The floor wasn’t quite a cavern.

  There were slimes in the Harror Temple Dungeon, so I’d expected the two Dungeons to be similar. In Harror, each floor was an underground tunnel system, with there being larger rooms that we could fight in as well as the tunnels. Slimes spawned everywhere, so we’d tried to stay close enough to each other to share experience as we’d farmed. The process had worked well. Rix and I had no problem soloing slimes and Aelin had proven tenacious enough to keep up with the two of us. Fray and Ether had been able to hold their own together, which had let us level everyone quickly.

  This floor was a series of waterways, complete with wooden rope bridges that connected the islands. I looked around us at the four bridges that went in different directions to other larger islands.

  “I thought the Dungeon Portals were always near one of the outer walls.” I looked around as Aelin keyed in the gate to open up to the boss room on the first floor.

  “Not always.” Miel eyed Nakten, who was tracing her hand in the water running by the island on our right. “Some boss gates are so close to the floor gate that you can see them.” She shrugged. “I’ve heard about one that was actually on the backside of the floor gate.”

  “Are you going to add me to the party?” Nakten stood up and wiped her wet hand on her tan leather short-shorts.

  “She goes in there with you and that barrier thing protecting her is going to keep her from getting hurt, but…” Miel looked at me. “That’s not going to stop her from doing something that can get you all killed.”

  “I doubt that thing can kill us and if it starts going badly, you can just break in and get us out of there.” I nodded. “Go ahead and add her to the party.”

  I looked at the menu of my CB and saw the Anubis join our roster.

  “Okay, Nakten…” I paused as I took in her eagerness. Her excitement at being in the Dungeon was similar to how I’d been back when I’d first started working as a Porter. Everything in the Dungeon had been new, bright, and wondrous. It felt nostalgic to see that in someone else, even if I wasn’t sure how much I could trust her. “Looks like you have twin daggers…” I looked over the rest of her status page.

  Name: Nakten Saisol

  Level: 1

  Age: 18

  Hair: —

  Eye color: Golden

  Skin: Gray

  Blood: Golden

  Height: 5’11”

  Exp: 0

  Class: Nephilim

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  Power: 9

  Defense: 3

  Speed: 10

  Magic: 4

  Recovery: 6

  Aura: 4

  Stat Points: 0

  “You don’t have any skills, and slimes resist physical damage, so stay back with Fray and guard Justia.” I looked at Aelin. “The boss is water, so we’re going to use earth and burn it down.”

  “If that’s what you think is best.” Nakten smiled.

  I couldn’t tell by the tone of her voice if she was being sarcastic or compliant. I decided it didn’t really matter right now as long as she didn’t mess up the fight.

  “We’ve all done this before…” I saw the twinkle in her eyes and knew she wanted to correct me. “The rest of us have fought against Giant Slimes many times before. We’re going to treat this like we’re being scored.” I took my pistol out of its holster. “I’m going to freeze it, then Aelin is going to shoot the main body core.” I nodded. “Should be an easy walk in, walk out.”

  “And what if it’s an elite and has phases?” Nakten smiled as she raised her hand.

  “The only elite we’ve seen was on the fourth floor, but if that happens, we know how to adjust.” I chided myself for volunteering that information. “If there’s an add phase, then focus on keeping Justia safe. We’ve got potions, but if she gets hurt, we’re all going to be in trouble.”

  Nakten’s golden eyes lit up again as she opened her mouth.

  “Those of us without a high-Tier barrier to protect us will be in trouble and if you were being honest about not wanting to cause us harm, then you won’t hide behind a technicality.”

  “Won’t the Dungeon see her barrier and level the monster to match the spell level?” Ether looked at her mother.

  “It might.” Our protector agreed. “If that happens, use the return stones to get out of the boss room…” Her gaze swept over all of us, then lingered on Nakten. “You don’t have a return stone, do you?”

  “I won’t need one.” The demihuman smiled. “Lord Nevah assured me that this shield he placed on me won’t trigger the smoothing reaction from the Dungeon.”

  “Good enough for me.” Miel released a small eyeball that floated over my head. “Hurry up.”

  I tilted my head to look up at the contraption that allowed her to watch our fight from the other side of the portal. If something bad happened, she’d be able to tell and would break through the barrier to stop the fight. The Dungeon would try to level up the boss, but if she could kill it fast enough, that wouldn’t be a problem. The penalty for her doing that would be that we’d get locked out of the Dungeon for a while and not just the Dungeon here in Jyscor, but all of the Dungeons all over the world.

  I motioned for Ether to head in, then turned to our newest member. “You can go in next. Justia goes last, so once she’s in, she knows she can stop the fight.”

  The demihuman nodded and followed my wife through the portal.

  “Keep your heads up, everyone.” I swallowed as I looked at Aelin. “Look, I know you’re always going to be on team harem—”

  “But she’s gorgeous!” The blonde giggled. “You need some extra spice in your life.”

  “I’m not cutting Rix just so I can sleep with the enemy.” I shook my head. “So even if she’s here, she’s not going to officially join our team.”

  “But—”

  “No buts, Aelin.” I sighed. “And until we get the all-clear from Trent, be very careful about turning your back on her.” I mainly said that for myself. While the others were at risk of being taken out one-by-one, killing me would eliminate both Fray and Aelin. “We need to be careful, because even if she is being honest, the Primus still knows where we are and what I am.” I let that realization sink in.

  “So let’s get this fight done, attune these return stones, then head back to Trent and hope he’s got some answers to the questions bouncing around in our heads.”

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