[Soul transfer automation started…]

  I… what is going on? Who am I?

  [Soul retrieved, implanting required skills and information…]

  [...]

  [Implantation complete.]

  Oh, that’s right. I’m me. I don’t have a name, but I did… I think? Why can’t I feel anything?

  [Generating living matter…]

  [...]

  Why is it so cold?

  [Generation failed, retrying…]

  [...]

  What is happening to me? Why can’t I remember anything?

  [Generation retry failed, performing option 2 generation…]

  [...]

  [Generation complete]

  I can feel something, but nothing at the same time.

  [Adding specimen to drop table…]

  [Complete.]

  Drop table? What are you…

  [Adjusting local environment...]

  What’s happening? I don’t…

  “You know I don’t like things like that…” A female voice whispered, barely making noise above the hooves of the passing horses.

  “Yeah, I know. I just thought it would be nice to have a change of pace.” The man sitting next to her said grinning. “It would be pretty cool, you know? We can try something new… and exciting.” He said as he winked.

  “You are insufferable sometimes, you know that?” She said, giving him a wry smile. “Fine, we can try it once. ONCE. But if I don’t like it, promise me we can stop.” She pointed her small finger at the man, almost like negotiating with a child.

  The brawny man threw his hands in the air, a fake plea of surrender. “Of course, my lady! Anything for my mistress!” He said standing up, taking a deep bow.

  “Shut it!” She yelled, laughing as she smacked the man with her book.

  “Why do you want to go into a dungeon anyway?” She asked, opening her book.

  “Dungeon… is that what we were talking about?” The man said, rubbing his chin. “I remember a lot of things but I don’t remember talking about a dungeon…”

  The woman smacked him again with her book, this time much harder behind his head.

  “Ow!” He said, rubbing where she just hit him.

  “You know you deserved that…” She said, flustered as people around them were staring.

  The man laughed, “Yeah… I guess I kind of did.”

  The man was a hard contrast to the small lady. His hair was raven black, his eyes matching the mysterious darkness. His build would put professional bodybuilders to shame. He may have been only 19, but you could tell from the way he carried himself he was a strong warrior.

  The lady looked like someone you would find in a library, binge reading books. Her hair was emerald green, and her eyes were dark blue like the night sky. Her spectacles seemed to increase the mysterious intelligence that flowed from her every movement. In comparison to the man’s tall muscular build she was petite, and around five foot tall. Much like the man’s aura screamed warrior, hers told the story of a powerful mage.

  “Lydia, I promise, we can just go in and check it out. Once things get too dicey, we can just up and leave with our teleport crystal, yeah?” He said as he pulled a small, light blue crystal from his pocket. The crystal itself looked as though it was made from a cloudless daylight sky, even emitting a small amount of light.

  “Or… we could just sell that crystal and get us a house like we PLANNED!” She said, raising her voice before she let out a groan. “Which one are we going to?” She whined.

  “How about Averis? It’s the closest and we should be able to get in and out with no problems. The last time I saw my stats, I was almost double the recommended level of the deepest parts of that dungeon. That should mean an easy run for us.” He said, holding a thumbs up and smiling.

  “Fine Dougan, we can go first thing in the morning. We can take a carriage there.” Lydia said, standing up and closing her book. “For now… I am going to drink back at the inn.”

  “Awesome!” Dougan yelled, as he struck a victory pose.

  “You really are insufferable sometimes. You know that?” Lydia said, giggling at his childishness before she turned back toward the town.

  The town of Averis wasn’t large, but it was a dungeon town. Most of the economy is based around adventurers and explorers that come to delve into the dungeon. Weapon shops, food stalls, homegoods, and more can be found all around the main thoroughfare that connects the inns to the dungeon itself.

  [Local environment adjusted.]

  [Spawning new monster…]

  [Trap Mimic Reaper successfully spawned in Averis Dungeon.]

  Are you going to tell me what the hell you are talking about? What do you mean by Reaper?

  [Drop table installed.]

  I still don’t understand…

  “Lydia, behind you!” Dougan yelled as he crashed into a small horde of zombies with his giant shield.

  “Fire wave.” Lydia chanted, waving her wand gracefully at the incoming group of zombies as her eyes sparked like cinders. A flame poured from the end of her wand onto the ground, and formed itself into what seemed like a wave from the ocean that sped toward Dougan and the zombies. As the flaming wave almost crashed into Dougan, it separated to go around him before closing back and drenching the zombie in what looked like a liquid mass of flames.

  “Beautiful as always, Lydia.” Dougan said, smiling at Lydia.

  “Don’t you sit there and think this will get you any brownie points with me, mister. I’m always cleaning up your messes!” She said laughing, spinning gracefully as the cinders in her eyes began to turn bright green.

  “Spectral healing.”

  As she danced, streams of green danced from her wand, and gently made their way to both her and Dougan. Even though only scratches were present, they healed almost instantly.

  “How is your mana? Do you have enough to keep going?” Dougan asked as he took a flask from his bag.

  “I think I should be good for a little more, especially if it is this easy. Does something feel off to you? About this dungeon I mean?” Lydia said, running her hands against the cracks in the wall. “It’s almost like it’s mana-starved… the monsters should have been stronger, right?”

  “I haven’t been here in a long time, but I get what you mean. There haven’t been any unique variants, bosses, or even just evolved monsters. It’s almost like everything is new or something.”

  “If this dungeon is mana-starved, that could mean a strong boss is absorbing the magic. We haven’t gotten any loot so far, and I really don’t want to go back empty handed…” Lydia said, trailing off as if she were lost in thought.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “See, I told you that you’d start enjoying yourself. Money is your favorite motivator after all, after me of course!” Dougan said, wrapping Lydia in a hug.

  “Not the place, dear.” Lydia said, pushing Dougan off of her.

  “Okay, fiiine…” Dougan said, acting hurt.

  They made short work of all the monsters they came across. None of it was making sense to Lydia, though. According to the descriptions at the front gate, they should have been coming across much stronger monsters by now.

  “How many floors does this dungeon have?” Lydia asked, without turning around.

  “30, last I checked.” Dougan said.

  “Did you last check today?” Lydia said, giving him a sideways stare.

  “Yes, dear. 30 floors. Why, you saw the same paper I did.”

  “Because, dear… this staircase leads to the 31st floor. It shouldn’t be here unless the dungeon reshaped. I knew something was wrong, this means that either a new boss floor appeared or an entirely new wing of the dungeon did.” Lydia said, stepping around Dougan to head back to the door they entered into.

  “Yeah, I can see that being a problem. We don’t know what’s down there. But even so, we are B-Class adventurers, there shouldn’t be anything in this dungeon we couldn’t take down.”

  “We might not have a choice…” Lydia said, grunting as she tried opening the door. “It looks like we are locked in.

  Dougan ran back to the door, gripping the door and pulling with all his might.

  “Locked, Dougan. Do you not understand the definition?” Lydia said flatly.

  “Lydia… you’re like what… three feet tall. I was just trying to help…”

  “I am NOT three feet tall! What do you think I am? A dwarf?!” Lydia yelled, flustered, her face turning red.

  Dougan laughed, “Relax I was joking, besides after a certain height people start appearing the same to me… short.” He snorted a laugh.

  “Shut it, Dougan!” Lydia groaned, running her hand down her face. “We have got to go forward…”

  “Right. I’ll lead.” Dougan said, grabbing the torch from the wall.

  The staircase leading down looked like an endless pit of stairs, the walk taking much longer than those of the other floors. Eventually they came to the end, the normal cement stone walls slowly being replaced by obsidian. The dark glass looked as though it could shred you should you brush against it.

  “Well, this is ominous isn’t it?” Dougan said, staring at the new door in front of him.

  “Don’t say that…” Lydia said, gripping on to the back of his armor tightly. “Don’t arbitrarily drop a death flag like that…”

  “Okay, let’s go.” Dougan said, gently pushing the dark doors open.

  The doors swung open much easier than he thought they would, the massive size of the obsidian doors appeared to weigh too much to be moved by a human.

  Beyond the door, the floor became more ornate. The door itself looked like a slab of glass cut directly from the wall, however the floor was a different story. It was smooth, with ribbed designs cut into it like tile. Even though it was dark, Lydia could make out pillars of stacked ornate obsidian bricks helping hold the roof from caving in. She knew this wasn’t the case, as each floor was its own entity, but nevertheless that is what it appeared to be doing.

  A few steps in, the doors quickly shut behind them and torches light around the room with an eerie white flame. The flame made the room look completely devoid of color, even Dougan looked like something from a black and white drawing.

  The pair slowly made their way into the room. As they moved, they looked around the room, settling their eyes on an ornate chest in the middle.

  Intricately carved wood, which gold hinges and silver inlaid throughout showcased the possible rewards from this loot chest.

  “You’re joking…” Dougan said, dropping his shield. “This is either an A or S-Class chest, where’s the boss?”

  “Do you think it disappeared due to low mana?” Lydia pondered. “Maybe the chest pulled too much magic and it threw everything off. Do you still have the teleport crystal?”

  “I do.” Dougan said, staring at the chest. “Should we open it?”

  “I don’t see why not, there’s no reason anything else should be in here.” Lydia said, looking around.

  “Talk about death flags!” Dougan said laughing, “Okay, I’ll open it.” He said as he walked towards the center of the room.

  He reached down and pulled the stopper from the latch, it was a thin rod made from pure gold. “You know, I never understood why these aren’t made from something stronger…” He said, looking it over.

  “Normally, these types of chests hold rewards to stop adventurers from killing the dungeon outright. The dungeon itself is a living creature, remember.” Lydia said, “It gives up something on its drop table in return for the adventurer leaving. It gives it time to regenerate.”

  “I wonder what is on this drop ta–”

  “Spectral Shield!” Lydia screamed, forming a shield between Dougan and the chest.

  Her screaming caused him to turn around towards her.

  “What was that for?” He yelled.

  “Get away from it!” Lydia screamed. “It’s a mimic!”

  Dougan turned his head back, and the chest itself seemed to have formed a scythe and its upward swing got caught on the shield. If Lydia wasn’t as fast as she was with spellcasting, there’s a good chance that would have been a fatal blow.

  He jumped back towards Lydia, just as the chest took shape.

  “No…” Lydia whispered in horror. “It’s a trap mimic reaper…”

  The chest slowly molded into a hooded creature, carrying a giant scythe. The creature's entire being seemed to be made of pure darkness. The scythe itself was dark, not unlike the obsidian, with red lines carved into the blade.

  “Is it S-Class?” Dougan whispered to Lydia.

  “No, it’s A-Class, but it's bad news. We have to get out of here… this is why all of the mana was gone, it poured it into spawning this boss.” Lydia was shaking as she spoke, she wanted to leave, but her legs were locked in place.

  “The doors are probably locked now,” Dougan said flatly, “truthfully, I don’t like traps. We don’t really have many options here. Buff me. Everything I can hold.”

  Lydia looked over, tears filling her eyes.

  Dougan looked back, smiling. “Another day on the job, honey. There’s no one else in this world I would want to fight this fight with.”

  Lydia’s nerves calmed some, and she smiled. “You know what, you might not be that bad.” She said smiling. “Okay, buffs incoming.”

  “Minor Strength Boost. Minor Spirit Boost. Minor Constitution Boost. Earthskin. Sword of the Flaming Phoenix.”

  As Lydia chanted, Dougan could feel his stats increasing across the board.

  “I don’t think you can handle any more than that without some serious side effects.” Lydia said. “My mana won’t hold out long, let’s end this quickly.”

  “Right you are dear. Flash Step!” Dougan yelled, his body moving instantly in front of the trap mimic reaper. His sword collided with the side of the mimic, sending it toppling over.

  He jumped to where it landed, smashing another blow. Then another. Then another.

  “Slicing Gail!” He screamed, his sword flashing as he racked up hit after hit on the mimic.

  Then, a piercing pain in his abdomen stopped him in his tracks. The mimic had swung its scythe so quickly that even his buffs couldn’t stop it. It pierced him through, the tip of the scythe protruding out of the back of his armor.

  “No… NO!” Lydia screamed.

  The mimic ripped its scythe out of Dougan’s stomach, leaving a gaping wound in its wake. As it did, it turned its gaze toward Lydia.

  “We’re not done!” Dougan screamed, blood spattering on the dark obsidian as he pulled all of his strength once more, knocking the mimic over with a side slash of his sword.

  “Dougan, no!” Lydia cried.

  “Lydia… give.. me.. everything…” Dougan said, panting. His blood loss making him feel dizzy.

  “No, you could die!” Lydia yelled.

  “If we don’t give it everything, then we both will die.” Dougan yelled, not moving his stare from the reaper.

  Covered in tears, Lydia help up her hand and wand and began chanting.

  “Minor Strength Boost. Minor Spirit Boost. Minor Constitution Boost. Earthskin. Sword of the Flaming Phoenix. Strength Ward. Defence Ward. Ironskin. Attack Up.”

  Dougan’s nose began bleeding. The pressure of the magic being built up inside of him swelling to a point that felt like his entire body was going to burst.

  “Warrior’s Creed. Death Defier.” Dougan chanted, adding his own buffs.

  As blood started running out of him from the pressure, he could feel his attack, strength, defence, and spirit stats skyrocketing. He knows he doesn’t have long, his body will give out before the magic does. Gathering all of his strength, he leapt into the air.

  “Piercing Fall!” Dougan screamed as his body was wrapped in light.

  He dropped like a meteor, the light engulfing him and forming a point at the tip of his sword. As his sword struck the mimic, it stopped on his center mass for a moment before crashing through.

  As the light dissipated, Dougan was laying on the ground and the mimic had disappeared.

  Lydia sprinted over to him.

  [Drop complete.]

  [Exiting system override.]

  What are you going on about now? Wait, I can hear someone?

  “Dougan, please stay with me! Spectral healing!”

  It’s muffled… but someone is there? Who is Dougan?

  “Spectral healing!”

  “--be okay.”

  “Thank the gods…”

  Where are they? I hear them, but it's like they are somewhere else…

  “Yeah, I owe you one, Lydia.”

  Did they leave? It’s been a little while since I heard them last…

  “--what’s in the chest now”

  “Alright.”

  The noise of metal clanking filled the empty, a line of light opened up. The brightness was blinding.

  “Uh. A baby?”

  A baby?

  I can feel something touching me… but that light is still too bright.