“Dungeons, Raids and Towers in NEMO differ from other fighting zones. You still have xp debt from deaths, but you aren’t sent back to your house or guild base. You respawn at the entrance and can rejoin the battle without delay. This is a boon and a bane. If you aren’t careful and die multiple times, you can cripple yourself with an overwhelming debt of experience that will take you weeks to clear. Caution and preparation are the keys to successful dungeon exploration.”

  Excerpt From “Dungeon Ecology” by Lara Jones.

  Year 1, Month 1, Day 3, 12:00

  Grandpa Mike sat on the shore of the lake with more than a dozen children surrounding him. They all casually tossed their lines into the water and waited to catch whatever fish they could. They pulled bream, sunfish and perch mostly with the occasional bass. He sipped on some faerie root beer and smiled. It wasn’t a real beer, but it was cool, and it was great that he could be here with his grandson and even better that his grandson wasn’t in pain and had legs again. The last year since the accident had been hard on them both. Now they could both relax. Mike had people to help him out, and his grandson had friends his own age to play with. A huge golden retriever and other animals played with the children not occupied by fishing. He felt the line tugging again and smiled. He could get used to this.

  Torgon’s group handed off the blueprints they didn’t use to a party headed back to the guild base. The team slipped out of the city and headed towards the dungeon. They jogged at a steady pace, making sure to stay alert for monsters. They met up with the scout group outside the dungeon in an hour. The opening to the dungeon lay in a hidden ravine. A weathered stone arch set into the side of a hill shimmered with the magical black and purple swirls of a portal. It was obscured by overhanging rocks and underbrush. The entrance wasn’t visible unless you were almost on top of it. A dozen skeletons lay on the ground outside; their bones bleached with age and covered in moss.

  Mark gave Torgon a quick report, “Hey Boss. No signs of anyone else here. There are practically no monsters in the area other than roving goblin bands. It’s easy to overlook and those skeletons animate if you get too close. We haven’t gone inside. If you get to within ten feet of the entrance it alerts you. The skeletons respawn every 20 minutes. Ranged weapons are almost useless against them but the swords work just fine.”

  Torgon had Hyperia and Ovarrix pull the skeletons two at a time with force bolts and the two groups dispatched them quickly. “Good work finding the dungeon. You guys can clear out, or you can try to run it too. No idea how hard it is. We’ll be going slow and putting information out as we go. I want to get as many groups as we can to be able to clear. If it’s too hard, we’ll abandon it.”

  “We’re going to scout further north and see what we can find. I think we’re all more comfortable outside of an ancient tomb.” Mark laughed and the scout group gathered up to move out. “Let us know when you’re thinking about leaving and we’ll run back by to make sure the exit is clear. Good luck, get us some of those sweet dungeon cores so we can build our base up.” The scouts headed north, moving deliberately and cautiously.

  Torgon, Hyperia, Ovarrix, Allestor and Dusty gathered by the archway, a swirling darkness visible within. Torgon reached to touch it and was greeted with a system message.

  “You have found a Dungeon! The Crypt of the Lost is waiting to be explored. The recommended level for this dungeon is 1 to 5. Normal mode is selected. Hard mode will be available when Normal is cleared. Expert mode will be available when Hard mode is cleared. Normal mode requires a minimum pain threshold of 50%. Would you like to enter?”

  The party selected yes and found themselves teleported into a dusty stone room filled with cobwebs in the corner. Archways led west, north and east and the portal filled a space to the south. Every opening had runic markings above them in an unknown language. Dusty squeaked in joy, “Look at these runes! I need to take these down and see if we can learn something from them or if they’re part of a language we can decipher.” She began taking notes in her interface while the rest of the group peered down the openings.

  “What direction should we try first?” Hyperia tossed little rocks down each passageway without any response.

  “We’ll go right side first after Dusty finishes her sketches. Allestor, bring out your shield. I don’t think the skeletons are going to care about fog banks. I guess we’ll find out if the force shield from the spell and the amulet stacks very soon.” Torgon did some light stretching, readied his sword and tossed force shields on Allestor and Dusty.

  “I’ll push in fast and shove any bags of bones out of the way to make room. The skeletons outside weren’t magically heavy. I’ll position them to give Ovarrix and Hyperia clear shots with force bolts. I’ll go right and help cover Allestor’s right side.” Dusty went through the archway, followed closely by Allestor and the rest.

  The archway opened into a large square chamber more than twenty feet on each side. The room had stone niches along the walls with the rubble of broken statues. A curving passageway lay on the opposite side behind a magical shimmer. Inside the room five skeletons began animating to attack. Dusty pinned one down and started hacking while Allestor separated another from the group. Force bolts fired into Allestor’s target while Torgon moved to support Dusty’s right flank. The trailing skeleton thrust its spear into Dusty doing no damage. She called out in a cheery voice, “That hit for 11, it popped the amulet’s shield and ticked 1 off the force shield Torg cast, they do stack!” The group fought with coordination and intensity. Dusty moved to put the skeletons on her side in a line to cut down on attacks and Torgon focused on maintaining fresh shields to minimize her incoming damage. Allestor, Ovarrix and Hyperia rolled up the skeletons from the side with efficient DPS. When the last skeleton clattered to the floor the shimmer on the passageway disappeared.

  Torg quickly took the loot from the bodies, “Lots of copper coins and two bone clubs. Dusty, Allestor, you get those as spares just in case. Let’s follow the passageway.” They pressed on, entering a room with a fountain that looked as if it hadn’t held water for hundreds of years. Another curved passageway lay on the opposite side. No magical shimmer was present. Dusty moved forward and then flung herself to the side as an arrow shot across the room from the wall. “Traps! Traps in a freaking beginner dungeon. I stepped on a slightly raised stone, and it depressed, triggering the arrow. Watch for more.” The team avoided the additional trap triggers and moved to the other side to enter the passage.

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  “I’ll bet the shimmer indicates a monster or challenge in a room that has to be overcome before you can move forward, and no shimmer means an empty room or traps.” Ovarrix thought out loud as they continued down passage.

  The next chamber held a giant skeleton kneeling in the center of the room. In its hand was a massive two-handed sword that looked like it weighed as much as a person. “I think we found our first boss,” Allestor stage whispered in glee.

  “I’ll focus shields on Dusty, then Allestor if necessary. That sword is really freaking big, I’d suggest not getting hit.” Torgon laughed.

  “Duly noted.” Dusty adjusted the grip on her shield. “If we can’t do this it’s doubtful that anyone else can right now. I’ll rush past and try to turn it from the group and you guys pound the hell out of it.” Dusty darted into the room. The giant skeleton warrior started rising as soon as she entered. She made it past, lashing her sword out to nick a bone and faced up to the boss with her shield ready. The giant turned to face her and swung its sword down ponderously. She dodged and stone chips flew from the floor with the impact of the sword. Allestor moved behind the giant and began attacking while Hyperia and Ovarrix split to the sides to fire away with force bolts. Torgon stayed on the side, keeping Allestor and Dusty in sight. Torgon readied himself to replace the force shields the moment one went down.

  The health bar on the boss slid down inexorably. At 75% a wave of electricity burst forth from the boss, stunning the three in melee range momentarily. His sword impacted Dusty and hurled her into the wall. Almost a third of her health was gone in a single shot. Torgon hastily reapplied the force shield to her while they continued attacking. Dusty shouted, “I’m ok, it blew through both force shields and then did about 30 damage. It’ll knock down 40 health with your shield up Torg, I doubt I’ll get anything back from the amulet this fight.”

  Ovarrix tossed out quick adjustments to the team, “When it approaches 50%, pull back hard Dusty, Allestor, you stay in range, and it should either target you or it’ll keep going after Dusty and she won’t be stunned.”

  When the boss hit 50% the electricity burst forth again, stunning Allestor, but the giant swung on Dusty again, who dodged the ponderous blade once more. “Nice, as long as there are no surprises we’ve got this.” Dusty enthusiastically exclaimed.

  Hyperia groaned loudly, “Bad Dusty, no tempting fate in boss fights.” Everyone chuckled while maintaining focus on damaging the boss.

  At 25% the lightning flared out but twice as far, catching Dusty, Torgon and Allestor again. The giant twirled in a circle with its sword flung out, hitting all of them and putting them on their backs, inflicting massive damage. Ovarrix darted into range to help parry the skeleton’s sword, enabling Dusty to barely roll out of the way of a followup strike that would have finished her. Dusty got back into rhythm, and she was joined by the others as they kept the pressure on the skeleton. A short time later the giant crumbled to the ground, defeated.

  “Congratulations! You have defeated the Ancient Skeletal Warrior! This is the first time this boss has been defeated so rewards are doubled!”

  Torgon gathered the loot and shared the info with the party, “Over 300 copper coins, 2 skillbooks, a sword and a helm.”

  “Skillbook: Common, Combat, Double Strike. Allows the user to strike twice with a melee weapon in a single blow. Cost: 10 Energy, Cooldown: 10 seconds.”

  “Skillbook: Basic, Magic, Healing Touch. The caster may touch a target and restore health points equal to 10 to 20 +(1xInt +1Skills). Cost: 10 Mana. Range: Touch”

  “Copper Long Sword of Strength: Basic, Damage 2-16 +(1xStr, +1Skills). Provides a +2 bonus to the Strength Attribute. Durability 200/200”

  “Copper Helm of Strength: Basic, Armor 2. Provides a +2 bonus to the Strength Attribute. Durability 200/200”

  “Stack the weapon, helm and double strike skill on Dusty. That should let her keep aggro and give her a lot more health to tank with.” Allestor said. “Make Torg be the healer since he already has the force shield.”

  “Any objections or other suggestions?” Torgon asked. Everyone liked the split, so the gear went primarily to Dusty, greatly increasing her effectiveness in combat.

  “Guys, I got a notification that my sword skill is functioning one level higher based on my strength. Primary stats give bonuses every 10 full points and secondary every 20.” Dusty informed the group.

  The party rested up, restoring their mana and health and letting their shielding amulets top up again. They followed the curving passageway until they found another arch, still blocked by a shimmer. Dusty spoke, “I think this curves back to the center path. That’s probably the final boss and since it’s blocked, we might need to clear the other paths to open the room” The team headed back to the start and chose the archway to the west this time.

  Two rooms of skeletal minions were cleared without any trouble before the group paused in front of the next boss room. The figure inside sat at a table, scribbling notes. Its skeletal frame was clad in tattered robes and a gnarled staff leaned against its side. “I’m not an expert on this sort of thing, but I would bet that’s a spellcaster,” Allestor added in a deadpan voice.

  Hyperia smirked and put in her own two cents, “I don’t think that’s true.” Allestor started to object but Hyperia ignored him and continued, “It’s obviously a caster, but you’re also definitely an expert. Now, if we were talking about ways to deescalate conflicts then you could say you’re not an expert.”

  “Fair” Allestor agreed.

  “Focus up. Let’s kill this thing. We’ve been in this dungeon for over an hour already. Lead us in Dusty.” Torgon motioned to the door.

  Dusty pushed into the room and hit the skeletal mage with a double strike from her new long sword. The eyes of the skeleton blazed with green fire that conveyed a wordless rage. Three force bolts ripped from its boney hands, ripping away a chunk of Dusty’s life. Torgon rushed behind her, putting his hands on her back to heal her. Ovarrix and Hyperia fired force bolts of their own only to discover that they did zero damage. “Spells did nothing, moving to melee range.” Ovarrix yelled.

  The five adventurers battered the skeleton with their swords as it swung its gnarled staff at them. When the monster hit half health, a blast of icy energy hit everyone, damaging them and slowing their movements down. Torgon focused on keeping shields up and healing as necessary while they whittled it down. With a final double strike from Dusty, the skeleton collapsed into a broken heap.

  “Congratulations! You have defeated the Ancient Skeletal Mage! This is the first time this boss has been defeated so rewards are doubled!”

  Dusty sat on the floor, “Anything good?”

  Torgon looked it over, “A skillbook for the long bow, another enchanted copper long sword of strength and a good melee skill for Allestor.”

  “Skillbook: Common, Combat, Sweeping Slash. Allows the user to strike all targets in range with their weapon in a single blow. Cost: 10 Energy, Cooldown: 10 seconds.”

  “Take the long sword too Allestor. Ovarrix, you get the long bow skill. Now we can go back to the middle passageway and finish this dungeon.”