the goddess - for they knew it was their goddess - and thus did as she asked.

What incredible control she has over this Dungeon! This really is the biggest piece of her! The one with the most control!

Having entered the left door as she asked of them, they entered a new room, rather than the Boss room they had seen before entering. And for the third time in a row, at the end of the room they found a sign from the goddess.

This time written directly on the puzzle door…

Odd… But Reid wasn't one to question his goddess' methods.

None of them were.

Instead they did as ordered and left their weapons behind as they passed the door.

And for the third time in a row, the goddess protected them, taking control of the beasts in the room and commanding them to let her loyal followers pass them without being attacked.

The 7th Floor exchanged the Mist fog for a much thinner environmental one.

One with quite the smell.

But still, fog-wise it was quite an improvement.

Unfortunately, the goddess had now used up her weakened reserves - she was still broken into pieces, after all - and control of the beasts had returned to the Dungeon.

At least the goddess had ensured they got their weapons back first!

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I watched the 5 cultists complete my 6th Floor in confusion and wonder.

3 of the Floor's 4 puzzles had been solved with ease! The eleven company had lost plenty of time, and even elves, trying to solve or at least circumvent those puzzles!

The difference between the two sets of enemies?

The cult believed my riddle/hints were made by their made-up goddess, and thus someone they are forced to trust with their life. While the company knew I had made them, and as they didn't yet trust me, believed my words to be trickery.

How come my improvised Fog Rule is doing more to delay them than my well thought out puzzles! This is ridiculous!

At least the heat traps will… exhaust them a bit… Honestly, I don't think they'll do any more than that.

But tired people move slower!

On one hand, the Party's spellcasters appeared way less educated than the Lightning Mage, and thus didn't know any good cooling or air filtering spells. Both the Hypnotist and the Earthquake Mage could create small amounts of water at a time and create a burst of wind - using the Pressure element for the later, of course, wind is a movement, after all.

But both of those spells needed to constantly be reapplied to be of any help to the Party, which was much too demanding in both mana and concentration.

Instead the Party decided to simply get through as fast as possible.

Which was the exact opposite of what I wanted them to do!