Julian’s breath hitched as he looked down on the dungeon gate he’d been searching for.

  At the bottom of the hill was a pit the size of his mother’s Coral Palace.

  In the middle, there was a large magical platform. In each cardinal direction, there were giant ice bridges as wide as a frost goliath that connected to the central platform. As they watched, the platform started to glow with a blue light, and four rocsock appeared on the platform.

  The beast rodents immediately headed west, crossing the bridge and disappearing into the snow.

  “Well,” Gerda said, coming up to stand beside him. She laid her hand on his arm. “It looks like we both found what we were looking for.”

  The words brought him out of his reverie.

  “So it would seem…” Julian stared between Gerda and the ice bridge. A cold hard feeling settled in his stomach.

  This week, they’d pushed harder than he’d done even before Gerda joined his party. They’d slept in shorter stints, and relied more on potions to keep up their stamina and speed.

  They’d returned to the Northern Fortress only once, to check if Alice had shown up in their absence.

  She hadn’t.

  “There’s one more thing I haven’t told you about…” Gerda said, squeezing my arm as we trudged through powdery turf. “I have a unique Dungeoneering ability.”

  Julian stiffened, “Do you want to enter the dungeon with us?”

  “I was thinking of it.” She said.

  “What ability?” They both knew she wasn’t a combat build.

  “Dungeons are built of manipulated dimension magic, and I can cut rifts into the levels.” She admitted.

  To be sure he understood correctly, Julian asked, “And what does that look like in practice?”

  “It means that I go around Dungeons, breaking in the back door, looting all of the treasure, and then sneaking out again.” She explained.

  “You break into dungeons.” He repeated. “And loot them.”

  “Yes.” Gerda said. “I’m assuming you want to actually defeat the dungeon. But I’m pretty handy to have around if we don’t want to waste time looking for a floor boss or unlocking doors. I’ve about twenty [Juliper Petal] left in my inventory, so I can hang out in the back, invisible, for most of the battles… and I want to be there.” She spoke the last quietly, “when you defeat the dungeon core and complete your quest.”

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  “Alright.” He said. As if there were any other answer.

  If his choice was watch her leave before or watch her leave after, he would take every second with her he could get.

  They reached the southern ice bridge.

  “Did you hear that?” He asked over his shoulder to the rest of the party. “Gerda is joining us in the dungeon.”

  “But Your Grace—” Visha started, immediately rejecting the idea.

  “It’ll be alright, General Visha,” Gerda reassured the elf. “I might not be the best, but I’m still an [Adventurer], and I’ve made my way through most of the dungeons in Valaria.”

  “How?” Visha demanded to know.

  “She’s got a level jumping power.” Julian told everyone. Pram and Tully looked interested, but John was smiling.

  The rogue never smiled.

  “What’s up with you?” Jeffry asked, unnerved at the human’s change in demeanor.

  “I’m retiring.” The rogue said, sending a wave of shock throughout the group. “This is going to be my last run, and if Miss Gerda’s coming then it’ll go by so much smoother - assuming you can keep up?”

  “I have a few [Haste] potions I’ve been saving just for this.” Gerda told the rogue.

  Sir Tully put a hand on John’s shoulder and squeezed. “No surprise you wanna get back home to your wife and kid, but don’t just abandon us with no warning! You should step down after the celebration.”

  John said, “I’ll think about it.”

  “What celebration?” Sir Pram asked, confused.

  “The one Grand Duchess Calisto is going to throw as soon as her prodigal son returns victorious!” Sir Tully explained.

  That sent a shiver down Julian’s spine. More evening events, and no convenient excuse to escape. He shook off the feeling and addressed the rogue. “Thank you for staying with us to the end.”

  John pushed Tully’s hand off his shoulder. “Of course.”

  “Alright everyone. Let’s get ready.” Julian told the group. “Gerda, can you set up your makeshift bridge here just in case? Jeffry, cross the dungeon bridge first to make sure it’s stable. If anything happens, be ready to fly. John, call back your shadows.”

  Everyone jumped to get to it. When they were ready, and the bridge was deemed safe, everyone crossed together.

  The platform lit up when Julian took a step on top, activating the portal dungeon gate.

  [Activate portal to Forgotten Frost Dungeon? Yes/No]

  He was surprised; he thought the notification would say they were the first to find it…

  Someone had beaten them to it.

  Since there were still monster surges, that meant no one had managed to reach the dungeon core yet, so whoever was here before had either perished or given up and left.

  Julian waited until everyone was on the platform before selecting [Yes].