“You mean like the thing that saved you from Gallarosa?”

  I nodded as I tapped my necklace. As far as I knew, the Remnant was still in there, but I had been too busy and too nervous to check. Something that could act without any system’s knowledge, and that could alter my mind and soul to remove trauma, was not something I wanted to interact with lightly.

  “I can understand why you might not want to accept, and I support you, but that kind of power would be hard to turn down for me,” Selena said. “Protecting your family, friends, and Earth are all very important to you. Before you make your final decision, you need to decide if you believe that the Ways could make good on the promise of that kind of power.”

  Selena’s words caught me off-guard. I had expected her to be the most opposed to it, since it would obligate me to a form of service, even if it had been pitched as not being very onerous. “Um, not what I expected you to say at all.”

  She smiled. “This is kind of my point. Whatever decision you make, you need to know all the ramifications. Your decisions affect the lives of billions, even trillions of beings. That can’t be taken lightly.”

  “Okay, I’ll see what else I can learn. But I don’t want to be beholden to any more mega-powerful beings than I already am. Anybody have anything else?” They both shook their heads, so we rejoined Tad’s group, who were also finishing up their little discussion.

  Our final preparations took very little time. We already knew that Clay was a professional, and Oliver proved to be no different. Lexa had been the most standoffish toward our entourage, but something about our interaction with the dungeon must have made her more agreeable. She was now interacting politely, even warmly, with us, most especially with me.

  Once we had our party in order and emergency protocols in place, we quickly reviewed what they could each do to contribute. After ensuring everyone knew their roles, we headed for the entrance. Samvek took the lead, followed by Clay, then Selena, Oliver, and Lexa, with me bringing up the rear. Lexa paused a moment before entering the dungeon and looked back at me. “You really should take the offer. It would be an honor to be the herald of the Ways.” Then she moved into the dungeon without waiting for me to reply.

  Potentiality for the win.

  Chapter Thirty-Five: Level Appropriate

  The spiral staircase led us down in loops past four wooden doors, each marked with a simple number in metal. But appearances could be deceptive in a dungeon. These doors could probably withstand most any attack thrown at them, short of a god on a bad day.

  When we reached the fifth door, Samvek waited and glanced back, making sure we were all ready. After we each nodded in response, he opened the door, but he never got a chance to step through the doorway. Instead, space shifted around us, and we were pulled into the dungeon’s fifth floor.

  It was fascinating how magic worked here. There was no specific type or aspect to the mana, none that I could use, at least, yet it accomplished different purposes as effectively as my system’s various mana affinities. I also noticed that since my interaction with the core, the mana here didn’t feel overly dense anymore. It was more like I could feel the natural ebb and flow of it. Hopefully, that would translate into more efficiency with my casting.

  Sound hit us first—a layered roar of wind through canopies, distant bellows, the churn of water, and something heavier moving beneath it. Heat and humidity pressed in immediately, thick enough that my skin prickled, while the smell of rot, sap, and mineral-rich mud filled my lungs. This place felt old, not ruined, but unfinished, like the world was still deciding what it wanted to be. A part of me wondered if this was a real ancient place the dungeon had tapped into, or if it had simply created the floor with the sensation of age. Ultimately, it didn’t really matter.

  The ground was dark loam, shot through with veins of stone, resilient and unyielding in that way only dungeons managed. Pools of sluggish water reflected a sickly green light from bioluminescent growths clinging to roots and rock faces. Massive trees rose around us, their trunks wider than buildings, bark layered in plates like armor, with vines hanging down in living curtains. Beyond them, the faint silhouettes of mountains, jagged and sharp, pierced a sky that was a roiling canopy of cloud and ash-tinted light.

  One thing was clear—this place was massive. I couldn’t get a sense of how far it extended out, but my best guess was hundreds of miles in every direction, unless there was some holodeck wall situation going on here. That raised questions about how we would find the exit, but we’d worry about that later. My blood was pumping. This was true adventure.

  The noise never stopped. Insects buzzed and clicked somewhere out of sight, while deeper calls rolled through the forest like distant thunder. Every sound carried weight and intent, like the dungeon was speaking in a language made of threats and challenges. I felt an appraisal then, a subtle pressure sweeping over us, measuring, weighing, and sorting. It wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t kind either, and when it settled, I knew the floor had made its decision.

  The influx of energy that followed was immediate and staggering. Hell mana seeped into the ambient flow, thick and oily compared to what I was used to, threaded with a chaotic undertone that resisted structure. This wasn’t the disciplined hierarchy of the Hell System. It was more raw, closer to destruction for the sake of destruction, and it made the air feel unstable in a way that set my teeth on edge. Chaos mana rode alongside it, louder here than anywhere I’d felt before, unfiltered and aggressive, like a storm that refused to organize.

  Party Scan completed. Based upon level variations, the dungeon will initially be set to its lowest setting for this floor. Evaluation will continue, and the difficulty may be adjusted in subsequent segments of the dungeon if deemed appropriate in order to provide a challenge. Current challenge level: 250.

  I smiled at that. Even level 250 was a big jump from the other dungeons we’d been in before this realm. More than that, there was a feeling of potency that came with the primordial aspect. This dungeon was going to throw everything it had at us.

  I cast Area Flight without delay, the spell settling over the group like an invisible net. The sensation of weightlessness followed, and everyone lifted slightly off the ground as the magic adjusted to us. Clay looked startled for a moment before he steadied himself as he realized what was happening, while Oliver’s eyes went wide as he tested a cautious hover. Lexa rose with quiet ease, roots retracting smoothly as she adapted, and I felt a flicker of approval ripple through the dungeon at the display of controlled power.

  The mage laughed. “Flight made easy. I can fly, but to cast a spell that affects so many, so easily is something far beyond me. Even when you explained this would be part of the strategy, I still found myself a little disbelieving.”

  “Just be careful. The rate you can fly at is based on my maximum movement rate. If you fly at full speed and run into something, you’ll go splat. I can heal a lot of ailments, and can even bring people back from the dead, but you’re pressing your luck if you manage to vaporize yourself.”

  He shuddered, but nodded to confirm his understanding.

  We moved forward slowly, gliding just above the swampy ground to avoid whatever lurked beneath the surface. The vegetation reacted to our passage—leaves curling, spores puffing into the air, thick vines drawing back as if sentient but hesitant to attack. I stayed alert, senses stretched wide, tracking movement through vibration and shifts in mana rather than sight alone. Those vines might not have been a threat on their own, but if they tangled us up in the middle of a fight, it might make a difference. This floor was vast, sprawling out in every direction, and the sheer scale of it made my chest tighten with anticipation.

  Our first true monster came from beneath the water. A massive shape slid under the surface of a nearby pool, displacing enough liquid to send ripples racing outward. Then it broke through, a slug-like monstrosity hauling itself onto land, its body segmented and ridged with mineral plates that glistened with moisture. It opened a circular maw lined with grinding teeth and let out a wet, reverberating roar that shook nearby trees. Identify did its thing.

  Primal Slug (Legendary)

  Level: 250

  Highest Stat: Vitality

  Lowest Stat: Agility

  Samvek and Selena moved for it, and I projected a force dome around our other three party members. We needed to gauge how dangerous these monsters were before allowing them to engage. They already knew as much, but I could still see them chafe at being coddled.

  “Protect us,” Lexa said, “but at least let us land an attack.”

  She was right—I could keep them safe without a full-on dome to protect them. “Sorry, force of habit.” I took it back a notch, reducing my constructs to three individual shields. Oliver got his attack off first, a fireball leaping from his hand and striking the back half of the slug. Its slimy flesh sizzled, putting off a putrid smell, but the slug gave no reaction. All its attention was focused on Samvek and Selena.

  It seemed weakest to the lightning that danced along Samvek’s spear, but after several attacks, it was healing faster than we would have liked. That was fine, though. It was supposed to be a challenge. If it died too quickly, that wouldn’t let us get our attacks in.

  I glanced to Selena, but she was hard to make out at first. Reality shifted around her, as much a weapon in her hands as her twin hooked swords.

  Clay managed to get an arrow off that went through one of the two eyestalks, then Lexa crouched and put her hands into the murky water beneath us. In response, sharpened roots erupted from underneath the slug, the pointed tendrils driving deep into its body. Still, it persisted.

  Only after Selena removed its head and Samvek released a charge of electricity directly into its core did it finally die.

  Your party has slain a primal slug. Primal creatures possess greater power than their level would suggest, and accordingly award 150% XP. Your Dungeon Ally trait has activated, doubling your XP and any loot. You gain 3,000 XP. Current progress to next level: 14,500/16,000,000.

  I grimaced at the totals. This was going to take a long time, but I reminded myself that we weren’t here to level ourselves. Oliver was practically dancing, saying that he’d gained three levels in one kill. How I missed those days.

  The carcass sank back beneath the water from which it came, leaving our loot bobbing on the surface. I wasn’t sure what I’d had in mind when I thought about doubled loot, but this wasn’t it. Four identical jugs of some sort of viscous fluid were all it had left behind.

  Slug Slime: This is an epic-tier lubricant. Its utility is as limitless as your imagination—it can be used in machinery or traps, or even tapped for regenerative properties if you don’t mind bathing in it.

  It was better than nothing, I supposed, and I quickly pulled it all into Save for Winter, as we had agreed upon. We’d have a big loot-splitting party after the dungeon run was over, and we were just beginning.

  The water nearest us erupted again, not with a single mass this time but with repeated breaches, coming almost in rhythm. Long shapes surged up through the murk, bodies coiling and uncoiling as they cleared the surface, each one plated in overlapping stone scales slick with algae and mud. They weren’t slugs like the first monster, but serpentine, with wedge-shaped heads crowned with mineral ridges that cracked as they flexed their jaws. Heat rolled off them in waves, and the swamp hissed where droplets struck their hides and flashed to steam.

  Yet each one identified as a primal slug. Apparently, there was a little variability on their physiology. Like before, each was level 250.

  I barely had time to register the Identify tags before they attacked. One lunged straight up out of the water toward Oliver, jaws snapping wide enough to swallow him whole, and I slammed a force plate into its path. The impact rang through my bones as the construct shattered, but it was enough to deflect the strike so Clay could haul Oliver sideways through the air. The serpent slammed back into the pool hard enough to throw up a wall of sludge, then surged again without a moment’s hesitation. The mage wasn’t intimidated. Spears of ice streaked from his fingertips, slamming into a vulnerable spot on the monster. Much like Clay, he might not have had the levels, but he clearly had the experience and instincts of an adventurer.

  “Spread out, but don’t separate!” I shouted, already moving. Area Flight kept us mobile, but the creatures were faster than their bulk suggested, and they used the terrain intelligently. One dove beneath the surface and reappeared behind Lexa, snapping at her roots, while another coiled around a massive tree trunk then launched like a spring-loaded weapon toward Selena. These monsters weren’t a true test of power for any of us from Earth, but they were overwhelming for our companions from Aerth. Protecting them while still letting them get their licks in was going to be a real test of our coordination.

  Samvek met a slug head-on, spear flashing as lightning poured down the shaft and into the creature’s skull. The strike punched through stone scales and into flesh, but the serpent didn’t die. It wrapped around his torso instead, crushing with relentless force, and I felt the pressure spike through our bond. I drove a force lance into the joint behind its head, twisting hard, and Samvek followed through by discharging a concentrated lightning bolt straight into its core. The creature convulsed, coils loosening just long enough for him to tear free.

  More came, surging out of different pools and channels, some from the ground and some from the air where they’d used trees as launch points. I layered force constructs around our weaker three again, angled shields that shifted as they moved, forcing attacks to glance instead of land.

  Oliver hurled spell after spell into the mass of creatures, fire and ice tearing chunks from stone hides, while Clay’s arrows punched deep and stayed there, the wounds bleeding mineral fragments and glowing ichor. I knew he was better with his daggers, but he needed a few more levels before getting into melee with monsters like this. Lexa slammed both hands into the ground again, and this time the swamp answered her with violent enthusiasm. Roots the size of bridge cables erupted upward, snaring two serpents mid-lunge and wrenching them apart with a sound like splitting mountains.

  Selena was everywhere at once, reality bending so her blades always found purchase, her strikes landing where defenses should have been but weren’t. One serpent tried to coil around her and she stepped through it, space folding so the creature’s own momentum tore it in half. The pieces hit the ground still writhing before the dungeon absorbed them.

  I switched to offense then, lightning pouring from my hands in controlled arcs that leapt from creature to creature. This wasn’t chain lightning in the casual sense. I was shaping the current, forcing it through weak points I could feel more than see, letting the energy tear through cores and nervous nodes. Each strike left the air smelling of ozone and scorched stone, and each kill sent a ripple of approval through the dungeon that I felt in my teeth.

  One serpent got through anyway. It burst up beneath me, jaws closing around my leg, and pain flared hot and sharp as stone teeth bit through my armor. I snarled and drove Wayfinder down into its skull, riding the impact as it thrashed and tried to drag me under the water. Life mana surged reflexively, sealing the wound even as lightning followed the blade and detonated inside the creature. It went limp, jaws loosening, and I kicked free just as the body dissolved into the floor.

  The wound was closed already, but my armor would take more work to repair. That was what I got for taking this slowly while being overly confident. Yes, I could have cleared all the monsters much faster, but it was important that we learned what our tag-alongs were capable of.

  I made another discovery when I realized that Cone of Winter’s Debuff was apparently incredibly lethal to these slugs, no matter what shape they came in. Lightning seared them and flame consumed them, but the cold either outright killed them or made them so stiff that a blow from a weapon could shatter their bodies. After that, the process sped up.

  Not that we could slow down even if we wanted to. The dungeon must have realized a few slugs weren’t going to be much of a challenge, so it started throwing them at us in larger numbers. The noise alone would draw more, and I could already feel heavier presences shifting deeper in the swamp, something truly gargantuan stirring under layers of mud and root. The serpents kept coming in waves, and Lexa, Clay, and Oliver were forced to push harder to keep up. That was the point. We couldn’t let them coast, not if they were going to have to face the awakened of the Order.

  When the last sluggy serpent finally fell, the swamp went quiet in a way that felt threatening rather than peaceful. The system might as well have held up a sign that said ‘temporary reprieve’. Steam rose from scorched water, broken trees settled at odd angles, and the ground beneath us pulsed as it reclaimed the dead. My chest heaved as I took stock, senses still flared wide, waiting for the next assault. Somewhere out there, something much bigger had noticed us, and I knew this floor was only getting started.

  You have slain 188 primal slugs, all level 250. After all benefits are calculated, you have earned 564,000 XP. You have recovered 752 jugs of slug slime and 376 slug eye stalks. These have multiple uses in crafting and magic.

  All my group were still a long way from leveling, but Oliver had already reached level 150. Lexa was now level 161, and Clay had hit 183. The closer they got to the level of the monsters, the more their progression would slow, but for now the levels were breezing by.

  “Do you want to stay, Oliver?” Selena asked. “You’ve hit your level cap.”

  He laughed. “Are you kidding? I haven’t had this much fun since… well, I had some fun when I met Tad, but most of the time I felt like I was about to die. Here, you’ve kept me so shielded that I’ve been able to explore a bunch of different spell combinations. Getting creative is always fun.”

  “You may be able to carry over some of the XP you get,” Selena added. “At least that’s how it worked for Clay.”