We enter into the final chamber. It looks the same as every other room to this point, except for the stairs descending down into the third level of this dungeon.

  A chill rushes up my spine. Something is very, very wrong. But I’m not sure what it is. I look in every direction, including behind. I see nothing out of the ordinary. I flick on my [Ethersight] to take stock of the situation, and still find nothing.

  Nothing underneath. Nothing from above. No hidden panels in the room. No sounds of grumbling or the breathy roar of a predator lurking in the darkness below the stairs.

  Chloe notices it too. She’s on high alert, her hand wrapped around mine and her wand out and ready to cast the instant something shows itself. My heart races in my chest. My breath quickens, and sweat beads in my palms and the nape of my neck as I draw my sword. Not my preferred weapon, but I’d sooner attempt to parry an attack with a blade rather than a blowgun stem. Though, some sort of pistol-whipping seems like an idea worth considering. That or a bayonet.

  “I think we should go back,” Chloe says. “I’m getting an even worse feeling about this.”

  “I agree. We can come back with more levels and a greater understanding of what we’re doing here. And maybe the whole team will accompany us.”

  Footsteps echo down the chamber. Not our own; Chloe and I both have our feet planted firmly on the ground, knees bent, ready to strike whatever comes after us. I tilt my head around, trying to get a better understanding of where our pursuer is coming from. It’s… from above? From the first ascent?

  That raises even more questions. Do we have to fight Armosi again? A stronger form? A similar construct with a different name? Why is it coming down here? I thought these floors were cordoned off to keep the level of challenge discrete. But now something is approaching? I stand with my back to Chloe, facing the staircase leading to the first level as we wait for whatever is coming.

  The footsteps grow louder. They’re not the heavy, crunching steps that I’d expect from a monster. Not someone actively trying to conceal their approach, but still light and quiet. A person approaching, who wants to be found? Someone else in the dungeon? It is getting close to dinnertime. If Armosi is slain, then someone could make it this far down.

  I still would rather retreat, even knowing someone might get our hard-earned treasure for little work. Just too many risks, and more importantly, too many unknown risks that I can’t properly plan around. The strongest cheat weapons are as good as useless to me if we’re dead.

  The footsteps approach, followed by a familiar voice that allows me to exhale.

  “Chloe? Sera? You two in here?” Lindsey’s voice echoes.

  I tense once more. I’m not for a second going to believe that she’s who she claims to be. Lindsey knows that we were coming here, but she had told us earlier she was staying behind. And I can’t discount the possibility of a shapeshifter menace. We already fought a mimic not two hours ago!

  “Lindsey?” Chloe calls out. “Is that you?”

  She rushes toward the lower stairs, but I grab her before she can cross the threshold into the first room.

  “Wait, Sera, what’s wrong with you, stopping me like that?”

  “Does it not bother you that Lindsey is showing up out of nowhere, without any sort of warning? In a dungeon where we just fought a mimic? And besides, if we don’t obey the single path rule that got us this far, we might trigger some sort of trap. Worst case scenario, we end up trapped in here until someone lets us out.”

  “Can’t you just use your [Unlock] glyph?”

  “Maybe. But this space is unnatural, and I’m sure there are stronger variations of the [Lock] glyph available that my current one can’t override. Not to mention that this space has way more Ether than I can store in my body.”

  After a couple of seconds of struggle, she decides to trust my instinct on this one. Still, there’s no way we get back to the surface without dealing with the approaching creature, whether it’s Lindsey, a monster, or otherwise.

  “Chloe? Was that you?”

  “We’re down here, Lindsey!” she says.

  The footsteps quicken, and soon a familiar face comes into view. She’s still wearing the same outfit that she was this morning. She has her trusty bow hanging on her back, along with a slate of equipment that is congruent with what she wore back when we were traversing the wilderness with her and the others. Still, I remain unconvinced, based on my hypothesis that the System is nearly if not completely omniscient.

  “Chloe! Sera!” Lindsey calls out. She rushes toward the room where we’re in.

  “Stay back!” I shout. “There’s something in this room, and this whole floor is a giant trap!”

  Lindsey rushes toward us even more quickly. I sheathe my blade and draw my blowgun, aiming it directly at Lindsey. I understand that she’s a friend and wants to support us, but until I know it’s her and not a doppelganger, I’m not backing down.

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  “What the hell, Sera?” Lindsey and Chloe both say.

  “How do we know you’re not some shapeshifter waiting to get the jump on us?” I ask.

  “Shapeshifter?” Lindsey gives me an incredulous stare, as though I’m the buffoon for even suggesting such a thing. But then, to her credit, she relents. “What proof would convince you that I’m who you say you are.”

  It’s my turn to relent. If the System is as all-knowing as I think it is, it can mimic any knowledge, any Skills, any abilities that Lindsey might have. For all I know, this is some devourer variant that ambushed her and ate her, assimilating its form into its repertoire. But I need to give her a chance to prove herself. Then I get an idea.

  “Can you tell me why passing through this doorway would be a really bad idea?” I point to the open door frame between us.

  “The doorway?” she asks. “It doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong with it. Do you think there is?”

  “I’m pretty sure that if any of us stepped through it, something bad is going to happen. I’m not sure what, but–”

  “How am I supposed to know something like that?”

  I nod. “You’re not. But I suspect if you were a shapeshifter, you’d give us an answer you shouldn’t have any reason to believe. And, I’m sorry that I didn’t trust you. We already fought one mimic down here, and I’d rather be mistrustful than dead.”

  “A good course of action. What do you want me to do?”

  “We thought there was going to be some sort of floor boss, but it hasn’t made its presence known. I don’t know if that’s because we solved the puzzle of the floor, or if this is the last floor before the boss.”

  “Boss?”

  “There was an armor knight who called themself Armosi right before these stairs. Level 21, real nasty, did me over eight hundred damage with a nasty sword slice across my gut.”

  “Even through that armor?”

  “Treasure for defeating it. I bet the same attack would still do four or five hundred, easily.”

  “And the silly looking bandana?”

  “More treasure after defeating a monster disguising itself as a treasure chest. It gives decent stats, and better than the nonexistent headgear I had before.”

  “I’m guessing you found the cute witch hat for Chloe in the same place.”

  We nod in unison.

  “Anyway,” I say. “Sit there until we make our way back through the rooms. You have to pass through all the rooms to deactivate the glyphs leading to the lower floors, and I suspect we’ll have to leave exactly the way we came if we want out.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  I pause. “I don’t know what’s down here. We decided it wasn’t worth the risk with only the two of us.”

  “So, how about the three of us? Because you really cleaned the place out. Haven’t seen a single monster in this so-called dungeon since I got here. Just a couple of cave boars that knew better.”

  “That’s about it,” Chloe says. “Other than the boss, the enemies up there are pretty weak. The fact that you’ve got twice as many levels as they do is probably the reason they left you alone. They’re not intelligent, but they seem to have some basic level of self-preservation.”

  Lindsey laughs. “Smarter than a lot of people, that’s for sure.”

  We all laugh. I instruct Lindsey on how to navigate through the floor, and she makes her way through the rooms in under five minutes. She even has the gall to smirk about how long it took the two of us to clear everything out. I protest vociferously, pointing out all the monsters the two of us had to face, our lower levels, and the reduced concentration of Ether in the dungeon as compared with the outside world. But… I just can’t stay upset. Not when it was my own weakness that made us take so long.

  I scan Lindsey with my [Ethersight] to make sure there’s no more subterfuge. Again, I can’t be certain, but she has about the right amount of [Ether] for a mid-range fighter around level 23.

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “Dungeon, System, or not, despite the concerns I have, I know it must’ve hurt to have a comrade treat you with suspicion like that.”

  “I won’t say I’m not a little hurt by it, but your concerns are reasonable, and I’m glad the both of you are alive and well, even down here.”

  Lindsey stretches her arms out. Chloe pulls me toward her. I hesitate, not fully certain that this isn’t some final trap, but after a moment’s pause, I oblige and the three of us embrace in a hug. For about five seconds, before Lindsey pulls back and scrunches her nose.

  “You two ladies reek! Especially you, Sera! What have you two been up to down here all this time? Did you seriously decide to take advantage of the peace and quiet in this dungeon to–?”

  I cut her off. “Absolutely not!” I say. “We’ve been fighting giant eyeball bats, scorpions, and tentacle monsters all day! And I’ve taken more than my share of splash damage. And besides, peace and quiet? We’ve been fighting for our lives the past… What time is it, anyway?”

  “It was about 6:00 PM when I entered. Doubt it’s been more than half an hour or so since then.”

  “That long?”

  Chloe pulls out her phone and nods in agreement. Mine is predictably drained of battery and I don’t plan to waste any [Ether] to recharge it.

  Lindsey sighs. “I figured I’d meet you at the entrance when you got done exploring the dungeon. The three of us would freshen up, then I’d treat you both to dinner and we’d all go back to base. But when the soldiers on shift said that you hadn’t come back out, I decided I should go in and see what happened. Anything that could defeat the two of you is far too much of a threat for a trio of level 6’s to even attempt to stop.”

  “So why even have the guards in the first place?” Chloe asks. “You’re military, can you explain it to me?”

  “Because the people need the illusion of safety and security. More importantly, the government needs to facilitate and promote the same or there’s going to be mass pandemonium. Sera, I understand where you’re coming from when you talk about the need for change. I agree with you, and moreover, the System has changed the world so much that such grand changes are inevitable. But it’s going to be a lot easier for everyone, and there’s going to be a lot fewer deaths in both the short and the long run, if those changes are gradual and measured.”

  I don’t dislike her reasoning. It sounds sweet. But I can’t accept it, either. She’s saying she wants to make sure the people who are well-off don’t have to suffer any strife or discomfort as the world changes around them. And that, in turn, means that people like my family will continue to pay those costs in full. But there will be time to discuss all of this later. For now, something is waiting for us. And we are going to see it overcome. Together, the three of us, fighting as one.