Prologue

  "Look alive, people, this satellite dungeon is already nearly a week old, we gotta crush it before it pops."

  Katherine Delane lifted an enormous spear-gun as she took a step towards a shimmering marble obelisk. The ragtag collection of miscreants and mercenaries behind her, the Raging Rhinos Hunter Guild, variously laughed, scoffed, spit on the ground, and followed their leader towards the dungeon.

  This particular dungeon was a 10 story tower of shimmering smoked glass, plopped down right in the middle of the otherwise deeply uninteresting Westhaven Shopping Plaza.

  "Keys ready." Delane pulled out a long, ornate metal key with her name written on it, approaching the shimmering curtain of energy at the front of the tower. "We're going in."

  She slid the key into the energy field, waiting for the curtain of light to change from blue to golden yellow before stepping through.

  Three more figures passed through behind her. Gregor, a huge hulking man with a chainsaw strapped to his left arm grinned as he looked from side to side. "What we looking for in this place?

  "Reports were unhelpful as usual." Selena, a rail thin girl in skintight black leather with roughly a dozen daggers strapped to her. "Anyone who got out in one piece kept the info to themselves. Idiots really think they'll get the chance to try again."

  A noise like a bug zapper went off behind them, sending the last figure flying.

  "Dammit Douglas." Katherine sighed.

  "I'm okay, I'm okay, forgot about my key." a skinny, conspicuously weaponless man in a denim jacket and oversized glasses slid through the field. "I got excited. Look at this place."

  "Douglas" Selena sighed at the man. "If you're going to waste our time with things like that, at least give us your analysis about what kind of monsters we should expect in here."

  Douglas took a deep breath and took in the scenery. Beyond the glassy walls the tower was dark and filled with dense plant life, to the point where the ground was barely visible. "Jungle dungeon." Douglas grinned. "Monsters could be beast type, maybe plant type. I'd expect some-"

  "SKREEEEEE!" A blurry green shape erupted from the undergrowth, flying at the dweeb.

  "Yep, primitive humanoids, that's a goblin, help me, help me, help me!!!" Douglas yelled as the goblin drove a spear at his face.

  Gregor cut the thing in half with one swipe of his chainsaw-glove. "Douglas. Stop cowering. You are safe."

  "I don't think we're safe yet." Douglas reached up and pulled a golden-colored playing card out of thin air. "My Advanced Mapping skill is up and I see a lot of red dots moving closer. As long as we're in the tall grass-"

  Katherine fired a harpoon into the grass and pulled a writhing goblin out into the open. "They lurk in this grass because they can't possibly fight us head to head." The massive woman shrugged, crushing the creature under a boot while pulling her spear free.

  "We should still clear some space." Douglas adjusted his glasses. "Gregor, could you?"

  "Of course, tiny friend." the giant revved his gauntlet, sending grasses flying in all directions. Two steps in, the grass shrieked, sending a geyser of blood arcing around him as well.

  "Found a goblin." Gregor chimed in his thick Germanic accent. "I call dibs on any little gems or hearts that come out when I cut the grass."

  "Pay attention, gramps." Selena hurled two daggers into a goblin that burst from the grass behind Gregor. "If you get offed, I'm not carrying you out of the dungeon."

  "Aw, why not? It would only be fair after I carried you in the dungeon."

  "Gregor, start moving to the left." Douglas adjusted his glasses again "There's a stairwell somewhere down that passage."

  Quick Aside, dungeons are split into levels, with stronger monsters on each level. A stairwell is a catchall term for a method to move from level to level. They're still called stairwells even if they take a different form, like a portal or an elevator. Some Dungeons are even layed out vertically, but the terminology still applies, even to these "Flat dungeons."

  And in the case of this particular dungeon, the stairwell took the form of an ornate marble fountain.

  "Does that..." Gregor poked an enormous finger into the water. "Does that seem odd to anyone else?"

  "I've never seen a fountain either." Katherine

  "Dive in, gramps." Selena patted the huge man on the back. "Worst case scenario, you're due for a bath anyway."

  "Do not be rude, Selena. You are also covered in goblin blood."

  "You're the reason I'm covered in goblin blood!"

  Douglas looked at Katherine. "Are they always like this?"

  "Pretty much." She shrugged. "They work well together, but they bicker in a way that only family can."

  "It's kinda cute." Douglas sighed. "I haven't been that close to my family in... a long time."

  Katherine smacked him on the shoulder. "Come on, Douglas, let's get moving before they kill each other. I'd like to at least tackle the first boss before we bed down for the night."

  "I'll boot up my Advanced Map and fast track us to the next couple stairwells. There should be a midboss on the 5th level. And boss?"

  "Yes?"

  "You can just call me Doug. It's faster."

  "Doug... Okay."

  Splash!

  Katherine and Doug were interrupted by the sound of Gregor bodily lifting his granddaughter and dropping her directly into the fountain. They'd all share a good laugh about it later. Much later.

  Doug had been right, though. His Advanced Map had helped them skip most of the battles along the way to the midboss, something called a "Hobgoblin Cavalier" that died pretty quickly when Katherine harpooned it right off its horse, preventing it from using any of its mounted combat skills. Gregor, not wanting to waste anything, roasted the horse over an open fire when they made camp.

  "Just like that, we're halfway." Katherine grinned down at the fire. "I didn't think there'd be much benefit to bringing someone who can't fight, but your map has been a big help."

  Doug leaned back against the wall. "I felt like a joke when I first unlocked the Skill. Who knew we'd be able to skip half the dungeon."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "More than half. I'll be counting on you to take us the rest of the way to the dungeon's final boss."

  "Doug!" Gregor burst suddenly into the conversation, with a heaping plate of meat. "Eat up, you'll need your strength tomorrow and it's almost time for bed!"

  Doug laughed "Thanks Gregor. I don't know if I'll need much in the way of strength since you guys are doing all the fighting, but I appreciate the thought."

  "Nonsense, boy! You need to recover Stamina for a full day of using your Skill, or else it may fail us at a crucial moment!" Gregor clasped his hands on the younger man's shoulders "Do not underestimate your importance!"

  "I... guess." Doug stammered. "Yeah. Yeah, I've got this." And that night was the first time Doug lay down to sleep brimming with confidence in his own abilities. The next day, he would take them all the way to the boss room safely and they would conquer this dungeon!

  And that he did, leading them through a series of stairwells until they found themselves at the tower's summit. The final chamber seemed to stretch out into an endless dark forest, with no sign of a boss in sight.

  "Whoa." Doug said, scanning his map. "It's bigger on the inside."

  "Whatever you say, Doctor." Selena eyed the trees around them. "Does your magic radar sense tell you where the boss is?"

  "Actually the Doctor doesn't really say that too often. Usually it's the companions who-"

  "Doug. Where is the boss?"

  "Right, sorry..." Doug pulled up his map. "No sign of it. It's probably got a stealth ability that lets it hide from my-"

  There was a blurring motion and just like that, Douglas was dragged screaming into the forest.

  "Dammit!" Katherine circled to face the direction where the startled man had disappeared. "We should have left him outside the boss chamber!"

  "He knew this job was dangerous when he took it!" Gregor revved his chainsaw gauntlet and took a step into the deadly forest. "Besides, he isn't dead yet, we can still-"

  Another blur, and suddenly Gregor's gauntlet arm was gone, missing up to the elbow.

  "Grandpa!" Selena's eyes darted back and forth, searching for the mysterious entity. She pulled out her silver colored skill card. "Blade of Darkness!" Long, inky black tendrils of shadow began to seep out of her dagger. Another blurring motion, but Selena was ready, she threw the dagger and caught the monster in its furry chest.

  "The boss is a Sasquatch?!" Katherine called out before the shape disappeared into the trees again. "Selena, help me slow him down, Gregor, how are you holding up?"

  "I'll live, Boss." Gregor held up his own Silver card, slowly encasing his body in a shell of thin, flexible stone. "I won't take any more hits as long as I keep my Armor of the Mountain active"

  Selena was throwing daggers at every shadow, her eyes wide and wild. "Gramps, do you have anything that can hurt it without your saw?"

  "My fists are made of stone, girl." Gregor flung a wild swing into the dark. "Well... fist now..." The creature blurred out of the trees again, slamming headfirst against Gregor's strong stone body.

  The look of fear on Selena's face disappeared, replaced by a murderous grin. "Blade of Darkness: Spider Strike!" the long shadowy tendrils of darkness emanating from the dagger in the creature's chest grew taut, contracting like rubber. "Stupid beast, you thought I was just carelessly throwing daggers all around the forest?" As the lines snapped back, they pulled the discarded daggers with them, pincushioning the Sasquatch with sharp metal. "Boss, harpoon it!"

  Katherine raised her spear gun directly at the creature's head. It locked eyes with her, and screamed.

  *Squish*

  Blood leaked from the hunter's ears as silence descended on them. The creature's roar was literally deafening. With one arm it swiped away the daggers holding it in the shadowy web that was holding it in place.

  Gregor lurched forward, slamming his stone into the Sasquatch's wounded stomach. "Scream all you want, you can't hurt me!"

  The creature responded by driving both of its thumbs into Gregor's unprotected eyes with a wet squish.

  "Gregor, no!" Katherine brought her spear gun to bear again. One hand brought out her skill card, a Gold card. "Black Arrow, Fly True!" she shouted as she fired the harpoon. As the skill activated, her harpoon grew in size and speed, a deadly missile that would pierce even the toughest armor.

  Which Katherine probably should have considered, as the Sasquatch simply lifted Gregor between itself and her, catching the projectile directly in his spine.

  ""Grandpa!" Selena jumped at the monster with a dagger in each hand. Weakened and slowed by the battle, it couldn't avoid the strikes, taking both blows in the sides of its neck. "Katherine, shoot it again!"

  Katherine looked down at her weapon. A long cable connected the barrel of her spear gun to Gregor's body. Was he dead, or just injured? If she finished this fight quick, would she be able to save him? What about Doug? The questions buzzed through her mind like a swarm of bees, all thoughts of the fight unable to break through.

  "Katherine!" Selena repeated. "You've got to-"

  *SLAM*

  The creature's fists crashed down on the assassin girl on both sides, flattening her like a pancake.

  The towering ape man lurched toward Katherine on unsteady legs. She screamed, tears streaming down her face as it grew ever closer. It was barely holding its body together, its fur was matted with blood and its face was a ruin of cuts and bruises. It raised its brutish fist and-

  static. The live stream went dead.

  All around the store, customers made noises of annoyance and disappointment. "Hey cashier, your internet sucks ass!" an old man shouted at me.

  "What happened to them?"

  "I live near that town, what if the monsters escape while I'm driving home?"

  I sighed. The kind of excitement and danger that I could see in that live stream were things I could only dream of. I was just some level 1 nobody, without a single Skill Card to my name.