Desiree landed the finishing blow on a magma demon seconds before the holy light of her stave extinguished.

  Defeated level 17 Magma Demon! EXP +10,000

  Desiree checked her EXP bar, even though she knew she’d be disappointed. What used to be a windfall of experience was now a drop in the bucket. How was anyone supposed to keep leveling up when it got this much harder each time?

  Before she could loudly complain about it, Desiree noticed the look of pride on her mother’s face. That look immediately melted Desiree’s annoyance into a mushy puddle of pleased embarrassment. She masked it by puffing out her chest.

  “Here I thought demons were supposed to be tough,” she quipped.

  Inara rolled her eyes. “Loot,” she said.

  “I know, I know,” Desiree said, although she had definitely forgotten. She touched the demon and it dissolved easily, leaving behind a monster core.

  She held it up to her mom.

  “Let’s test the exit first,” she said in answer to the unspoken question.

  “Right!” Desiree looked around for any stones that looked raised or had a core-shaped divot at their center. She soon found it — Inara had pointed out to her what to look for, and once she knew that, it was easy enough to tell the difference between the tiles.

  If she was alone, she could have used the core to hold the plate down while she went to the other side. She clutched the core to her chest, though, hoping there would be a twin plate on the other side of the exit. Cores were EXP, and she didn’t want to leave it behind unless she had to.

  Before stepping on the plate, Desiree shared a glance with her mother. She knew better than to plunge them into combat before everyone was ready. Inara nodded, so Desiree stepped onto the plate.

  There was a brief pause — just long enough for Desiree to wonder if they’d gotten it wrong somehow — then the pull of stone on stone.

  But something was wrong. It was happening slower than normal, and she could see now where the hidden door was opening up, but it wasn’t going all the way.

  “Hmm.” Inara scanned the room, then found a second tile. She stepped on top of it. The tile sank and the door continued to open, but still not all the way.

  “There’s another one!” Desiree pointed to another tile. It was placed equal distance from Desiree and Inara, forming a neat triangle on the ground.

  “Drop the monster core on it and get back to your space,” Inara ordered.

  Desiree reluctantly obeyed. “I’m coming back for you,” she whispered to the core, then nestled it into the groove so it could weigh down that third tile.

  She rushed back to her own space, and this time it worked. The door opened wide enough for a person to go through — with the only trouble being, both Desiree and Inara were each trapped on their tiles. If either one of them moved, the door would begin to shut and they would be unable to make it through.

  “Maybe I can squeeze through,” Desiree mused.

  Inara gave her a sharp look. “Absolutely not.”

  “I’m small! I could probably fit!”

  “And be on your own in whatever fight is waiting on the other side? I don’t think so, not with your mana pool empty.”

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

  Desiree bit back a retort. Her mother was right. Without the advantage of holy magic, and with how the rooms had been ramping up in difficulty, she didn’t feel confident surviving the next room all on her own.

  “Inara? Desiree? Is that you?”

  “James!” Inara cupped her hands around her mouth. “Where are you? Can you come through?”

  “I’m stuck in a prison cell!” he shouted back. “The door is locked.”

  Inara wondered briefly how long he’d sat there, stuck and incurious, while she and Desiree fought one monster after another. Then she shoved that thought aside and went to work on the problem.

  “There has to be a way out for you,” she said. “Do you see a key anywhere?”

  “I mean… no? I’ve looked everywhere, and I even cleared a secret room, but the only key I found was for something else.”

  Inara slapped her hand against her forehead and took a deep breath.

  “Did you try it?”

  James’s silence told a whole story on its own. Inara heard the soft jangling of a chain, then a sharp click followed by a creak of ancient hinges.

  “…got it.” The Hero’s voice was subdued, and a little embarrassed. A moment later, he appeared in the doorway.

  James grinned. “Hey! We’re all together again!”

  “Yay! James! How do you meditate?”

  James blinked, thrown by the sudden question. “Uhh—”

  “She wants to unlock a mana regeneration skill,” Inara explained.

  “Oh, alright. Do we, uh, have time for that?”

  Inara nodded. It was a good question, at least. “The longer we wait to confront the Demon King the stronger he will become, but while we are in the dungeon, our primary focus should be on staying alive and making our way through it. All else is secondary to that goal.”

  “Got it,” said James. “Also, I wanted to make sure I told you both that in order to finish my quest, we’ll have to find every secret room and kill every monster. Is that okay with you?”

  “Yeah! More loot!” Desiree cheered.

  Inara simply nodded her assent.

  “Alright, great.” James was relieved to have that out of the way. He’d been a little worried that Inara wouldn’t want to waste the time on a full clear, and even though he was technically the Hero, he didn’t think he could override her.

  Desiree plopped onto the floor with her legs crossed. “Okay! Let’s meditate!”

  James chuckled and took a seat nearby. “You’ve got the right idea already,” he said. “You don’t have to be sitting, but it makes it easier. Helps if you close your eyes, too.”

  Desiree closed her eyes, but though she was sitting, James could see that she was fidgeting with pent-up energy. It made him smile, but it also made him worry that the meditation wouldn’t work. He wanted to help her get a mana regeneration spell, and he would be disappointed in himself if he failed to teach it. It wasn’t like he was some meditation guru. He’d just done it a couple times when he was stressed and saw a youtube video saying that meditation and deep breathing would help.

  James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Desiree followed suit, gulping in a big gasp of air.

  “The first thing,” he said, “is to take deep, calming breaths. Focus on your breath. Take a deep inhale—” they breathed in “—and a long, slow, exhale.” They breathed out. “Breathe in… and out… in… and out…” They repeated the exercise a couple times, until he could hear that Desiree had started to settle down.

  “Next, think about your awareness.” James was doing his best to remember how that video had phrased things. “Without opening your eyes, thinking about the room around you. Listen to my voice, and see if you can sense where I am. Think about your mom, and where she is. About the door, and where that is. Let your awareness continue to expand and fill this space.

  “And take a deep breath in… and out.”

  They continued to practice. James wasn’t sure how long it would take or how Desiree would know when she got it, but he could at least leave that second part up to her. He guided her through every meditation he could think of, including one that he’d used to use to help him sleep.

  “Let your awareness flow through your body. Notice how when you focus on a muscle it warms up. It tightens a little bit because you are thinking about it. Focus that awareness on your feet. See the contours of your feet in your minds eye, then move up to your calves. Pay attention to every sensation on your calves and try to hold that in your mind all at once, without letting go of the awareness of your feet. Work your way up and see how much of your body you can hold in your mind before your awareness loses hold of it all.”

  Finally, she shrieked. “I got it! I got it!”

  “You did?!”

  “Well, not Meditation exactly. I got Mana Cycling! It says, actively regenerate your mana by cycling it through your body. That’s even cooler than meditation, because I don’t have to sit still for so long!”

  Desiree double high-fived James and looked like she had enough energy to start running circles around the room.

  “That’s great!” James said, a little jealous. He hadn’t noticed mana cycling on his list of skills, and an active form of regeneration sounded better than meditation, which required a safe space and time to rest.

  Inara’s eyes betrayed a hint of pride, but she said nothing. Whether it was her desire to keep moving or her instinct to take advantage of Desiree’s enthusiasm, she interrupted the celebration.

  “If you guys are done,” she said, “let’s get a move on in the next room.”