Three low, fast cave lizards with stone plated armor try to overwhelm me. Their tails whip forward at high speed and crack, searching for my legs as a target. I dance aside and call a sword to each hand as I chop down to sever one and curse as my weapon, not strong or sharp enough, bounces off without effect. One surges ahead past me so I pivot and call a massive warhammer from my Inventory and smash it down on its back. This time a loud crack echoes through the corridor as the Gravelback Skink is crushed into the stone floor.

  Gravelback Skink (Level 103)

  Damage Reduction Index: 1

  Mana: 200/240

  Conditions: None

  They’re six feet long but only knee height, built like a sledgehammer on short legs. More sounds come from further down the corridor and the last two I’m facing back off and hiss, so I send my warhammer back to my Inventory and pull out a revolver into each hand. I push to slow down time even more, pushing my Perception and Agility - these buggers are quick - and fire bullets right into their eyes; their wedge shaped heads and pale, lidless eyes make sense in a Dungeon with basically no light like this one. Eyeballs explode and their hard skulls work against them as my bullets ricochet around and destroy their brains. They’re high Level, but their Powers aren’t strong and so I don’t feel Soul Sparks form strongly enough I can Reclaim them.

  In the distance, more of them swarm up the Dungeon corridor that looks more like it belongs in an abandoned underground mine.

  “I didn’t expect you to handle those so fast,” says the leader of the Night Shift team. I shrug at him.

  Liam Varric (Vampire)

  Rank estimate: D-

  Level: 73

  Redux: 15%

  Power: Blood Magic (Tier 1 Major)

  Conditions: None

  Liam isn’t everything you’d expect a vampire to be. A bit short. Skinny, with a thin moustache. His hair, though, is wavy and thick - and his smile is full of teeth including the classic fangs. It would be easy to underestimate him, and his Strength or Agility, at first glance. Even though he doesn’t have the kind of Damage Resistance Index I have, my past research on Powers like this tells me he’ll more than make up for it on the back end with healing rates. Like the advertisements said, Night Shift needs someone who can take point and absorb punishment. I’m seriously considering joining if they want to despite the odd nature of the team.

  It’s a cheap trick, but as another four Gravelback Skinks pound up the corridor I deposit one of my revolvers into my Inventory and pull out a bright torch with the beam pointed right at them. The Skinks shriek even more than before and flinch away from the bright light. I don’t really need light to see now that my Perception is so high - I can just as easily use other wavelengths or even sound to locate them - so using a spotlight makes it like shooting fish in a barrel. I light them up with my remaining revolver and swap it out in my Inventory for a loaded one when I run out of ammo. More than half a dozen of them skitter to a stop lifeless on the floor or jerk and lie still. Unfortunately these ones aren’t strong enough for me to Reclaim any Soul Sparks from them either.

  I look back at Liam, still untouched, while I still have my torch out. The fact he hasn’t had to raise a finger in combat proves I can at the very least put down a few decently Levelled Monsters. So far it’s just standard stuff that anyone looking to be a Hero can do and the real tests are yet to come. We’ve got a long way to go in this Dungeon. Liam’s Power is spookily close to my Power and what I was nervous about at Saint Marianne’s, but it’s only Tier 1 Major. In order for him to break through into even an Epic Power he’d need to get to Level 200, every 50 Levels giving him a chance to Evolve his Power or pick up another one of equal or lower Category and Tier. I don’t see Level 200 on the cards for Liam any time soon; it’s so rare to get that far and so it essentially means he will always be limited in his Power, but still a threat.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Time to continue down the corridor. I plunge us back into darkness when I put the torch away and continue, this time pulling a big warhammer out of my Inventory into each hand. If it’s going to be a rock themed Dungeon I’ve got the tools to do the job. I stalk ahead, using all my senses including my Danger Sense to feel ahead down different branches off the corridor, but there’s nothing. Eventually we reach a big opening in the floor. I probe down with my senses into a cavern below.

  “You have a way to get down? Or are you fine with the fall?” I ask Liam. As a Vampire, he doesn’t have any issues navigating through the darkness of this Dungeon.

  “No issues, Calrik,” he agrees. I like his calm and the assured way he carries himself. It’s confident rather than cocky and there’s a good energy about him despite his Power.

  I drop down maybe ten meters and land on the solid rock surface. At least half of me is expecting Liam to shift into a bat and follow me down; instead, he lands lightly beside me with no noise. My Danger Sense is silent and all I can hear is some water dripping down into the cave. Liam’s presence is very shadowed here and I can tell he’s in his element. His cool body and whatever Power he has makes him a bit difficult to detect even with my high Perception. I can imagine for most people meeting him in a dark alley really would be a death sentence.

  I pick a rapid pace forward, testing Liam as much as he’s testing me. Soon enough the underground cavern opens up to one that’s even bigger. I look up and my senses reveal a sea of red bodies all over the walls and ceiling of the massive area. I pull the Status from one of them.

  Echojaw Bat (Level 59)

  Damage Reduction Index: 0.5

  Mana: 310/310

  Conditions: None

  There must be a thousand of them. More? I look closely and try to figure it out. It’s like a carpet covering all the surfaces other than the floor.

  My Danger Sense presses on me from my left and I strain my Perception to its limit, then feel and hear something specific heading toward me. I reach out with my senses and try to figure out what’s coming. There are a lot of them.

  Marrow Scavenger (Level 102)

  Damage Reduction Index: 2

  Mana: 420/560

  Conditions: Strength of the Pack, Bone Crunching

  The Marrow Scavengers seem to be about the shape and size of a hyena that’s on steroids and lope forward with a powerful gait.

  “It’s too much,” Liam says softly to me. If even he doesn’t like the bats we’d better pay attention. I scan with my senses and I think I agree.

  Doing Hero business for my tryout with Night Shift seems preferable, but I’m not a licensed Hero so their property and manslaughter liability exposure would be through the roof. This Dungeon is a lot less fun than chasing Villains, especially since so far there have been no Soul Sparks. An overwhelming colony of bats above us and a pack of Scavengers approaching us has me thinking retreat.

  Sounds from the Scavengers start echoing through the cavern and I can sense rustling above us. Suddenly a screech pierces the air and hits us. I feel the slight strain of it, the bat’s Power trying to stun us, but I shrug it off and so does Liam. Then the crescendo begins as hundreds, then thousands of Echojaw bats all point their stunning echolocation at us.

  I pull a giant shield out of my Inventory and crouch behind it. Liam joins me and we ride out the most intense sonar pummeling I could ever imagine.

  Sonic damage resisted!

  Sonic disruption resisted!

  Intense vibrations shake the shield, challenging my Strength and the robustness of my body. Liam cries out and I glance over. He’s being shredded by the sound waves that ricochet up from the rocky ground, pale skin rippling and breaking apart. I watch for a second as my teeth rattle in my head, fascinated, as his Blood Magic activates and blood actually flows under his control when he starts bleeding and begins to heal his wounds by being absorbed back into his skin.

  I brace myself to hold on to the shield and stand slightly then take a single step back. The rock all around us is rippling and being chewed up and despite its durability, my shield is starting to disintegrate. I throw it up a foot and pull a second one from my Inventory. The first shield slams back down on my new one and parts of it slide off. I take another step back with Liam and see with my thermal vision past the edge of the shield that the Scavengers are closing in on us. My adrenaline spikes - combat in this environment would not be fun.

  How are the Scavengers not being affected by the Echojaws? My mind races and I grit my teeth and take another step back. Then something in the air changes even though the sonic attacks haven’t lessened and I hear the thump of wings from above. Thousands of wings.

  I curse and brace myself.