"Are you ready?" Tandy asked with a concerned waver in her voice. I couldn’t help but think of Leo. He would have clapped his hands on my shoulders and growled Are you ready to die?!?!?!!? and then pushed me in.

  Tandy looked at me as though I were jumping headfirst into the mouth of a dragon.

  I watched the Mosas swim behind Tandy, moving us a couple more feet towards the center of our enclosure.

  "This is better than being a dishwasher, right?" I gave Tandy my best grin. She didn't look impressed.

  "You’ve got this!" Ash gave two thumbs up.

  I had a bandolier of bombs strapped to my body, a makeshift crooked spear tipped with a kitchen knife, and a length of rope tied to my ankle. Richard was perched on my shoulder, like a slug with a death wish. All in all, a stick, some untested explosives and a slug were not a convincing array to take on what looked to be a small water dragon crocodile.

  "Have fun dying!" Pops toasted me with what looked like a sugar-rimmed margarita glass in one hand. I definitely needed a dimensional storage device.

  The [Rudimentary Spear] twisted nervously in my hand. The rough, knobby branch didn't give me much comfort. I was grateful, at least, that the [System] formally recognized it as a weapon, probably thanks to Ash's crafting skills.

  I walked to the shimmering edge of the bubble, which caught the attention of the beast. Fist-sized yellow eyes locked onto Richard and me as its serpentine body brought its teeth in alignment with me.

  I stepped backwards one foot. The beast, thirty feet long, was still locked on target. I took two and then three more steps back, watching. At five feet from the barrier, it disengaged as though I'd stepped back into a kelp forest and disappeared.

  I'd stripped off my worn boots and the red cloak Tandy'd made me on the road. Every time I thought of leaving my armor, I'd look at the teeth on the Mosas and refrain.

  Tandy's rope chafed along my bare ankle.

  I may be [Immortal] but I don't have all day. Are we going to do this or not? Richard prodded me, for once not biting my ear.

  Taking a deep, settling breath. I ran at the wall of water. As soon as my face submerged, I noted three things. First, the water was icy. Theoretically, I knew this, the enclosure we'd been sitting in had gotten chilly. What I hadn't counted on was my temperature debuff hitting immediately.

  [[Warning] - The cold of your current environment has caused you to earn the state: [Chilled]. This state will cause you to move and react more slowly than normal. If you continue to expose yourself to the cold, this will progress to [Frosty].]

  The second uncomfortable fact that hit my chilled body was the burning in my gills, the water was salty. I'd been to the ocean twice and should have suspected this. The first underwater breath caught sharply, my lungs expelling all of my land air in a bubbly burst that seemed to bedazzle the Mosas, as it circled lazily above me.

  My last revelation had to do with Richard, as he drifted off my shoulders, his sticky slime almost instantly dissolving in the salty water.

  As I coughed, surrounded by bubbles, I whirled around, expecting Richard to have helplessly drifted off. Instead, the yellow slug swam effortlessly around my head. Flattening his body, he rippled his foot in little waves to propel him forward.

  "You can swim?" I tried to say, instantly regretting it as my mouth filled with salty water.

  What do you think I am, some sort of helpless human baby?

  I couldn't have responded if I had wanted to, but we were going to have this conversation once we got back on dry land.

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  If it hadn't been for my bubbles, I'm sure the Mosas would have killed me while I was acclimating. I lifted my head to find the ominous underbelly of the beast floating thirty feet above us near the surface. It tilted its long, toothy snout so one yellow eye examined us. I watched it, my hand clenching the spear as though my kitchen knife would work against the monstrosity.

  Watch out!

  A snail shell floated towards us at a sedate pace. Man, he really had a thing against snails. I reached out to touch the snail's shell, booping it away, only to have the shell twist around. Two black eyes sitting on wispy tentacles looked at me curiously.

  Cole slowly back away.

  It was so cute.

  Tentacles beckoned and began pulsing different colors. Mesmerized, I tread water. This creature was incredible.

  Richard tackled the shell of the creature, latching on with his two fangs in a crevasse of the curled shell. Black ink squirted into the water as tentacles latched onto my face. The colors oscillated in the sudden darkness as my face burned, tiny little claws pumping acid and poison into my cheeks.

  [You have been [Poisoned]. You are losing 20 health every 30 seconds.]

  [You are [Acidified].]

  My heart spasmed, contracting without letting go. I tried to stab the creature, my arm moving glacially slow. The [Chilled] effect slowing me down. I felt a tug at my ankle as the crew inside the bubble realized I was in trouble fighting a gods-be-damned snail.

  [You, Cole Thornfield, are [Dead].]

  I floated above my body as [Cheat Death] worked through the scenario.

  [Skill Acquired: You have gained a new [Dead Wrong] skill, [Poison Resistance]. This skill was acquired through [Cheat Death]. You have a permanent body augment that allows you to resist aquatic-based poisons at the cost of genetic propagation potential.]

  What the hell does that mean?

  I was weightless. A dull, shimmering blue light faded as my vision returned. The world snapped into focus just as my body found gravity. I twisted in the air, trying to avoid the horror below me. Only partially successful, I fell into the side of the dead ox. Half-cooked gore covered my face as my arms plunged into the squishy haunch of its carcass.

  “Spear.” Meredeath’s cool voice cut through my disgust.

  I looked up to see my makeshift spear falling from the portal. Twisting my body, I rolled as the head of the spear hit the ox with a new spray of flesh.

  Using [Manipulate Slime] and my deep understanding of [Gelatinous] creatures, I dislodged myself with effort.

  "Well hello there, son." Pops raised his long-stemmed margarita glass with a smile. "Surprising, that not-dying thing. Neat trick."

  I blinked, standing up, rubbing my hip that had slammed into the ox buttocks, as I watched Richard ride the sea snail like a bull at a rodeo. The thing bucked, scooting left and right, as it tried to wrap its tentacles around the offending slug hitchhiker. Richard's tentacles whipped back and forth, slamming against the shell as the creature inked and freaked out.

  I hit the snail with [Analyze].

  [Ammonite - An ancient marine mollusk that is famous for its tough chambered shell. Its poisoned tentacles can cause cardiac failure in prey. Although not incredibly maneuverable, it floats using an air bladder within its shell and has the defensive ink properties of a squid.]

  Richard’s wild ride was cut short as the shadow moved. With a thrust from its muscular tail, the Mosas burst onto the scene. Four foot long jaws clamped down on the shell just as Richard slipped off. The slug, looking inordinately pleased with himself, waved his fringe in the water as he swam towards the enclosure, one eyestalk watching the Mosas, the other looking at us for praise.

  Richard shot through the barrier, landing with a wet, salty plop in our sandy enclosure. He slowly undulated forward, panting with the effort as though he'd just run for an hour. Ash moved to pick him up and bring him out of the five-foot danger zone.

  "Well, that could have been worse. Does anyone know what genetic propagation potential means?" I smiled, feeling another chunk of the ox guts slip off my face and splatter on the sand at my feet.

  "I don't know how that could have gone better," Tandy said coldly, her eyes taking me in.

  "What do you mean? Richard and I are alive, and I just lost a little genetic propagation potential, which doesn't sound that bad." My words were defensive. I knew we hadn't beaten the dungeon, but I'd learned a lot.

  "I wouldn't be so quick to claim success," Meredeath almost purred as she came up. "Lose too much genetic propagation and you'll be shooting blanks."

  Tandy and I turned to her, not understanding her off-world idioms. Meredeath shrugged, not willing to elaborate.

  "Well, what I'm concerned about." Tandy turned her back to Meredeath, her voice lowering. “Is that the barrier shrunk by two feet when you died.”

  I looked at our enclosure, noting it was a little snugger.

  "I just won't die again."

  [Richard has used [Refresh], your [Cheat Death] skill is off cooldown.]

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