“Gin son of Gore Bowbreaker.” Fel said as he pulled an oversized arrow out of his breastplate, thanking the gods the enchantment stopped it from running him through. On his other hand he held a half-orc boy named Gin by the collar, half conscious after the beating he gave him.

  He dragged the boy to the side of the arena, dropping him with his back to the wall, kneeling down then to face him eye to eye. The boy was gritting his teeth, expecting failure.

  “Do not be so hard on yourself young leaf, we all have our weaknesses and you are yet to sprout.” Fel told the boy who shakily picked himself up.

  “Gin, has advanced.” Fel announced as Gin put away a large warbow over his shoulder before climbing up the stairs back to the stands. His had been the last fight with Fel and after having watched two others fail he had expected himself to be the third.

  Now returning to his seat beside a still unconscious Tod who looked far worse for wear than himself, and ignoring the chicken that nested on the boy's rising chest, he sat down wondering what came next.

  “Ten have passed.” Kay announced.

  “We shall proceed to the next and final test.” She mused as the Elven warrior left the arena. All the while an ancient looking human woman pulled herself up to standing with her bulky staff, from top to bottom inscribed with faintly glowing runes of white and gold. Silver grey hair fell loosely from underneath her pointed emerald wizard’s hat adorned with golden inscriptions. Adjusting her similarly emerald robes, she began taking out pouches from her belt satchel while slowly limping down the arena’s steps.

  With each limping step followed an echoing stomp of her staff, resounding out far louder than everyone thought it should be.

  “The test, to join the dungeoneering guild.” Kay laid out, and the tension across the hall became palpable.

  “This is Madam Lysandra Brooke,” she introduced the mage.

  “One of our resident mages here at the guild in charge of teleportation and enchantment, also one of the mages who built training facilities like the one you stand within right this moment. I hand the final test to you Madam.”

  “I am grateful lass,” Lysandra nodded in thanks as she reached the arena’s grounds.

  “The final test will be far more than testing your combat prowess as we did with my friend Fel, but also your coordination within a party structure-” She explained whilst spraying strange powders and placing ornaments along the floor in a circular fashion.

  “Your very survival instincts will also be observed to see if you are worth investing into by the guild. Young’ins, starting from the left please look at the closest person to your right, if there is none then meet eyes with the one looking at you to your left.”

  Gin did so, finding to his chagrin he was staring at Tod who had yet to come back to his senses.

  “Concussion?...” Gin pondered quietly.

  “They will be your party mates for this test, as duos you will undertake the following assignment.” Lysandra continued before suddenly slamming the butt of her staff into the edge of the runic circle she made causing the arena’s ground to fissure open into a violent dark tunnel of swirling silver light.

  Violent gusts of wind rushed out of the rift, sending her hair fluttering out madly above her.

  “Each duo will be sent to a different place. Enter in your groups of two, survive the dangers that pose ahead, and bring back a flower of withering. I will only warn you once, this takes you into the Dungeon, and there is always a chance of death within. After twenty four hours if you do not return, a party will be sent out to retrieve you. If you do not have the guts to enter…leave now.”

  Gin swallowed hard, no way around this he thought whilst turning to face the still unconscious Tod. Gently he began to remove the chicken off the boy’s chest, planning on trying to wake him but,

  “Hands off Gertie.” Suddenly a clawed hand grasped his arm, Gin found himself meeting Tod’s animalistic green eyes wide open and glaring at him.

  “You’re good…Mean no harm.” Gin was used to dealing with rough personalities as he had grown up in an Orcish community after all, and being direct was just the simplest way to not get in a fight.

  “Oh.” Tod quickly mellowed out as Gin let go of the chicken.

  “Ah sorry I passed out didn’t I!?” He rose up suddenly, sending Gertie soaring and pulling Gin into headbutting the back of his own head. Both boys held their heads in deep pain for a moment.

  “Fuck, cool off.” Gin said as he rubbed his sore forehead.

  “Did you hear what the next test is about?” He asked the wild boy.

  “Uh,” Tod turned to see the open rift and parties were already crowding to it in twos, all the while two attendees were moving to leave the arena. Tod turned to face Gin with his own skin paling to paper, his entire face begging for help.

  “A-Aight,” Gin sighed as he sat back down.

  “I am G-Gin, half Orc, dunno the other h-half. And I am y-your partymate for this o-one, it seems. I am a ranger.” Gin stammered through introducing himself, tapping at his large warbow as he sat beside the boy who was a whole foot shorter than him.

  “You?”

  “Names Tod, warrior!” Tod replied with a wide grin as he thumped a fist into his own chest.

  “J-Just human?” Gin asked with a raised brow.

  “Ah..haha...Yeah so, little bit of other stuff mixed in there, been always able to recover fast from gettin hurt and all. I can run for days on end too and not break a sweat!” Tod exclaimed, giving him a thumbs up.

  “O-Other…stuff? W-Well you are very r-resilient, that’s good.” Gin mused, glancing as the last of the other parties were also standing around getting to know who they were teamed up with.

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  “Any s-serious weakness-s-es I s-should know?”

  “Fire bad, I don't do fire.” Tod replied, getting up and beginning to do stretches.

  “So, we get going then partner?” Tod then turned and offered the boy his hand with a grin.

  Gin looked at his hand for a moment, he wasn’t very sure of this boy yet but at the very least he was sure of one thing as he took his hand. Tod pulled him up with unnerving ease and Gin knew he couldn’t have been more lucky with his chosen team mate.

  “You g-got brawn and I c-cover distance, b-but we lack m-magic.”

  “Ah, yeah. Some shit in there resilient to hits that ain’t magical huh? Pops told me about it.” Tod mused, turning to look at the rift.

  “Recruits, you have an hour before I close this rift and fail you. Make your choice.” Lysandra exclaimed.

  “Well, nothing to it really. I’ll just have to punch them more than usual eh?” Tod chuckled, waving Gin over as the two boys began making their way down the stairs.

  “K-Keep on the lookout for f-fungi that glow blue, I-I can coat my arrows in t-them to fix that.” Gin retorted.

  “Wooh, you know your stuff huh?” Tod whistled.

  Gin expected sarcasm but heard none in the boy’s words, causing him to redden a bit.

  “Oh, y-yeah I-I uh r-read a lot.” Gin muttered.

  “Cool, here we are then.” Tod said as they came to stand before the rift, turning and raising a fist to the half-orc boy.

  “Ready brain?” He mused with a wide grin.

  “Heh.” Gin met the fist with his own.

  “Let’s go brawn.”

  Together the two stepped off the rift’s ledge, falling down into the swirling silver and black, akin to a never ending tunnel thrashing all around them. For a long minute they fell with gravity, Gin holding on tightly to his bow and Tod gripping his pockets as he arched forward.

  Until gravity shifted and the swirling silver around them began to fade away upwards, followed up by the black void dissipating into ever shrinking shards before going into nothingness revealing their new surroundings. Gin immediately pulled out and nocked an arrow taking in his surroundings to find themselves in a cavernous tunnel with a dead end to their backs.

  Tod on the other hand looked up and watched the rift fade into the ceiling above them with amusement. As the last bits of light of the rift faded away, the cavern’s interior was taken over by the luminous glow of several plantlife across the floor, walls and even ceiling.

  Vines that crawled along the ground’s corners putting out a tint of green, moss that coated the walls and ceiling joining it with shades of yellow.

  “Plenty of fungi.” Gin sighed.

  “But no blue.” Tod agreed, glances over several but none that fit the basic description.

  “So, a flower of withering. Very known plant, very rare.” He added, beginning to shuffled forward with care.

  “Y-Yeah, silver stalk, pale white petals and a p-pitch black centre. A p-powerful enchantment material. The g-guild probably knows t-there are some here, or planted them for us to f-find.” Gin mumbled out, lowering his bow but keeping the arrow ready in his offhand, he approached the wall and began running his bare fingers over it.

  As he did a dark black powder-like substance began crumbling off the wall darkening his fingertips. Yet the wall itself remained unchanged.

  “T-They weren’t lying. This is the d-dungeon, O-Onyx levels from the c-corruption on the walls.” Gin said as he dusted his fingers off.

  “You sure know your stuff,” Tod mused, his demeanor nonchalant and his posture relaxed.

  Gin on the other hand moved stiffly, his posture on edge whilst his eyes scanned the path ahead like a hawk as they pushed forward at a common pace.

  “Grew up in the f-forest, I was t-taught to always know all I c-can before going somewhere new.” Gin replied.

  He then glanced at Tod, specifically his eyes, emerald as the gem itself. “Half Woods’Elf?” He asked the boy, seeing the slight sheen they gave off only now noticeable in this darkness.

  “Nope.” Tod answered, “You really want to know?”

  “W-We’re in this together, It could be u-useful.” Gin retorted.

  Tod sighed, scratching the back of his neck where Gin now noticed the hair at the back of his head grew further down and into his shirt like a mane following the spine.

  “Half Human.” Tod grinned back, revealing a rather alarming canine tooth.

  “Half -” Tod cut himself off, his eyes suddenly focusing ahead. “Goblins.”

  “Wha?” Gin was taken aback, then followed his gaze, squinting his eyes hard to see beyond the shadows. “Shit goblins.”

  A cacophony of cackles filled the tunnel then, as dark green silhouettes began skittering out of mounds in the wall and floor, revealing themselves in number. Humanoid, yet simply wrong to be defined as such.

  Short, at most three feet in height amongst them with hands for hands and hands for feet, their green skin varying in shade but were green nonetheless. Long drooping ears larger than their own heads, wicked iris-less eyes of swampy brown above long and sharply pointed snouts with row after row of sharp fangs.

  “Needs.” One whispered.

  “Needs.” Another echoed.

  “Wants.” A third added.

  “Haves!” All seven hissed as the green menaces leapt out of the shadows into a frenzy at the two boys.

  Gin having been two steps ahead became their target as they swarmed at him, immediately he loosed an arrow nailing one creature in the shoulder and sending it tumbling back.

  Yet as he blinked, he opened his eyes to two sets of jagged claws widening at his face.

  Then he felt it, a hand grasping his shoulder and pulling him back with great force. Tod pulled Gin back and rushed forth, his other fist clenched hard as it cracked into the goblin jaw’s left and sent the creature tumbling into the wall where it rolled hissing in pain.

  A third came to stand before Tod, a stone shiv clasped in one hand which it slashed across his knees sending him reeling back a step, only for the hand which had been pulling Gin to come crashing down on the goblin’s head briefly knocking its lights out, as a slashed knee followed plunging into its snout and sending it crashing into a forth goblin behind it.

  “Covering you!” Gin shouted, quickly nocking another arrow and just as it reached a full pull loosed it, sending it right through the third goblin nailing him to the forth he crashed into. As two horrid screeches filled their ears, Tod turned to kick away a bone spear that had been thrown his way, his eyes quickly scanning ahead to land on the perpetrator, a pale goblin with many more spears to throw.

  “Get the thrower!” Tod growled out, stepping forward and stomping on the head of the first goblin that was just about to recover from the floor. The sound of bone crumbling echoed down the gloomridden tunnel alongside the sloshing of wet flesh being squashed beneath.

  Quickly then he stepped back once more, avoiding a fifth and sixth goblin who had rushed forth together with stone shivs. Meeting their eyes briefly, the greed in their grin dripped in an unnatural hunger.

  A hunger that fueled the creatures’ frenzy and speed, as both leapt forward. One slashing at his chest and the other simply pouncing at his legs, Tod watched as an arrow soared inches from his ear, breaking skin with one goblin and tearing their throat out the back, reversing its momentum and sending it soaring off ahead. Taking this chance, Tod pulled his fists close and before himself then lunged forward.

  A left fist met the goblin’s snout with a hard knuckle, pulling back but followed by a right hook that crunched the creature’s ribs inwards before both hands grasped at the stunned goblin’s head and dragged it in to face his knee.

  Unrelenting, Tod followed the goblin as it tumbled back, raising the same leg he kneed him with as he soared forward and kicked. His sole landed into the creature’s chest, making it go higher just as another bone spear inserted itself into its back.

  Blocking another projectile, but as Tod lay recovering from mid air, a third flew past the goblin on a path right for Tod’s chest. Fast he brought his hands back in to block, finding it unnecessary as another arrow soared past him.

  Meeting the spear mid air, the metal-tipped arrow shattered the bone projectile, sending both off coarse and aside.

  “I got you.” Gin added, as the sound of his bowstring pulling back reached Tod’s ears.

  Landing on both feet, Tod rushed forward as the two pinned goblins finally freed themselves from each other. Flipping over them, Tod grabbed both their heads and spun them, lining up their heads as Gin’s arrow shishkebabed their snouts together. Using the now two dead creatures as leverage Tod continued his flip into a handstand then a forward leap.

  First feeling the air whistle behind him as he watched another arrow meet a bone spear into the same shattering recurrence right ahead of him, as he landed and came to loom over the pale goblin and his last three spears.

  The creature’s eyes widened as it dropped its spears and turned to run, finding its reaction too slow with Tod’s hands tightly gripping its shoulders and tumbling it down, its face meeting the soggy stone floor with a quiet smack.

  Tod pinned the goblin down, pulling by force both its hands behind its back and holding it there.

  “You got it?” More confident now, Gin asked as he came around with an arrow nocked.

  “Yeah..” Tod answered, glancing back at him, his eyes then widened with a cold understanding.

  As an eight goblin dropped from the ceiling above Gin, a long bone blade held tightly in both hands into a downward stab.

  Tod rushed up, grasping Gin by his belt and pulling him down as he himself rose to stand above him. His right arm raised ahead, he felt his flesh part as the bone blade dug into it, followed by the snapping of bone as its tip ripped out the other end. Surprised, the goblin released the blade and fell to standing before him before pulling a stone shiv from its side.

  As an arrow whistled through its right eye socket, sending it limp to the floor, Gin had taken a shot right between Tod’s tall legs as he lay on the ground.

  Both boys quickly scanned their surroundings, but seeing no other movement, the pale goblin had escaped them.

  “Fuck.” Gin swore.

  “Language.” Tod chided.