One of the spider-like creatures leaped toward us, but I quickly cast Ink Ward, creating a small barrier that deflected the spiderlike creature before it could land on either of us. The creature hit the ground a few feet away before skittering back into the trees, disappearing among the countless others that continued to stare at us as if we were their next meal.

  But the other creatures did not attack us or even try to attack us. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe they had seen me deflect the other creature and were just waiting to see what we were going to do next.

  “Aaron, what’s going on?” asked Nimbus, who was now pressed against my legs, shivering and whipping his head this way and that as he looked at our new surroundings. “And what happened to Ruth and Jonah? Did they already get eaten by the spiders?”

  I glanced at our Party Page and shook my head. “No. According to our Party Page, they are both still alive, though I don’t know where they are.”

  That was the truth. I didn’t see Ruth or Jonah anywhere near us. Though in my defense, visibility was very poor in this room because of the fog that hung heavily in the air all around us. I couldn’t even see the door that we had used to enter the room behind us because of how thick the fog was.

  But I could see that we had entered a grove of moss-covered trees, with dozens of those spider-like insects clinging to the bark as if their very lives depended on it. The ground under my feet was muddy and slick, and the air was humid yet cold—a strange combination that left me unsure how to feel about all of this. The moisture in the air already made my clothes feel wet, even though we were on dry land.

  I didn’t hear anything in the trees, either, other than the occasional clicking sound made by an insect. I also caught occasional glimpses of floating lights within the trees ahead of us, though it was hard to tell if those were lamps from other people or more enemies we would have to fight. I was willing to bet the latter.

  Nimbus shivered. “We’ve been here only for two minutes, and I already hate it more than the last room. Why aren’t those spider things attacking us anymore, anyway? We’re basically sitting ducks here.”

  I pursed my lips. I had the same question as Nimbus, but no good answer. I was still troubled by the disappearances of Ruth and Jonah, because if they were gone, then we would have a much more difficult time getting through here than I originally thought.

  Then my portable pinged, and my Party Chat suddenly opened up in my vision:

  Jonah: Where is everyone? The Party Page says that you guys are still alive, but I have no idea where you are.

  Ruth: I’m on top of a cliff with my back to the wrong side of it. Some weird floating orbs are blocking my way to the rest of the forest, which is frustrating because I can feel it nearby.

  Me: Feel it? Feel what?

  Nimbus: Whoa, is this what human writing is like? It’s very cumbersome and inefficient if you ask me. I can’t even thump to show my displeasure or disagreement. There has to be a thump button somewhere.

  Jonah: Forget that. I’m going to send out a location ping to the rest of you guys. Let me know if you get it or not.

  Jonah: Never mind. Just got a notification that apparently location pings are blocked inside the dungeon, but I suspect we at least in the same Room. Aaron, what is your location? Can you describe it to me and Ruth?

  Nimbus: Lots of bugs and trees and mud everywhere! And fog. So much fog.

  Me: Nimbus’s description is pretty accurate. We were attacked by some weird spiders, but they aren’t attacking us anymore for some reason.

  Jonah: I spawned a body of water in front of a cave and nearly got eaten by some Sheol-damned fish. It’s still there, but also not attacking me. It resembles a type of dungeon I’ve heard about before. It’s—

  The Party Chat was minimized when a new dungeon notification unfurled in my vision:

  The second room of the first floor of the Verdant Seal!

  You and your entire party have been separated and scattered around the second room in randomized locations designed specifically to push you to your limits and challenge you. Your goal, along with the goal of your fellow party members, is to get to the end of the second room alive. If you can make it past the various Codex-generated mobs and obstacles between you and the end of the room, then you will be allowed to enter the third and final room of the first floor!

  But because this is a Party Quest, Codexers who make it to the end of the second room will be unable to advance to Room Three until either all members of their party make it to the end or all other party members die. If you make it to the end without your fellow party members who are still alive, you will be unable to advance and will be forced to do battle with a Second Room Boss.

  Additionally, mob battles in this room operate differently than in other rooms. They are turn-based battles, meaning that if it isn’t their turn to attack, the mobs will wait until you make a move before fighting.

  The same, however, applies to you. Until the mob chooses to attack, you cannot attack them or do anything. Once they attack, however, you can counterattack, block, or otherwise react in whatever way you see fit. Mobs will glow when it is their turn to attack.

  You also have one hour to make it to the end of the room. This timer will remain fixed to the upper-right corner of your UI at all times until you either leave the room, defeat the boss, or reach the end with all of your surviving party members. May the Logos guide you in everything!

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  A countdown timer—starting at exactly one hour—appeared with a flourish in the upper-right corner of my vision, right where the Ten-Year Reset Protocol countdown usually appeared. I tried to minimize or dismiss it, but it didn’t react to my mental commands at all.

  The Party Chat was pinging more, and I glanced at it to see what everyone else was saying:

  Nimbus: Turn-based battles? What the Sheol?

  Jonah: Exactly what I was afraid of when I saw that fish. Turn-based rooms are hell. Not so bad for an Aegiscaller like me, but for you guys, it’s going to be rough. You usually only get to cast one spell or take one action per turn, so whatever you do, that’s it until your next turn.

  Me: Okay, but the dungeon says we can block or counterattack during our enemy’s turn. So it’s not all bad, right?

  Jonah: The mobs can also block or counter anything you do on your turn, Aaron. Combine that with the fact that we have a timer, and we could very easily lose this room if we run into any enemies who like to waste our time by not attacking.

  Me: They can’t do that, right? I mean, when it’s their turn, they have to attack or do something and not deliberately waste time, don’t they?

  Jonah: Oh, they probably will. This is a Basic dungeon with Basic mobs. I doubt any of them are smart enough to deliberately waste our time. Even if they are, each turn should have a five-minute timer, so if you haven’t made a move on your turn in five minutes, then your opponent gets their turn next.

  Nimbus: Does the five-minute timer apply to mobs, too, or—

  A skittering sound drew my attention from the Party Chat to the mobs before us. Several of them were skittering toward us and, when they got close enough, they spat several wads of webbing at us.

  Nimbus hopped onto my shoulders while I did my best to dodge the webbing. I managed to avoid a few of the wads, but a few still hit my feet, and then I couldn’t move. I was stuck in place, no matter how hard I tried to pull my feet out of the webbing.

  Me: I’m stuck! The spiders got me.

  Jonah: Let’s stop chatting for now. Everyone, focus on getting past your mobs. Message the party if you are in danger, but otherwise focus on defeating the mobs you are facing and getting to the end of the room. Remember that the whole party needs to make it, or else none of us will.

  Jonah’s plan was sensible enough, but as I closed the Party Chat, I had the unfortunate realization that Nimbus and I were still on our own. Chatting with Jonah and Ruth had been comforting insofar as it proved that they were still alive and well, but not so much when I realized that we couldn’t help them or vice versa.

  That meant Nimbus and I were alone, at least for now.

  My portable glowed the same shade of red as the mobs, which had stopped glowing, and I got the following notification:

  [Glyphcrawlers] x24 turn has ended! It is your turn now.

  Glyphcrawlers? Was that what those creatures were called?

  I quickly scanned them with my portable:

  Glyphcrawlers [Group Mob]

  Chapter: 1

  Type: Arcane Vermin

  Threat Level: Low

  Spider-sized runic insects that skitter across trees and stone, feeding on ambient Node energy, especially around newly-discovered or reactivated Nodes. Individually, they pose no threat even to non-Codexer humans; as a group, however, they act as a collective that specializes in paralyzing, capturing, and draining the mana from their targets. They especially tend to target Codex Beasts, though there are reports of Glyphcrawler nests attacking human Codexers in dungeons and in the wild.

  “I knew they were aiming for me with those web wads earlier!” said Nimbus. “Thanks for being such a good meat shield, Aaron. Your sacrifice will be remembered.”

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m not dead, Nimbus, and hopefully neither of us will die. We need to defeat these glyphcrawlers before they kill us.”

  “Is it our turn?” said Nimbus. He glanced at my glowing portable. “It is! All right, then what should we do? What kind of offensive spells do you have?”

  I grunted. “Just Splinter Glyph. It normally only works on one enemy at a time, but since these guys are so small …”

  I was interrupted by another notification popping into my view:

  You have one minute left before your turn ends!

  “Darn it!” I said. “All right, Splinter Glyph it is.”

  Drawing my Codex Stylus from its holster, I quickly inscribed the glyphs for Splinter Glyph in the air and sent it flying at the mobs. The glyphcrawlers skittered out of the way, but I still managed to hit a few thanks to how densely packed together they were. Unfortunately, it looked like I only got three, leaving 21 left.

  My portable stopped glowing, but instead of the glyphcrawlers getting a turn, I got this unexpected notification:

  Your turn has ended! It is now Nimbus the Cloud Rabbit’s turn. As a synced Codex Beast, Nimbus the Cloud Rabbit has only 2 minutes and 30 seconds for his turn.

  “Why do I only get half the time that you do?” Nimbus said indignantly. “I swear, the Arcane Codex loves treating us Codex Beasts like secondhand citizens.”

  “Second-class citizens, Nimbus,” I corrected without taking my eyes off the mobs. “Now use your Mimic Echo spell and mimic Splinter Glyph. Now! Before we run—”

  Nimbus the Cloud Rabbit’s turn has ended! It is now [Glyphcrawlers] x21’s turn.

  “—out of time,” I said.

  Nimbus grunted. “That wasn’t two and a half minutes. It was more like thirty seconds if you ask me.”

  I didn’t have a chance to respond to Nimbus because half of the glyphcrawlers surged up the trees, jumping from tree limb to tree limb until they were directly above us.

  Then they started spitting more of that sticky webbing at us again. I tried to dodge it, but my movement was already heavily limited thanks to the webbing on my feet. The webbing from above slammed against my shoulders and neck, suddenly pulling taut. If they pulled any tighter, I felt like my neck would break and my shoulders would become dislocated.

  Nimbus managed to avoid the webbing again, jumping off my shoulders and neck at the last second. He landed on the ground in front of me just as the mobs retreated to their original position on the trees before us. They stopped glowing at the same moment my portable started glowing again, indicating my turn had started.

  Now I saw why Jonah had called turn-based battles hell. Though the glyphcrawlers hadn’t directly injured us yet, they were doing a great job pinning us down. I remembered their description said how they liked to suck the mana out of their victims, and I wondered if that was what they were setting up for.

  If so, then I needed to move fast.

  My movement was heavily limited, but I could move my arms and hands. Splinter Glyph killed a few on my last turn, but I suspected the glyphcrawlers wouldn’t let me hit them again with that spell. Yet I didn’t have any other offensive spells. My other spells were defensive or utility-based, which were not helpful in this situation.

  But then I remembered a spell I’d seen in Nimbus’ reservoir and looked down at the shaking Cloud Rabbit at my feet. “Nimbus! Arcane Pulse. Now!”

  I didn’t know if having Nimbus act would count as my turn, his turn, or what, but he was able to act. He jumped into the air and unleashed a bolt of golden mana from his forehead, which shot through the air toward the glyphcrawlers.

  The bolt of golden mana smashed into several of the glyphcrawlers, instantly frying about four of them. The remaining 17, however, scattered and regrouped on another tree, glowing red just as my and Nimbus’ turn ended and theirs began.

  But they didn’t attack.

  They did something much worse.

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