Behind Brockil’s desk is a long stone hallway that stretches back into the Upper Warrens a hundred meters. Artificial lights line the hall in dual tracks that seem out of place compared to the medieval vibe of the stone and mortar surrounding me. I don’t dawdle since the Dungeon delvers are probably just briefing each other and making preparations before they go in. As I round a slight bend to my right I see at the end of the hall, in front of the electric turquoise blue Portal, stands a group of 4 would-be Heroes or Villains who are preparing themselves to make an entry level Dungeon run. Not everyone makes Dungeon runs; they’re great training for the ESF or EDF and for gaining XP and Levels, but they’re a lot more dangerous than practicing with your Power in your garage.

  “Hi!” I call out, and three of them look over at me. The other one looks to be messing with some earbuds before she puts on her helmet. One of the ones who looks at me, a big guy with heavy armor, raises his rifle on instinct and points it at me. I activate my portable shield generator, but there’s no need for it as the guy next to him, athletic but a lot slimmer than his mate, calmly pushes the barrel of the gun down to the ground.

  “Chill, Sione,” he tells the big guy, who has potentially just been on edge since they’re about to enter the Dungeon. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt and deactivate my shield. Their visors both snap up and then the third one does the same as the woman who’s now sorted her earbuds turns toward me as well. All four are polynesian and young - late teens or early twenties at most.

  I pull their information to see what I might have in store for me and note their Levels are decent for this age, plus they all have solid Powers for combat or Dungeon running.

  Sione Talakai (Warrior)

  Level: 23

  Power: Strength of the Many (Tier 1 Minor)

  Conditions: Boosted

  Keoni Kaimana (Speedster)

  Level: 12

  Power: Accelerated Metabolism (Tier 3 Spark)

  Conditions: Boosted

  Leilani Kaho’olawe (Sharpshooter)

  Level: 18

  Power: Bullseye (Tier 2 Minor)

  Conditions: Boosted

  Vaiola Talakai (Augmentor)

  Level: 9

  Power: Power Boost (Tier 2 Spark)

  Conditions: None

  “Can we help you, Calrik?” asks Keoni, who seems to be the leader of the group despite his lower Level and Power Tier. Interesting.

  “Brockil mentioned a group was about to run this Dungeon and I wanted to join,” I say with some positive intent. There’s silence for a few seconds on their end before anyone says anything. No doubt pulling my information and considering, just like I did with them.

  “Level 1? No Power? I don’t think so…” says Vaiola as she looks to Leilani and the others. She sounds worried more than disgusted by the thought of it.

  I hold up my hands, palm out.

  “I understand your concern, but my DRP is F+ and I’ve done a lot of Dungeons this strength, under Level 10 and creatures with Sparks only.”

  “Shit…” says Sione. “You’re pretty built, but a Level 1 no Power F+? That’s crazy, bro He eyes me up and down while the others glance at him. “What you rockin, Calrik?” This time when he gestures at me it’s with his hand rather than his rifle.

  I pull my two blasters out of the holsters with a quick, practiced motion. “These, and the swords on my back when I get in close. My portable shield generator’s pretty solid also.” I’m used to this dance before going on random Dungeon runs; everyone’s a lot more concerned about joining up with me than they need to be, but I get it… nobody wants to bring back a dead body.

  “Bro, you show us your DRP Card and if it says F+, you’re in. We’re all F except for Vaiola who’s F-.”

  Makes sense to me based on her Power and how gaining XP works. She’ll be safer in the back of the Party boosting them, and not getting the full contribution because of her Support Class. The others will be putting themselves in harm’s way a lot more often and finishing off Monsters or Villains or whoever they end up fighting. Inevitably, gradually, this group will break up as their Level difference gets greater and greater, and they Evolve their Powers before she does. Maybe they’ll somehow hold it together since Sione and Vaiola look like siblings, and her Power looks useful.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  I walk up to them slowly and pull my card out to show them. Forgeries are known to be possible, but they take a tremendous amount of effort because of their interaction with our ability to pull people’s information. Who would go to the trouble to get an F+ DRP card? It would be crazy. Satisfied, they all nod when they see it and shake my hand in welcome.

  “I won’t take any Loot from this Dungeon run,” I inform them. “Just trying to test a few things with my weapons in real combat situations instead of the shooting range.”

  Keoni and the others raise their eyebrows at me turning down the Loot even though it’s clear I will outclass this Dungeon, and they get just a bit more excited about having me in the Party. I wonder how Leilani’s Sharpshooter Class and Bullseye Power will compare against my thousands of hours of training. It doesn’t make me feel like she’s cheated - it’s a great Power and she’s obviously trying to maximize it. I wonder if she’ll Evolve it to Tier 3 Minor when she reaches Level 50 and try to go for the big upgrade to a Major Power at Level 100. It’s what I’d do.

  “Calrik, we gotta get going. Vaiola’s Boost won’t last for that long but she should be able to use it again later when we need it,” says Keoni. I nod and gesture to the Portal.

  “Ready when you are,” I assure them.

  “What role you usually take, bro?” Keoni asks.

  “Damage dealing,” I assert. They’d probably prefer I was a tank, and I’d be happy to play the role if anything about my physical Attributes was above human norms, but I’m all too human.

  “We can work with that. Are you ok to stay at the back of a diamond with Vaiola in the middle?”

  “For sure.” I agree. It’s the best option for what we’re all trying to accomplish.

  Sione slings a large shield off his back and replaces it with the rifle that has a special holster, then lifts a massive mace off his belt. Keoni has short swords not dissimilar to mine, although lower quality, and Leilani has one blaster and a gun that looks like it packs a punch. My blasters in comparison don’t look as expensive or high quality as they are, thanks to Mom and Dad. It was always clear with my lack of a Power that I’d be vulnerable to getting my stuff stolen on Dungeon runs. It still happened a few times, especially when I was starting out and only knew how to spar in the gym rather than in real life, but I wasn’t a magnet for trouble..

  With a nod to all of us, Sione strides through the Portal, followed by Keoni, Leilani, and Vaiola who enter three across, and I bring up the rear after a couple of seconds.

  The first thing I notice when I step through is that the setup is good for us, at least near the entrance. We’re in an empty stone room almost like an abandoned prison cell, or maybe a wine cellar. There’s an exit leading to a corridor which is wide enough for us all to bring our weapons to bear, but narrow enough that something would have trouble getting past Sione unimpeded. The stone of the walls looks like granite that’s been stained by moisture and time. Moss, lichen cling to the shaded areas that aren’t fully illuminated by the Portal behind us and mineral streaks run through the walls like a lattice.

  All four of my Party members use an item to create a hovering light orb and the combination of orbs lights up the room, dismissing the shadows. I’m keen to practice my Mana control, and in theory everyone will just assume I’m using a similar item, so I channel my Mana into a light orb and snarl in concentration to get the brightness and light color close to the same as the others, which takes a few seconds.

  “You ok, Calrik?” asks Leilani. She’s glanced back at just the wrong time. So much for nobody noticing what I’m doing.

  “Yeah, no worries. Don’t like the smell,” I answer with a guilty grin. It’s plausible - this room has the faint smell of death and rotting you’d expect in surroundings like this. Some Dungeons I’ve been in are the polar opposite to this with sterile metal walls or even underground caverns with trees. It’s well known that there are amazing Dungeons including towers and mazes for people to delve into when they get higher Dungeon Run Profiles. At the moment I can’t even really imagine being in an E Ranked Dungeon, nevermind an A or S Ranked one.

  “I don’t like the smell either,” agrees Keoni softly. “We’ve explored this Dungeon a bit before. It’s straightforward and the Monsters are likely to be on us before we’re at the end of that hallway.” He gestures past Sione, who’s already walking forward with his shield raised and his mace in a low grip that looks ready to whip out at the first sign of anything. He already looks wary enough that I gain some confidence in my Party. They seem organized and disciplined.

  The ground slopes slightly down, almost as if inviting us to move forward, and our footsteps echo too clearly on the stone and down the hall. I pull a blaster into each hand as my enhanced Perception strains to figure out what might be ahead of us. Probably one of the classics. We go through the stone doorway of our room into the wide hall which is unremarkable, stretching straight for 20 or 30 meters before finishing in a T intersection. The ceiling is low enough and I’m tall enough that I feel like I need to hunch even though I don’t. Shallow grooves and claw marks in the stone hint at what we might find here.

  As we take a couple of echoing steps, an embarrassingly stereotypical giant rat turns the corner from the left side of the T intersection and races toward us with no challenge or shriek. Just silent heads down bullrush to get to us with its razor sharp teeth and claws. I pull its information and I’m surprised at what I’m able to see.

  Giant Dungeon Rat (Level 4)

  Damage Reduction Index: 0

  Mana: 0

  Conditions: Swarm of the Rodent

  The new information beyond what it is and the Level distracts me enough that I miss Sione’s crushing blow. It’s only the screech that reorients me what’s going on and I watch Sione take a second blow to crush the rat’s skull. The rat’s screech echoes down the hallway and even without my enhanced Perception it would be easy to hear the massively increased scrambling of claws over stone and sounds of a swarm of rats.

  “Back?” I call up to Keoni, wondering how this group will deal with a swarm of rats. Even though I’m higher Ranked than them I still mostly stick to encounters where I won’t get overwhelmed and there’s no cover here.

  “We got this!” yells Keoni, and all of them brace themselves as giant rats the size of dobermans in a thick pack surge around both corners and down the hall at us.