I could have prevented it. Just because of a little fever… Michael berated himself, just like he had done for most of the last eight months since the accident.

  He was convinced that if he hadn’t been lying in bed with a fever the big boss wouldn’t have been the one to handle the lumber on that day and the accident wouldn’t have happened.

  After everything they have done for me, I lie in bed like a big baby.

  He shook his head to regain his focus. The systems and the arrival of Energy had many downsides, but for Michael one upside was that whenever he was fighting or protecting the only family he had had since he had been little, he couldn’t get too deep into the self-recriminations.

  Also, … it does feel good to use some of the old skills for a worthy purpose.

  He wasn’t very talkative, which gave him time to observe, and it didn’t take a genius to see that the boss was stretched thin. Getting back up from the accident had taken a lot of energy and just as he had taken a few steps to get back to his old life, everything had changed. Since then, he had taken ever more responsibilities on his shoulders. It was time for Michael to lighten Ben’s load further.

  For some reason, this Retskul episode threatened to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Maybe he could help bring this to a fast and successful end.

  He arrived at the gate to the keep and took a slow and careful look at the inside.

  There was no courtyard, instead he was looking at a large entry hall with several passages leading deeper into the keep and a large stairway leading up. It was empty except for a couple of green banners with an emblem showing a roaring lizard head.

  He slowly made his way into the building and decided to stay on the ground floor for now. His [Silent Step] perk had fortunately upgraded to [Shadow Step], which made it harder to see him when in shadows, on top of the sound reduction from the original perk.

  A few meters in, he heard loud noises from ahead. It sounded like a group of people shouting or celebrating. Wrong direction!

  He turned around and followed the second passage. This led to half a dozen closed doors with apparently small rooms due to the short distance between them. Michael hesitated for a second, then stepped towards the first door and listened. After not hearing anything, he carefully opened it. Empty. The room held nothing but a cot with a locker at the foot and a small table and chair.

  The next three rooms were the same. As he opened the fifth one, he froze as he saw a figure sleeping on the cot.

  Retskul. Lizardkin Evolved. Warrior. Energy-Born. Tier 1. Epic Challenge.

  It was very obvious that this was a further evolution from the Retskuls they had fought so far. It wasn’t easy to tell with the lizardkin sleeping, but he looked to be close to two meters tall and much broader and more muscular than their brethren. They no longer had a tail and the elongated jaw was almost completely gone. Their green skin, however, was unchanged.

  Epic challenge. I wonder whether that is based on their evolution or because the dungeon break?

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  After confirming that the lizardkin was asleep, Michael switched his sword to his left hand, and took the dagger into the right, he took three silent steps forward and drove his dagger into the Retskul’s neck.

  Congratulations, long-term practice has culminated in the following perk:

  [Backstab] — Increases the likelihood to inflict critical injuries if target is surprised. Uncommon

  Long-term practice seems a bit exaggerated. There had been only two, well, maybe three times pre-System… Let’s not drag up those memories. Times have changed.

  After quickly searching the room and finding nothing of interest, Michael closed the door and left to search the last room which turned out to be empty as well.

  He slowly made his way up the stairs. On the left side of the first floor were bare bone office or meeting rooms that were empty. As he made his way towards the right, he quickly had to step into a doorway as two Retskuls, both warriors with leather armor and swords at their side, left a room just a few meters down the hallway. To Michael’s surprise he understood their exchange, which was about them being late for the feast downstairs.

  Unfortunately, they would pass by him in seconds and it was impossible for them to miss him, there was not enough shadow for his skill to work. Michael was on their right side, dagger and sword in hand. There was no way to take them out simultaneously.

  As they closed in he focused his attention on the Retskul closer to him and shot forward, aiming the dagger towards the neck and sword towards the chest.

  Both lizardkin froze and looked at him in terror, but his sword did not penetrate into the enemy’s chest while his dagger did. The Retskul was out of the fight.

  Michael ripped the dagger out, used that momentum to pirouette 180 degrees, smack his left elbow into the second Retskul’s face and using that opening to pierce into the side of the chest with his sword. He did not hesitate to follow up by plunging his dagger into that enemy’s neck as well, to prevent any last second shouting.

  Before the two bodies could fall and make a noise, he caught them and lowered them silently.

  He left the bodies and quickly proceeded to the room that the two had left. The door was ajar and he could see two more Retskuls sitting at a table, unfortunately, one of them was facing in his direction while the other one was sitting with his back to him.

  Michael briefly thought about the situation, then decided to do a quick check on the remaining two rooms on the floor. So he waited a moment until the coast was clear and bypassed the door.

  The first room was empty with an open door. The second door was closed but he didn’t hear anything. As he opened it he found the room empty as well.

  With that, he returned to the room with the two lizardkin at the table. A quick glance confirmed that the situation was unchanged.

  He readied himself. With a swift motion he stepped into the doorway, threw his dagger at the Retskul facing him and lunged with his sword to strike at the back of the other one. His dagger missed. His sword hit. All as expected.

  With a swift kick he closed the door behind him and leaped onto the table separating him from his last enemy. The lizardkin had been surprised but managed to pull his sword. Michael was not confident that he would win a drawn-out swordfight against the brute.

  He closed in, creating an opening on his chest that his opponent tried to exploit. At the last second Michael moved his upper body to the side, turning a deep cut into his chest into a painful shoulder wound, but at the same time, he managed to pierce his opponent’s armor and kill them with a chest wound.

  He hissed in pain and took a brief look at the wound. It was a deep cut and bleeding profusely.

  Definitely worth a potion. He pulled out a health potion and quickly downed it.

  Within a few minutes the bleeding had stopped, and the healing process was underway.

  The second floor was smaller than the previous ones and had just one hallway. It had a total of four more opulent bedrooms, three were empty. One had a Retskul going through some form of kata with his sword. They looked massive, further elevating the already powerful evolved species.

  Retskul. Lizardkin Evolved. Leader. Energy-Born. Tier 1. Legendary Challenge.

  Shit. This is not something I want to mess with on my own.

  Michael slowly retreated from the room and then descended to the ground floor. He thought about taking another glance at the feast down the first hallway he had taken, but he didn’t want to risk the leader leaving their room, finding the bodies and alerting everyone.

  He quickly left the keep and returned to the team.

  patreon I have just posted the final chapter of book 1 (15 chapters ahead of Royal Road). That feels like a big milestone since I only started posting this story less than two months ago. Thanks for all the support and sticking with the story, I really appreciate it.

  patreon and will of course be posted here as well.