Time to enter the dungeon. We are all gathered in on the landing platform. Everyone was dressed in their best battle gear. Last minute adjustments were being made to optimize their fit. Nerves were on edge knowing in a few minutes we would be heading into the unknown.

  I headed over to Tayla. It was time to set up my final contingency plan. “Ready to go” I asked.

  “Yes, and you?”

  “About as much as I can be. Just one last thing to do before we go in.” I handed her a scroll.

  She opened the scroll and her eyes went wide. It was a scroll of resurrection.

  “I assume you have an escape device, right?” I asked.

  “Yes. I believe everyone does, or should have. You?”

  “I do, but if worse comes to worse and the Earl is dead and you are alive. Please take the Earl with you and resurrect him outside the dungeon. I promised Ruberm I would do my best to see he survives, but since I can’t guarantee that. You are my back up plan. Will you do that?”

  “I thought the scroll was for you.”

  “Nope. I died once and my soul is clean, so if I go, I do. I am content. Everything is already taken care of, so please take the Earl with you.”

  Tayla just nodded.

  I didn’t mention that I had a few contingency plans already set. This included giving the 5 resurrection scrolls to Ruberm. Because in my mind the most likely outcome for a disaster would be Justinian coming back alone. If that happened, then Ruberm would have Justinian escort him and a bunch of guards to the bodies, where Ruberm would use the scrolls to resurrect everyone. Then we could regroup, replan, and reengage.

  Since I am in a party, I had raised my ‘Take Me Home’ skill to level 6. This will allow me to take the entire party with me if I activate it. I set the second return point to just outside the dungeon’s trap door on the surface. This would get us out of the dungeon and I would be able to use my remaining resurrection scrolls if needed.

  Lastly, Ruberm had agreed to take care of my household. They were family and needed to be taken care of. I had written out instructions (a will) in case of my death and he was the executor. Of course, he had extracted the promise about protecting the Earl from me in exchange.

  With my contingency plans in place, I was ready to face the challenge of the dungeon. I looked around and everyone else seemed ready to proceed.

  First, Tayla and I went over to the camouflaged lock. Everybody got ready, and I turned the lock 90 degrees. A low rumble permeated the room and a sound of rock sliding against each other. I looked around and saw a section of the floor moving. It was receding into the wall and showing a stairwell leading down.

  The ranger Epakit moved to the opening. “Let me check it out first. I won’t go into the dungeon, but will see where it leads.” He slowly went down the stairs. He was immediately followed by two more rangers.

  We waited. Time seemed to stop with us as we were anxious about what was going on. After about 10 minutes, a ranger came back. “There is a landing with another door, and then the stairs go on again. The door seems to go to the 3rd level. We expect the other doors to levels further down. Epakit is going to the last level.”

  The ranger moved aside, and waited with us. Twenty minutes later, Epakit returned.

  “There are three doors in the stairwell, marked 3, 6, and 10. They all appear to be locked.” Epakit reported.

  “This could mean that the levels are very large. I think once you clear the relative floor, the door will be unlocked, allowing the team to come back to the surface to rest and resupply. Until then, the doors will remain locked.” Epakit further explained.

  “Well, looks like we get to do the whole thing. No shortcuts for us. Good.” Justinian said happily with a big smile on his face. I’m beginning to think he is a battle junkie. That would explain why he lived in Forest Glen.

  The team moved toward the dungeon’s door. Everyone else was ordered to leave the landing area. We didn’t know what the knocker would do, only that it had to knock three times. The Earl would be the one doing the knocking.

  When everyone had vacated the landing area, the Earl grabbed the ring and slammed it against the metal plate. A giant ‘BOOM’ sounded throughout the landing area. Everybody waited. Nothing happened and the sound died away.

  Again, the Earl slammed the ring against the metal plate. BOOM sounded again.

  Finally, the Earl slammed the ring against the metal plate for the third time. BOOM, but this time followed by a creaking sound. The door was opening slowly into the dungeon. Light started leaking through the cracks as the door opened. With the door halfway open, we could see a hallway. Lit with light sconces on the wall, it went on for about 50 feet. The walls and floor were tiled with white marble. It could have been a hallway in a palace. The floor was clean and shiny, looking like it was just waxed. At the end of the hallway stood a door. The door had to be 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide. It looked like a door for a giant.

  Brakford, who had the ‘Sense Trap’ skill was the first person to enter the dungeon.

  Brakford moved slowly down the hallway to allow everyone to enter. I could see he was using his skill to check for traps and such. He would hold his arm in front of him and move it from side to side while pointing to the floor, then do the same for each wall and the ceiling.

  Yuri next, followed by Gorver. Justinian and the Earl entered together. Tayla followed and I after her. When entire party was in the dungeon the door started to slowly close, as if telling us this was our last chance to leave. We all watched it until it fully closed with a thud sound.

  This was it. No turning back now. We were fully committed to clearing the dungeon. A grim mood overcame everybody. Everybody except Justinian, who seemed as happy as one could possibly get.

  Justinian looked around noticing the mood of the group. “If you get good enough at your job, it can become boring. I haven’t had a real challenge in what seems forever. This looks to be exciting even if it won’t be a challenge. Since we have all sworn to secrecy not to reveal anything we learn about each other in this dungeon, I will tell you. I am level 50 and I don’t plan on losing anyone. I swear that if the worse comes, I will be able to distract anything for long enough that everyone can use their escape tokens.”

  “I knew it” just came out of me. Oops. “Sorry, didn’t mean to say that out loud. But since we are sharing, my class is Champion of Life. I came from another world after dying there. Circumstances led me here, and now I am part of Forest Glen. I have an escape skill that will take the entire party with me if I activate it. I don’t have much in the way of attack spells, except the basics Mana Dart, Wind Blade, Fireball, Chained Lightening, and Meteor.”

  Wow. The room was silent. The Earl knew about me, as did Gorver, but apparently no one else did. I think Justinian may have suspected, but knowing is quite different. It was also kind of a relief to share my secrets, especially the level and class, since I hadn’t shared that with anyone.

  Noone else had anything to share, which was alright with me. I was getting kind of anxious for our first encounter. As such, we moved to the far end of the hall with no issues.

  Brakford moved his hand over the door looking for traps. He did a complete survey of the door, then pointed to the handle. It was a U-shaped handle. The type used to pull the door toward you rather than away. Yuri came forward and pulled out a device. It was wand like but with two prongs at the end and a dial on the other end. Yuri pointed the device at the handle, fooled around with the dial until a small bolt of bluish lightening flashed from the door handle to the device.

  “Trap disarmed.” Yuri motioned for Brakford to check again. Brakford ran his checks and gave a thumbs up.

  Now this is where everyone figured out that they had forgotten to include me in their practice for fighting in the dungeon. Everyone but me moved to a predetermine position for opening the door. Justinian moved to grab the handle, and pull it toward him. Brakford took out his shield and was next to the door, ready to block anything attempting to come through. Yuri and the Earl were a few steps behind Brakford, position to be able to attack if needed. Even Tayla had her assigned position, which would allow her to cast a spell. They all moved with practiced ease, and I just stood there, not knowing where I was supposed to be.

  I decided that since I was the healer, I would move to the back next to Tayla. This would give me a good line of sight on all party members. This way I could cast Ranged Medium Heal if needed.

  Now, with everyone settled, Justinian yanked open the door. Brakford jumped into the doorway ready to cast ‘Taunt’ if needed. It wasn’t. The door opened onto another hallway. This time with doors on both sides. There were 5 doors, 2 on each side and another at the end. Each doorway was shaped like an entrance to a mausoleum, very ornate with picture of demons or angels.

  Brakford checked for traps, didn’t find any and moved inside. We all followed and ended up near the first door on the left. Brakford checked all doors for traps. They were all clear. Now, which door do we go through first?

  Justinian, like me, had maxed out his stats, including luck. He pulled out a six-sided die and dropped it on the ground. It rolled around for a few seconds, then came up with a 1. It looked like door 1 it is. Forming up into the same formation as before, we made ready to go through the door.

  Justinian opened the door and Brakford moved into the door way. Unlike before, this was not a hallway. It was a cave looking room. A large cave looking room with something or somethings moving at the far end.

  Everybody rushed into the room. As soon as we all got into the room, the door slammed shut. No going back that way.

  We could see a raptor like creatures moving toward us. They moved with speed and agility. There were some 20 or so of the creatures. Identification showed:

  Animal: Running Bird

  Level 25

  HP 220

  Description: The Running Bird is a flightless bird that hunts in packs. They are known as tenacious fighters that once engage in battle don’t stop until they or their prey are dead. They attack with their beaks and claws. The claws often carry diseases. No special powers have been associated with the Running Bird.

  Okay. While there are a lot of them, they shouldn’t be too much trouble. Just enough for us to get our teamwork fine tuned.

  Brakford activated his ‘Taunt’ skill causing all the birds to aggro on him. Tayla and I cast ‘Fireball’ spell at the running birds. Hers was much bigger than mine. Between the two, we took out half of the birds.

  The remaining birds attacked Brakford. He moved his shield deftly and none of the birds were able to score a hit against him. Justinian didn’t wait long and attacked. His sword flashing left and right as he tore through the pack. Yuri also attacked. His spear work was a marvel to behold. Between those two and Brakford keeping aggro, the birds were easily dispatched. It wasn’t even a minute since we came into the room and we had won. When the last Running Bird died, the door opened again. We looted the birds, but nothing except a few coins come from it.

  Brakford check for traps as we went through the cave looking for treasures. At the far end of the cave, we found a small chest. It was unlocked and opened easily. Inside were a pair of arm guards and a ring. The wrist bands had birds in flight as a relief. The ring was of mithril and had a ruby inset.

  The ring let the user fly, and the arm guards provided extra armor without interfering with casting. The Earl gave the arm guards to Tayla, since she would benefit the most from them. The ring wasn’t immediately useful, so who got it would be determined after the dungeon. That made sense to me. Use what was immediately useful, but prevent dissatisfaction by waiting until after the dungeon for the ‘nice to have’ items.

  And just like that. The first dungeon room was done.

  The second room was similar to the first. We entered; the door shut. It was a large cave with monsters at the far end. Justinian identified them as Running Birds level 25 and Flying Eyeballs level 26. Flying Eyeballs looked like basketball sized eyeballs with wings as they moved toward us.

  Now the Flying Eyeballs were moving faster than the Running Birds and were actually flying. They would be on us very soon. So, Tayla and I decided we would attack them by casting Fireballs into their groups. This seemed like a perfect plan.

  Damn acrobatic Eyeballs. Apparently, they could see the Fireballs coming at them and were agile enough to move out of the way before the Fireball hit them. We only killed about 5 out of 20 of them, before they started attacking. I was worried, because the melee didn’t have a way to deal with flying opponents.

  When the Flying Eyeballs attacked, they used a force beam shot from its pupil. The first force beam was enough to stagger Brakford. Fortunately for us, the Eyeballs had to stop moving for a couple of seconds before shooting the force beam. This gave Tayla and I the opening we needed. We started hitting the Eyeballs just as they stopped to shoot. They were basically glass cannons. Powerful attacks but little in hit points or defense. Brakford has fortified his stance, so the force beams didn’t stagger him anymore. Tayla and I shot down the remaining Eyeballs just before the first Running Birds hit. Unfortunately, because we had been occupied by the Eyeballs, we hadn’t thinned out the Running Birds.

  It didn’t matter, Justinian, Yuri, Gorver and Earl Donnert waded into them with sword and spear and hammer. They were just that much more powerful than the Running Birds. Each hit killed a Running Bird. Justinian used his long sword, Yuri his spear, Gorver still had his hammer, and Earl Donnert dual wielded two gladius looking swords.

  It really wasn’t much of a fight. Which was a good thing in my opinion. We weren’t here to test ourselves. We were here to clear the dungeon and give Forest Glen a 10-year breather from monster waves.

  Soon enough everything that moved died at the melee fighters’ hands. They were just that overpowered compared to the birds. We looted the birds and eyeballs, but again, nothing special. The only thing we got this time was bird meat and a few coins. Once again, as the last monster died, the door opened.

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  As we made our way to the back of the cave, I would use Magic Sight to see if any magic spots that needed investigation. After we reached the chest, I noticed a magic trap door. I asked Brakford to check for traps on it. There were none, so I said I was going to open it. Standing to the side, I flipped the trap door open. Nothing came flying out, so I move closer and looked down into the hole. In the hole was two large bricks of mithril. Mithril was an excellent metal to make magical devices, armor and weapons. Those two bricks were worth a lot of gold just as they were. Both went into the common pool.

  The small chest contained another flight ring, and a Crown of Obedience. It was much like the Crown of Rulership I got from the Litch. I advocated for destroying it immediately. I really hate those things. Nobody should have that type of power over another. Nobody protested against it, so Gorver took his hammer and smashed it to pieces. Guess, I’m not the only one who hates those things. The ring went into the common pool with the other one.

  We decided to rest to recover our stamina and mana before heading to room 3. Even though the fights were not very long, they were intense and used a lot of mana and stamina. I thought I sensed a pattern happening with both the rooms and the rewards. I said I expected the next room to either be more Flying Eyeballs and Running Birds with another monster group thrown in, or Eyeballs with a higher-level group of monsters.

  Justinian said it was too soon to really tell, but probably. Most team members agreed with him. I did get Gorver to bet with me about whether or not the next room would have a Ring of Flying as part of the room reward. In my mind, we were going to need the ability to fly at some point in the dungeon, if not on this floor.

  Everyone brought out some food to eat. I retrieve a sandwich made by Chef from my storage ring. She made dozens of them for me before Ramram and I left. I am sure Ramram was also loaded up with sandwiches. The Earl had a thing that looked like a burrito, but its tortilla was black rather than white. Gorver had trail rations. Which I personally hate, so I offered him a sandwich, which he eagerly took. He was quite familiar with Chef’s cooking, as he had been over to Covern House many times.

  When everyone finished eating, we moved on to door 3.

  Door 3 looked no different than door 1 or 2. The team has our routine for entering down pat. Justinian pulled the handle to open the door, and we found ourselves in the middle of a roman coliseum. The floor is dirt and is surrounded by stadium seating. There doesn’t appear to be anyone in the stadium except for three masses of monsters stationed around the arena. I can see three distinct types of monsters. Running Birds, Flying Eyeballs, and a new one. The new ones are a short, long haired, ape-like monster. There are only about 20 of each type which is good. Levels vary but are between 24 and 26.

  Weirdly enough, the monsters don’t come rushing at us like in the other rooms. It’s obvious they have seen us, because many are staring directly at us. They are just standing there, as if waiting on something.

  The team gets into a defensive formation. I try Fireball, same thing. Tayla is having the same problem. It’s as if something is preventing us from using offensive magic.

  A disembodied voice rings out over the air. At first, I don’t understand it, but then my gift Linguistics kicks in.

  “DSkneaok ase Gentle Beings. Welcome to the Coliseum. Today’s match is a group of trespassing adventurers against our home town favorites.” I am translating this as fast as I can for my team.

  “The battle will begin in 3 .. 2 .. 1.”

  And the monster’s surge toward us. I see Tayla has successfully cast Fireball at the Flying Eyeballs. I do the same but at the hairy ape dwarves. Tayla hits the Flying Eyeballs. Tayla’ Fireballs are bigger than mine and at this range, she does better with the Eyeballs than I would have. But my Fireball hits a hairy ape dwarf, it combusts immediately. I guess all that hair is flammable. They flail around and catch other hairy ape dwarfs on fire. Pretty soon all of the hairy ape dwarves are on fire. Which would be good, except they don’t seem to be adversely affected by the fire. Fortunately, they move very slowly compare to the others. I assume the hairy ape dwarves will expire long before they get to us. I redirect my attention to the Flying Eyeballs and help Tayla eliminate them.

  As the monsters come closer, Brakford, Justinian, and Yuri move to engage. Gorver and Earl Donnert have brought out bows. The two of them target Flying Eyeballs along with Tayla and myself. Brakford, Justinian and Yuri are easily dealing with the Running Birds.

  In a matter of minutes, the birds are all killed. The eyeballs follow shortly thereafter. The hairy ape dwarves are not even halfway across the stadium.

  “Wow folks, it looks like the adventurers are decimating our home town team. The battle will soon be over, but wait. The Quefolds are about to engage.”

  Quefolds are the little hairy ape dwarves and are not even close. I don’t see how they are going to engage. Fully half their numbers are dead, and the other half have just stopped.

  As one, the Quefolds raise their right arm. All the fire on their body moves to their hand. When all the fire is in a globe in their hand, it launches a Fireball at Brakford.

  Brakford raises his shield and activates a skill. A barrier appears about 5 feet in front of him. One, two, three Fireballs hit the barrier. It shimmers, but doesn’t collapse. Three more Fireballs hit the barrier before it collapses. I cast nullification on one of the remaining Fireballs and it disappears. Brakford crouches behind his shield as the last two Fireballs hit it. The shield absorbs the explosion, but not the fire. Without waiting, I cast Ranged Medium Heal at Brakford. He wasn’t burned badly, but the heal removes even the slight burn he had. He stands back up and taunts the remaining Quefolds.

  Meanwhile, Justinian and Yuri have closed the distance between themselves and the Quefolds. Turns out the Quefolds were a one trick pony. They can barely defend themselves as the two rush in and attack, killing them.

  “Oh, what a battle. Ladies and Gentlemen. What a battle. The adventurers had defeated our home town team and now reap the rewards.”

  A chest appears in the middle of the arena. It is the same size as the previous two. I leave it to Brakford and Justinian to open. I am using my Magic Sight to see if there are any more hidden treasures. Tayla seems to be doing the same. Neither of us find anything.

  Justinian found another flight ring and a huge ruby. Nothing else. We looted the monsters, but a little coin and bird meat were all we got. Still, that three flight rings we have found so far.

  But the important thing was that I won my bet with Gorver. He gets to do my adventurer jobs for the next three months after we get back.

  The next thing I know we are standing in the hallway, just outside of Door 3.

  Doors 4, 5 and 6 were basically repeats of the previous doors, with the addition of a new monster for each door.

  Door 4 added snakes. Not little 2-foot snakes, but 15-foot atrocities that like to crush you to death in their coils. They were red with black stripes like a zebra. They also emitted a poisonous gas that would paralyze you. First, they would paralyze you, then wrapped you up in their coils and finally crush the life out of you. None of them ever got the opportunity, because Yuri had a definite hate for snakes and kind of went berserk on them.

  Door 5 added the standard Warg. A monster based off the Sabretooth wolves I encountered early in my journey. These were twice the size of a normal wolf, and would cast freeze by howling. Fortunately, all of us had high resistance to mind disabling effects. Gorver was apparently having a good time, because he tried to ride on of the Wargs. The Warg did not take kindly to the insult and acted as a bucking bull, finally throwing Gorver off. I think we were getting a little complacent during this fight.

  Door 6 added a cat like monster called a Phase Leopard. This monster could turn insubstantial and physical items would pass straight through it. Unfortunately for them, they could only do this for a limited time. It also didn’t prevent magical attacks from doing damage. Needless to say, they didn’t last long against our team.

  Door 6 had two flight rings in its treasure. That gave us four more flight rings, at which point Earl Donnert handed one to each of us. I think he sensed we would be needing them later in the dungeon. The only interesting item in the chest from the three rooms was a small figurine of a cat. Identification said that the figurine could be activated and turned into a real cat. The cat would stay around for about 20 minutes, then turn back into a statue. I think it might be a fun item to have. Maybe give it to Ramram for coming along with me.

  When we tried to open door 7, it refused to budge. Even when I tried to help Justinian pull it open. Nothing. It was straight up closed. Tayla had an unlock spell, but that didn’t do anything either.

  Justinian was about to use his hammer and Shield Breaker spell, when the door just disappeared. I guess the dungeon really didn’t want us to go in there.

  After Door 7 disappeared, we turned to Door 8, which also disappeared a second later. The only door left was Door 9, which we all agreed was where the floor boss would be.

  It was time for a break. We made a small camp in the hallway. Most of the team members pulled out chairs or pillows to sit on. I sat on the floor, because I never thought to bring a chair into a dungeon. None of the games I played ever had that option.

  After I ate my delicious sandwich, I decided to try out my flight ring. I thought that since I have never had to fly on my own, it would be a good idea to get some practice.

  Flying isn’t easy. I activated the ring, and jerkily rose into the air. Now, I am just hovering standing straight up. I bent over and ended up rotating in a circle. When I straightened back up, I stopped rotating, but my head was toward the ground. I was upside down. I bent at my waist just a little and slowly rotated until I was upright again. I could hear everyone quietly (some not so quietly) laughing at me.

  “Yeah, you should try this. It isn’t as easy as you think.” I said testily.

  Justinian popped up and put on his ring. He then floated up to my level and floated over to me. Because of course, he had flown before. He did make it look easy though and started giving instructions on how to maneuver. After about 15 minutes, I was able grasp the fundamental and fly to the end of the hallway and back. At least I had the basics now.

  The rest of the team decided they needed to get comfortable with flying also. Okay, I admit I laughed out loud at some of them. Even with our high Dexterity, learning to fly was hard and made for some comical moments. Oh, what I wouldn’t have given for a video camera.

  Brakford and Gorver decided to race. They went to the end of the hall to begin. The race was to the other end of the hall and back. Winner gets bragging rights. Boom, off they went. It was a tie race when they got to the other end, but Gorver at a better turn. With Gorver slightly leading Brakford was giving it all he got. Then Gorver started to slow down, so as to not crash into the wall. Brakford did not. He pulled out his shield and slammed into the wall, winning by a nose. Of course, he required a minor heal, but it was worth it to me. Seeing crash into the wall was a sight I will never forget.

  Playtime over, we packed up our gear once again and got ready for the boss fight.

  Justinian explained that fighting a boss was different that fighting normal mobs. The boss could be able to summon mobs to help, have high level skill or magic, or be able to transform when injured enough. But their main advantage was that they were intelligent, aware, and would use strategy and tactics to win. Overwhelmed bosses have been known to try to flee, or plead for their lives. However, to finish the floor, you had to kill the boss monster, so allowing them to flee or live was out of the question.

  I’ve seen the Litch and Skeleton King use high level magic and tactics to achieve their goals, but I have never seen a monster transform. I imagine the boss in a corner screaming with a light glowing around him, just like Goku transforming into a Super Saiyan. I don’t think our team would wait on his transformation like Goku’s enemies do in the manga.

  With my education done, the team moved to Door 9. Luckily it had not disappeared.

  Justinian opened the door. We entered a little alcove that opened onto a huge empty space in the shape of a globe. It must be at least 100 yards in diameter. Well, now we know why we all got flight rings.

  On the other side of the empty space, I saw what looked like an oversized flying panther. It was at least 12 feet long, 7 feet high. It had long fangs, big eyes, and was black as coal. Its fur was shiny and thick. It was, in a word, beautiful. But that didn’t begin to describe it. It was a work of art, moving slowly in its own alcove. Slowly pacing back and forth. Obviously waiting for something. What, I didn’t know.

  Justinian moved forward and found an invisible shield at the end of the alcove. Obviously, we would be waiting too.

  I used Identification on the Giant Panther

  Monster – GabberRock

  Level 35

  HP 2500

  Description: GabberRock is a named monster. It looks like an oversized black leopard. It is capable of numerous physical and magical attacks. When it is cornered, it will summon reinforcements. Strong resistance to Air and Earth based attacks. Weak to Fire and Lightening. Neutral with Water.

  I relayed this information to my teammates. Justinian immediately switched out his weapons. Earl Donnert, Yuri, and Gorver did the same.

  Once again, a disembodied voice rang from the heavens. “Welcome, welcome to the final battle for control of Floor one of the Brutal Beast King Dungeon. Chose your side. The players are GabberRock, king of the leopards versus a cobbled together team of adventurers.”

  Cheers and boos accompanied the announcement. When it died down, the voice continued.

  “If the adventurers win, the monster wave frequency will be set to every 2 years. If they fail, a random level 40 beast will be release from the dungeon to do as it will.”

  More cheers from the nonexistent crowd. They seemed very excited.

  “Everyone look at your monitors, the game is about to begin. 3 .. 2 .. 1, GO”.

  Brakford immediately shot out flying at GabberRock. He was picking up speed. He was followed closely by Justinian, Yuri and Gorver. Earl Donnert, Tayla, and I went up to get a better angle for our ranged attacks.

  As soon as I had clear line of sight on GabberRock, I unleashed my Fireball spell. GabberRock displayed an amazing degree of flexibility and awareness. He moved slightly, just enough to make the Fireball fly by without touching him, but not enough to slow down his speed. A much bigger Fireball a second later, did make him move more, but his speed remained steady. Arrows from the Earl, just bounced off an invisible barrier surround the panther.

  Three seconds later, Brakford looked like he was going to ram GabberRock head on, but the panther faster than I could follow reach out with his paws and batted Brakford to the side, leaving deep gouges in his shield. Brakford flipped end over end away from GabberRock.

  Justinian, Yuri and Gorver separated trying to surround GabberRock, but the panther wasn’t having that, and immediately charged at Yuri. Yuri immediately went into a defensive posture. Gorver moved to attack the panther’s side, but GabberRock changed direction immediately and attacked Gorver. Gorver tried to parry and defend, but GabberRock was able to grab him with its mouth. Like a dog with a toy, he shook Gorver rapidly side to side, before throwing him directly into Justinian, causing the two to tangle together and delaying Justinian.

  While GabberRock started fighting with Yuri, I flew down to be in range to cast Ranged Medium Heal on Gorver. It would keep him alive until I got there. When I got there, I immediately cast Diagnose and then Heaven’s Heal. Gorver’s shoulder had been a mess. Punctures from the panther’s fangs, and shredded muscles from when the panther shook him. It took two more Heaven’s Heal before he was fully healed.

  Yuri wasn’t attacking. He was concentrating on defending. Justinian had joined him in fighting the panther. When the panther would rake his claws at Yuri, Justinian would attack, trying to score a hit but the barrier blocked his strike. During one of the pauses between strikes, Justinian switched to his Warhammer. I knew what was coming. That barrier was going be destroyed by Shield Breaker.

  Justinian yelled “Shield Breaker” and swung his Warhammer down. However, the panther wasn’t there. It had teleported in front of Tayla and attacked. Luckily, the Earl was there and blocked the panther’s attack. Donnert was able to retaliate but his sword bounced off the barrier. Tayla teleported away.

  I switched my sword with a Warhammer, activated Slow Time and teleported behind GabberRock. I yelled in my mind ‘Shield Break’ and swung for its hind quarters. My hammer hit its barrier and broke through. Before my hammer could hit the panther, it swung around and batted me away. Bruising several ribs in the process. My ribs, not its. I slammed into the walls of the globe, disoriented. Probably with a concussion. I did maintain enough sense to cast Heaven’s Heal on myself. My fuzziness cleared up, and I cast it again. I was back in fighting shape.

  In the few seconds, I was out of it, my team had scored several hits on GabberRock. It looked like we were getting quite an advantage. GabberRock seemed to understand this also, so it teleported to an empty part of the globe. There it summoned four mini-GabberRocks. They were only 8 feet long and 5 feet tall.

  I had a moment, so I did another Identification on GabberRock.

  Monster – GabberRock

  Level 35

  HP 1200/2500

  With the barrier down, GabberRock seemed easy to damage. A few more hits and he would be dead.

  Arrows and Fireballs descended upon the group of GabberRocks, curtesy of Earl Donnert and Tayla. I decided to add to the attack by casting a Chained Lightening spell. It hit the first baby GabberRock, killing it, then moved to the next two. Between the arrows, Fireballs and lightening, two of the baby GabberRocks were killed, and the others were badly damaged.

  Brakford cast Taunt on GabberRock causing it to attack him. However, he was ready for it this time. Yuri attacked the remaining two baby GabberRocks.

  Justinian, Gorver, and the Earl were continuously attacking GabberRock, while Brakford held its attention. More and more damaged stacked up on GabberRock. The hits were so frequent that it couldn’t teleport away. In a wild frenzy, GabberRock tried to bite Justinian’s arm, but Justinian grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. As he held it, Gorver pierced its heart with his sword. GabberRock shuddered and died.

  Yuri had disposed of the baby GabberRocks. There was nothing left to fight.

  “Well, there you have it Gentle Beings. The trespassers have successfully conquered the first floor. The monster wave frequency will be reduced to once every two years.”

  GabberRock’s body and the baby GabberRocks disappeared. It was replaced with a large copper chest. Apparently, our reward.