The dungeon climbing party started walking down six stories. Max hadn’t stopped smiling since he sliced up that Greater Yeti.

  He turned to Gus and said, “Good job with the Frozen Colossus. I know it must have been hard to sneak around in a troll’s body but you are the only one tall enough to reach the monster’s back.”

  Gus looked behind himself. “It wasn’t that hard, but walking around in snow barefoot is not my idea of fun.”

  “Try having a tail in the snow. You have two feet touching the snow, I have thousands,” Bisrat said as she glided down the stairs behind them. “I’m still cold.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind when picking our next dungeon,” Max said. “By the way, Gus. You said you can be a troll for about an hour per potion, right? How long until you can take another potion?”

  “At least a few hours, but I’d rather stick to one potion a day. It really takes a lot out of you.”

  Max nodded. “Maybe we’ll get you a shield and you can stay human for the first few floors. That way we don’t have to hurry to beat all six floors.”

  “That’s a good idea. Asta can be the main tank for the lower floors and I’ll come off the bench when the going gets tough.”

  “Good plan. What do you think, Asta? I think I can speak for all of us in saying we would like you in our party. Giovanni didn’t make the cut, but you got what it takes.”

  The tall Nordic woman was quiet as they passed the third floor. Eventually she said, “Thank you for the offer. I would like to accept. But maybe I can get a better weapon or some training before we climb again? You guys are on another level, I feel like I am holding you back.”

  “That’s fine. We can take it slow, no problem. You need to have a solid foundation before advancing into difficult fights,” Max said calmly.

  “Yeah, ok, you say that, but I have a feeling that you guys think the sixth floor was an easy fight,” she said hesitantly.

  “Wasn’t it? We killed them both in like five minutes. It would have been faster if I could sneak in this huge body.”

  ‘I think you might have a warped view of what’s easy,” Asta said and shook her head.

  They arrived on the ground floor then. Giovanni was standing near a cleared workbench with a surprised look on his face. Max smirked and walked over to the table. For the first time, they got to watch as the dungeon portaled in the rewards.

  A small purple circle appeared a few inches above the table and eight objects plunked onto the table. Giovanni’s eyes widened.

  Max smiled. “As you guessed, Giovanni, we completed the sixth floor without you. I don’t think you are what we are looking for in a party member. But I won’t send you away empty handed. Bisrat, Inspect our winnings and tell us which one we should give to Giovanni here.”

  Bisrat nodded and stepped up to the hexagon workbench. She looked over the chain bracelet, rat skull, tongue scraper, blanket, glass bottle, toy Quill Cat, padlock, and rubber stamp. When she was done she said, “Ok, first off, four of them are cursed to varying degrees. Anyone that touches the skull will get brittle bones. The blanket is an invisibility cloak, but it only makes itself invisible, not the wearer. The glass bottle contains a potion that changes your skin color to red. The padlock might be fun for a prank. It’s an Omni-Lock. It can be opened by every kind of key.”

  She rubbed her hands together. “Now, onto the good stuff. The chain is an Anklet of Iron. It gives you iron skin in exchange for Flow. The more flow you have, the tougher your skin. The tail scraper is a cleaning item, two swipes and your whole body is clean. I want it if no one else has an objection. The Quill Cat statue is a monster lure so you can set up a trap. And finally, the stamp is configurable and inks itself. I suggest Giovanni gets that one.”

  “You good with that, Giovanni?” Max asked.

  Giovanni said, “Actually, I was hoping I could get another chance. You can keep the stamp and I get a chance to prove myself in a different dungeon. I’m sorry I doubted you before.”

  Max grabbed the stamp and handed it over, “Sorry, but no. You have shown us that you will abandon your party if you think your life is at risk. I need people that will fight keep the whole party alive.”

  Giovanni snatched the stamp out of his hands and stomped away.

  When he was gone, Max said, “Bisrat, you can take the tail scraper. Gus, Asta, you want either of the other two?” When they shook their heads he continued, “Alright, we can just sell them in town.”

  Gus changed back to human when they were in the dungeon antichamber. He said, “And that’s an hour, right on time. Come on, let’s sell the loot and get some grub. I’m starving.”

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  Max chuckled and they headed back to New Pants. They weren’t far, about a half hour walk. They had earned a substantial amount of money for just two hours of work and got to spend the rest of the day relaxing. Maybe after Max found his brother, they could keep doing this kind of work.

  As they headed back into town, they passed a group of people arguing about a hole in a building wall. Some were yelling, others crying. It gave Max a sinking feeling in his stomach. Without a governor, this city was falling apart much faster than expected.

  Gus peeled off to eat at the town’s most expensive restaurant, The Angry Badger. Asta split off too. She wanted to tell her friends she had gotten in. They promised to meet up tomorrow at Steel Appeal to get her fitted for a suit of armor.

  When it was just the two of them, Max turned to Bisrat and said, “I am seriously not looking forward to visiting LFG again. That place attracts idiots. Do you have any other ideas for recruiting?”

  Bisrat winced. “Not really. We could visit another town and see what the prospects there are like.”

  “That might be the best idea. We can take it easy for a bit while we get Asta armored up and trained. Then we head out for a new town. I still have my extra magic cards and monster cores, so money isn’t an issue. We don’t have to climb dungeons right away.”

  “I can work with that. I’ve been meaning to buy a long ranged attack card. If we are going to take it easy for a bit, I think I’ll reach out to my contacts to see what they have. Maybe I’ll train my new card with Asta. That way we can knock two things down with one tail swipe.”

  The alien expression gave Max an idea. “How about your friends? Any of them good fighters you would trust with your life?”

  A few different expressions played across her face. “Selamawit thinks she can fight, but she really can’t. Malic hates fighting, he’s the one that convinced Selamawit to sell her card. Taci is... Taci is actually a really good fighter. I would trust my life to him, but he’s got a Bell card. He picked Specialize too. I know how you feel about Bell cards so I didn’t bring it up.”

  Max grimaced. “Of course it’s a Bell card. You are right, I don’t like them. But some are better than others. I have no problem with Yang, and she uses her Camouflage card all the time.”

  “His card is called Startle. It’s really only good for interrupting monster charges.”

  “Yeah, Gus had that card, for a hot minute. He sold it with the others. You are right, not a lot of utility in that card. But maybe my prejudices aren’t as important as having a party member you can trust. If you like him, maybe the rest of us will too. How about you set up a meeting?”

  “Really? You would do that? He would need more Bell cards to be useful in a fight. Equipping him won’t be cheap.”

  “Sure, and if he gets along with the party, We can do another tryout dungeon run. Provided everything goes well the party can buy him some useful Bell cards and he can pay us back with his share of the earnings.”

  Bisrat hugged him tight, their armor clanking against each other. “Thank you, thank you. You are going to love him, I just know it.”

  An errant thought ran through Max’s head about how soft her hugs must be without all the armor. He squashed that thought and said, “No problem. As long as everyone likes him and we can trust him in a fight, I would be happy to have him in the party.”

  Bisrat left immediately to send her friends a letter. They lived in a different city, but magic made sending letters across monster infested grasslands easy. Max decided to head back to his inn and take it easy for the rest of the day. Maybe he would go out for dinner.

  When he got back to the inn, Max found Yang waiting for him. She stood up from the dining room table and strode over to him.

  “Max, we need to talk.”

  “Yang, good to see you. What’s up?”

  “It’s about James and Lily.”

  Max tsked. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to hang out with James yet.”

  “No, that isn’t it,” Yang said. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

  “Sure. I got a room upstairs.” Max said.

  Once they were in his room, he motioned to the chair and he flopped on the bed. While they talked, he started storing away his armor in his belt.

  “First off, good news. Lily isn’t going to die from Parkinson's. Turns out mana heals genetic disorders too. It just takes six months or so.”

  Max jumped up and said, “Really? That’s wonderful! That’s the best news I’ve heard in forever.”

  He reached out his arms for a hug, but she stayed sitting and raised a single eyebrow. Max coughed and sat back down.

  “Yes, I was very happy for her too. It was like the crow turned white. James kept dancing around and gave her a kiss.”

  “Really? Was that their first kiss?”

  “Maybe? I don’t know. The important thing is James is going to be healed too.” Yang said.

  Max tilted his head. “Healed? Oh wait, does color blindness count as something he can be healed from?”

  “Apparently. We asked an officer from our guild and he confirmed it. He promoted James to a Specialist the same day.”

  “So you all joined the Silver Eagle guild? Congratulations, I guess. Why did having a genetic disease get James promoted?”

  “It’s his eyes. Remember how he can tell if something is an illusion or not? The fake stuff seems too vibrant to him since he normally sees everything in dull tones. He is the perfect weapon against someone with Illusions.”

  “Right right. Bell cards work on the mind, not light, so it’s easy for him to tell the difference. Wait. You said someone, not something.”

  “That’s right. The Silver Eagles Guildmaster got the Builder’s kill quest. He’s going to kill the Governor of New New York so he can get his wish. That governor has a high leveled Illusion card and James is the perfect counter for his card,” Yang said with a frown.

  “And James is going along with this? The towns need governors. Haven’t you seen what’s happening to New Pants? The governor has only been dead for a few days and things are already starting to fall apart. Literally and figuratively.”

  “Do you think we are fools? Of course we know this is bad. James refused when they asked him to fight. But this morning, Lily and James were both gone. The guild says they agreed to fight, but I know they are lying. They must have abducted them so they can force them to fight for them. I need your help to rescue them.”