The monster built from bits and pieces of humans reached for Luke, who'd thrown up Threads of Mana to block. One thread cut into the Flesh Golem’s mana channels as it struck, parting the arm in two. The other two Threads of Mana, much to his surprise, held solid enough to act as a shield as the golem stumbled, its arm torn to pieces. Still, it kept coming, pushing Luke back into the wall as it forced its way forward.

  Then Colt was up.

  "Finally regenerated enough mana," he growled, a white shimmer surrounded him. It pushed the Flesh Golem away and allowed the Vanguard to get a good strike in, cutting into its shoulder, before the skill timed out.

  Mateo leapt in. His spear turned black as he shouted, "Por la gloria y el honor!"

  The tip of the spear multiplied, turning from one into twenty as he struck, piercing the monster again and again, striking the Flesh Golem's throat and chest.

  Ray appeared too, his dagger glowing a deep green as he stabbed into its many eyes again and again, eyes popping as they sizzled and withered. Penny sang, her words set to a Taylor Swift song Luke didn't know the name of.

  "Waves rise up, I won’t back down!"

  "Rain pours hard, you’re gonna drown!"

  "Storm’s my song, and you’re goin’ down!"

  Water gushed from inside the Flesh Golem, increasing in flow until it seemed to tear at its mana. The monster flailed, struggled, fell to one knee, but still retaliated. Human arms reached from its bulk and grabbed Ray, throwing him off and into a bookcase. A kick sent Mateo spinning away on the floor. Bright light flashed from within the monster with a sizzle, but the Flesh Golem just ignored both the attack and Hannah.

  Luke crawled forward on hands and knees, reaching up to the golem's chest. Just as he'd figured, the Flesh Golem, like Integrated, had a core. The metaphysical heart governed all mana running through the body's internal systems. This one was twisted and ugly, pieced together like its physical form, but mana still flowed through it. Mana for Luke to command.

  He grabbed it and squeezed, pulling and slicing with Needle of Life, hacking to pull it free from the thick mana channels extending from it. The Flesh Golem reached for him, caught Luke in an embrace, ignoring the water. Body parts moved aside and then pushed, forcing him into the monster, like it was trying to make him part of it.

  Luke screamed as eyes and ears appeared. Then mouths, so many mouths, all of them whispering.

  "Kill us."

  "Pain!"

  "Kill us, please."

  "It hurts!"

  "Please kill us. Kill us, please. Kill us!"

  Luke, still holding the monster's core wrapped in a Thread of Mana, slammed Needle of Life down on the last mana channel, severing the golem's core with surgical precision. He fell to the floor as the Flesh Golem came apart, all the pieces inert, dead.

  System Message: Congratulations! You have reached Level 8!

  Blinking, he looked down into the palm of his hand. A monster core. The Flesh Golem's monster core. Did that mean he'd just ripped it straight out of that monster's chest? It was smaller and lighter than the Groll Champion's core, and bent, the surface rough and uneven.

  "Everyone OK?" Luke asked. He already knew the answer, but felt it was good manners to ask anyway. They were fine.

  "Leveled up again," Hannah muttered. "Despite not doing much of anything."

  Ray grumbled a little, holding on to his shoulder, but it was just a bruise.

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  "That thing was so gross," Penny said.

  "We must rest awhile, my friends," Mateo said.

  Ray bent down to pick up a single coin. "That's a lot of gold."

  The entire chest and all its contents disappeared.

  System Message: You have received 500 credits.

  "500 credits each," Ray said. "Not much, considering what we had to fight to get it."

  "Do you think we're done soon?" Penny asked. She walked over to Colt, who was sitting on the floor, and plopped down into his lap. "I really want to go home and shower."

  "We still have to kill the boss," Luke said. He looked around the room and shook his head, glancing to Mateo. "This is a dead end. No doors. We'll have to go back and try the other route."

  "So this was a side quest?" Ray complained.

  "This is no game, my friend," Mateo sighed. "I must confess that I, too, wish for some peace. Hopefully, soon we shall reach the end of this trial and be found worthy enough to slay this Fallen Shepherd."

  "There are still mages left," Hannah said. "Ray killed one outside the portal. So whoever or whatever this boss is, it won’t be the only enemy left down here."

  Once the group rested and regenerated some mana, they doubled back to where they'd fought the abominations.

  "They're gone," Colt noted.

  Penny refused to even look at the empty spot on the floor where they'd left the abomination corpses. Instead, she gestured to the other hallway. "This way, right? Let's go."

  She didn't sound eager. Resigned, more like. Either way, they had little choice. Mateo and Colt once again took up the lead as they traversed the ever-darkening hallway. By the time they made it to another room, this time without facing any monsters, it was getting difficult to see. The other side of the room was obscured except for two flickering torches on either side of another stairwell.

  Luke glared at Ray. "Don't say it."

  "Say what?" Ray asked, raising his hands, feigning innocence.

  "My friends, do any of you have anything to produce a light to guide us forward?" Mateo asked.

  "No pockets on my cheer uniform," Penny complained.

  Colt glanced at Penny, then searched his pockets and held up a lighter.

  Penny slapped him. "Colt! Smoking? That is so irresponsible!"

  "Just once in a while," Colt said, trying to appease her.

  "You give that to Mateo right now!"

  Mateo accepted the lighter and tried it. While it produced a flame, it provided little in the way of light.

  "What about Penny's lightning bolts?" Hannah suggested.

  "That light is too quick," Luke said. "We'll just have to hope there are more torches down there."

  "Onward then, my friends," Mateo said, pocketing the lighter.

  Moving forward and down the stairs, they all held on to their weapons, readying themselves for whatever monster the dungeon would throw at them next. Once down the spiral staircase, the smell of decomposing bodies disappeared as they stepped out into a forest.

  "What the?" Luke asked, looking around as he drew in a deep breath, savoring the fresh air.

  It wasn't even the same forest as the one where they'd found the village. Rather than pine, this one was mostly birch, from the look of things. It was night, and looking up, Luke saw stars in constellations he didn't recognize.

  "Two moons," Ray said, shaking his head.

  "Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?" Hannah asked.

  Looking back, the staircase was gone, along with every sign of the church.

  "I don't like this," Penny said, hugging Colt's arm.

  "Do not be deceived, my friends," Mateo said, pointing his spear out among the trees where a narrow path snaked through the forest. "Our path is set. This is but another trial."

  He set off walking, speaking to himself. "El bosque susurra con voces de muertos, mi lanza sedienta atraviesa los tuertos. Hoy cazo al demonio... y rompo su cuerpo."

  Luke and Ray exchanged a look, shrugged, and followed. The forest teemed with life in the night. Birds chirped and insects buzzed. Small animals scuttled through the underbrush. Somewhere in the distance, the eerie sound of a screaming fox made Penny jump.

  "I hate the outdoors," she muttered.

  "Preach," Hannah said.

  The path widened, and the group soon walked out into a clearing, lit only by moonlight. Still, the light from the two moons was strong enough to show tall grass and the occasional bush, along with a rabbit running toward them. It stopped, sniffed, then bolted the other way.

  Filing into the clearing, Luke looked around, not seeing a path forward. "What now?" he asked.

  As if on cue, a growl from something nearby, past the edge of the clearing, among the trees. Then more growls. There was something wrong with them. It was difficult to pinpoint how, but they all sounded different from one another, like it wasn't one species, but many.

  "What is that?" Colt asked.

  "No animal I know makes that sort of noise," Mateo said, pointing his spear toward the sounds.

  "They're moving," Luke said.

  Rather than enter the clearing, the sounds spread out along the tree line, moving to surround them. Shadows flickered among the trees as the growling intensified. A sound like that of a screaming fox crashed through the growls, but it, too, sounded wrong. Too human.

  "AAAAAH!"

  Luke shuddered and whipped around, trying to force his eyes to see better in the gloom. Light reflected off something deeper in the forest. A feline eye. Not a pair of eyes, but a single one. Deeper in, he did see a pair of them.

  The group moved into the middle of the clearing. Mateo, Colt, and Ray took a few steps outward, each in one direction, with Luke and Penny in the middle.

  "Our foes approach," Mateo said, then whispered to himself. "Mi arma y mi corazón, por favor denme fuerza y valor."

  Wolves bounded out into the clearing. No, not wolves. Not quite.

  "Oh no. That is just fucked up!" Ray shouted.