“To the left!”

  Chris darted forwards as the shadowy shape launched at them, summoning a ball of fire over his head as the monster screeched, the bright light from the flame burning away the dark smoke that surrounded it. In a moment that Shadow Hawk was fully visible, flapping its wings angrily as it tried to fly away, a knife sinking into its shoulder making it cry out again as it fell to the floor.

  “Loppy, finish it off!” Jessica shouted, “Attack Up!”

  The Horned Rabbit speared the hawk with its horn, the creature struggling for a moment, before it fell still.

  “Dad?” Chris called as the older man walked past him, crouching in front of the bird with a knife in hand, quickly setting about taking it apart.

  “We’ve gotten pretty good at this,” Elizabeth hummed as she walked up beside her brother, Chris just nodding as he watched his father work, “Both Jess and I have even gotten another level, and dad is almost at level four as well.”

  “It’s certainly been effective,” Chris nodded, checking his own Status screen, sighing as he looked at his Experience, “Stupid Skill.”

  “What?” Elizabeth asked, Chris jumping as he realized what he’d just said, noticing both Jessica and his father looking at him as well, “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, uhm…I’m not really supposed to tell you about that Skill,” Chris sighed, flinching as his sister glared at him, “Look, all I can tell you is that it halves the amount of Experience I get in exchange for some…I guess powerful abilities?”

  “Halves the amount of Experience you get?” Jessica gasped, “Then you’re kind of like me! I have to share what I get with Loppy.”

  “In a way,” Chris sighed again, “Look, I’ve already said too much, so can we just drop it?”

  “Is this Skill why you seem to know what all the monsters are called?” Elizabeth continued, Chris looking away as she grinned, “It is, isn’t it? That’s pretty cool. I won’t ask what else it can do, but I’m sure you’ll tell me eventually.”

  “When you’re stronger,” Chris replied, smiling at his sister as she hurried back to her friend, the two already discussing tactics for the next fight, “And you, dad? How’re you feeling?”

  “Pretty good, actually,” the man hummed as he finished dressing the bird, handing the corpse to his son, who put it in his bag, “This is surprisingly refreshing. Like a holiday to the mountains.”

  “It’ll only get harder from here,” Chris warned, “The next few floors are going to have stronger monsters and more dangers. And we don’t even know if you can leave a Hard Difficulty Dungeon when you finish a floor yet.”

  “I know,” the older man hummed, patting his son reassuringly on the shoulder, “I promise I won’t drag you down.”

  “I believe you,” Chris nodded, spotting something in his father’s hand, “What’s that?”

  “Oh, well, usually when I use my Harvest Skill on the birds, everything but the body disappears after a while, but this time a single feather was left over as well,” he said, handing Chris the item, “Don’t know if it’s of any use, but it’s kind of pretty, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah,” Chris nodded as he put the feather into his bag, “It’s a D Rank crafting material, so you could probably use it to make something decent with your Crafting Skill in the future.”

  “That sounds good,” the man laughed, “Now, I think it’s been around four hours, so we should probably head back before the captain has an aneurism and sends everyone out looking for you, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, good idea,” Chris chuckled as they called out to the two girls, telling them they were heading back.

  ------

  Quiet chatter filled the air as the soldiers ate hungrily, Jessica humming to herself as she cooked over the strange device Chris had pulled from his bag. It was just a simple stew made from bird meat and some freeze-dried vegetables, but the soldiers had already praised her multiple times, a couple of the younger ones joking that they might ask her to marry them for her food alone. She’d just laughed and said she’d consider it after she turned eighteen, which had prompted the others to joke about their comrades being cradle snatchers. The sounds of happy eating made Jessica happy too, sighing in satisfaction as she finally sat down to eat something herself.

  “You doing okay?” The question made her look up, smiling at Elizabeth as she nodded.

  “I’ve even impressed myself with how good the stew turned out, though it could use a little more salt,” she joked, “But we have to ration what we have, so it’s no big deal.”

  “Not what I was talking about,” Elizabeth said as she sat beside her friend, “I saw how you reacted when Chris told us about his Skill. You’re still sad about the fact that you share Experience with Loppy, aren’t you?”

  “No!” Jessica gasped, looking down at the Horned Rabbit as it ate the food she’d given it, “It’s just…I know that I’ll never be the strongest, but I have you to protect me anyway, right?”

  “Yeah,” Elizabeth nodded, “So, what did you put your Free Points into? It’s kind of exciting to get six after only getting two for so long.”

  “You first,” Jessica chuckled, “Come on, tell me!”

  ------

  Chris nodded as he read over the report on the soldiers’ levels, smiling at the captain. It had been four days since they’d entered the Dungeon, and they were making quick progress, having to venture out further afield to even find more Shadow Hawks or other monsters to fight.

  “Good, everyone is at least level five now,” Chris said, “I think we can head to the next floor without too much trouble.”

  “Good to hear, sir,” the captain nodded, “Shall we break camp first thing in the morning?”

  “I think so,” Chris hummed as he looked up at the darkening sky, “The Gore Bears only seem to come out at night, so it’s probably best for us to stay put for now.”

  “Of course,” the captain nodded, “I’ll inform the men that we’re packing up at dawn.”

  “And I’ll break the bad news to my sister and her friend,” Chris chuckled as the man walked away.

  “So,” Elizabeth said as Chris turned around, jumping at her sudden appearance, “We’re going after the floor Boss?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Chris sighed, having forgotten that she could sneak up on him like that, “Tomorrow we’ll head to the cave you found the exit in and beat the Boss so we can go to the next floor.”

  “Great!” Elizabeth said happily, running off to spread the news to their father and Jessica.

  “Should I be worried that she seems so excited to fight?” Chris muttered to himself, jumping again as the soldier spoke behind him.

  “I don’t think so, sir,” the man chuckled, saluting as Chris looked at him, “She’s a tough one, even saved my hide a couple of times when I went hunting with her.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Good to hear, Private, uhm…” Chris said, trying to remember the man’s name.

  “Alan, sir,” Alan laughed, “I’m one of the two Defenders in the group. Thanks for the new shield, by the way.”

  “No problem,” Chris nodded, “I have a dozen of them in my bag, so I gave a couple to my dad to fix up.”

  “They’re good,” Alan smiled, “Much easier to handle than the ones we came in with. Don’t take nearly as much damage either.”

  “That’s because those are D Rank Shields,” Chris said absentmindedly, “The ones you brought from the outside were barely F Rank.”

  “Really?” Alan said in surprise, “Then thank you again, knowing we have stronger equipment is great!”

  “Yeah,” Chris nodded, as he watched the soldier turn away, an idea popping into his head, “Hold on, Alan?”

  “Yes sir?” the soldier asked.

  “Think you could wear a full suit of armor?”

  ------

  The group trudged up the mountain, heading towards a large cave as they shifted and squirmed slightly in their equipment.

  “Sorry about the fit,” Steven called out, “I did the best I could with what I had.”

  “It’s fine dad,” Chris said as he chuckled at his sister adjusting the ragged leather vest she was wearing over her army fatigues again, “At least everyone is in at least E Rank gear now.”

  “Who would have thought that the stuff we brought from outside the dungeon would be F Rank,” Jessica hummed as she pulled the patched together cloak around herself, a chill wind blowing around them, “I do kind of feel bad for getting given all the best pieces though.”

  “It’s fine, Miss,” one of the soldiers walking beside her said, “It’s our job to protect you, and that’s made easier if you’re well protected already.”

  “If you want to talk about well protected,” Jessica chuckled as she looked at Chris, his gold and crimson armor stark against the crowd of brown leather and dull metal, “What Rank is your Gear, anyway?”

  “S Rank,” Chris shrugged, making the girl scowl at him, “It’s not my fault, it was special gear from the Dungeon I did, it just turned out like this.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Jessica laughed, “You’re just that lucky.”

  “Says you,” Elizabeth cut in, pointing to the staff the other girl was using to help her walk, “You got a C Rank item from the Tutorial, didn’t you?”

  “Simple Guardian’s Staff,” Chris nodded as he looked at the crook, “It gives a bonus to Enhancement Magic when used to cast it.”

  “Yeah, I was just as surprised to find that out as you, Beth,” Jessica said as she looked at the long object, “I thought Loppy was going faster and hitting harder after I started using it.”

  “Well, that’s a discussion for another time,” their father interrupted, pointing up ahead, the large cave looming in the distance, “We’re almost there.”

  The group quickly arrived at the mouth of the cave, the soldiers peering into the darkness nervously as Chris and the captain talked, the man glancing at the cave in worry every few seconds. About five minutes later, Elizabeth emerged from the shadows, nodding silently as she approached them.

  “Scouting done,” she said softly, “The bear Boss is asleep, but it’ll probably wake up once we get close enough for it to hear.”

  “Right,” Chris nodded, “You didn’t see anything else in there?”

  “Just a lot of bones,” Elizabeth shook her head, “I checked everywhere I could, and didn’t see any other bears.”

  “So, it’s just the one monster then?” the captain asked, Chris and Elizabeth both nodding, before Chris added on.

  “We’ll probably want to leave a rear guard just in case though. We don’t know if it can call other bears to help it.”

  “Got it,” the captain nodded, heading towards the gathered soldiers and whispering orders to them.

  “This shouldn’t be too hard, though, right?” Elizabeth asked, adjusting her armor again, “I mean, we have you with us, can’t you just one shot the Boss?”

  “Maybe,” Chris shrugged, drawing a confused look from his sister as he continued, “But I don’t want to. You need the experience of fighting a tough enemy, all of you do, so I’ll mostly be doing defense for this fight, but I’ll step in if necessary.”

  “Good to know,” Elizabeth chuckled, looking back at the cave, “I’m going to go back in, make sure I didn’t miss anything and set up behind the Boss for when you wake it up.”

  “Are you sure?” Chris asked, the worry obvious in his voice.

  “Yeah,” the girl nodded confidently, “Plus, I should get a few extra Skill levels out of it. I want to Rank up my Stealth Skill as soon as possible.”

  Chris just shook his head as his sister disappeared into the darkness once again, turning to look at the soldiers as they split into two groups.

  ------

  “Gore Bear Patriarch,” Chris whispered as he peeked around the bend in the cave, looking back at the group behind him, the captain and Alan both nodding as he looked around the room for Elizabeth, not seeing her at all.

  “Shall we proceed with the plan, sir?” the captain asked, Chris biting his lip for a moment, before nodding, “Alright. Form up, soldiers.”

  “Yes sir,” the soldiers whispered, gathering just behind the bend.

  “I’ll go in first,” Chris hummed, “Get its attention. Then the rest of you follow and attack it.”

  “Understood, sir,” the captain nodded, watching as Chris stood and walked confidently into the large open area at the end of the cave.

  The bear twitched as he entered, before lifting its head and blinking sleepily at him. Chris tensed as he waited for it to make its move, before the massive paw slammed into his side, almost knocking him from his feet.

  “Ow,” he coughed, “You’re faster than you look.”

  The bear just growled as it swung a paw at him again, Chris ready for it this time, managing to catch the attack as he dug his feet into the ground, still sliding back from the force as his arms shook. He kept a tight grip on the bear’s paw as it tried to pull it back, snorting at the man as he pinned it in place.

  “Now!” Chris shouted, shutting his eyes as the balls of fire shot into the cave, lighting it up with small explosions as they collided with the bear.

  The creature staggered as it was both injured and partially blinded, roaring loudly as the rest of the group charged in, weapons drawn, swiping its other paw at them. Alan charged forwards, his ill-fitting armor clanking loudly as he moved, blocking the attack with his shield as he gritted his teeth against the force. The two men glanced at each other as they held the bear in place, both giving a small nod before letting out a shout. With a force of effort, they stepped towards the bear, throwing it off balance for a second as it tried to adjust, exposing its stomach. The other soldiers dug into the weak point with spears and swords, making the Boss cry out in pain, before they jumped back, barely avoiding a series of wild swings.

  “Again!” Chris shouted as he and Alan charged forwards, one stopping a paw with his shield, while the other grabbed on.

  The bear snarled as it realized what was happening, digging its feet in as it prepared for the two to push against it again.

  “And pull!” Chris shouted, yanking back on the paw with all his strength as Alan threw his shield to the side, making the bear topple forwards.

  Surprised by the change in tactics, the monster growled as it tried to get back to its feet, before three spears stabbed it in the shoulder, making it roar in agony. It swiped at the spearmen, about to strike them all when the armored figure appeared between them, taking the full force of the strike against his shield. Alan went flying, slamming into the far wall of the cave as he slumped to the ground, the spearmen able to pull back as the bear rose onto its hind legs again, one arm hanging limply at its side.

  “Don’t stop now!” Chris yelled, glancing over at Alan, praying the man was just unconscious, “Healer, get to the Defender!”

  The bear reared its head back, unleashing a bone shaking roar as it raised its good arm above it, about to slam it down on top of Chris, before a glint of silver flashed across its throat, blood spraying out as it staggered back in pain.

  “Dammit,” Elizabeth huffed as she jumped down beside her brother, “I don’t think I cut deep enough to finish it off.”

  “You did well enough,” Chris grinned at her, watching as the blood started to soak the bear’s chest, “Get to the back and wait out the rest of the fight.”

  “Yeah right,” the girl chuckled as she darted to the side, vanishing back into the shadows, “I’ll get it this time!”

  “Beth!” Chris shouted as the bear charged at him, its eyes full of fury as it opened its mouth.

  Instinctively, Chris raised his arm, watching as the monster snapped down on it, the crunch of bone sickening. The bear stumbled back, pawing at its mouth in pain, several of its teeth broken as blood dripped down its lips. A dagger suddenly sank into the side of its neck, making it choke, before the girl reappeared beside it, driving her second weapon into its eye.

  “For fuck’s sake, Beth!” Chris shouted, about to cast a powerful spell as the bear staggered around, swiping wildly, “I told you to get in the back!”

  “Okay, okay,” the girl laughed as she ran past her brother, “You’re welcome by the way!”

  “What?” Chris asked, looking back at the bear as it collapsed to the ground, twitching and panting, “What did you do?”

  “I might have used a little poison,” Elizabeth called, “Well, not poison, more like anesthetic.”

  “What?” Chris groaned, “How much?”

  “Half a bottle,” the girl admitted, “Coating a blade in that stuff is harder than you’d think.”

  “Dammit,” Chris sighed, walking up to the bear and firing a thin blast of air though its skull, killing it instantly, “I want to say that was smart, but it was still stupid!”

  “Oh, come on,” his sister pouted, “It was pretty smart.”

  “And if you’d gotten hit?” Chris growled, glaring at her as she looked away, “It could have killed you!”

  “Yeah, I know,” Elizabeth muttered, looking back at her brother, “But you said I needed to learn how to fight a tough opponent, right? Well, I did, and I’m fine!”

  “I…you…” Chris groaned, “Fuck, I don’t know what to say to this. I’m going to tell dad.”

  “Go ahead, he helped me come up with the idea,” the girl grinned as Chris stared at her in frustration, “Anyway, let’s see what we got in the chest!”

  “Hold on,” Chris said as he turned to look at the armored figure lying against the far wall, the group Healer pressing his hands against the Defender’s chest as soft light shone through his fingers, “How is he?”

  “I’ll live,” Alan croaked, hissing as he moved slightly, “Just got knocked out, though I probably broke a few bones as well.”

  “Alright,” Chris sighed in relief, looking back at his sister as the girl now stood beside the golden chest, hopping excitedly from foot to foot, “Fine, you can open it.”