James had to crawl through the hole on his hands and knees. It was dark and gross, and every once in a while he could make out the remains of an unfortunate rat, but it did lead out of the prison cell, the end was in sight, and the stone, which should have scraped against his hands and knees, did not hurt him. At first he was confused by that, but then he realized that since he wasn’t in combat and it wasn’t painful enough to affect his health bar, Grimora logic dictated that it didn’t register as pain.

  He had just enough time to puzzle that out before he reached the end of the tunnel.

  James paused at the edge to get his bearings. The room beyond looked completely different from the prison cell. The walls were still made of stone, but they were obstructed by floor to ceiling bookshelves, and there was a large desk at the center. The bookshelves were bare and cobwebbed, but James could imagine the room as it used to be. An older man sitting at the desk with an old quill and parchment, scribbling a summary of the day’s research. The room looked to have once been a comfortable study; in one corner sat an old armchair, its leather long since worn away, and its filling spilling out through the holes.

  Sitting at the desk was an old skeleton. It sat with excellent posture and one hand rested on the desk like it was in the middle of writing a letter; otherwise, it did not move. Ancient robes hung from its thin frame, threadbare with age. In some places, James could see through to the bone beyond.

  He’d bet anyone a dollar that as soon as he walked into the study, that skeleton would come to life and try to kill him. The question was: was it worth it?

  Crouched in the tunnel, he reviewed his second quest.

  [-] Quests

  [+] Keep the Doctor Away!

  [-] No Stone Unturned

  - Dungeon clear! That means kill every monster, loot every chest, and leave no suspiciously loose brick untouched. If there’s still a single rat scurrying around by the time you're done, you’ve failed.

  [+] To Rule or To Ruin

  Inara hadn’t mentioned any other dungeons nearby. That didn’t necessarily mean they didn’t exist, but it would be easier to clear the one he was already in, if possible. James kicked himself for not mentioning the quest before they jumped through the portal. He could fill them in once they all found each other once more, but it would have been better if they already knew the goal.

  He’d just have to tell them later, and at least it would be safer, then. Now that he thought about it again, if Desiree knew the quest specifics she likely would have jumped into more danger than she could handle on her own.

  James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. That was something to handle later. For now, the question right in front of him, was whether or not to kill this skeleton — and it looked like the answer had to be yes. He’d seen a lot of other prison cells through the bars of his own, and he didn’t like to think about how difficult it would be to find this particular little tunnel all over again.

  Oof. Were they going to have to check each cell, in case any others contained such a secret? Of course they would. Hopefully they could find some food along the way, as well.

  In either case, he was here. He couldn’t leave his cell any other way. He might as well fight the skeleton.

  Before he could talk himself out of it, James ate one of his apples, bringing his health almost all the way back to full. Then, as quick as he could manage, and abruptly grateful that he didn’t have an audience, James worked his way forward, out of the tunnel.

  He crouched as soon as his legs were free, but the skeleton didn’t move. He didn’t receive any notification of combat.

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  Nothing happened.

  James knew better than to relax. He unsheathed his sword and took a half-step forward. Still, the skeleton didn’t move.

  Was it… because he was behind the undead creature? It couldn’t see him, and maybe he was being quiet enough that it didn’t hear him either?

  He took another half-step forward, still ready but beginning to grow more comfortable. If he could sneak up on the thing, he could deal a serious blow before it even noticed he was there.

  James readied himself behind the skeleton. He raised his sword like a baseball bat, and for a second he felt like a kid playing t-ball. Then, he swung with all his might. He slammed the flat of the blade against the base of the skull. It went flying across the room and shattered against the stone wall.

  Still, the skeleton did not move. James received no notification of combat.

  He lowered his sword. Walked around the desk, poked at the skeleton’s ribs with the point of the blade. He pierced the ancient robe and the blade went easily between a couple ribs. The skeleton seemed to shiver at the contact, but still, did not come to life.

  “Huh.” James sheathed the blade. It was hard to believe. As much as he wanted to, it still felt like a trap somehow… but there was nothing. He searched the corners of the study and found no more rat holes. The walls were bare, and as far as he could tell, none of them were trick doors.

  “I guess it’s… safe?” Even as he spoke the words, he looked fiercely around the room for anything that would jump out at him. Until finally he had to admit that it was just a secret room, and there were no monsters.

  James returned to the desk. No longer afraid of the skeleton, he pushed it and the chair, both of which were surprisingly light, away from the desk. If there wasn’t a monster, there was surely some loot. There wouldn’t be a room for no reason. This land might not fully be a video game, but it was similar enough that there were some things which couldn’t not be true.

  So he rummaged through the desk until he found a locked drawer. Then he rummaged through the skeleton’s pockets until he found a key, which — lo and behold! — fit the drawer and opened to reveal the book.

  As soon as James saw the book, he knew it was special. Every single item in the study was ancient and decayed, frayed and scorched by the rats which must have come in and out as they pleased.

  The book, however, was pristine. Its cover was thick brown leather, and the title was embossed in gold. The Fire Mage’s Handbook. Images of flames were pressed into the leather in an ornate design that he traced, over and over again with his fingers.

  Excitement built in his chest. He could finally learn a more potent spell than Mana Bolt! Even better, he’d be starting with something cool and classic like Fireball! As a kid, James had played every Pokemon game which ever came out, so he was intimately familiar with how powerful fire attacks could be.

  He tried to open the book, but the cover didn’t budge. It was held closed by a strap, which was in turn secured by a small lock. James let out a surprised bark of laughter.

  If it wasn’t so fancy looking, he would have said it looked like a little girl’s diary.

  Though it felt obvious, he tried the key from the desk just in case, but it was far too big. He tried tearing the strap, but the leather held firm. As a magician’s notebook it was probably reinforced by magic anyway, but he couldn’t help but feel, once again, as though he should have added his stat points to STR instead of INT. One of these days, he really would do that.

  In any case, he wouldn’t be able to open the book now. He added the book to his inventory. It turned into a cute picture of a book which did absolutely no justice to the gold filigree that decorated its spine.

  Maybe the key was somewhere else in the study? James searched the room until he was covered in dust, to no avail. There was nothing there but rat droppings and tattered cloth. Just for the heck of it, he tried adding the droppings to his inventory, and sure enough, it added to the same little square that housed the Scorch Rat Pellets he’d received from the little monsters. That was gross, but hey — if it ever did turn out to be important, he’d be ready!

  Inspired, James went around the room filling his inventory with anything and everything. The bookshelves wouldn’t go in, but the Battered Chair did. The desk was too big, but the Mage Skeleton wasn’t. Only when the secret room was picked clean of every possible goody did James crawl back through the hole, back to his cell.