The rest of the week passed surprisingly calmly; boringly so.

  As it turned out, Temple Alley had few dangerous Dungeons that demanded immediate attention with the Major Chicken one gone. The Association had managed to seal off the Lighthouse and Manor Dungeons’ entrances, so those two should starve out on their own within a month’s time.

  Part of Matthew would have preferred kicking down the door and wiping them out, but he understood Crypto’s decision to put a hold on that. With the Old Town team’s deaths and Temple Alley relatively secure, the Association’s manager asked Matthew’s crew to stand on standby. This freed Julia and other more experienced Crawlers to clean up their districts without worrying about a lack of safety net.

  Thankfully, no quest went unrewarded. Matthew and his teammates were busy finding a place in the school cafeteria to sit when Crypto messaged them that the Major Chicken corporation had finally answered their secret recipe inquiry.

  “I can’t believe it,” Kari said while checking her phone. “Major Chicken wired us money!”

  “They actually responded to our blackmail attempt?” John mused. “And here I thought that the secret recipe was a hoax.”

  “‘Blackmail’ is such an ugly word, John,” Matthew replied. “In this case, I prefer to call it a shakedown.”

  “I never thought that they would actually comply,” Kari replied before paling like chalk upon opening the message and examining the pictures it contained. “Guys… we should let the matter drop.”

  “Why?” John asked as he checked the photos. The pictures showed the coordinates of a cryptocurrency platform account, a platinum-plated General Experience Major Chicken membership card… and a bloody bucket filled with decapitated poultry heads. “What… what’s that?”

  “It came with a note.” Kari cleared her throat. “‘Plata o Pollo.’”

  Matthew was terrible at Spanish, but he had seen enough narcos-themed series to see the writing on the bloodsoaked wall. “Are our parents’ addresses written on the note too, Kari?”

  “Yes,” she confirmed before squinting at him. “How did you guess?”

  Matthew shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t mess with a fast food chain’s bottom line.”

  “How did they learn about–” John closed his mouth, pondered the matter, and then wisely decided to back off. “After some consideration, I don’t want to know. Let’s thank them for their gift and never poke them again.”

  “Agreed,” Kari said before rubbing her hands in triumph. “The good news is, between the cryptocurrency payment and the Dungeon’s bribe money, we’ll receive roughly three hundred thousand euros each after the Association takes its cut.”

  “Three hundred thousand?!” Matthew shouted so loud a few other students looked at their table. Kari blushed in embarrassment, while Matthew and John were too delighted to pay them any mind. “Maid mansion, here I come!”

  Kari immediately crushed his hopes. “Crypto said wiring everything to us at once would lead to a government probe, so we’ll receive the money in reasonable monthly installments.”

  “What, again?!” Matthew pouted, his head resting in his palm in his annoyance. “What’s the point of ascending to upper middle-class status if I can’t spend lavishly?”

  “Because this way you won’t immediately fall back into the hobo class,” John replied before noticing movement in the cafeteria. “Here comes the newbie patrol and their drill instructor.”

  True to his warning, Amélia and Sasha soon walked up to their table with their flood platters. Maggie followed after them, albeit from a slight distance.

  “Greetings, boys and girls,” Sasha said. “Mind if these three lovely, tableless gals sit with you?”

  “Sure,” Kari replied with a disarming smile. Sasha quickly moved to take a spot and Amélia sat next to Matthew. Maggie hesitated a moment, then surrendered to social pressure and joined them.

  “Hey Maggie, hey Amélia,” Matthew waved at the both of them. Maggie, ever the difficult person, avoided his gaze while Amélia shyly waved back before sitting next to him. “Did you bring the… the merchandise?”

  “I, uh, I did,” Amélia replied with reddish cheeks. “You?”

  Matthew opened his schoolbag and unveiled his cursed manga collection; dark books of forbidden knowledge that would turn a priest blind and traumatize any youngster caught with them. Amélia traded for them with her own dark literature, sealing their devilish pact under John’s judgemental gaze.

  Maggie, however, couldn’t care less and immediately skipped all pleasantries. “Any news on the spider?”

  “No,” Kari replied with a sigh. “Crypto says hunting efforts are still underway, but that monster’s ability to move from Dungeon to Dungeon and detection immunity make tracking it down difficult.”

  “Thankfully, there hasn’t been any reports about other monsters showcasing the same power yet,” John said. “It seems likely to stay a unique case for the time being.”

  That was a respite that Matthew knew would end far too quickly.

  Sasha’s expression darkened into a scowl. “I’m told there will be a wake for its victims on Sunday. We’ve been invited.”

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  Maggie scoffed. “They’re trying to guilt-trip you into joining.”

  “And that’s good,” John replied sharply. “It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.”

  Sasha and Amélia exchanged an embarrassed glance, but Maggie shut up John pretty quickly. “They’re not ready,” she said bluntly. “Only Petro has some combat training, but he’s still weeks away from mastering his first spells.”

  I knew Petro looked too familiar with guns, Matthew thought, though he didn’t ask for details. An orphan teen his age could only have gained combat experience one way in Yugoslavia.

  “Maggie has been teaching us her Speed Boost spell,” Sasha explained. “Petro learned it quicker than us.”

  “Speed Boost?” John asked, his eyebrow rising up slightly. “The name sounds familiar.”

  “She got the idea while playing Pokemon,” Matthew said.

  Maggie glared daggers at him. “Shut up! I haven’t played Pokemon in years!”

  “That sad state of affairs won’t last a second if I leave you alone in a room with a Switch,” Matthew teased her.

  “Speaking of rooms, Powells…” John sipped from his water glass as his gaze shifted from Maggie to Matthew. “You live next to this human disaster’s old home, if I understand correctly.”

  “Yes, I do.” Maggie frowned at him with suspicion. “Why?”

  “Do you know anything about the family that lives there now?”

  “Besides the fact that they’re a rich couple?” Maggie snorted. “They’re only there during the holidays. They’re probably using that house as a secondary home or for secret bondage sessions for all I know.”

  “So there’s nobody there for the moment?” Kari asked, with Maggie nodding in affirmation. “That’s perfect, then.”

  Maggie scoffed. “You wanna rob the place?”

  “We’re not going to rob it,” Kari replied while sheepishly scratching her cheek. “We just want to take a look inside after our afternoon patrol.”

  “Yeah, we’ll stick to breaking and entering,” Matthew said. “In and out, five minute visit. It used to be my house, so it’s totally legal.”

  “No, it’s not!” Sasha protested.

  “Spoiler warning, bringing guns to school is illegal too and I do that every day,” John replied, his words shocking Sasha and Amélia into silence. “You better grow comfortable with looking the other way if you wish to survive in our line of work.”

  “Why won’t you join us?” Matthew suggested. “That way, we’ll all share a juvenile sentence together if we get caught.”

  “Oh, that…” Amélia coughed. “That sounds… exciting.”

  “Plus I’ve found a new way to use my Art Attack spell offensively, and I’ve been dying to test it in the field,” Matthew boasted. He had the Doc’s lesson on Keys and Dungeons to thank for the inspiration. “You’ll love it!”

  Sasha crossed her arms. “What are you even looking for at your old place? Is this connected to your questions about where we lived a few years back?”

  “We’re looking for leftover traces of an old Dungeon in the area,” Kari explained, immediately catching Maggie’s full attention. “The place is likely gone by now, but some hints of its presence might remain.”

  “You won’t find anything,” Maggie stated with confidence. “I’ve purged that street more thoroughly than Mr. Clean.”

  “You’re an Orange, which is one step short of Daltonian,” John replied bluntly. “Matsumoto over here has a Key and spells that let her detect details you wouldn’t even notice.”

  Matthew was about to warn him he had just stepped on the ‘incompetence button,’ but Maggie already started to tense up. “Are you doubting me, asshole?”

  “Yes, I am.” John scoffed in the face of her fury. “If you’re so sure of yourself, then you can join us and check for yourself.”

  “Yeah, I’ll do just that,” Maggie decided. “And when you find nuthin’, I’ll rub it into your smug face.”

  Is it just me, or do these two walking bombs sort of understand each other? Matthew pondered. He had tried so long to convince Maggie to go along with his schemes, and John managed to do so simply by exploiting her anger and self-esteem issues. The Doc did say that Keys were connected to their users’ psychology…

  Come to think of it, Matthew used to be closer to Ulysses and Maggie in his old friend group, both of whom had Keys only a color step away from his own; he also hit it up with Amélia—a Green Crawler—pretty quickly all things considered.

  Did they gain colors that fit their personalities, or did their mind change to fit their powers? The question aroused Matthew’s curiosity as much as it made his skin crawl.

  His phone rang in his pocket. Matthew brought it out, half expecting to see his parents’ numbers come up—since Crawlers used their own chat app instead of mobile numbers—only for his eye to widen upon recognizing the caller.

  “I’ve gotta go for a while,” Matthew said as he immediately rose from his seat. “Protect my dessert with your life.”

  “I don’t promise anything,” Kari replied with a wide, mischievous smile. “Is it Marlene?”

  It’s Maggie’s brother, Matthew thought without saying that part out loud. He knew Maggie would likely grab his phone and throw it away if he did that. “Who knows?”

  “It’s not,” John said, drawing chuckles from the more gossipy members of the group. “He’d be boasting about it otherwise.”

  “Give it time, dork,” Matthew joked back before making his way out of the cafeteria. Once he had left through the door, he walked to the nearest wall, rested his back against it, and then picked up the call. “Hey, Jack-Jack!”

  “Hey, Matt!” Jack Powells’ voice never failed to sound cheerful. The man simply radiated enthusiasm, unlike his sister. “What’s up with my favorite hole wrecker?!”

  “I’ve just negotiated a million euro transaction with a chicken cartel,” Matthew boasted.

  “Whoa, you’ve moved up in the world! Not even eighteen and you’re already sticking it to corporations? I tip my hat to you!”

  “You don’t have a hat, Jack-Jack,” Matthew replied with a chuckle. It was nice to hear from Jack again after so long. “What about you? It’s been over a year!”

  “Tell me about it, man! I checked our last message, I see 2023, and then I go, whaaat? It’s been that long?” He laughed on his end of the line. “I tell you, employment is a time machine. You ride the paychecks straight into temporal dilation!”

  “And that’s why I’ll do everything in my power never to find a real job,” Matthew joked. Jack had left Evermarsh years ago after building up a spell-powered internet business and making bank on it. He used his Key and sorcery to set up light shows and explosive spectacles while pretending to test actual explosives, then posted the videos online.

  As it turned out, a lot of people were willing to pay to watch a nonstop stream of mindless destruction.

  Jack and Matthew often called each other before, but distance had eroded their relationship; especially since Matthew had been closer to Maggie than her brother before the Mall incident.

  “It has its perks. Money’s been rolling in for a while, and I’m growing comfortable with my work.” Jack chuckled to himself and then changed the subject. “Anyway, I’m returning to Evermarsh next week or so for a gig, so I thought, how about we meet up for old time’s sake?”

  “Really?” Matthew’s heart skipped a beat in his excitement. “I’d love to. Did you tell Maggie too?”

  “‘Course not,” Jack replied with a scoff. “You know my sister. She won’t talk to me since I moved up in the world and left the Dungeons behind us. Ulysses never picks up either, so I didn’t bother. You’re the only one in the band I’ve kept in touch with.”

  Matthew’s smile faded away. Jack had given up Dungeon crawling after the incident and dedicated himself to his job, something that his sister never forgave him for. While Matthew didn’t feel as betrayed as she was—he understood Jack’s desire to move on after seeing one of his friends murdered—he did hold some resentment over his choice too.

  “Anyway, I’ll hit you up once I return.” Jack chuckled to himself. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, you and I.”

  (access to advance chapters, arts and other bonuses)

  My Amazon if you wanna check my other books

  Thanks to my patrons on :

  freakinweekend Fenris712 Pablo Ramires Tilen Praprotnik Martin Endl Nathan Smith ?těpán Srb Hmmmm DaoCorner Kirk Walker Dustin Sharp Xander Kerby Johnson Alnatura Giant LARDBADGER J W big man LawBear2005 Jsp Andrew C. Davin Rod LastAxi0m tdh Landen Grant Riley Antoine .m Azgaroth Wandering Scribe Elliot Shapiro Michael Smith Lazy Giant Aaron Nagy Momongama Merkywater Daniel Maya arsha Jacklaw Damon Renn Mike Swapnil Girdhar Max Gustavson Zax Will Jewkes DeadicatedReader Liam Hanly Coffee Cake Krampus of Meranthe Adrian Ortega ConnectionFaild Jorge Alavarez retrorocket0 K gostsamo Kyle paradise anon osos12 Weekslong Zordak TheFoud3er12 Symphony Vincent Mason Nicholas Brown Spam Kindle John Claudia Sam S Will apple25785 J S Munk The Mongol sambee Darcy Akos Joshua Lin Cameron Chown Daniel Jack Birillo TV Head John Perrin Enko Hardik Paliwal SomeRandomGuy Shio Eeetee CherMi Chris ArtHunt Glitter Rabbit (C) Nexous Cross Thomas Russell Krosh Pagrek Jeffrey Zhou Taccohunter Plaszczykov Shaun norden C?me Roy Pear Adrian Castillo Luis Hernandez sageco David Park ProxReader dbohomolov Fritz Kühn Seth Baker Federico Randy FaronAan John Lim Rom Yaskant Cap'nSmurfy Insomnia Max Schneider Bombastic101 Dario Zheng CrossingInk ryan dougherty krakan delux Warren (Stephen) Rose Andrew B Alexander Sampson Maxime Bray Brendan D. King John Baugher Colonel Doloryas RA BrandyLeeT Alexzendor Misra Charles eeee elforo Freelx Wilfire BlaueFeder Costaud 3107 Zomboss Zonbikirā DatUser Bumzo higby Adrian Wright SirDeP Josh Exal DKM Mike Baker MomentarilyDisabled Julio Leite Lord Voldemorty industriousrevolution Almander Aleck E. S.P AMERICUH Montana Peter Parker Maxum Sin of Sloth Publius Decius Mus Syom Trasen56 Hudson McBay RepossessedSoul Keith Rowland Kingman ioajfidsnmfomds77 CentaureHeart Ouro Nobody Matthew Mocias I Eat Pain Legogredo AnimeKay Douglas Bevil king ramp GloryHound Diego Villa Matthew Escobar CJ Tamberella Leonardo Yang Lod bing Joseph Abrathat AL Zaid Hyasat Windjigo Meoeu Spoop Junior Reno Miles Paszek Charlie Burstiner Emil Takman Matthew Collins Bury Zenek Abbie TPG bingus1234 Sleep J. K. Mohamed William Keith Sean Coker Patrick Booth Terv Jay Dune Black Yuval Roth Mmaze Jeff G Aaron U'Ren Mr. Nut undercoverducky Shadow Wing Rainer Jenning Runaway_Cactuar chidera onwuegbu MoEl Christopher Hahn Maria Cobos Mateos Arjun Aletty MadAdder FirstKingofthePotatoes Tinman Nithhogg vVip3rzzz Mason Kamer Guessed Dr. Rage Tanay Singhvi wahtique Carlos Robert Tylena Simmonds Zharele Monster M Alec Ruth Okman202 Lol Isaac Mcdonald dogmaster20070 Val Garret Chris hannah922 John Hyland Mikael Markus Malex Seth P Jay Halfcrzy David Maka dxpt12 Hex Federico Bellavista Andreas David Scherban Toffi coffe Dylan Alexander Matthew Flowers Tom Scheibe turtle Tri Turtar Silim Chillitsagame Nasa Wofford Raymond Santiago Cortes CaptainFlowers locky 0gain antares48 Dylan Crawford Colin Love Marquel Miles jebus 145 Veraenderer Hussar L Marc Berkowicz Arxigal noises Leyse Jacob Ward R3ad Jeff Israel bobnob Aluereon Arthur Ibanda Jimmy J.K. Dixon Gao Lukasz Podgorski H Jayel Savaris Sqishy Vertdure Bryce Bazoo juanmi Myrdin Miles Larson George R Ceagle TheLazerCat TMKnight Nomad Revolgod Myrrdin Sarcastic Traitor Kris Bruns Joshua Lau Nicholas Al Capone Roberto Tomás Jesper L?mo-Hansen Gabryel Scott Igor S. Carvalho mark harrell Jonah Clare Robert Whitaker Mai0e TGZ Samuel Patterson Carlos Torres Rrazy HonestMan Alexander Ksendzov Baamz jak0b BelligerentGnu The Tallest Tree Stultus Justin Mott bensorme Yi xiu DB Alidraco richard wechsler Hunter LostOx Droog mea Doctor Zero Benjamin wolfe Ozzy Kyle Donmoyer J T Lord Freezy Pop Jujuan tillery Evan Fleischer Joel Magnuson Adam Jordy Broussard David Cullen John Ness Janwardha Maulana Vaulex PalmTrees Cd Lluis Jimenez Puig Chri Andrew Moreton Angus Losier SCout75 Sam Kyle Badello Trisper RainbowCatTopHat Brennon Shippee Halesmash Gres Om V Julian Hinck Connor McCaul Joseph Barratt Francisco Rosado Atoll Pradian Darrel Kincade Joseph Duchesne Ramapriya Rangaraju Skinnybonz Apotheosis Michael Chermside Joseph Klos ArianaAndBeyond Innes PizzaNachos Kit Rodrigues-Ali PcKc Xophos Justin Huddleston hunter117x Joshua Thompson Mike222 Tamás Bodnár John Young Jio TheBlackfirebird Blaize Haynes Garrett Smith B1w2c3 Graham Hildebrandt Dirk Kefferpütz Elijah Tan tdb Stoney06 Dimitar Slavchev Django munkasir masud Chris Fox Tom Stapleton Darth Bayes Dr_Njitram Jukka V?limaa Morgan D Kauffman Notcreepycreeper BoadBoad Von Ridel Trausti Sigurgeirsson Brett Labat thomas flipsen Alex Timothy Smith James Ryan Porcine Pirate Bernardino Campa IV boo Christopher Walker Christopher Sigmann Sebastian EmliTGM Ikit Claw Alexander Orion1024 Tim Joseph Dumol george haynes padanu Richter Stormstrike Zorro De Las Gafas Ashlee Jacobsen Raphael Jacob Mengha Duco Van der Ploeg Treeman4 cadis Alex Farmer R. B. Ezo Caleb Smith Daraon Kaleb Orduno Ted Berkowitz My name is Klondike Imspinnennetz Kooooomakimi P enyuk Ran Rain song gemer Disclancer Luke Darkdej John Pratt Eddie Christopher Bennett Epiphaner Alan Kwok Chris Ferguson Dallas Gillespie BlueGraine Wei b0urne78 Frostbound slammer evan peat Jason kunsa Niloc Necrologist Penned Mi Iwritestrangethings Alexander Rodriguez Adrien Matricon Slim Dakhch Miran RandomAnkle Novice Reader Sportpix andrew barnes Dirkk Diggler Jeremy Engelberg Clawseeker Sterban Friz DHNightshadow Trucinox A JohnFish Impetusin William Beyer Oiva Metsola TheFool Justin Tit HeavenDragon Cal Fiala Jarrod Young Sir Sloth Josh Enterman Pride Ricardian Timothy Felker S T Deepsealife Hibiscus Nian Grosbilljunior Vega Loki Josh Delgado42 ScottDR Contractk4 Adrian Engel Massgamer T T Deinos AlthePal Amaury Valcry Charlie Hazza Vanderbyl Moosh7 Ivan Kal Thundabear95 Adam Johnston Heikki Aitakangas Richard Lee Erik MaliMi Aleksander Z monsidas Dietz Djinn Necro_32 GraySquirrelEatToast Kite7 Michael S. evilperson41 edmuck Dalton Cade Spence mhaj58 William Johnson John Evans HarbingTarbl KilledbyBooks David Guy Incognito HenryMorgan Zel tom Devon Andreas H. Conor lennon YourFavorite Popcorn Relai Spartanstoryteller MasterofNova Walter Sam Paley Bob of Doom Kody Ihnat morganmoll Maalsc TTG Siphor Nikhil Majumdar glare31337 Slipperyfish Birbman Jonathan Spaulding Erriballon H. Scott Taylor Tilbury Ashley Cameron Ivan Elyshev Tate Browder Ryan Trueman Chris Mezmer Roden Alex Lindsay Sadinar Daniel Everest Ausner Gentil Kyle Reese Zach Svarog Peter Christensen-Calvin Thaco4 Matteo Viktor D victorious Blizzzr Maxwell Margetts Hulg Gohen Zadaine Karthic PbookR John Carroll Reodude Parker Groseclose Zack Grog_Guy BlissForgotten Marc Claude Louis Durand Rhodri Thornber Dax