“Victoria!” Rowan exclaimed. “So happy to see you.”

  “Who’s she?” Hubert yelped, crossing himself and taking a step back. Considering his job, the gesture looked like he was distancing himself from the sexy blonde, like from a temptation. There

  “The reason I kept a space open in my team,” Rowan said.

  “Sorry to be late. Your people told me the entrance was under the bridge, but I searched for half an hour, and I—”

  “It was in a pilon.”

  “—didn’t find it, I used my smoke. You were fighting when I arrived, but things were under control, so I let you be and scouted ahead… There is good news and bad news. I reached the next floor and made contact with a group of prisoners. They are friendly. Bad news, you have to go through that shark-infested water, the passage is at the bottom. About… thirty feet deep.”

  “My suit is submersible, but don’t count on me for fighting, Cora said. “I’m in panic mode near water.”

  “I’m OK to have a go,” Bree said.

  “I’ll do it,” Rowan said. “Victoria, can you borrow some of your smoke until I reach the sharks? Just to go easy on my Perk's stacks.”

  The blonde nodded and forwarded her cigarette to him, keeping it between her fingers. After he inhaled, she also took a smoke, and they entered the interdimensional space together, staring at each other.

  [Victoria to Rowan]: Don't exhale too much. You will be in The Space as long you have a trace of smoke in your lungs.

  [Rowan to Victoria]: Just a thought… Isn't it more appropriate to call this the in-between?

  [Victoria to Rowan]: In-between is out of fashion. If you want to look cool in an Awakened bar, say: We had a Joint and took a trip into The Space.

  [Rowan to Victoria]: Good to know. Take care to be in The Space when I activate my Snowstorm. I'll give you a heads-up.

  [Victoria to Rowan]: No need, I’ll wait for you on the other floor.

  She offered him another puff, and they stepped into the sea and walked down the bottom. The center of the floor was not so far, maybe a couple hundred yards away, so the beach had an illusion on it, forbidding the other side to be seen. Three more puffs, and they reached the portal to the next floor, a swirling circle of darkness. He took another smoke, returned the cigarette to her, and waited until Victoria went to the other side.

  All five shark groups were circling above the swirling blackness, going on and on. Exiting The Space after exhaling as hard as he could, Rowan activated Snowstorm at maximum force and in its pure AoE form. It did carnage, crushing four monster groups and freezing large chunks of water around. Still, he cut it short because of the lack of Mana and the need to breathe, activating Joint Trip. He used rebar to kill the last group of sharks and climbed to the surface.

  “It’s all clear. You can come,” Rowan yelled, treading the water and inspecting his notification.

  The First Floor of The Shore Dungeon has been cleared. You were the major DPS contributor and received 1 free AP. You have leveled x1. You are Level 72.

  R?svelg’s First Aspect: Snowstorm cost is now 47 Mana/second. Increased potency by +25% vs Aquatic Targets.

  As soon as the group reached the spot, he escorted Cora and Papa Allinder to the portal. Swimming downward, he noticed for the first time that Cora’s suit also had a segmented armor part for the tail that waved in gracious movement through the water.

  She’s so cute!

  Then, they were on the other side, on a jungle floor. Trees so tall they seemed to reach the sky, their canopy throwing a deep shadow around. A lot of noise around, birds, monkeys… some roars. A pair of tall humanoids waited next to Victoria, their clothes in tatters and themselves emaciated. They had pointy ears, and their skin had a slight bluish-coppery hue.

  Hm… Jungle… Tree Elves?

  “Fay,” the woman said.

  “Inglotal,” the man presented himself, offering a handshake.

  “Rowan Allinder, nice to meet you,” Rowan said. “This is our raid,” he gestured toward the raid. “My wife, Cora, my Pa', Johan, Hubert, Bree, and people whose names I forgot, sorry, dudes and dudesses!” he yelled toward the group.

  "No problem, it's on you," a man said.

  "What's on him?" Papa Allinder asked, but Rowan ignored the question.

  “Follow us,” Inglotal said. The man started to run, and Rowan’s raid had no other choice but to follow, panting or not. Ten minutes later, they reached a clearing with typical longhouses sprinkled on it and some tree houses in the canopy. There were many people in that village, more than in the Goblin Town, and all were thin. They were surrounded in no time, and everybody looked at the newcomers like they were at the same time excited and frightened.

  “They need food,” Victoria shouted. “Whoever has a sandwich to spare, give it to the children.”

  “What happened here?” Rowan addressed his two guides after putting every bit of food in his storage on a table.

  Fay gestured for him to follow and entered a small hut, where they sat across from each other at a table. The raid members leaned on the walls. From outside, curious eyes followed them through the windows.

  The woman began to speak, looking into his eyes. “Our tribe tried to colonize a virgin planet, and we took a loan to buy equipment. We tried to live closer to nature."

  "That's a noble goal," Papa Allinder said. "I often took my son hiking to teach him our Old Norse ways. That's how he became so strong."

  Rowan facepalmed, sliding his hand down his cheeks, burrowing his fingers in his skin to refrain from screaming. His father’s idea of hiking was having a barbecue in a clearing after walking half an hour from the car. "Please, continue," he sighed.

  "It was not meant to be… We failed to pay our debts and forced to sign an indenture contract for ten years. We barely started when the ship crashed on your planet. Soon after, the dungeon awoke. Our former leader had a way of communicating with the exterior. We had high hopes, but instead of helping, he tried to sell everybody into worse slavery.”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “Sexual slaves bring a lot of money on the intergalactic black market,” Cora said. “It’s probably the Mercs.”

  "There are similar evil people on Earth, too," Rowan said. "We should kill them at some point. Sorry, Fay. What happened next?"

  “We fought back. Our chief and his partners ran deeper into the dungeon to claim the core. We followed, but the dungeon suddenly changed, spawning monsters. We cleared ten floors but met a blockage on the eleventh and had to return to base. We’re giving it a second try now, but we’re out of food and short on Mana. Our fighters barely managed to clear the next three floors. The monsters respawn every few days.”

  “The dungeon must’ve absorbed a lot of energy from those nukes,” Cora added.

  Fay kneaded her hands together. “Please, help us, and we’ll serve you faithfully as long you settle for normal work. We have many skills.”

  Rowan let out a long sigh. “Fay, and mister… sorry, forgot your name. I suppose one can move between floors as long they’re cleared, yes?”

  “True,” the woman nodded, looking a little befuddled.

  “Gather your people and move to the first floor. We'll install a lifeline to help the weaker people swim. Once there, I’ll get you out of the dungeon and send you to our city, where you’ll find food and shelter. Whoever wants to stay with us can stay; those who want to leave will be free to leave if they swear never to work for our enemies.”

  “I don’t have enough cigarettes for everybody,” Victoria said. “Even if they share.”

  “Trust me,” Rowan emphasized his words. “I can get everybody out of the dungeon."

  "And how does your Lordship intend to do that? Can you explain it to us, mere mortals who risk their lives in dungeons daily and could use such a feat?" Hubert asked.

  "Can you cut the sarcasm, mind your business, and let me work for a change?" Rowan frowned at the priest.

  Svartálfar Stare applied to target Paladin Hubert. Dazed and Stunned for ten seconds.

  Now, the priest was wobbling on the bench, his tongue slightly hanging out from his mouth.

  Oops! Never mind. That will teach him a lesson.

  “Fay, you have to trust me on this. Tell your people to grab their valuables and move them to the first floor. Before the night, you'll be safe and fed. Victoria, I'll need your help. The rest of the raid can take a break.”

  It took until late afternoon to move all the people up, and he sent Victoria forward to organize things on the other side. There were nearly three thousand people to rescue.

  “A word,” Fay whispered, approaching him.

  “Hit me. Ouch! Hey! What's up with you?" Rowan yelled, massaging his cheek.

  "You ask me to hit you," Fay said, turning the palm she used to slap Rowan up in a gesture of befuddlement.

  "Oh… cultural differences, I see. Here, it's just an expression. It means: tell me what's on your mind."

  The Elf shrugged. “Do you want me and my husband to stay behind and guide you through the dungeon?”

  “Is there any serious challenge?”

  “It depends. On the sixth floor, there are iron golems, tough but beatable. Then Sand Sharks, Water Sharks, more golems, and some zombies. Their DOTs are big and stack, but they are slow and vulnerable to AoEs. We have no idea what will wait on the last floors.”

  “We’ll be OK. Go with your people.”

  “One more thing…” Fay shifted her weight from one leg to another, hesitating.

  “Shoot. STOP!" Rowan yelled as the Elf was touching her bow. "I mean, what’s up now?”

  “Are you an elf, by any chance? We all saw you using the Cold Gaze on that pagan priest back in the village.”

  Pagan, huh? I guess everyone has a different perspective on things.

  “It’s a Perk called Svartálfar Stare.”

  The surprise on the woman’s face was striking. She swallowed a lump. “S-Svartálfar? How? We’re the Svartálfar…”

  “What’s that again?” Rowan asked. He remembered only vaguely the tooltip and had no enthusiasm to call up the Menu.

  “The Swarthy Elves.”

  “Really? Well, if I believe my father's sheet stats, I could have some elven blood in my veins.”

  “Meeting a blood kin so far from home warms my heart. Moreover one with such a precious perk,” Fay bowed her head.

  “The Stare? Yeah, it’s a neat trick, but not as powerful as R?svelg.”

  “You have R?svelg too?” the woman gasped, but he was too tired to have that conversation.

  “Are your people ready?”

  “Yes, they are,” she looked around.

  “Good. Just let me check something with my father. Papa, have you made up your mind? Will you stay with us?" Rowan asked the older man, who was talking with Cora, six feet farther.

  "…and he slept with his Teddy bear until— Sorry, was sharing some memories."

  "Thank you so much for embarrassing me yet again,” Rowan rolled his eyes. “Have you made up your mind? Will you stay with us?"

  "Of course, I'll stay with you," Papa Allinder weighed his words. "You need my help and guidance, that's obvious."

  Rowan gestured a choking gesture, forwarding his hands toward his father and stopping at the last moment. "OK, then. It's time to pledge allegiance. Stay silent, and don’t say a word.”

  “That’s a pleonasm, son. Staying silent means—”

  “One more word, and I'll drag your old ass back to Philly!"

  "That's not a language to use on your father," the old man crossed his arms.

  "Take the Oath, too, and don't interrupt me." Putting two fingers in her mouth, Rowan let out a loud whistle to make the elves look at him.

  Mass notification and message:

  His Lordship Count Allinder, Count of Randolph County, Suzerain of Rome, Warchief of Goblin Town, and Honorary Godfather of Calveor, offers all Swarthy Elves here present citizenship rights in Randolph County.

  The Swarthy Elves will be provided with fair jobs, land (within reasonable limits), housing, and assistance to rebuild their lives.

  All who accept the offer are bound to respect the Laws of Randolph County and swear a non-disclosure System-enforced Oath: they're not to reveal to any third party or casually talk about the Count's Perks or any spell, ability, skill, or perk of his or any Classed working for him. Penalties can vary between fines, Perma Death, Insta Death, becoming Bounty Hunted, and Pariahs.

  Those who accept the offer should press Yes. Minors who are almost of age can select Yes themselves. Parents are required to accept the offer for younger minors. Those who reject the offer will be presented with a separate non-disclosure and non-compete clause contract and free to go wherever they want. Those who reject both offers are asked to orderly form a separate queue, waiting to be painlessly and mercifully put to death.

  Accept offer: Y/N

  "That goes against everything I believe in," Rowan could hear his father mumbling behind him. The Yes was unanimous.

  [Count Rowan Allinder to all]: OK, folks, we're going out. Do as we rehearsed.

  The Elves started to join hands. They were packed together as tightly as possible, in rows and lines, parents carrying the smaller children on their backs or bags hung on their chests. There were notifications, messages, and whistle-calls all lying around.

  When the calls ended, and all were ready, Rowan took Fay’s hand and activated Joint Trip. It was the first time he used it on such a large scale, but it worked. Everybody he touched, even indirectly, was pulled into The Space. Slowly, they walked through the dungeon’s outer limit, appearing inside Tygart’s Valley on the river’s edge. He dismissed the Perk with three seconds to spare and with all the elves through.

  There were roars, an ocean of gasps… Children rushed to play with the snow, and adults cheered.

  “Follow the nice people through that Portal,” Rowan shouted, gesturing toward the blue gate going into town. A crowd of social workers and the police were waiting nearby.

  “Hey,” Isla approached. “I brought food and the reinforcements you asked for.”

  “Hail do you do,” Fenrri saluted. Behind her and Snemc was a long file of Goblinoid warriors.

  [Rowan to Fenrri]: Please don't say Hail around here. It has a really bad connotation.

  The Ogre gave him a thumbs up, then he yelled as loud as possible: “OK, troops, hold hands, like in kindergarten. Chop chop.”

  Joint Trip activated (6/10 remaining)

  Soon, Rowan was back inside the Dungeon, bringing a sizeable army.

  “It worked?” Hubert gasped. “How?”

  “An exploit, of course,” Rowan shrugged. “My skill beats the settings. Now we can clear it so much faster.” The ensuing notification gave him great joy despite his fingers being hurt by Fenrri's strong grasp.

  For taking a record number of people with you, Joint Trip has advanced to the next tier, extending its duration to 45 seconds. You can chain stacks and have unlocked a new aspect: Friends on a Trip. You can take your friends, party, or raid in the in-between without touching them if they’re not farther than thirty yards from you.

  For saving the Swarthy Elves, you have been awarded 10 free APs.