Kai stepped into the archway, expecting the usual short corridor between rooms; he was caught a little off guard to find himself stepping right into another room.

  In the middle of the room stood a horned man with blue scaled skin, wearing dark robes, who levelled cold yellow eyes on him as he tapped his foot impatiently, “Do you have any idea how long you have kept me waiting? Where’s the rest of your team?”

  Alicia Stepped through the doorway, her bow at the ready.

  Kai heard her bow tense as he held his hand up to stall her attack.

  “Aah, good, at least the three of you aren't too impulsive. Wait,” the man looked about, “there should be three of you.” A scroll appeared in his hand and he started reading, “Kai, Alicia and Sylph… entered the dungeon less than a week ago; one was a prior participant; however, the other two… actually killed it. Hmm, interesting.”

  The man looked up sharply. “Seems you also met the bitch, Atheos. No wonder you decided to take your time. What did she tell you? Where is Sylph? And how many adjustments do I need to make for this to be fair?”

  Before Kai could say anything, there was a flare of light cyan flame announcing Syl making herself known. “What do you think Atheos told us? Do you think it would be anything that would ruin her tests as the architect of this dungeon? What are you, her dungeon master?”

  “Great, some kind of transient being, one that also knows more than I would like about dungeons,” he snarled.

  The man looked over the three of them, taking in their measure. Seeing Kai still had his sword ready and a couple of mana bolts just waiting to be shot off, he tutted, “Let’s not waste any more of my time. This room is for you to rest and recuperate in; there are three separate bedrooms, a room to bathe in, and another to prepare food. Now follow me.”

  The man turned and, without waiting to see if they would follow, walked off through an archway at the far end of the room.

  Looking about the room, it had the same blank dungeon walls and floors he was used to; only besides the archway they had just stepped through and another archway the horned man had just left through on the far side of the room, there were two doors to his left and another two doors to his right.

  Deciding they were safe, Kai released his mana bolts and decided there was no harm in validating what they had just been told.

  He moved over to the closest door on his left and opened it just enough to peek inside.

  Seeing the comfortable-looking bed, he couldn’t help but grumble, “Are you telling me if we had just stepped through the archway yesterday, I could have slept in an actual bed instead of camping out on the cold, hard dungeon floor?”

  “Oh hush, you know you sleep just fine.” Syl said as she drifted through him to inspect the room further.

  He shivered as Syl literally passed through him.

  There wasn’t much to see in the room, a bed with a small side table, a desk and chair, a wardrobe and finally an empty pot that was just sitting in the corner for some reason. It was basic, but Kai guessed to anyone who had spent the last week or more camping on the floor, having your own personal room with its basic furnishings must be the height of luxury within a dungeon.

  “Syl, you do realise I’ve not once slept in an actual bed since I got this body,” he said as he pointed to the bed, “that thing might not look like much to you and your fancy four-poster bed with a few hundred pillows, but to me it looks like heaven who has a physical body that can’t be pulled into the domain.”

  Syl tsked, “You know that ridiculous bed would still help your soul rest better if you just joined us…”

  “What's the pot for?” Kai asked, hoping to move the conversation past him joining the two women at night as quickly as possible.

  “Chamber pot,” Alicia answered from where she was peeking in one of the other doors; she turned to give Kai a look he couldn’t quite read, “You know, I think I will stick with the flushing toilet in Syl’s small manor.”

  Ignoring the fact Alicia thought Syl's house was a small manor, he asked, “Alicia, can you please tell me Alea is more advanced than chamber pots?”

  “If you are lucky, you might get a magical chamber pot,” she said as she deliberately looked away from him. “We should not keep that man waiting too long. He seemed easily agitated.”

  “Let him wait; he's not like the usual dungeon spawn, but he also isn't a true person, just a copy of one,” Syl explained.

  “How do you know that?” Kai called from inside the room where he examined the little pot, trying to determine if it was magical or if it could be borrowed for future dungeon runs; he was sick of looting his own poop.

  “Dungeon masters are usually copies of someone the dungeon architect trusts, if not the architect themselves. Though trusting someone is a bit different from liking them… Not that it matters; the real version of that man will never know what his dungeon copies experience.”

  A horned head popped through the open archway. “While all that may be true, it is not a good reason to keep me waiting. I may not have his soul, but I have his memories, abilities and personality. And let me tell you,” he hissed, smoke billowing from his pinched teeth. “I have never been accused of being a patient person.”

  Syl scoffed at the dungeon master's blatant attempt at intimidation, “For a race with such a long natural life span, you would think a dragon would have at least a modicum of patience.”

  “If I could cook you, I would, but these rooms are restricted, and no harm may come to you here. Now I must insist, since you’re not the typical amateurs I was put here to deal with, I have to make adjustments, and I can’t make those adjustments until I have inducted the three of you.”

  “Dragons, always so dramatic.” Syl said as she dramatically rolled her eyes.

  There was an audible grumble as the man pulled his head back through the arch.

  “Is it wise to tease a dungeon master?” Alicia asked; from her tone, she was clearly concerned Syl might be pushing it a bit much.

  “Nope!” Syl said as she drifted through behind the grumbling blue dragon, dungeon master.

  Kai followed through just behind Syl to see the dungeon master standing in the middle of a slightly larger round room with five dark, shadowy archways spaced out behind him.

  Each archway had two of those light crystals Kai had seen providing light at the top of each dungeon room, only they were all mostly dull. Only one of the crystals above the door on the far left side showed any sign of life as it glowed a dim amber colour.

  “Each of these portals leads to a test,” the dungeon master said, speaking up in a commanding, listen-to-me tone of voice, “Once you complete one test, the next will become available. I will be waiting for you in the fifth chamber, where I will deliver my assessment of your performance and offer items for trade. The astute among you should have realised you will be participating in each test twice. Now that I have done my part, not that it is actually necessary,” the dungeon master finished, turned and promptly strolled into the smoke of the fifth archway before they said anything.

  “So we all realise that was for show, right?” Syl said once she was certain the man was gone.

  “I am positive he is one of the tests,” Alicia said, nodding her agreement.

  “Wait, we’ll be fighting a dragon?” Kai asked a little too eagerly.

  "Don’t be ridiculous; he could crush us with a thought. That guy was around the third or fourth tier, probably higher.”

  Only feeling slightly chastised. Kai looked about, and not seeing much they could do but move forward, he asked, “We’re all prepared, right? There is no point in wasting more time than we already have, is there? No one has any last-minute tasks?”

  “Your the meat suit; where and when we go somewhere is the one decision you have complete autonomy over.” Syl said as she shook her head to tell him there was nothing she needed to do.

  Kai sighed as he looked over to Alicia to see if she was ready.

  She was watching the fifth doorway warily.

  “What's wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said, hesitating before admitting, “I am just not used to conversing with gods and dragons.”

  “Neither am I, but a little over two, maybe three months ago, I didn’t even believe elves existed, never mind gods or dragons. Now I have someone riding shotgun inside my soul, and I’m about to head into the unknown dungeon test with a pretty princess of all things.”

  Alicia fidgeted when he called her a pretty princess.

  He continued, “I’m not going to pretend my sanity is a certainty at this point. I’m trying to take everything as it comes, but for all I know I’m wearing a straitjacket right now and bouncing around a padded room.”

  Alicia looked thoughtful, but before she could voice any concerns with what he had just said, he turned and walked through the archway.

  “M’lord, we have been waiting for you and your party. The battery is set up and charging at the convergence.” A soldier in a blue padded jerkin immediately reported.

  Kai was a little taken aback; one moment he was stepping through the archway, and the next he was standing in the middle of a clearing at the base of a tall cliff face. What’s more, Alicia was already at his side as if she had been beside him the moment he stepped through. But he knew that wasn’t quite right.

  “The scouts are reporting a large contingent of the horde has split off and is heading this way. High command has already issued orders to hold position and charge the battery for as long as we can.” The soldier continued as he held out his hand; in his grip, he held two pendants. “Your return stones, M’lord. They have been set to send you and Lady Alicia to the field hospital the moment you break the stone.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Kai blinked in confusion as a flare of cyan flame announced Syl as she joined the conversation, “How long until the ritual will have enough power?”

  “Ah, Lady Sylph, the mages have not informed us. Orders are to buy as much time as we can for the battery to charge. I have been informed the grand ritual spell will trigger when the battery is destroyed; the release of its energy will trigger the ritual. We need not do anything but endure the onslaught for as long as we can.”

  Syl turned to Kai and Alicia. “I think I understand what we are supposed to do. We need to defend the crystal for as long as we can,” she said as she pointed to the large stone that sat in a shallow cave in the base of the cliff face. “If it takes too much damage or we use those return stones, it will be the end of the test. How well we do on the test is dependent on how long we can hold out.”

  “So, it’s a test of endurance,” Kai said as he took one of the pendants the soldier was offering.

  Syl looked around at the dozen or so soldiers that were setting up a defensive perimeter before turning back to the soldier that had addressed them and asking, “Who has command?”

  The soldier blinked. “Lord Kai, of course.”

  “And does everyone have a return stone?”

  The soldier looked confused for just a moment before certainty flashed in his eyes; he slammed the butt of his spear into the ground and thumped his hand to his chest in a salute. “We are prepared to die for the kingdom, our families, and our children.”

  Syl turned back to Kai. “I don’t think the test is just about protecting the crystal; it might have something to do with how we treat these soldiers. But protecting this crystal, this battery—that should be our main goal.”

  There was a guttural cry from afar that echoed through the trees that surrounded their little clearing.

  Realising they were on a timer, Kai immediately started assessing their situation as best he could.

  The sheer cliff they were set against curved slightly, effectively hemming them in. That worked for him, as escaping on foot was clearly not part of the test. But the open side was still far wider than he liked; it was too large an area for them to set up an effective defence with just their numbers alone. He needed to change that.

  The forest beyond the clearing was dense, and the attack could come from anywhere.

  “Syl, can you turn wisp and get us a lay of the land? We need to know which direction we should expect the first attack to come from and how long we have to prepare a defence.”

  Syl was gone before he even finished his sentence. Changing into her orange wisp form, she flew up as high as she could to scout things out.

  Kai turned back to the soldier, “I want you and your men to hold back and defend the battery itself from anyone who gets past me. What are your ranged capabilities?”

  “M’lord, we are a company of spearmen,” the soldier said as he thumped his spear into the ground.

  “No ranged skills or abilities?”

  The soldier shook his head.

  “Can you and your men work crossbows?”

  “Aye, but,” the soldier looked about, “got no crossbows, M’lord.”

  Kai waved his hand, and a pile of goblin crossbows and several clutches of crossbow bolts appeared beside the battery.

  “Have your men get familiar as quickly as they possibly can; don’t worry about ammunition.”

  The soldier, to his credit, only blinked once before he turned and ran off to relay Kai’s orders.

  He turned to Alicia, “Got any recommendations?”

  She shook her head as she said, “The terrains are not ideal for dedicated archers; there is no real high point I can get to, and this clearing is shorter than I like. I won't be able to use Gift to the fullest. “

  Looking past the clearing to the trees that surrendered them, Kai nodded as he summoned an axe from storage; he had a new skill to try out, infused strike; he just hoped he would have enough time for his plan if it worked the way he wanted it to.

  Just before he could make his move, Syl appeared beside them both, shaking her head, she sighed, “It’s thick forest, trees as far as I can see in every direction. But by the dust that’s being kicked up and the fleeing birds, I would say the main force is just an hour or two away more if we are lucky. I’m not actually trained to work these things out. Though there are signs that there is a scouting force that could be here anywhere from half an hour to ten minutes from now, again I’m not an expert.”

  Kai just nodded as he walked up to the closest tree.

  Filling the axe with mana, he performed his first infused strike; just as he hoped, the axe bit deeper and wider than the small axe head would have normally accounted for, and in two more strokes, the tree was felled.

  As soon as the tree started to fall and praying the tree wasn't too large, he used his soul ring's looting ability on it. He felt some resistance, but when the tree disappeared, he grinned; his plan of magical deforestation might just work.

  “Alicia, Syl, keep an eye out; I’m going to give us some fighting room,” was all he said as he darted to the next tree.

  “Got it, casting Limber and flow to help with your task; let me know if you would prefer mana or stamina regen.”

  “Give him the stamina regen; he already has heaps of mana regen because of me and my earrings,” Syl said as she changed into her hidden orange wisp form to float protectively beside Kai as he dashed off towards his third tree.

  Kai felt his muscles relax as Alicia’s support spell hit him, it was like he had spent the last ten minuets stretching, his body feeling more flexibly, quicker and dare he say that little bit stronger,.

  For the next forty minutes, Kai expanded the clearing under the watchful eye of his party and the wide-eyed dungeon soldiers. He worked as fast as he could, hoping to expand their sight lines as much as possible and create a killing field their attackers would have to risk crossing to get to them and the battery they were meant to defend.

  When he heard the whistle of an arrow fly past his shoulder, followed by the guttural cry of a creature he didn't recognise, Kai knew he was running out of time.

  “Just a lone scout,” Alicia called out through the party system.

  Hoping it was just a lone scout, Kai picked up the pace. Six trees later and pouring with sweat, he felt Syl use a large chunk of his mana to create a barrier between him and the barrage of arrows that came his way.

  The sound of arrows thunking into the barrier was followed by the treeline bursting to life with the sound of yips, barks and wailing cries as the attack started in earnest.

  “Go! I’ve got your back,” was all Syl said as Kai turned and ran back to where Alicia was firing off arrow after arrow past him as he escaped to relative safety.

  He skidded to a stop as he passed Alicia and turned to examine his handiwork.

  He had somehow pushed the treeline back a good hundred yards or more.

  “Does that give you a better shot with Gift?” Kai asked through laboured breaths.

  The bow chimed enthusiastically as Alicia fired off arrows at an increasingly relaxed pace.

  “Yes. Gives me more time to do this.” Alicia said as she paused her firing, holding her shot a little longer to empower the arrow. A moment later her power shot fired off into the trees, where there was a boom, a cry, and the cracking of a toppling tree.

  Kai let himself smile at the destruction as he caught his breath.

  He took the moment to observe and get his bearings, but he wasn’t technically idle as Syl was currently using him as her proxy to fire off mana bolt after mana bolt.

  Not really seeing what Syl and Alicia were firing at, he asked, “What are we dealing with exactly? I still haven't gotten a good look.”

  “Kobolds,” Syl said as she fired off three mana bolts in three different directions, the zips of them between the trees where the cracks from their impacts echoed slightly.

  “Kobolds?” Kai said as he tried to remember what he knew about them from fiction. “What kind, hyena or dog?”

  “The scaly, dragon kind. Bigger and smarter than goblin wretchlings, they’re annoyingly sticking to the trees. Probably waiting for large enough numbers to make a push across the open area you created.”

  Kai heard the snap of crossbows as a couple of the soldiers came forward to make pot shots at the growing numbers.

  “M’lord, good work with the trees. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone work so hard so fast in all my life. But might I ask what you have planned for the lumber?” the soldier from before asked.

  Kai had no idea how many trees he had managed to clear, but a quick mental check of his storage told him it was an impressive one hundred and eighteen trees of varying type and size, that and a number of bird nests.

  “I planned to drop them on their heads when their numbers grew dense enough and they made a concentrated push. Why?”

  “If I may, we could set up a defensive cordon the kobolds would have to cross; we could use it as a defensive line to fire from, and then when their numbers get too close, we can use our spears to pick them off as they climb over the top.”

  Kai scratched his chin, nodding along; it was a good plan.

  Syl flickered back into her blue wisp form. “Kai, you take over. I can fly over and manipulate the trees into the best positions without worrying about dropping one wrong and having it fall on me.”

  “Leave an opening, a choke point they’ll try to force their way through. I can stand and try defending that point; if it's too much, we will fill it with more trees,” Kai said as he summoned three mana bolts and directed his attention to the tree line.

  It was then Kai got his first good look at a kobold; a good head taller than any of the goblins he had encountered, the thing looked like some kind of a hybrid between a theropod dinosaur and humanoid. With a long, whip-like tail and swept-back legs, it stood on three clawed toes. Its green and mottled brown scaly skin helps to hide it among the shadows. Its neck seemed a little too long, and its head moved about in an oddly avian manner as it yipped and cawed with a toothy jaw at the others around it.

  Unlike the other dungeon goblins Kai had been dealing with, he strangely understood that it was commanding the others to spread out and keep in cover.

  He examined the one he picked out.

  Kobold Scout master Lv. 5.

  Master, that explained why it felt like it was giving orders.

  But for someone in command Kai felt it wasn't all that well equipped. It had a bow held in an oddly human hand and a quiver on its hunched back. But beyond that, it wore nothing, not even a loincloth. Kai was happy the thing favoured its saurian side and lacked any discernible humanoid junk. Either that or it was female, though it had no mammaries.

  As he wondered if Kobold females had tits or not, he noticed the thing's beady yellow eyes catch his own.

  In that moment it was as if something came over the kobold that had until now been ordering its underlings to keep behind cover; it broke from its position and stepped out into the clearing.

  Kai cracked it in the chest with one of his faster armour-piercing mana bolts before it could even raise its bow.

  But that was enough for the other kobolds to take the master scout's move out into the open as a sign to make a push, and about twenty of them stepped from cover, picking up pace as they charged out into the open area.

  It was sheer madness.

  Between Kai casting six mana bolts at six different targets at a time and Alicia's rapid-fire volley of arrows, the kobolds who broke out into the clearing were all dead within feet of leaving the protective cover of the treeline. They just didn’t have the numbers to overwhelm them.

  “I think they’re a bit more resistant to the effects of my challenge stone, but it's still making them act rashly.” Kai mused through the party chat.

  “Agreed,” said Alicia as she fired off another power shot at a couple of kobolds that had grouped up behind a larger tree.

  Seeing the arrow land and the trunk explode into shrapnel that peppered the foolish kobolds, Kai got inspired.

  He checked his mana to see it read Mana: Kai-/-Syl

  He was going to push the treeline back a little further.

  Kai called up two mana bolts; he emulated how he killed the rune bear and poured about ten percent mana into each of them.

  He kept the mana inside the bolt loose and volatile, only compressing the outer shell enough that the spell would hold when he fired it off.

  Giving his first two test projectiles one last squeeze, he fired them off, but he didn't aim for the kobolds as they flittered from tree to tree, trying to move in closer for a better shot. He aimed for the tree they were hiding behind.

  Watching two trees topple and feeling a couple of kill notifications come in, Kai deemed his explosive manabolts a success.

  He probably started methodically levelling the outer line of trees as Alicia picked off the kobolds that ran for cover.

  Kai was a little worried about his mana capacity. Using a good ten percent of his mana for each shot could drain him quickly, but he found if he moderated his pace to one bolt every five to ten seconds apart depending on targets of opportunity, his mana actually slowly filled back up instead of depleting on him.

  That was until Syl returned and copied him.

  “Too fast, Syl, this whole thing is about endurance!” Kai cried as he watched chunks of his mana disappear.

  “We need to do as much as we can to that treeline as quickly as we can because-“

  The sound of several horns called in the not-so-distant confines of the forest cut Syl off.

  “Because the vanguards about to arrive,” Syl said.

  “Adding focus to flow and mana regen,” Alicia said as Kai felt everything sharpen.

  “You said you are adding focus; have I had support magic on me this whole time?”

  “You have had a couple of different spells working on you since you first started cutting down trees. I have yet to learn what you can safely handle, so I am keeping things subtle. But focus is different; do not waste time when under its effects.”

  Taking the hint, Kai picked up the pace, and together they obliterated the forest, only retreating to Syl’s defensive cordon when both Kai and his mana cuff were completely drained.