When we were ready, we turned left out of the room and continued down the central corridor. The end didn’t look the same. Where I expected a plain door, stone now arched into a doorway, vines carved up either side and meeting in a knot of stonework at the top.

  At the center, about level with my head, a face was carved into the stone. The air smelled faintly of dust and age, and the corridor seemed to hum with a low echo like something was trying to ratchet up the special effects. We stopped about five feet back, pulling out our phones to snap extra pictures before switching on our body cams.

  “Next time we do this, we take pictures of everything. Not just a few things and the fights,” I said. “That’ll give people a better idea of what it looks like.”

  “Unless it changes on us,” Bhaarrt muttered.

  I nodded. “Could be. Or maybe someone levels up enough to bring in a laser scanner or lidar mapping unit. Then you’d have a virtual walkthrough of the dungeon…like turning it into a video game.” That got the chuckles I thought it deserved.

  Shadow crept forward, eyes scanning the stonework. Her voice carried in the hollow space. “Don’t see any traps. That face looks like a cross between a lion and a man. Got a mane. Whadda we do with it?”

  “Press it and see if it opens,” Blaze suggested.

  “Or maybe turn it,” I added.

  “Say ‘Open Sesame’…or is it ‘Open says a me?’” Bhaarrt quipped. Ingrid groaned.

  “Bossman?” Shadow asked.

  “Push it and jump back just in case something happens.”

  “Roger that.”

  She tapped it with one finger, sprang back. Nothing. She tried again, harder. Still nothing. Frustrated, she slapped its nose. The carved face shifted back. Stone grated as the whole doorway sank a fraction, then slid up into the arch above with the rasp of rock on rock.

  “Slap the forehead next time?” I thought.

  The open passage showed a nine-by-three-meter corridor, ending in a door nearly identical to the first. One torch burned on each wall halfway down, spilling steady azure light.

  “Shadow. That hallway look like a trap to you? If this was an adventure movie, what’d happen next?”

  “If you open the next door, a big stone ball rolls out, flattens one of us, and chases the rest.” Her tone gave nothing away. Ninja masks hide smiles too well.

  “Please don’t give the dungeon ideas. Pretty please.” That drew more laughs than it deserved. I sobered. “Boss rooms usually lock the door behind you until you kill the boss or die. Could be the outer door drops and seals us inside.”

  “Is the hallway part of the room?” Blaze asked.

  “Could be either. Better if we do our usual setup, Shadow might end up trapped inside and us outside. We all go in fast and set up in front of the door. I can stretch my shield across the room. Should be three blocks wide on the map…nine meters by twelve. Once we’re in, we adapt.”

  “Then let’s do it,” Bhaarrt said and strode through. Shadow slipped in behind him, and the rest of us hurried after. The door stayed open behind us as we reached the second lion-faced carving.

  “Shadow, vanish. I’ll open the door,” Bhaarrt said. She VANISHed. He slapped the nose. The door rumbled upward, and behind us, stone slammed down hard, sealing the corridor.

  [DUNGEON BOSS BATTLE BEGINS] flashed across our Game interfaces.

  “Yep. Boss room.” The obvious words left my mouth as we stared into the chamber.

  The air inside smelled of sweat, leather, and something faintly acrid, like burned wood. There were more monsters here than we’d seen gathered in one place. Bhaarrt moved first. We followed, Ingrid tight on our heels. As soon as we were inside, I dropped my shield and Blaze cast her FIRE BALL. Stone reverberated with the boom of it exploding.

  Then the corridor door slammed shut behind us.

  The readout on our opponents was brutal. A Level 10 Ogre Mage boss. Two Orc Shamen. Two Orc Mages. Three lesser Orcs. Nine Goblin warriors rushing forward.

  I locked onto the boss with CHARM MONSTER, but he fought back hard. We were equal levels. His INTELLIGENCE and EGO nearly matched mine. Our wills clashed like grinding gears, locking us both out of more spellcasting.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Shadow…boss…kill]

  I forced more of my PSYCHIC POOL into the spell, as one Shaman shrieked. Blaze’s FIRE BALLS hammered the back ranks, and her FIRE SHIELD burned Goblins off Bhaarrt’s flanks.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [on it]

  Shadow appeared behind the Ogre Mage, blade flashing. His roar of pain cracked the air, enough distraction for my spell to sink in. Control locked tight. I hoped it would hold though the fight.

  “Kill your mages!” I shouted.

  Obeying, he unleashed FIRE STREAM, scorching both Mages and a Shaman. One was a Water Mage, the other Wood. Splinters of WOOD BOLTs slammed into my shield after passing through Blaze’s fire and stuck, burning with flames from it.

  It was better than them sticking in us.

  Bhaarrt helped hold the line against the Goblins and Orc warriors. Blaze sent a blazing FIRE STREAM into the melee. Two Goblins fell, burning.

  Shadow’s blade severed the Wood Mage’s head as Blaze’s flames finished the Water Mage. The boss staggered as my control began slipping. I poured almost the last of my MANA into a shield boost, then loosed a MANA BALL at the cluster of monsters.

  Drained, I reached into my pouch and activated three of my Mana batteries. Seventy-five points of MANA hit like cold fire in my veins.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [shamen down.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Kill Boss]

  Shadow’s BACKSTAB landed just as my MANA BOLT staggered him. The Psychic tether snapped. Shadow didn’t hesitate…she came from the front this time, blade singing. His head tumbled free. Anime move, clean and final.

  Deciding the hell with this, I drew my rapier. One Orc was nearly on top of me. I thrust through the shield, cut across his extended arm. He turned toward me and yelled something in Orcish and drew back to hit me with his ax.

  I stepped in to drive the point high into his throat. Ingrid’s spear slid into the other’s belly at the same time. Both crumpled, bleeding from more holes than I wanted to count.

  And then silence. Both doors behind us rumbled open.

  “We beat the level!” I shouted. Breathing ragged, everyone dropped where they stood. Almost against the far wall, a black chest sat on a short, black stone pedestal. It was behind where the Ogre Mage had stood.

  After a few minutes of rest, I told them, “Let’s get up and see what they have.” So, we gathered around the bodies and began our usual looting.

  Loot was the usual haul of coins, crude weapons, and worn armor.

  The nine Goblins had their usual 50 Shields each, and 75 from each the mages. One Moon from each Shaman and a Moon fifty each from the big Orc Warriors for four Moons fifty from them.

  The Ogre Mage had ten Moons on him. Mages have fewer hit points than fighters, but Ogres start with a lot and at tenth level, it took a lot to take him down. He might have had two or three times my hit points at level 10.

  Other drops from the monsters included three Crude Swords, a Poor Ax, an Orc Ax, and a Poor Dagger. There was another pair of Brown Mage Robes, three Crude Leather Caps, four Leather Ponchos, another Buckler, two poor Wooden Shields.

  In addition, there were three, 10 Slot INVENTORY Bags among dead. and the Ogre Mage was wearing a Ring of Defense +2. That explained why he was harder to hit and kill. Two points less damage each hit and two percent harder to hit. That adds up over time. But the real treasures were still to come.

  Shadow checked it, declared it trap-free. She lifted the lid and gasped. Out came a Ninjatō with a black grip and square tsuba. REVEAL MAGIC read +2 Hit, +2 Damage, +10% Critical. Backstabs counted as crits. She hugged it like a newborn.

  Telling the party what it was, I asked a question we all knew the answer to. “Does anyone want to try to take that away from her?”

  Everyone but Shadow shook their heads no, but we were all smiling. “That sword’s all yours, but you still have to see what else is in there. Maybe there’s something for the rest of us, too?”

  “OK, OK, give me a moment. A few caresses later, she slid it into her sash above her sword and looked at the rest of us. “I’m over it, for now. Thank you. All of you. Next level I’m taking the fighting with two swords skill.” She reached into the box again and held up a dagger in a sheath.

  Checking it out, I announced what I’d found. “A +2 Damage dagger with +10% Critical Hit chance with spells. Blaze. I think this one should go to you,” I said after reading off what the dagger had as add-ons.

  “Oh! Yeah! I’ll take it,” she said as she rushed over to get it from Shadow. I think all of us were smiling, even Shadow, although you couldn’t see it. I doubted she has stopped smiling since she received the sword.

  The next thing Shadow drew out of the box was a shiny, silver colored open-faced helmet with a nasal. It had silver metal wings on each side. Even before I found out what it could do, I knew who it was for.

  “Valkyrie Helmet of Healing,” I said. “+2 to all healing spells and +10 minutes to REVIVE.” Ingrid was already on the move. When Shadow handed it to her, she held it in both hands, turning it around and around, just looking at it.

  After she placed it on her head, she looked around the room. “Thank you, dungeon. Thank you for something perfect for me, for us.”

  She stepped back, looking at her husband, then me. “Which one of us would be next, or last?”

  Shadow interrupted my thoughts. “Gloves. A pair of gloves.”

  A quick DISPLAY MAGIC, and I knew who they were for, and who was last.

  “Gloves of Resistance. +5 Defense to all physical or magical damage. Bhaarrt. Enjoy. Ingrid will be happy. She won’t have to heal you as much.”

  Ingrid blushed and the rest of us laughed. Ogres can smile. He proved it as he put on the gloves, which expanded to fit his hands. He grinned tusk to tusk. They had cuffs on them that went a quarter of the way up to his elbows.

  “Those Kobold clubs only do ten points of damage max. He’s now Kobold proof. It may not be a lot for what we just faced, but it helps in a long fight.”

  “Shadow, are you deliberately choosing who gets what when?” I asked.

  “I’ll never tell,” she told me, as I heard laughter from the others.

  “So, I have to assume the last item is for me?

  “Nope. It's for Ingrid. Four for each of us of those Level 2 potions.”

  “Has anyone ever told you, you can be a smartass at times?”

  “Yep. Most every day. But y’all already knew that,” she added. Everyone laughed along with her. Again.

  “Don’t worry. There’s something here for you.” Shadow reached into the box and pulled up a book. DISPLAY MAGIC gave me the information on it. I just stared at it.

  A lot of things were going through my mind; I finally walked over and took it from her. Opening it, I gazed at the first page, thought about it, and closed it. I read the title aloud. “The title is Tome of the Master. It should be the Tome of the Guild Master.”

  “What does it do?” Blaze asked. “We want to know.”

  “It raises an Adventurers Guild by two levels. It opens access to new Guild Perks.”

  “OK, what are Guild Perks?” Blaze asked.

  “I’ve already said some of this. When you join a guild, it gains experience on everything the members do. It also collects one percent of all the game money we make. It doesn't take it from you. The Game gives it that amount. So, for all the Moons we’ve made on this trip, since it’s a Guild Dungeon trip, it gains one percent per guild level, or one Shield.”

  “We’re already a Level 2 Guild. We’re close to Level 3. It also gains a little extra when we do guild only activities, like this dungeon. As I recall, it gets two times the experience and money. Next level, three times and so on.”

  I stopped for a breath and quick rules check. “As a Level 3 Guild, we get access to more storage slots in the Guild Bank, plus a 3% bonus. It can store anything we can store in our INVENTORY. We’re almost there.”

  I thought for a moment about how much else I could say. “As a Level 4 Guild, the perk we get is called Guild Buff. A +1% Guild Buff per Guild level.”

  Bhaarrt asked the obvious. “A buff to what?”

  “Pretty much everything we do in the game. Experience, money we get. Magic items will be slightly more powerful. I think it doesn’t kick in until you go up to a full point on items. But damage goes up by 1%. So does health and everything else in the game.”

  We can have more members. We sell things to the STORE for one percent more. Buy them for one percent less. It keeps going up. It doesn’t kick in until it makes 1 Copper Shield’s difference.”

  After that, I paused for a few seconds. I was still trying to let it sink in. “One percent isn’t much. 10% makes a difference. There’s more, but we’ll get into that later. I’ll wait until we’re a Level 3 guild before activating it. That’ll bring us up to a Level 5 guild.”

  “Think about not a 1%, but a 5% more on almost everything,” I told them. “I think it also applies to hit points, MANA pools, time things last. It’s a lot. We can also have a lot more members, which means that while we earn more to level up, it’s because we have more people doing it.”

  I stopped and added the Tome to my inventory.

  “You said something about potions. Give them to Ingrid. What else?” I asked.

  “Only one coin.” She handed me a single Gold Sun. The face of it showed a disk with curvy sun rays going out from it.

  We’d hit the Gold Sun worth of money for the whole level, and now doubled that.

  While I was thankful for all that we’d received. But just in case, I cast another Detect Mana at the area and instead of the box, which was now empty, there was a dazzling area below the box.

  “I think that’s it,” I told my party, my friends. “There’s nothing left in the box.” The bodies of the creatures we’d fought disappeared.

  A humanoid figure covered in a midnight blue hooded robe appeared in a back corner of the room. Its hands were tucked inside the dangling sleeves in front of it. The hood covered most of the face, but it showed what should have been the lower half of a face. There was only darkness inside.

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