The battlefield was eerily silent when they returned.

  Frozen penguins still hunched mid-charge, glassy eyes wide with permanent fury. The spiders were locked in brittle shards, their hairy legs jutting out at odd angles, fangs forever dripping venom into the ice. The water between the cracked icebergs was still as glass, black as a void.

  Even the dungeon seemed to hold its breath.

  “There,” Leo whispered, pointing with his quill.

  Two pedestals stood among the wreckage. One was wrapped in collapsed webs, strands glistening faintly. At its center pulsed a gem of deep crimson, glowing as though alive. The other pedestal jutted from a cracked iceberg, a pale-blue gem hovering above it, its light cold and sharp as the air.

  Both were darker than the gems they had seen before. Not gentle, not balanced. These hummed with danger.

  Harlada narrowed her eyes. “Called it. Special gems.”

  “Elemental alignment,” Leo agreed, scribbling furiously. “Cold. Binding. Perfectly logical.”

  Bert licked his lips. “Perfectly mine. Both of them.”

  Without waiting for agreement, he slunk forward, cleaver tucked against his side. For once, he moved like a true rogue, steps soft, shoulders hunched. His grin widened as he reached for the webbed pedestal—

  —and his boot landed in a sticky coil of leftover silk.

  Schlup.

  Bert froze. He tugged. Nothing. He tugged harder. The web clung like tar.

  The crystal screen pulsed overhead:

  Sneak Attempt Detected. Result: Failure.

  Bert’s grin faltered. “Uh-oh.”

  With a horrible whip-crack, the web tightened around him, yanking him off his feet. He landed flat on his back with a crunch, arms and legs stuck to the floor in a spread-eagle pose.

  “HELP!” he shouted.

  The crystal pulsed again, this time smugger:

  Achievement Unlocked: Entangled Idiot. Reward: None.

  Leo didn’t even look up from his notes. “Predictable.”

  Harlada snorted, crossing her arms. “You deserve this.”

  While Bert flailed helplessly, the other two stepped toward the pedestals.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  ***

  The gems pulsed faster as they drew near, reacting to their presence. Harlada’s fingers tingled before she even touched the blue crystal. When her hand closed around it, a jolt of cold surged through her veins, sharp and invigorating.

  The gem dissolved into her palm with a faint chime.

  Mage Harlada Houdini has acquired: Frostspark.

  Ability: Project minor cold. Duration: 3 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.

  She gasped, then laughed. Actual magic. Not sparks. Not fizzles. Real, tangible magic. She held out her hands, and frost bloomed along her fingertips, spreading across the stone. A thin sheet of ice coated the floor beneath her boots.

  Then she slipped and landed hard on her backside.

  Leo sighed. “Still unrefined.”

  Meanwhile, the crimson gem vibrated like a heartbeat as Leo approached. He adjusted his spectacles, quill twitching in excitement. “Webbing. Yes. Control. Restraint.” He reached out.

  The gem dissolved instantly into his palm.

  Warrior Leo Vince has acquired: Tactical Binding.

  Ability: Generate temporary restraining filaments. Duration: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.

  He inhaled sharply as threads of glowing red webbing shot from his fingers, latching onto the nearest object. Unfortunately, the nearest object was Bert.

  The rogue screamed as he was instantly mummified. “LEO!”

  Leo nodded, jotting notes while Bert writhed. “Excellent tensile strength. Responsive to intention. Remarkable.”

  “LET ME OUT!”

  “Not yet,” Leo murmured, watching as the filaments dissolved after exactly ten seconds. “Perfectly precise. Reliable. Superior to brute force.”

  Bert sat up, gasping. “You—both of you—you just took gems without me!”

  “You already had your turn,” Harlada reminded him sweetly, brushing ice off her gloves. “Balance, remember?”

  The crystal screen blinked in confirmation:

  Balance Enforcement Active. Next Reward: Delayed.

  Bert’s face turned red. He thrashed at the remaining webs clinging to his boots. “Balance is a scam!”

  “Balance,” Leo corrected, “is order.”

  “Balance,” Harlada added, “is why I finally have a working spell.” She froze a tiny puddle in triumph, then promptly slipped again.

  Bert buried his face in his hands. “I hate you both.”

  ***

  They trudged back across the frozen battlefield. Harlada still shivered from her new power, Leo muttered notes to himself, and Bert sulked loudly with every step. The dungeon was silent, almost contemplative.

  Then the ice trembled.

  From the far wall of the chamber, new shapes began to form. Stone rumbled, splitting to reveal three doorways rising out of the wreckage. Mist poured from their frames, curling in shimmering coils.

  Each was different from the others.

  The first was trimmed in gold, its surface gleaming so brightly it hurt their eyes.

  The second was clad in dull silver, faintly reflective, tarnished in places.

  The third was plain bronze, scratched and battered, green with age.

  Above them, the crystal screen flickered back to life:

  Choose Wisely. The Dimension of Gold. The Dimension of Silver. The Dimension of Bronze. Only one path advances.

  The doors pulsed, waiting.

  Bert groaned. “I swear, if bronze means spiders again…”