Yellow light flared in the cavern as Trella drew a [Mana Dart]. “You saw that, right? What the hell was that Ashi cast?”

  Ashi lay motionless on the floor. Kaden rushed to check her. “She’s breathing. Eve, is it Mana Shock?”

  “I have no idea. She has over a hundred health, but near the end, she was burning blood for mana. I’ve seen [Mages] do it when they were dying but this was intentional. I’m trying to heal her, but there’s a status effect blocking it.” Eve shared system logs.

  Target may not gain health while a debt to [And the World Shall Burn With Me] remains.

  Increase mana regen to repay debt faster.

  “Do I need to map this place?” Trella asked.

  The answer lay in a echo in his soul. Kaden knew every corridor, every room, every inch. She’d relayed it through the mana in his soul. “No. This place, it reminds me of an erratic we were sent after. The dungeon had nothing but [angrim]. They’re bipedal monsters with pathetic stats and worse skills.”

  “She built a copy of a shitty dungeon?” Trella asked.

  Kaden remembered it differently. “The core was forced to find better ways to use its power. Murder holes. Block traps where its weak monsters could trigger them. I wanted a few defensible caves. This is a killing ground for Adventurers.”

  Eve lifted Ashi’s head, staring into blank eyes. “At what cost?”

  At every cost.

  Kaden picked up Ashi. “This way, I know where the core room was. Eve, you should stay there, safely. There’s a second set of passages for defenders to make lives a living hell. Trella can use those and Thorn Caster to harrass adventurers.

  “I’m quite capable of harrassment myself.” Eve said. “Let us get Ashi to safety. Then we establish the Outpost and prepare.”

  Trella send messenger bird after messenger bird. “Sara and Sevin know the important parts. That taking gear makes it harder for Samuel to make more. And that we’re going to make a stand here. Sevin will be back with Skully once Sara’s safely at the FarPortal.”

  Three levels down, Kaden found what he was looking for: A grand boss room centered around a giant stone statue of an [angrim]. A statue that obviously looked ready to come to life and attack.

  A lie.

  The final battle was always to be swarmed by endless waves of angrim while desperately holding back key abilities for a boss who would never come.

  Behind the statue, hidden by a stalagmite formation, lay an alcove where Kaden gently placed Ashi. Garm’s vision let him navigate without fear, and [Shadow Blades] naturally saw in dim light, but Eve was blind.

  In the boss room, Kaden put a hand on the statue.

  Activate Outpost? [Y/N]

  He selected yes.

  Outpost in progress. Add Mana to establish.

  Kaden shared the logs and poured in what he had, but the counter in his status box barely moved. Until Eve began. It raced downward like a rocket, stopping just shy of compeltion. “Trella, Kaden, we should all take mana regen potions. This will bring a reaction as swiftly as Samuel is capable.”

  Trella drew three from Inventory. “I’ve barely used my mana. I’ll finish the Outpost, then take it. And I think I understand the layout of these tunnels. My deceptions have been exploring. There’s branches to every edge. And we can drop the stone panels up front to split parties or force them to go different directions, then all of the inner path funnels back to this room.”

  “It’s how such weak defenders were able to make the dungeon a hellhole,” Kaden said. A jolt of feeling over the Soul Bond told him a great deal. “There were adventurers guarding the FarPortal, but Sara used [Anthem of the End] and made it through.”

  No doubt the guards had never expected Anthem—or for someone to leap into the FarPortal while an [Ulf Ravager] savaged a [Mage]. And with her appearing in an Adventurer’s Guild somewhere—anywhere—Samuel’s guards wouldn’t follow. Garm was already racing as fast as he could back—and carrying someone’s arm.

  “Here we go.” Trella dumped the final hundred points into the option.

  You have established an Outpost!

  You may not remove your outpost for three hundred and sixty five days.

  You have established provisional authority (Kaden Birch).

  Your provisional authority is contested (Samuel Birkoff)

  You must remove contested authority to fully establish control. To remove contested authority, kill the oposition or reach an agreement. Your outpost lacks a name. Your position lacks a title. Default title from last instance used: God Emperor of Eternity.

  Kaden’s senses had expanded in a way that left him confused and disoriented. His actual sphere of influence was minature, extending a few hundred yards from the Ice Gorger’s cave, but at every edge, a stone boundary rubbed his senses where his authority clashed with Samuel’s.

  The edges sharpened as Samuel turned his attention on it.

  “He knows we’re here,” Kaden said. “I hope Sevin has unblocked more gates.”

  Trella was no longer present. One of her Deceptions stood motionless where Trella had been a moment before. “Sevin not only opened a gate, he showed the Tun how to repeat it. And they’re taking the rods back into the Domain to deny them to Samuel.”

  That was the best news. This wasn’t a dungeon, Kaden couldn’t will the temperature to change, but Garm was a few miles away and coming fast. “Let’s get you to a sniping spot. You’ll need to be careful, there are no illusions, just holes where you can peek through and use [Moon Strike] or [Plague].”

  “Oh, everyone gets [Plague],” Eve said. “Do you want the suffering gems?”

  “You’ll do more damage with them. There’s three of us. There’ll be at least six in the first party, and more parties as soon as they realize they’re in trouble. And it’s not like a dungeon, they can send messages in or out.” Kaden paused. There was a way to prevent that.

  He reluctantly summoned the [Mansquito] and set it hovering in the ambush hole right over the dungeon doorway. If the first few birds disappeared, they might assume it really was a dungeon. On the downside, he’d need to recall it to be able to send their own. For the moment, he pulled it back into his soul. “I have a way to deal with the messenger birds but it will also harm ours. Hell, it even hurt the [Falcrow].”

  “Hold off until the first attackers are inside,” Trella said. “Oh, and take this, Eve. That [Shield]’s party only took the easy stuff, but they knew they were searching a dark cave.”

  Eve accepted an offered ring. “Night Vision isn’t perfect but it helps. I already have the spell vampire that turns damage to mana. I can out-heal some mages and at least wear down others.”

  Kaden took the mana-to-life one. “Do we think Samuel can change or destroy or reclaim these without being here in person?”

  “No, or he wouldn’t have sent searchers,” Trella said. “If he does show up, we stash them. I’ve risked pulling Eclipse into my soul. She hates it worse than anything, but the sooner she finishes skulking the sooner she might actually help.”

  “We—” Kaden winced as something bounced against his mental defenses. More the equivalent of a hip-check than an actual attack. Kaden’s mental resistances and increased Willpower stat made it a bruise rather than a beatdown. “He’s flexing [Authority]. Expect an attack.”

  Minutes later, the whisper of paws on snow heralded Garm’s return. Kaden sent the beast his location through the Soul Bond and relayed Garm’s knowledge. “Six [Swordsmen] inbound. No [Shields] or [Mages] or [Healers].”

  “Shit.” Trella hissed. “They’re dual-classers. You’re looking at a strike party, worst thing we could have hit us straight up. Every last one does major damage and that’s before their party role.”

  “Then we focus on one—and only one,” Eve said. “If we’re lucky we get the support classes. If we’re not, that’s less damage. Repeat until they’re all dead.”

  “[Harvest Wind] will keep them from regenerating mana or healing,” Kaden said. “I’ll be waiting. We separate the party at the entrance with a drop-wall, pick one group, focus a single member. Use everything. Hot water, boiling oil, knives, arrows. Everything.”

  Eve drew her cooking kit and activated the heatstone. “Cooking up a pot of blisters as we speak. There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned boiling oil bath to lower morale and health. It’s almost a [Recipe]. ”

  The remaining minutes passed like honey. Trella sent out her Deceptions to scout on a regular kadence, as the timers expired. “They’ve slowed down. There’s no reason for them to enter the cave, no reason to think we’re here.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Every moment there are more Tun loose. Every moment, more of Samuel’s gear disappears. And every moment, Samuel’s Authority remains contested. Patience is the smart choice.” Only Eve could make sitting in a pitch black dungeon complex seem reasonable.

  Trella disappeared into the shadows and returned a blink later. “They’re arguing. Like, really arguing over whether they keep looking or call for help.”

  Kaden unleashed the [Mansquito], urging it upward into the night. “They won’t be getting answers. I have to concentrate to understand what it’s doing.”

  Twenty minutes later, a zing of thrill told him the beast had fed.

  And an hour later, again, twice.

  “They’re really, really frustrated,” Trella said. She didn’t disguise the pleasure in her voice. “I force-fed Ashi a mana regen potion but she’s still out cold. Now, want to tell me what exactly that was she used?”

  Kaden explained in simple terms, how the dungeon core her father had ‘gifted’ Ashi worked to keep her from overloading with mana. “I’ve never seen her tap into it before, but a Dungeon Core holds a hundred times the mana any human could. She never mentioned being able to use it, but that kind of power…”

  “Comes at the cost of being helpless afterwards.” Eve said. “No matter what, they don’t get through to her. Agreed?”

  “You know it.” Trella didn’t hesitate. “One of them is inbound. I’m really hoping we get a solo. Come on, big boy. You’re brave. You’re not afraid of the dark. Show everyone how brave you are.” Her gaze snapped to Kaden. “They’re not being stupid. I’ll set up for an ambush. Boil that oil, drop those rocks, and when the time is right, one of the six will die.”

  Surrounded by darkness, Trella didn’t even move as she sank into the ground and emerged below them in the first room after the entrance. The dungeon held a standard staging room with no traps, but divided into three paths. The first led forward to the room where Trella lurked. Left and right led to trap-laden hallways. Which was to say, pit-laden hallways with rocks staged above them at inconvenient (to Adventurer) intervals. But the most genius portion was the twin slabs that could be dropped, splitting the party.

  The murder hole directly over the entrance to the center room, Kaden left to Eve, who hummed softly as she stirred a pot she’d added ingredients to. The sharp tang and bite said they were spices, not poisons.

  From below, voices echoed, two men and several women. The soft clink of armor and creak of leather told Kaden they wore some kind of light plate, which was normal for [Swordsmen]. “Stay sharp, call your target, [Double Cut] twice in a rotation,” one of them said. Probably the Party Leader. “The son of a bitch has to be there and I’m not going back to Samuel without someone’s head to show for it.”

  Shaky torch globes floated over the shoulder of every one of them, casting conflicting shadows everywhere.

  Eve moved swiftly, clutching her oil-pot with pads as she watched carefully.

  Kaden drew a coin from his pocket and tossed it down a defender’s hallway.

  It clinked and rattled and echoed.

  “There!” Two of the [Swordsmen] rushed to the right—then stopped at the edge of the left passage, a foot from where the slab would drop. “Hold on, [Trap Sense] says there’s a pit ahead. And spears. And rocks. And some kind of rope. And…gravel. I guess it’s a trap if your boots aren’t good. There’s nothing but traps.”

  “Don’t.” The leader said. “It’s meant to split the party.”

  Kaden cursed under his breath.

  As the shadows behind the lead [Swordsman] welled up and Trella attacked with [Lethal Strike], driving the [Ink Blades] into the man’s back, then yanking them out as he staggered forward, sputtering flecks of blood. “Need healing.”

  His companion lunged forward, shouting “[Double Cut]!” over and over.

  Each twin-blade strike cut down a Deception—or its echo.

  The Harvest Wind blows upon your enemies. Healing and Mana regen are greatly reduced.

  The last blow caught Trella’s arm, slicing so she dropped one [Ink Blade]—and then she was gone, back across the pit traps, just out of reach.

  “Down!” one of the [Swordsmen] called. She’d drawn a bow, obviously a [Ranger] or [Archer] dual class, and blasted a [Mana Arrow] down the hallway. It split into three, passing just over Trella as she bent back.

  “Terrible form. Terrible shot,” Trella called.

  Kaden didn’t miss the tremble in her voice. That cut had gone deeper than it looked, but now the [Ranger] stepped forward, firing with every breath.

  “Pit’s three feet long,” the [Rogue] one said. “Someone gut her. I’ve got a Status condition, no mana regen.”

  The [Ranger] took one more step forward.

  Kaden didn’t just drop the slab, he slammed it down, catching the woman’s elbow from behind as she drew, and the crack of bone said the swordsman on the ground had just broken both legs.

  The party coordination was incredible.

  Three rushed as one toward the slab to lift, while one drew a massive shield and began to glow with light. Triple classed as a [Healer], [Shield] and [Swordsman], he’d grow incredibly slowly, but be a deadly threat.

  “Help!” Eve called out. “Help me! Help!”

  Kaden almost panicked—then flinched as she poured her pot of boiling oil on the man. The scent of chili and pepper and scalded flesh filled the cavern along with screams. Everyone was screaming, so Kaden tossed an [Agony Cloud] potion down into the chamber, right where the three worked to release their friend with the broken legs.

  “What a pretty bow she had!” Trella called out. “And you. Trapped under a slab. Poisoned. In pain. Let me help.”

  “Get him out of there!” The leader roared. He ignored his own pain, the [Plague] flies which burst from nowhere, and sprinted to the slab.

  Above him, Kaden braced against the floor and ceiling, adding his own weight and strength. Strength that wasn’t enough. Even while Kaden pushed, the stone rose up until the other swordsmen could pull their comrade—what was left of him—free.

  “[Rise]!” The leader shouted, activating a resurrection skill.

  “[Mend]!” All three of the others answered, surrounding the fallen one with healing eneergy.

  “[Backstab!]” Trella added. “Wait, was I not supposed to join in?”

  The newly resurrected man fell face forward—only to disappear as Trella snatched the corpse. She didn’t flee, leaning back against a stone arch. “This? This is what we call a pitch black dungeon. And I am what you call a [Shadow Blade]. Now, I don’t want to presume to tell you tactices, but the words ‘worst case scenario’ sure come to mind.”

  “[Mend]!” the three shouted as one, pointing at the shield—and again at each of them.

  “And now we’re back to full strength,” The leader answered. “Give me the corpses. I’ll let you go.”

  “No, thank you. I really feel like you’ve overestimated your hand here.” Trella drew the [Ink Blades].

  “We’re a self-sustaining unit. Healing. Shielding. You’ve got one trick and we know it,” one of the women answered.

  Kaden picked that moment to fire through a murder-hole with Thorn Caster. At the last moment, the arrow shifted sideways and instead of spearing the man’s heart, barely grazed his side.

  Damage rounded up to a minimum of 1 point.

  You have inflicted 1x poison.

  A gout of flame errupted from the man he’d just shot. It roared through the murder hole, searing Kaden’s arm and burning his hair.

  “[Holy Cleanse]!” The leader shouted. “You’re wasting time. Come out and fight us.”

  “You are wasting mana.” Trella hadn’t moved. She wasn’t even looking at her enemies. “I think there’s a chip on this blade. Oh, no, just a blood fleck.”

  “Mana regenerates…” The leader’s voice trailed off as he realized. “Conservation mode! Blades only, passives only!”

  There was a moment in every battle where the situation either got massively better or incredibly worse, and this was that moment. Massively better for Kaden, as Eve appeared in four copies at each corner of the room. “[Moon Strike!]”

  Massively worse for the swordsmen.

  Three of them [Lunged] to strike a single copy of Eve.

  The other stood stunned as all the copies of Eve disappeared. He vomitted a river of blood and fell to his knees.

  [Life Explosion]! Kaden’s health burst upward as she Overhealed him. He only risked a moment to shoot a [Swordsman] with Thorn Caster for poison, then ran to the center of the defender’s passage and leaped down into the room with the three survivors.

  “You wanted me to come out and fight.” Kaden activated the [Eldritch Shield] to drink in the flames that roared out from the one that must have been a dual-class [Mage].

  “[Shield Charge]!” The leader shouted.

  Kaden tried to leap out of the way but an invisible force locked him in place as the man bore down.

  “[Shield Bash]!” The blow struck his [Eldritch Shield] and Kaden barely shrugged off the stun effect. The impact threw him clean out of the entrance room and into a support pillar that split to an up-down staircase.

  A quarter of his health gone in one attack, this wasn’t something Kaden could survive.

  “[Shield Charge]!” the man screamed again.

  This time, Kaden had activated [Moment of Speed] to burst right—and down the stairs, breaking line of sight. But screams from the chamber above told him exactly what had happend before he could sprint back up.

  They’d momentarily focused on Kaden.

  All Trella needed to engage [Stealth] and [Backstab] the dual-class [Mage]. “[Ink] is just the best!” She sacrificed both Deceptions and both echos to the hail of attacks they returned.

  “[Shield Charge].”

  Too late, Kaden realized it wasn’t aimed at him.

  The leader had locked Trella in place as he bore down on Trella.

  Kaden had no choice. He summoned Rocky, dropping the [Rock Gobbler] directly in front of Trella. The shield attack struck Rocky right between the eyes, but the worst was the cold. The bitter cold sapped the color from Rocky’s shell. The glittering black turned gray, and the leader’s frustrated [Shield Bash] shattered the edge.

  Before Kaden could pull the beast back into his soul, the man screamed “[Unending Strike]!”

  A river of deadly blows stabbed straight into Rocky’s exposed lungs, ruining flesh.

  Trella [Shadow Arced] out of the battle, while Kaden pulled Rocky’s corpse into his soul to begin reforming. Two on one, a [Swordsman] was never an easy opponent, and [Fortress of Stone] was no longer active.

  Kaden watched as the two moved toward him like a single person, blades never quite touching and yet blocking. Both buzzed with [Plague] flies and yet they only needed one to strike.

  “You fought well. Not so well I’ll risk letting you resurrect, of course.” The leader glanced to his only remaining party member.

  Kaden activated [Destruction Aura]. “There’s no way either of you leave here. You won’t heal. You won’t regen.”

  “He’s right,” A Deception said to Kaden’s left.

  “He’s left,” Another said from his right.

  The world became pain as an [Agony Cloud] exploded at Kaden’s feet. He leaped backwards to escape the orange gas. The boils on his skin burst as [Life Explosion] activated.

  Somewhere, a [Swordsman] was screaming.

  The screaming cut off, and the silence was worse.

  The agony cloud dissapated to reveal Garm casually devouring a man’s face, while Trella stood ready with both daggers drawn. “Good boy. Who’s earned an extra ear? You have!”

  “What are you?” The leader asked, looking between them. “We’ve got five levels on you. Five goddamned levels. Oh, you altered your [Identify] with a scroll, didn’t you?”

  Kaden shrugged as he drew Remembrance. His right hand spasmed and the hammer clattered to the ground. He drew the [Levicon Blade] like it had always been his intent. “No illusions. No scrolls. I had planned on sending you with a message. Then you killed my [Rock Gobbler]. Now, you’re going back as the message.” [Mana Drain] activated, ripping the man’s remaining mana from him.

  Kaden funneled it to Eve. “Ready?”

  “Yes—” The leader screamed as Trella used [Lethal Strike], then left her Deceptions to hack the man down.

  You have helped kill the [Swordsman/Shield/Paladin/Geomancer] Keva Mung.

  You have gained experience.

  Trella didn’t hesitate, looting the corpse package and taking everything, including his clothes. “Give him a [Letydir].”

  Kaden felt bad for the warm sloth as it enveloped the corpse. “Eve, we’re going to need a lot of resurrections.”

  Thirty minutes later, Kaden threw the man out into the snow. “Go back. Tell them what happend. Tell them everything that happened. Tell them what level you were. Let them see what level you are now. Give them the corpse inventory and let everyone see the rest of your party. Then tell them I’m waiting for the next group.”

  As he returned underground to escape the falling snow, Eve was waiting. “Mother would be impressed. Every Adventurer in Samuel’s employ will hear the message you told him, and understand the real one. You killed Harrigan. Can you win against Samuel?”

  Kaden pulled the [Mansquito] into his soul and waited. With his hand crippled and his beasts suffering from the cold, Kaden wasn’t certain it was possible. “Probably not. But he’s thinking that way. He wins or I win. There’s a third possibility.”

  The third possibility was clear. It was Kaden’s goal.

  They could both lose.