“This Dungeon is very boring,” Rimuto’quinn said behind me. The other Sylven in armor, whose name I learned was Hano’quinn, grunted in agreement. I slowed my walk a tiny bit to hear them better. Interpreting their conversation and filling in the words I didn’t know was challenging, but not impossible.

“It must be a new Dungeon,” Rimuto’quinn continued, then added something I didn’t catch.

“Perhaps it is waiting for us to get bored,” Hano’quinn said. “And then, it will strike.”

“I doubt it,” Rimuto’quinn said. “It is just stupid.”

The two of them then proceeded to talk about the treasures they had already gathered here—and by treasures they probably meant my dagger and Devi herself. The longer I listened to them, the more I realized what Devi had meant when she told me about their gender imbalance. Either the difference was really significant, or these guys behind me were just really horny—pun intended. They acted as if finding a woman was a blessing from heaven.

They were right about the Dungeon being empty, however. So far we hadn’t encountered anything, which was both fortunate for Teva’ryn walking on the front, and unfortunate for me, waiting for my chance to escape. We had already put considerable distance between us and Devi’s clones, however. I couldn’t swap places with them from so far away – I could sense marks only in my vicinity – but Devi could open a portal at her clones no matter how far they were. It was a really neat trick; basically, this guaranteed that she would never have to carry her groceries home ever again, as long as she left a clone in her kitchen. I could only hope that if I hugged my grocery bags tight to my body, I would be able to do the same by teleporting to Soul Eater. I wanted to test it, but first I needed to get out of this Dungeon … and I also needed to find a convenience store. Damn, it wouldn’t be easy, would it? I wondered whether this world had any convenience stores at all.

Another problem was the four Sylven men behind me, obviously. If they were fully equipped with Abilities, Weapon Skills, magical armor and trinkets, then it would be just about impossible to account for all of those unknowns. I imagined high-leveled Players to be like one-man armies, each of them a superhuman – or supersylven – in their own right. Tengi’quinn and his gang had only one weakness as far as I was concerned, only one crack on their impenetrable armor, and she was called Devi.

Waiting for the right opportunity felt unnerving, even though I was sure that I would get my chance before we got to the Dungeon’s boss. If the Inspectors had designed this place for us beginner Players, then Tengi’quinn and his buddies would be able to kill the hive-mother and claim the Core without our help easily. Why would my Inspector want to observe me tagging along with these guys, when she could watch me make an escape attempt instead? A much more exciting premise, in my opinion.

My expectations bore fruit a few minutes later as we approached a set of multi-storey buildings, nearing what seemed to be the city center.

“Watch out!”

A massive shape burst out of an intersecting street and hit Teva’ryn; the attacker was a large sweller about the size of a car, with a peculiar crimson-red skin. It pinned Teva’ryn to the ground, the gaping maw on its underside trying to take a bite out of him—but not quite able to do so, because the phantom arms protruding from Teva’ryn’s sides were holding its bulk back.

“Scatter!” Damoro’quinn yelled at the humans standing in his way. The rifle from his back was already in his hands, whirring loudly; some compartments sank in while others popped out, rearranging themselves. The gun barely seemed to have finished transforming before Damoro’quinn fired a continuous beam of green light at the red sweller. The creature twitched, jumping out of the way in the last moment. Damoro’quinn didn’t let up however, turning his gun and the laser beam with it. The sweller scuttled backward, where a large circle of swirling lights swallowed its body. Damoro’quinn’s laser scythed through the portal as well as basically every building near the road, cutting them in half. I heard Tengi’quinn shout something over the noise of the collapsing buildings, and the men turned toward the building next to us—upon which the red sweller stood.

I fell back quickly to put the Sylven men between me and the monster, and more importantly, to get closer to Devi. I had done it none too soon either, because a second later Rimuto’quinn slammed his shield to the ground to form a transparent wall of light in front of him. Tengi’quinn reached out and used the same Ability he had grabbed Devi’s clone with, shadowy tendrils snaking around the sweller’s legs. The creature reacted by opening another portal to escape through, but the tendrils didn’t allow it to move. I slunk closer to Devi. Damoro’quinn dropped his large rifle to raise his handgun at the sweller, firing an energy bullet that reminded me of what that boar had fired at me back in the forest. The only difference was that this projectile became as large as a cannonball as it passed through Rimuto’quinn’s transparent wall. The ball of white-hot energy slammed into the helpless sweller, melting half of its body instantly. A burst of white streaks erupted from the dead body, finding its way to us, but I was only concerned with one thing.

Quest completed: Reopen the portals

Devi’s eyes met mine at the same time, her amber orbs boring into mine. Part of me wanted to ask whether she trusted me, but those words were superfluous; I already knew that she did. I didn’t deserve it, but she did—and I was going to use her.

“No portals yet,” I said as I stepped behind her, circling my left arm around her. She gasped when my hand closed around her throat, her hands going up to my fingers reflexively. Simultaneously, I teleported Soul Eater to my right hand – its blade long and sharp and wicked – and pressed it against her abdomen. Credit where its due, the Sylven men immediately noticed that something was afoot. I pulled Devi closer to me, watching the dismay of my opponents over her shoulder.

“Move, and the woman gets hurt,” I casually told them.

The light around Tengi’quinn’s fingers died abruptly, but my threat didn’t stop Damoro’quinn from pointing his gun at my head and the other two Sylven looked ready to jump on me too. I kept Devi between us, dragging her backward until I could see all four men properly.

“Stop!” Tengi’quinn barked when Rimuto’quinn took a step toward me. “Let’s not do anything hasty, alright? Tell us what you want, human.”

“Good. I want you to—”

My sentence was cut short when something ripped Soul Eater out of my hand, launching it at Rimuto’quinn. Damoro’quinn fired at me right after, but our hand was already moving, teleporting Soul Eater back to us and intercepting the shot. The projectile was magical in nature, so the impact didn’t even make us lose our grip on the dagger as we blocked the mana-fueled bullet. It bounced off the blade toward Tengi’quinn, but the air shimmered around the Sylven lord and the shot fizzled out.

“Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough,” I said, pressing the blade against Devi’s stomach once again. She tried to twist her body aside, but froze when she felt the tip of the dagger piercing her skin.

“Wait!” Tengi’quinn said, his voice getting alarmed now. “Let’s try this again, please.”

I could tell that his eyes were glowing, even though I wasn’t looking directly at him. Tengi’quinn then raised his hand up to his face, a ring on his finger drawing my eyes to it against my will.

“You don’t want to hurt the woman,” Tengi’quinn said as his eyes locked onto mine. “Drop your weapon, and release her.”

He was right, I supposed. I didn’t want to hurt Devi. My grip on Soul Eater loosened for a moment, but then we clenched our fingers around the hilt, shutting off Tengi’quinn’s influence.

“Mind control,” we said, sneering. “What do you think you know about mind control?”

Tengi’quinn flinched as if we had slapped him.

“How—?”

“You have been warned, Sylven lord,” we said. “You’ll now suffer the consequences.”

We pressed Soul Eater deeper into the woman’s abdomen—and I quickly shrunk the dagger, making the blade shorter as I moved the weapon. Devi let out a strangled scream, writhing in my grasp and grabbing at my hand. I imagined her blood was staining her shirt by now, and though I knew I hadn’t stabbed too deep, her cries of pain sounded so genuine that it took all of my willpower to keep the panic off my face. Needless to say, the Sylven Players were outright freaking out now; I gave them a cruel smile as they yelled for me to stop.

“You know,” I said, “I always wondered how you’d like her if she wasn’t able to bear your children anymore.”

“That’s enough, you madman!” Tengi’quinn cried. “We don’t have a healer to mend a wound like that!”

“Then you better do what I want, before she bleeds out.”

“What is it then?!” Damoro’quinn snarled. “Out with it, worm!”

I took a moment to glance at the rest of the group behind the Sylven Players; this could very well be the last time I saw them. Ever-cheerful Imaya, now looking at me with teary, unbelieving eyes. Tamara, face contorted in disgust, always so quick to judge and condemn me. Pell and Teva’ryn, so different yet similar to each other, both watching me as if they wanted to tear me apart.

“I want you to let my companions go,” I told Tengi’quinn. “Release all four of them from your compulsion, and allow them to leave the Dungeon.”

“Get lost,” Tengi’quinn growled at the group over his shoulder, then turned his furious eyes back to me. “I hope you realize that if Devi’quinn dies, your friends’ safety will be the least of your concerns.”

I watched the others leave, silently urging them on. Tamara and Pell disappeared between the buildings quickly enough, but Imaya was standing still, her feet rooted in place until Teva’ryn grabbed her arm and dragged her away. I waited patiently for their footsteps to fade away, holding Soul Eater steadily, ignoring Devi’s whimpers and the murderous glares of the men in front of me.

“Well?” Tengi’quinn tersely asked.

“Well, now we will be taking our leave too,” I said. “Devi, please open the portals.”

The Sylven Players tensed and Damoro’quinn pointed his gun at me again, but I just tucked my head behind Devi as she reached out with her hand and created a tear in space next to us—through which I felt three Marks of Replacement nearby.

“Goodbye, gentlemen,” I said in a jovial tone. “Remember this day when I, Clark the Cleverest, bested you all and stole your woman!”

I then focused on the Mark furthest from the portal, swapped places with the clone, dropped Soul Eater, swapped places with Devi, and teleported back to Soul Eater in the span of a second.

“Easy-peasy,” I said, then fell to my butt from the dizziness. To be fair, I would have probably been able to stay on my feet if my body hadn’t been so worn-out. Getting a good night’s sleep couldn’t come soon enough.

“It is not over,” Devi said. “They chase us.”

In spite of her ominous words, she was grinning from ear to ear. She looked positively mischievous, as if she had just stole all the cookies from the jar instead of having escaped … whatever her fate with those men would have been.

“Are you … alright?” I tentatively asked.

“Yes, I’m well,” Devi said, pointing at her blood-soaked shirt. “This is just a scratch.”

It wasn’t her physical state I had asked her about, but I didn’t prod further; I knew she didn’t appreciate people fussing about her. She extended a hand to help me back to my feet and I clasped it, leaving a new Mark of Replacement on her palm during the contact.

“Come,” Devi said. “Hurry to escape.”

She started jogging, and I was bit ashamed to realize that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with her. I blamed my tiredness for this, and definitely not my constitution. After a few minutes of physical exertion I was already breathing hard, my legs feeling like jelly. I couldn’t even tell where we were; the mass of stone buildings on both sides looked the same as ever, and I didn’t know how long I had been unconscious when we came here.

“How far?” I finally asked, slowing down to a walk. I wasn’t giving up, just resting my legs a bit. Devi came to a halt ahead of me, holding a hand against her bleeding stomach. Great—now I felt doubly-guilty.

“Not far,” she said, pointing ahead. “A little more running.”

“Good,” I said. “Then I will stay here as a distraction.”

Devi frowned. “Distraction? For Damoro’quinn?”

“Yes. You run, and create a clone after every fifty steps,” I said, showing her all ten of my fingers five times. “Got it?”

“Clones, fifty steps,” Devi repeated. “I can make eight clones, then make portal.”

“Sure,” I said. “Sounds like a good idea.”

I wasn’t certain what would happen if Devi opened a portal above a moving elevator, but I trusted her to account for it. Giving her Soul Eater would have been the easier solution for me to catch up, but I wanted the weapon with me in case things went wrong. As Devi took off in a run, I helped myself up onto a stone pillar at the edge of a small city square. I perched on the top of it, dangling my legs, shaping Soul Eater while keeping an eye on the road.

It wasn’t long before I spotted him. Damoro’quinn sped down on the road from where we had come, the shortest path to the elevator. With only one way out of this city, it hadn’t been difficult for him to figure out where we went. A gust of wind swept across the street as Damoro’quinn skidded to a halt when he saw me, raising his handgun at me the same time as I raised Soul Eater at him—making him freeze at the sight of my gun.

I had no in-depth knowledge about guns, though I had drawn quite a few of them in the past. While shaping Soul Eater I had focused on aesthetics over functionality, since I wouldn’t be shooting bullets anyway. The result looked really cool, in my humble opinion; I had hidden the weapon’s gemstone in the base of the barrel, leaving tiny gaps around it so that the orange glow could seep out, pulsing ominously.

“The show is over,” I told Damoro’quinn. “This is just the encore.”

“Your life is what’s over, Clark the Worm,” Damoro’quinn spat, gripping his handgun tighter.

“Careful about shooting me,” I said. “Have you seen how quickly I can switch places with the woman? Fire at me, and you might just hit her instead.”

“You can’t bluff me,” Damoro’quinn retorted. “I know you want her alive too. You might have fooled us once, but it won’t work a second time.”

“The second time?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “But this is already, like, the fourth time I’m fooling you.”

Damoro’quinn narrowed his eyes. “Where is she?”

“Already on her way to the elevator.”

Damoro’quinn was silent for a while. I knew he was tempted to look away – Devi’s clones had to be lining up on the street behind me – but he didn’t dare to take his eyes off my gun.

“No, I don’t think so,” he finally said. “You hid her somewhere to treat her wound.”

He started to edge toward the buildings, keeping his gun on me.

“Look, if you move any further, I’ll be forced to shoot you.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Damoro’quinn snarled.

“Really?” I asked. “I’m sure you have some splendid protection against bullets, but are you certain you can withstand a weapon handed me by an Inspector? It’s a bold claim, Damoro’quinn.”

The Sylven man seethed in anger, his silvery mustache quivering comically, but he stopped creeping away. I could almost see the gears turn in his head, weighting his chances about winning a gunfight with me. I had to admit, it felt quite good to be taken seriously for once. Before Danomo’quinn could have come any conclusion however, I heard a distant hum behind me—which I presumed to be my cue to leave.

“Bang!”

I jabbed Soul Eater at Damoro’quinn, who threw himself to the ground and fired at me, but I just swapped places with the nearest clone behind me. Arriving in a standing position felt a bit jarring, but I pushed through the disorientation to locate another Mark of Replacement within my range, just ahead. I activated it, switching place with the clone and getting within range of the third clone. I switched with that clone too, then with the fourth, fifth, and sixth. The road had a slight bend to it, and so Damoro’quinn wouldn’t have been able to shoot me even if I wasn’t flickering down the street at such a high speed. Barely a couple of seconds passed before I swapped places with the seventh clone, finding the eighth clone kneeling beside me.

As I contemplated what to do, I saw a disk of stone floating upwards with Devi standing on its edge, waving at me. She then opened a portal next to the clone, and I didn’t waste my time tossing Soul Eater through and teleporting over. A moment later the entire elevator jerked as it hit the bottom of the portal. Cracks forming at the edge of the platform made me retreat to the other side, away from the portal. Devi was closing it already, but the process took a few moments … during which the platform groaned and shuddered ominously. In hindsight, handing Soul Eater to Devi would have been a much wiser option for catching up to her.

When the portal closed at last, the platform continued its ascent. I resisted the urge to peer down over the edge to see what Damoro’quinn was up to, since I didn’t want to give him the chance to snipe me down. I was fairly sure that he wouldn’t try destroying the elevator and risk injuring Devi, and while it was possible that he had some sort of flight-magic to come after us, I personally doubted it. He already had guns and superspeed; being able to fly didn’t fit his skillset.

I tossed Soul Eater away when I realized that I was clutching it still. This day was … not a complete disaster, but damn near one. With Simon dead and Imaya, Teva’ryn, Tamara, and Pell left to fend for themselves, it was already certain that our story wouldn’t have a happy ending. I had always tried to tell myself that I wasn’t part of their team, that we traveled together only out of convenience. Even so, it stung to lose them like this.

A soft chuckle made me turn. Devi was looking upwards, her arms outstretched as if she wanted to hug the world. The lights from down below were fading, so I saw only her silhouette.

“We did it,” she whispered with glee. “I’m finally free!”

“I, too, like to tempt fate with premature celebration,” I told her. “You’ve forgotten something, however.”

The elevator slowed its ascent as it neared the top, fitting perfectly in the circular hole above us. We emerged into the light of eight portals surrounding the battle-marred arena.

“What is it?” Devi asked, turning to me curiously.

I held out my fist, and as she gave it a puzzled look, I swapped places with her to bump my fist against hers.

“Good fight,” I said, smiling at her. “We fought well.”

“We didn’t even fight them,” she remarked.

“Sure,” I said. “Those are the best kind of fights, aren’t they?”

While Devi complained about me not making any sense, I stepped off the elevator. We couldn’t be sure how far Tengi’quinn and his buddies would chase us, so we had every intention to leave as many false trails as possible. As Devi began to send clones in every direction, I gathered my charred backpack that I had left on the edge of the arena. I discarded a few of my stuff at the nearest portal before teleporting back to Devi.

We had three options as to what to do; exit through the portal we had come from, exit through the portal the Sylven men had come from, or choose another portal randomly. The first option might lead to a dead end, because we cheated our way through that gate. The second option was the safest, because Tengi’quinn’s party had probably killed all the threats there already … but it was also the most predictable way for us to go. In the end, we decided to exit through another portal.

As much as I didn’t want to fight my way out of this cursed place, it was our best bet for avoiding our pursuers. At the very least, there was a silver lining; with only me and Devi facing whatever the Dungeon would throw at us, the two of us were going to get through it much faster than with a larger group. We didn’t need to kill anything—we just needed to escape. Between Devi’s clones and my teleportation, no sweller would be able to stop us.

“Ready?” Devi asked as we walked up to our chosen portal.

“Not really, but let’s do this anyway.”

Devi stepped into the swirling lights first and I followed her—then blinked in the glaring sunlight.

I looked around slowly. We were standing in the mouth of a cave, the trees that grew around it too sparse to block the midday sun. Ahead of us, over a sprawling forest and up on a mountain, stood a large city with high walls—much closer than the last time we had glimpsed it. This beautiful sight was partly obscured by my collar’s projection, demanding my attention.

You have left the Dungeon: Swellers of the Deep
+1 Feat

Congratulations, your legend has risen!
Legend 3 reached.

I stared. Could it be possible? After all we had been through, the Inspector just … let us go? It felt too good to be true. I took a few unsteady steps forward to stand beside Devi, and for a time we just basked in the sight of the rotating walls of the city. Devi held her fist out to me absently and I gave it a bump, our eyes still on our new horizon.

We really made it, didn’t we? I turned to meet Devi’s joyful amber eyes, and found myself returning her smile. Then without a word, the two of us set off to find some place to rest, find a convenience store, and find a proper sketchbook for me—not necessarily in that order.