Before they made it to [Floor] 40, Thesa and Merijest had a chance to learn some more about their new compatriots.

  For one thing, Witmie the half-elf [Fighter] was somehow disgusted and fascinated by monsters in equal measure. Standing at a ‘safe’ distance and squinting through her fingers, she was excited to watch Merijest befriend and recruit a Bronze Motif. (“Their little legs just freak me out! But they’re also so cute…”). The Foxtapus and Yabba didn’t seem to bother her as much, but Thesa wasn’t sure why. She also seemed completely unbothered by the bunny ears she’d picked up from her stint as a rabbit. She kept asking Durn to look at her striking exaggerated expressions and cute poses with her new ears.

  Durn was more reserved, mostly focused on whatever task was at hand. She had access to a couple of interesting Spells, but Thesa was almost surprised the woman had such a magically inclined class despite being physically tough. “My [Sorcerer] spell casting scales off of my [Constitution],” Durn had explained. “Without it, I’d get pretty worn out from a few casts.”

  ***

  ***

  They all stopped at the stairway to [Floor] 40 to go over their plan. Witmie revealed that she had a notebook full of surprisingly detailed map sketches which made the whole process a lot smoother. The drawings were messy, but workable.

  “I just like doodling,” Witmie shrugged.

  Once they got past the [Floor] there would be little time to rest. They needed to get through and keep running. Merijest called on assistance from some of the [Familiars] she’d recruited who for one reason or another had not joined the party. She was also able to set up something called a ‘[Party Message]’ so the sapient party members could all communicate directly.

  ***

  The walls of the chamber where Sir Peter and Sir Kelreyn had set up the Knight Station were shaped almost like bunk beds. The whole [Floor] had been a crypt when they passed through it the first time in a hurry. Now with their more methodical plan of setting up Knight Stations every five [Floors], they had enough time to stop and deliver each and every entombed corpse to Beautuk’s realm. What a [Blessing]!

  Kelreyn sat at the table, handing out potions and basic weapons. Her blond hair and pale skin made her almost look like that traitor woman, minus the ears, freckles, and general demeanor.

  Meanwhile, Peter’s job was to greet each adventurer who came through. He tried not to sound condescending to anyone who took a Shield Stone from the Station’s supply. The single-use items were impressive. When activated, they create a temporary, translucent barrier at any point in a corridor. Still, invisible walls were sort of a cheap tactic…

  Joining them at the Station, a handful of Convent devotees ran back and forth from the Storage chamber. Another sat in the Delivery Room where Peter would lead anyone with a dead party member in tow.

  Everyone was on high alert after that gnome, Clorbo, had jabbered how his party came face to face with the vile demoness, but there were enough adventurers present for him to continue mulling over his spell choice. This last spell was the only part of Level 18 that he hadn’t been able to settle on.

  He was between two higher Level spells. [Reject Evil] would give him boosted resistance to attacks from Evil creatures. That was appealing, but so far flimsiness hadn’t been a huge problem for him. He ended up choosing [Conduct Sigil] which was a new option at this Level. It would let him command a target to avoid a certain action and if they refused they would be hit with a nasty cut to their [Ability Scores]. It gave him more of the authoritative power he craved.

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  He was really liking it here. A much better place. A place that respected his need for control. His mouth watered at the thought of choosing an Eminent Class. This was how things should be.

  Even if it was a little odd to call a group of Knights a Convent…

  Peter’s musings were cut off by the sound of an explosion in the Storage chamber and the sound of yelling devotees.

  He and Kelreyn looked at one another confused.

  “I thought you said there were protection spells on the inventory,” Peter said.

  “There should be,” Kelreyn said, nodding reluctantly to show some deference to her new superior (even if she had been a well-performing Knight for years now and he came out of nowhere to get promoted). “But theoretically, a powerful spell could circumvent it.”

  Kelreyn stood from the table and cautiously approached the corridor leading to the Storage chamber. Their number one priority was to maintain a blockade. Devotees could be replaced. Kelreyn pulled a glowing stone from her pocket.

  Peter took to the other entrance, remaining firmly in the Station chamber but preparing to attack anything that came through.

  The corridor before him filled with darkness. That traitor woman…she must have cast [Blindfold] again. No matter. He cast [Infravision] on himself and indicated for Kelreyn to do the same. Peter was able to see an oddly-fuzzy heatmap of a half-elf with rabbit ears. Must be the one that gnome mentioned. Without waiting, he struck the girl through the head with his sword. Behind her, the half-dwarf stood in the corridor in the middle of casting a spell. With no time to lose, he charged the heat-tone figure, only to find himself charging through empty air. By the time he turned around, there was an invisible barrier in his way. He turned again to find another invisible barrier behind him. He had been caught between two Shield Stones.

  Kelreyn turned to see Peter’s situation with frustration. She activated her own Shield Stone between their main chamber and the storage room, but before she could go over to help, it started to crack against some unseen spell. Kelreyn cursed and checked her pockets for other stones. Nothing.

  By the time the darkness faded and she realized her previous shield stone was gone, it was too late.

  “I don’t understand,” Peter complained while Kelreyn deactivated the barriers keeping him trapped in the corridor.

  “It was an illusion. The explosion, the screaming devotees, all of it,” Kelreyn groaned and gestured to a swarm of dead flies where he had ‘killed’ the half-elf.

  “Isn’t that a little OP?” Peter asked.

  “OP?”

  “It means ‘Overpowered’,” Peter explained. “Not to mention it's sort of Deus Ex Machina if you think about it.” Before Kelreyn could ask, Peter continued, “Basically there was this super ancient dude in my world named Aristotle who figured out what made some stories good and some stories bad…” His explanation continued with little prompting.

  Another rant about stories and fiction from some place she’d never heard of. What did any of it have to do with real life?

  ***

  The whole party was exhausted but there wasn’t much time to rest. They were darting through [Floor] 38 with more help from Witmie’s maps.

  “I didn’t realize Skin Geese were such powerful illusionists,” Witmie marveled in the [Party Message]. “Honestly bumps them up on my list of favorite weird little creatures.”

  “You’re my favorite weird little creature,” Durn replied.

  Thesa blushed for them, having been once again subjected to their open flirting. She looked at Merijest whose stern expression was undercut by her eyes darting between everyone in the party, making sure they were all accounted for. The race for the finish had only just begun.

  Bonus Vignette

  Lelly was sprawled across the floor of Merijest’s library, pulling one book after another out of the secret cache beneath the smallest bookcase. The Cow-Dog and KangarooHawk slept on the floor beside her.

  A [Message] came in from Merijest (having been routed through her KangarooHawk [Familiar]) “Any chance you can make it to the 40th [Floor] in a short time? Any help would be great for getting past the Knights.”

  “Sorry. I ended up heading down to your dwelling just to be safe,” Lelly replied. “Also, I’ve never seen so much lesbian literature in one place. Thank you for sharing this with me.”

  “Glad you like it,” Merijest replied. “During Thesa’s first few days, I wouldn’t let her in the library until I hid them all.”

  “Ha! I always think of you as so confident,” Lelly [Messaged]. The naiad was less meek in correspondence than in person. “I bet she would love to read some of these with you…”

  “Listen!!!!”

  ***

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