“We’re getting nowhere. We need to find a different hunting ground,” Penelope says as she slams her greatsword into a goblin.

  Hopper lets loose a couple of arrows towards the hoard of goblins. “Is this really the time to be talking about this?” he asks.

  The horde of goblins chases after me as I run like my life depends on it. “I mean. It’s not like we’re busy,” I say sarcastically.

  Penelope finishes off her goblin. “All I’m saying is that the Krone fight [Leveled] us up twice, which means these guys are barely making a dent in our progress to level up. We need to fight something else. Something stronger. Like a giant!”

  “We’ve talked about this, Penelope. No giants until we’re all [LvL. 10],” I say as I dodge a goblin's sword.

  “He’s right, Princess. We voted on it,” Hopper adds as he shoots a goblin that was about to reach me.

  Penelope lets out a disappointed sigh. “When did this become a democracy?” she asks the air.

  “It became a democracy when we spent a whole day arguing about what to do instead of actually doing anything,” I say as I climb a boulder.

  “The two of you wanted to do the exact opposite thing, and I got stuck in the middle,” Hopper reminds us.

  “I still think it would’ve been a good idea to take on that giant,” Penelope says as white energy grows in her hand.

  A goblin grabs my foot as I reach the top of the boulder. With a swift kick, I send him tumbling down past his friends. Hopper gets behind Penelope and covers his ears. With a single thrust of her hand, the horde of goblins is eviscerated by the beam of light.

  I climb down the boulder. “Cutting it a bit close, aren’t we?”

  Penelope shrugs. “You’re alive, aren’t you?”

  “I swear the two of you have somehow gotten worse since yesterday,” Hopper says as he collects his arrows.

  My eyes flick to hers and then back to the scorched boulder. “I was hoping that we’d at least get a [Level Up] from that horde.”

  “This is why I’m saying we should hunt for something different.”

  “Not giants!” Hopper and I say simultaneously.

  “Fine, not giants, but there are other creatures we could try. Maybe some giant spiders or a pack of worgs,” Penelope explains.

  “Worg territory is closer to where the White Worm is. We barely got away from our last encounter with it. I don’t think testing our luck with that thing is wise,” Hopper says as his ears twitch.

  “And we haven’t seen a single giant spider since the first day. We’re kind of stuck with goblins for now,” I say with a hint of relief.

  Penelope stares at me and squints. “That might work,” she says ominously.

  “What might work?” I ask, fearing for my life.

  “Pick a direction,” Penelope says with a smug smile.

  “Why?”

  “Just pick one. Any direction.”

  I squint back at her as I point in a random direction. “Are you happy?” I ask sarcastically.

  “Now I am. Let's go that way,” she says, walking in the random direction I pointed out.

  Hopper pats me on the back. “I think this is a flawed democracy.”

  “What gave you that idea?” I ask sarcastically as we follow Penelope.

  “I have a theory,” Penelope says.

  “Does this theory have anything to do with why we’re walking in a random direction?” I ask as I shove my hands in my coat.

  “It does, but it’s more than just that. It has to do with how you’ve managed to succeed so far, Charlatan.”

  Hopper groans. “Are you guys going to have another one of your fights that always ends with me having to get in the middle?”

  I let out a loud yawn. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We never fight. Isn’t that right, Penelope?”

  “For once, you are right, Charlatan, but besides that. I believe that you have an extraordinary amount of [LCK]. Which is how I think you’ve been managing to skate by so far,” she spouts.

  “Aren’t Chosen Ones naturally drawn to their destiny. Couldn’t that be mistaken as luck?” Hopper asks.

  “What he said.”

  “Well, one way or another. Walking towards the random direction you pointed at could provide the answer to our [Leveling] problem.”

  I scoff. “Do you really think that-” I stop abruptly as I get a weird feeling nearby.

  It’s not entirely good nor bad. It feels like a mix of both.

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “What was that, Charlatan? Did something catch your attention by chance?” she asks with a smug smile.

  I bite my tongue. Damn it. She was somehow right. There is something nearby that could be the answer to our problem. I could just pretend I didn’t see it, but that’d fuck over Hopper for no good reason. Well, actually, one good reason. Ah, how sweet would victory taste?

  Swallowing my pride, I point towards the cliff face. “I think we should check over there,” I say, trying to hide my displeasure.

  Penelope puts on an exaggerated face of surprise. “By the Gods! Did you find something, Charlatan!?” she exaggerates.

  “You’re being annoying,” I say as her green eyes dance with joy.

  “Good.”

  “Are the two of you done? I would like to check out whatever this is before class is over,” Hopper says, annoyed.

  I roll my eyes and walk towards the feeling. As we pass the treeline, an interesting sight falls before us. An out-of-place stone door lies embedded in the cliff face. As we get closer, an almost suffocating amount of energy radiates off of it. What in the hells is that?

  “Is that a Dungeon?” Penelope asks as she gently touches the stone frame.

  “Like, where they torture people?” I ask.

  “No. It’s an accumulation of MP that manifests into a physical form. A Dungeon only forms once every couple of years, but this feels old. Really old. It’s odd that nobody has cleared it yet,” she explains as she trails off.

  “Is it dangerous?” Hopper asks.

  “Not entirely. The high concentration of MP does lure monsters into it, and given its spacious interior, it can house a large number of creatures, but the dangerous ones stay near the source of MP.”

  “Source? I thought you said this Dungeon was made of MP,” I ask.

  “It is, but the majority of it accumulates into a gem of sorts at the bottom or end of the Dungeon. Stronger creatures naturally want to be close to this source or core. After all, it gives them power, but the weaker ones stay on the outer edges since they can’t handle that much power,” Penelope explains as she follows something in the air.

  “How strong are the weaker ones?” Hopper asks.

  “If a regular goblin had set up shop in here, it would become a hobgoblin.”

  “So, weaker than giants and stronger than goblins. It might help us [Level Up]. What do you think, Hopper?” I ask.

  Hopper scratches his white haired head. “I’ve also grown bored of fighting regular old goblins. It’ll also teach us how to fight in close-quarter conditions. I think we should go in,” Hopper says with a hint of excitement.

  Penelope sticks her nose up. “See. I told you it was a good idea.”

  I nod and give her a devilish smile. “You’re welcome.”

  “You should be thanking me. Not the other way around.”

  “You, but it’s due to my ‘fate’ as The Chosen One that we found this place to begin with,” I say, baiting her.

  Her Half-Elven ear twitches. “If it wasn’t for my theory, we would’ve never found this place. So, you're welcome.”

  As I go to answer, Hopper pushes the stone door open. “Stop fighting, you two. You’re both equally responsible for finding the Dungeon. Now, let's check it out before class ends,” he says, his voice laced with annoyance.

  “Fine,” I say before whispering to Penelope. “He’s lying to make you feel included.”

  As I rush to catch up with Hopper, I watch as Penelope begins to fume. Never not funny.

  Looking around, I see a whole lot of nothing. Mostly because it’s dark, but it doesn’t last long. A radiating aura of white light emanates from Penelope's greatsword, illuminating the surroundings. That’s a neat use of [Imbue].

  With the corridor illuminated, I see a stone ceiling that could easily accommodate one of Penelope's beloved giants. The walls, floors, and just about everything else are made from the same dark stone as the door. I’ve never been in a Dungeon before, but even I can tell that this is a big one. It also smells like shit, piss, and the stank that radiates off most creatures that live outside.

  So, basically, it smells like smelly Doug on a good day. I remember that day fondly. I ‘accidentally’ pushed him into the river along with some soap that we had stolen. It made the smell tolerable if only by the smallest of margins.

  Continuing our journey down the long corridor, I find myself growing sleepy. “So, when exactly are we supposed to run into these strong creatures?” I ask, growing bored of walking.

  Hopper abruptly stops. “You won’t have to wait long. I hear… something up ahead,” he says, hesitating.

  “Something? You’re usually more specific, Hopper,” Penelope says as she readies her backup shortsword.

  “Usually I can identify the creature just by sound, but this thing doesn’t sound familiar.”

  “That’s not good. Didn’t you spend most of your life hunting monsters?” I ask.

  “Yeah, and I’ve never heard something like this,” he says, mixed with fear and excitement.

  I curse under my breath as I draw my sword. “Well, we should go check it out, I guess.”

  With careful footsteps, we walk towards the sounds of imminent danger and probable maiming. Oh, yeah. Everything is going to go marvelously. I’m just sure of it. Nothing bad has ever happened to someone who heads towards the unknown and presumed dangerous creature. Not a single person in history.

  Hopper stops as he points to an empty spot on the ground. “That’s where the noise was coming from,” he says.

  “Was?” Penelope asks with an understandable amount of panic.

  “It was there one second, and then it was gone the next. That’s odd,” he says, stating the obvious.

  As Hopper tries to focus on its whereabouts, I feel a faint drip of something on my shoulder. Damned snow. Wait. We’re indoors. Looking down at my shoulder, I see a faint sheen of red slime. What in the hells is this?

  A shiver goes down my spine as I quickly jump away from the spot I was standing in. Filling the space where I once was is a large red blob. Its size is comparable to that of a small carriage. Is that a slime? I didn’t know they could get that big.

  Without warning, the light of the room appears behind the big red slime as Penelope appears. Swinging with all her might, she watches as her shortsword barely sinks into the viscous body of the red slime. She then struggles to pull the shortsword out as the slime eats it. As Penelope pulls away from the creature, I watch as a volley of arrows sinks harmlessly into the slime. Grabbing a pebble I [Throw] it into the slime and also watch it harmlessly sink into the body of the slime.

  “Physical attacks aren’t working,” I say as I regroup with the other two. What do we do now?” I ask.

  As Penelope goes to answer, the slime fires forth a volley of pebbles from the ground. Penelope barely manages to bring up a magical shield to protect the three of us.

  “That’s my move!” I yell as a white glow hums around us. “We’ll be back, you [Skill] stealing thief.”

  The glow over takes us, sending us to the classroom.