C+5

  Already, with three coins and several battery parts richer, Paige avoided the notification from Alastair. She worked quickly past the slime molds in the first seven rooms of this dungeon. The molds matched in color to the combat puzzle runes: Red, blue, green, and purple. Maybe on a repeat play-through, she would encounter a bone-colored slime.

  A door stood beyond the purple slime mold. She opened it and climbed down to the next floor. A faint red glow surrounded the landing, but Paige couldn’t tell where it came from. It concerned her, regardless, but not enough to slow her. The walls were rougher than the stone on the first level. She barged into the first room with only a shred of caution.

  Her combat interface appeared but Paige couldn’t see her opponent. She decided to be extra cautious and selected a dodge move which allowed her to combo attack and dodge again on the next round. A puff of something floated past her. She made the follow-up combo. Her game character seemed to know where to attack because she slashed quickly at something on the ground and then rolled to the side. The interface disappeared and she looked at the creature before her.

  Red Rambling Rhodotus. It left her a coin and another vial of electrolyte, so she pocketed both. The thing before her looked like a mushroom cap. Is a Rhodotus a mushroom? I hate mushrooms. She pulled up her notifications to ask Nova if he knew the answer when she read his message.

  “Dammit! Now I’m going to have to go save him, too.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Not willing to give up her progress, Paige continued to fight through the six rooms of the mushroom level. She fought Green Gandering Gloiocephala and the Silver Sauntering Strobiluruslevel boss. They didn’t overly threaten her, other than her sensibilities.

  Her curiosity about Alastair’s situation continued to bug her. Despite not liking him…he was a coward after all… she needed him to get out of this game. And yet, she also had her longer-term objective of making money from this playtest. Besides, nothing so horrible would happen to him or Flor that they wouldn’t wake up again tomorrow. So it was prudent to let them work out their challenges themselves.

  The third level was filled with a gardener and forager type of Mushroom Gremlins. They were easier to see but both types spored which caused a missed turn due to a blind effect. The level boss was called Chief Mushroom Gremlin, and Paige was surprised when the spores it sent out turned into tiny gremlins that also attacked her. In no other dungeon had Paige encountered monsters that made more monsters. She walked away from the fight with a slightly healthier respect for the warning from Fausta not to go beyond the third floor. What sort of fungus waited for them down there?

  She sat on the ground for a moment and called out her daemon. A glowing blue cockatoo flew from above and landed on her shoulder. “So, Bert {His full name was Austrobert Winiabld, but he was happy to be called Bert}, how do you appraise the loot?”

  “Fifteen coins and enough items to make several temporary batteries, which you could sell for close to another sixteen coins. ”

  “Bah! Barely worth my time. Hey, you haven’t seen a shop in this place that I’ve overlooked, have you?”

  “I have not. Which does not match the nature of the locations. Perhaps it is tucked away somewhere.”

  “Well, I’m noting that as another playtest bug. Especially since I won’t keep my coins in the morning. Okay, let’s go save Nova and Flor.”