"I can do you one better," the [Archmage] said with a smile. "This may have been the Stone Warden's home, but the ancients had a particular affinity to ley lines. Most of the major cities and dungeons sit on a nexus of the magic underlay."

  Most magic of the previous age needed ley lines to operate. Think of it like magical plumbing. Tandy glanced at Richard, and I knew that he'd only shared that tidbit with the two of us.

  Pops moved to one statue I hadn't examined. It was of lesser quality, and I realized now, as he pulled at the cleric's arm, that it wasn't a Stone Warden memorial at all, but something sculpted by a human. The hand holding a torch tilted downward, and with some mechanical intervention, the sculpture slid to the side, revealing a hole and a rather sketchy-looking ladder.

  "I think I'm going to stay here," Ash said hurriedly after one look at the hole. He'd gotten the monocle back and returned to scanning the room.

  "Me too," Meredeath piled on, her green eyes shimmering. It seemed like she was having a good time communing with the dead.

  Briyain will stay.

  Tandy and I exchanged a glance, like either of us would have been willing to lug Briyain down the creepy hole without Meredeath. I wasn't even sure how one would attempt to make that climb without sloshing half his water out.

  Pops started climbing down the rungs of the ladder like he was a man half his age. We watched as his white hair disappeared into the hatch.

  Tandy looked up at me as she took the first couple rungs, "You coming?"

  I gave her a grin, "Of course, would want you to collapse the tunnel without me."

  Argin gave me a stony look, which I returned with a grin.

  The ladder dropped fifteen yards, and the cramped conditions made progress slow. I immediately felt claustrophobic, especially with Richard clinging closely to my neck like a needy toddler. When my feet hit the damp floor, I immediately thought of the dungeon under Eddie's Mill. We'd just dropped into what looked like a rounded sewer tunnel, complete with drips and the same sort of inset light design.

  While the walls were seamless, the floor was odd. Dark rock covered it, smooth and uneven. It reminded me of the slag in the furnace’s bottom that I had to clean out every week while working as a [Smith].

  "I didn't get a dungeon notification, but this looks like a dungeon. What is this place?" It was too similar, too uniform.

  "Can you feel it in the air?" Pops said, his eyes alight. His white hair frizzed out as though he'd been charged with static in dry air. "The floor's changed, but it's been a while since I've been down here."

  He stomped on the floor, testing it out. The rock didn't budge.

  I held out my hands and... I could. The air was still, but my hairs were slowly lifting from my skin.

  "This can't be good for your health," Tandy whispered. She'd stepped away from us, moving down the tunnel. It had a natural curve, so it was hard to tell just how far the tunnel extended.

  It feels fantastic on the slime. Richard uncurled from my neck and began preening as though he were sunbathing.

  "I'll be honest, I expected more." As soon as I said the words, I knew I'd insulted the [Archmage].

  "If you had [Vision], you wouldn't be saying the same thing, son." Pop's eyes had an eerie film across them, as though he had cataracts. He looked around with wonder, bobbing in and out like a drunk person dodging something unseen.

  I know why he's such a bad [Archmage], Richard said, tentacles studying the man. He's built like a [Mage] from my age. He's actually a lot more like Tandy than he realizes.

  I stepped away from the two [Mages], watching their antics. Tandy lurched sideways as her ankle rolled on some slag. Unbothered, she giggled, bracing one hand against a wall while she lifted her other to "feel" the magic. She had the same glassy-eyed look as Pops, as though she was utilizing a skill to see beyond what I could.

  "I'm going to explore down this way," I called to Tandy. And then as I took a couple more steps away, I whispered to Richard, "What do you mean like a 'mage from your age'?"

  Did I say that? Richard rolled, his body turning on my shoulders like he was a squirmy puppy. It must be the ley line. It feels so good.

  Tandy and Pops were sharing some sort of joke. Their laughter echoed in the tunnel. I kept walking, sure that something would just be around the next bend. A tickle of light danced just out of sight, but as I took another step forward, nothing was there. The bricks in the sides of the tunnel were so uniform, fitted together by a master in their craft. The line of inset lighting in the ceiling didn't deviate. Even the drip from condensed moisture seemed too uniform.

  "Where's the water coming from?" I asked no one in particular. It was odd, though. I didn't see any liquid on the walls, and the air was decidedly dry. Looking down at the floor, I bent down trying to get a closer look. As I'd been walking, it'd felt like the floor was damp, almost sticky, but upon closer inspection it was as dry as the rest of the tunnel.

  I stuck out my hand, scraping my fingers against the gritty, dry surface. Richard decided that this was his moment, and he swan-dived off my shoulders. He bounced as he hit, performing a large belly flop that didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. His slime shimmered in the ambient light. Richard slimed forward at his top speed, his slime slicker, almost supercharged.

  Normally the slime on my shoulders evaporated pretty quickly once Richard was off of them. It was one of the few things that made his existence bearable. His slime evaporated, and the only hint of residue was a faint earthy smell that I'd developed an affinity for. The supercharged slime sat on me like a wet ganache that hadn't hardened yet.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Richard, are you feeling okay?" I looked up, and my slug had vanished around the bend.

  Stumbling on the uneven floor, I chased after him. His slime trail glistened like oil in the sun. But just like that sense of a flicker of a light, he was just out of reach.

  "RICHARD, get back here." I used my most authoritative adult voice. The one that worked on Saphira and Galen, the little ones in the family.

  I got a raspberry in response.

  Bet you can't catch me.

  I stopped, planting my feet in place. He was right, and something odd was going on. One thing I knew for sure, though, chasing a toddler was a sure way to make them run. I centered my mind. Using [Analyze] I examined the floor of the cavern.

  [Brick Floor - This is a magically constructed tunnel floor.]

  The [System] explanation was so mundane it was suspicious. I [Analyzed] Richard's slime.

  [Imbued Banana Slug Slime - This slime has been dipped in the [Primal] energy of the universe. It has increased elasticity and natural magical properties are enhanced.]

  "Richard, you're drunk on magic. We should get out of here."

  Drunk? I don't think so. I feel gooood. Richard had come back into view. He looked bloated as he slid along the floor. He was still out of reach, beached like an inflated sausage.

  I took a step forward, and he slithered backward.

  "Come on, we should check in on Tandy and the old man." I was getting lightheaded myself. He waggled his tail at me, as though daring me to just try to grab him. I tried to use logic. “Richard, we’ve got to save Cersapil from your old friend Raif.”

  Raif’s harmless, my oversized friend has always been a gentle giant. Loves children. He was a Wayfinder, you know? Ashborn. Richard’s tentacles drooped, and I thought I had my moment. I lunged for the distracted slug.

  He must have had a [Dodge] skill trigger, because he rolled to the side leaving a puddle of slime that I ended up laying face first in. Everbear be damned.

  I sat, wiping slime off my face as Richard clung to the side of the tunnel out of reach.

  “If he’s so noble, why is he turning half the city into zombies.”

  [Corruption], it’s the Fire Wyrm’s influence. We have to kill her. The ground shook below us as though the Fire Wyrm heard him. Was it getting hotter in the tunnel?

  “You’re crazy, he’d worming into people’s brains.” I stood looking at the drunk slug, my own head feeling a big fuzzy under the ley line’s energy. “Let’s go, something’s not right in this tunnel.”

  To be [Immortal] is to be crazy. He giggled. The slug giggled at me as his slime glowed blue and he climbed higher, out of my reach.

  I straightened my spine, I refused to indulge the stupid mollusk in child’s play. Instead, I pulled upon all of my years as an older brother who babysat the kids.

  Using the toddler protocol, I resolutely turned my back to him and started marching back towards our friends.

  The slow slurk behind me was the only evidence of my success.

  I'd just gotten the ladder up into view when the tunnel shook. I rode the first ripple in the ground forward and then lunged for the ladder to give me some balance. Looking behind me, I got the amusing sight of Richard rolling back and forth up the sides of the tunnel like a leaf caught in the surf. Slime went everywhere, and not for the first time I wondered if he had an [Unlimited Slime] skill.

  "By the bell of a guardian, that isn't what I think it is, is it?" Tandy's panicked voice echoed down the hall. "Cole! Come back, start climbing. We've got to get out of here."

  I thought it was ironic, considering I was the one already at the ladder.

  "Richard, come on. We've got to go," I hissed. The slug ignored me, rolling upside down and sticking his tongue out to probe at the air.

  Suit yourself. I started climbing the ladder, catching Tandy and the [Archmage] running our way. An eerie, flickering glow hit the walls behind them. Maybe that's what they'd been seeing all along? I took another couple of rungs before a wall of heat hit me. Sweat started dripping down my brow. My lungs were having trouble catching a breath. I hadn't struggled this hard since I'd gained my gills.

  The tunnel shook again as Tandy hit the bottom of the ladder.

  "Climb, you fool," she shouted, hitting the bottom of my feet.

  I was holding on tight, trying not to fall off as the tunnel shook like an accordion.

  That's when I saw the bubbling, sloshing surge of lava. It was viscous, sticking like batter to the floor, otherwise we'd all be dead. I reached for the next railing, my feet following through with all the urgency Tandy's tone demanded.

  [[Warning] - The heat of your current environment has caused you to earn the state: [Heat Exhaustion]. This state will cause your stamina to drain quickly, and deadly sleepiness to occur. Ignore this warning at your own risk. This state can only be relieved in a cooler environment. If you continue to expose yourself to heat or the heat escalates, you will progress to [Heat Stroke].]

  I didn't have time to think. My hands were slick, the tunnel was shaking. My stamina was draining rapidly. The earthquake was much worse than the previous one. Tandy grabbed my foot, causing it to slide off the rung. Half of her weight was suddenly pulling me down. I couldn't look. My arms drained my stamina as every fiber of my being focused on holding on.

  "Tandy, you're pulling me down." I said between gritted teeth. The hole that led up to the study was just above me. Another rung and I'd be surrounded by cooler stone.

  My stamina hit the 30% mark and my [Heat Stroke] timer had plummeted to [5] minutes. Stretching out my hand, I breached the invisible barrier into the shaft, cooler air kissed my skin. I made the mistake of looking down.

  The lava had reached our portion of the tunnel. Tandy clung to my leg, her hand outstretched. She was humming a discordant tune as a blue bubble of magic surrounded Pops. His robe had caught fire, and his slippers were smoldering a foot above the liquid rock.

  Tandy had encased him in a magic shell, and by the strain on her face, she couldn't hold it forever.

  Another ripple of lava was moving down the tunnel, we had to move. Straining, I flexed my forearm. Tandy gripped my leg tighter as I scrambled to get my free leg onto the next rung. For a moment we hung from my tired forearms. Then my foot caught, and I could use my leg to push us up. Tandy’s weight dragged at me until her feet found new purchase on a rung.

  We continued like that, one rung at a time. The tunnel had turned into an oven. Sweat burned my eyes, and my hair clung to my forehead. At some point, Tandy let go of my leg and took control of her own ascent. We couldn't go two abreast as the shaft tightened. I just kept my head up and kept climbing. The [Archmage] was going to make it or he wouldn't.

  I fell into the study. Exhausted and overheated. It took everything I had to help Tandy up the last couple of rings. By the time Pops broke through, Ash and Meredeath were helping.

  I lay on my back on the cold stone of the study, surrounded by Argin's ancestors, sucking in deep, cool breaths.

  "We should probably close it," Ash said, looking down at the molten tube.

  "I doubt that'll stop the lava from breaking through up here," Meredeath argued, while those of us that had escaped were still gasping for breath. My gills flopped uselessly against my neck. [Distributed Systems] did nothing against [Heat Exhaustion].

  My [Heat Stroke] timer was climbing in the almost chilly air of the study.

  Briyain has question. The Tuli Monster sat in his bowl, his snout sticking out of the water, tongue lolling to the side. Where is slug?

  Stumbling Up will be stubbing book 1 the week of March 1st (Chapter 1-71)

  Also, I'll be attending Jordan Con and LitRPG Con as a panelist this year! Looking forward to seeing you all there!

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