Desiree cheerfully pointed out to Inara that they were not in fact done yet, because she had to practice her new skill and refill her mana pool.

  Once that was done, Inara took the lead into the next room. James assured her that there were no monsters close to the door, but there was a series of prison cells he hadn’t been able to explore while he was locked up in his own. For all he knew, each one had its own secret tunnel.

  It wasn’t long before she found the tile on the other side which would hold the door open. Desiree snatched up the monster core and they all reunited on the other side.

  James looked down the hallway of prison cells with fresh eyes. He’d been so certain that he was trapped in his own until someone else found the key that he’d not given the others much thought. If they were locked, they only mattered to his quest if he found a key, right?

  Inara nodded him towards the first one, and he tried his key on it. It still didn’t make sense to him that one little key would be able to open so many things, but maybe that was dungeon logic. Or Grimoran logic? It could be like the Master Key in Dark Souls, which could open any door in the game.

  But the key failed to turn. James was honestly relieved. Some of these cells held the remains of old prisoners chained to the wall, skeletons pockmarked by rat teeth. Opening each one would mean searching each one for secrets and getting up close and person with each of those prisoners — that was a big no thank you from him.

  Inara let out a frustrated noise. She clearly had a different opinion.

  James just moved on and tried the next one — and the next one — and the next. He was just beginning to get comfortable with it, eager to clear the room, when the key turned in the lock.

  He froze, thinking for a second that it must be a mistake, but sure enough, the key turned in the lock, and the chain fell away from the door. Before he pulled it open, he looked into the room.

  Chained against the wall was a prisoner — the first one they’d come across who wasn’t dead. The man’s wrists were manacled to the wall above his head, and his bare chest was covered in a mixture of old scars and fresh wounds. His trousers were torn, but they held together where it mattered.

  The prisoner coughed. “Please,” he said. “Help me.”

  James turned to Inara. “What do we do? He’s just dungeon monster, isn’t he?”

  Inara hesitated. In her experience, it could go either way. The prisoner was a dungeon construct, that much was undeniable. Whether he would attack them or not… There was no way to be sure.

  “Kill him,” she said.

  James swallowed. He stepped into the cell, and the door clanged shut behind him, the lock rattling against the bars. This prisoner’s cell was the same size as his own, but it felt stuffier. Here, the heat was thick. Oppressive, like an unwanted blanket. It was missing the occasional draft from the secret tunnel. If James had had that to deal with after the rats, he might have tried harder to escape on his own.

  In the midst of his anxiety, James filed that information away for later. There was more than one way to detect a secret.

  His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword. A full clear of the dungeon meant that this man had to be dealt with one way or another — whether by putting him out of his misery or taking him along.

  The man watched him approach with a mixture of fear and hope. “Please,” he croaked again. “Water.”

  James felt himself cave. Inara knew far more about Grimora than James ever would. She and Desiree had been his guides for as long as he’d been in this world — but there were some things he would never do. Killing a broken man, he decided, was top of the list. Even if she was right, even if it was the more prudent decision, he could not — would not — do it.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  James brought a flask of water out of his inventory and lifted it to the man’s parched lips. He tilted it slowly, careful not to overwhelm him.

  “There you go. Small sips.” He could feel Inara’s gaze burning a hole between his shoulder blades. He very intentionally did not turn to look.

  He tried his not-quite-master key on the prisoner’s manacles, and they popped open.

  James caught the man before he could fall and lowered him gently to the ground.

  “Easy, easy,” he said. “Can you tell me your name?”

  “Virgil,” the prisoner rasped. “Thank you.”

  “Save your breath.” James handed him the water flask. “Come out when you’re ready.”

  He took a deep breath and left the cell to face the music. Even the welcome breeze wasn’t enough to protect him from Inara’s glare.

  Desiree looked between the two of them like she was at a tennis match, with barely concealed glee.

  “I couldn’t—”

  “It’s your decision,” she snapped.

  James pressed his lips together. It was, but it felt wrong. Something had fractured between them.

  But it had to happen. He was supposed to be the Hero of this story, but up to this point he had been allowing himself to be pushed around by circumstance.

  No more. It was time he took charge of his own destiny in this place.

  “Well, I’m glad you saved him,” Desiree said. “This dungeon was starting to get boring with just the two of you.”

  James rolled his eyes and tousled her hair. She yelped and swatted his hands away until they were both laughing.

  Virgil approached, and the clang of the cell door turned every head.

  Inara eyed him warily. James stepped aside so Virgil could join them in the hall.

  “How did you come to be here, friend?” James asked. Until proven otherwise, he decided he would treat the man as human. If he was, it was the right thing to do. If he wasn’t, it was no more harmful than saying please and thank you to ChatGPT.

  The man didn’t look dangerous either way. James had a good feeling about him, and if he turned out to be wrong he had no doubt that the three of them were more than a match for the frail creature before them.

  “I think I heard you say that you recently entered this dungeon?” Virgil asked.

  “That’s right. Oh! Forgive my manners. I’m James, this is Inara and Desiree.”

  Virgil nodded politely at each introduction. “I’m something of an explorer,” he said. “I came looking for the archives.”

  James frowned. “What archives?”

  “A dungeon is a connection to other realms and to our own,” Inara explained, “while also being independent to itself.” She gestured at the general layout of the prison. “This has the look of the infernal realm, with its demons and the emphasis on fire. Deeper in the dungeon, we will find copies of places in Grimora. Forgotten spaces, lost to time but remembered by the realm.”

  James snapped his fingers. “I think I saw a place like that! There was a secret room in my cell.” He pulled the diary out of his inventory and shared it with the group. Inara snatched it up. She turned it over in her hands, running her fingers along the embossed details.

  Virgil leaned closer to her. His fingers twitched, but he made no motion to take it from her. Neither did she offer it to him.

  “Incredible,” Virgil breathed. “You have found a Novice Book of Fire. What else was in this room?”

  James accepted the book back. “Novice Book of Fire? Is that good?”

  “Is that— is that good?!” Virgil spluttered. “When you unlock it you will have access to every fire spell up to level 40 without having to spend the skill points, provided you meet the prerequisites for each. Do you have the key? Were there any others?”

  James didn’t miss the hungry look in Virgil’s eye. Things like this book were probably exactly the reason he’d entered the dungeon in the first place.

  “No,” James said. “I searched the place, but there wasn’t a key for it. And it was the only book.” He wrinkled his nose, remembering how dusty and ancient everything else in the room had been.

  Virgil was clearly disappointed, but the light in his eyes didn’t fade. “Give it here,” he said. “I can unlock the first spell for you.”

  Inara’s hand snapped to her scythe.

  Virgil held up his hands. “As a scholar, this is one of my own abilities. It has too much of a cooldown for me to use on more than one spell, and I will only be able to do it for one person.” His gaze turned earnest and pleading. “Consider it a thank you. For saving me.”

  James and Inara shared a look. He could see her reluctance. She was suspicious of this man. James understood that, but the offer of a new spell was too much to pass up. Mana Bolt was already reaching the limit of its usefulness, and he had a few levels left before he got a new batch of skill points. Maybe learning Fireball would add more fire spells to his accessible list!

  Besides, he wanted to trust Virgil. He wanted to believe him, because it would be just too weird to believe that the dungeon had created a whole living, breathing person just to fuck with him. Handing Virgil the book was a quick way to let the man earn some goodwill with Inara, too.

  “Alright.” James held out the book. “Let’s do it.”