The dungeon loomed over the party, their approach serving to increase its menace. The sheer size and design of it was awe inspiring. The entrance was shaped like the kind you would find leading into a tomb. Extravagant designs, sharp corners, along with indecipherable words and symbols carved into it. The structure seemed to be made from magnecite, imbued with a magic that made it nigh indestructible, something no mortal creature has been known to have accomplished. The closer they got, the more ominous the air began to feel.

  At the threshold of the dungeon, a flurry of footsteps grew louder and louder. A group of what appeared to be adventurers shoved Zycor aside and pushed past Mylon and Baz. They were covered in blood and nasty wounds, carrying wounded comrades, some having lost limbs, some losing one or both of their eyes, among other injuries. The leader of the group led them towards the first aid tent, shouting, “Hey! We need help, we have a lot of injured here!”

  Murmurs through the crowd started discussing the group in hushed voices, “Hey, isn’t that the party full of level two and three adventurers?”

  “Yeah, it doesn't get much stronger than that team for normal people.”

  “Does that mean no one can clear this dungeon?”

  “It was made by the evil god, so maybe it’s not meant to be conquered…”

  When the last stragglers finally vacated the dungeon’s entrance, Zycor began his march onwards into the dungeon, Novos on his shoulders. Baz, Mylon and Aisha, paying more attention to the chatter than the other two, looked at each other with nervous expressions. The three of them started after Zycor, Aisha asking, “H-hey, Zycor, are you sure about this? That team had to have at least thirteen members, all at the near top of the adventurers rankings.”

  “What’s that matter to us?” Zycor snapped back, his tone growing tenser.

  Baz joined in, remarking, “Well, last I checked, we are a party of four-.”

  “Five.” Zycor quickly corrected, continuing his pace.

  Baz cleared his throat and continued, “Right, five, I tend to forget to include that biological disaster around your neck. Setting that aside, I am only around a rank three, Mylon is a rank four, Aisha was a rank five, but she is probably equivalent to a rank four now. And then there’s you at rank five. Though, you haven’t bothered to get checked again so that doesn’t mean too much at the moment. Before our latest scuffle, I would have said you were around a rank four, maybe even three. But after seeing what happened, I don’t know.”

  Stopping halfway down the stairs into the dungeon Zycor looked back at Baz and asked, “So, do you have a point?”

  His gaze was serious, full of swirling emotions. Despite what he had said, Zycor was clearly having trouble with ‘managing’ his emotions. Mylon interjected, speaking for Baz, “I believe what Baz is trying to say is that we might be under equipped for this dungeon. Some of the strongest adventurers were just wheeled out in front of us.”

  “Come on Zycor, use your head for once, we need to gather some information about the dungeon first at least! We can’t just recklessly run into a dungeon like this one!” Aisha exclaimed, trying to get Zycor to listen.

  Her and Mylon’s efforts seemed to be paying off. Zycor stood silently, pondering his next choice. He went to open his mouth to give his response, but paused. He closed his eyes while his expression hardened. When he opened them again, they were a different, yet familiar gray. Zycor turned back around and continued his descent into the dungeon. His fists were clenched tight, stating, “If you guys don’t want to come, then go back up, it would probably be safer anyways. But there is no way I can afford to just sit around while you gather information. Especially not with that psychotic, twisted, screwed up, bastard is nearing his goal. I refuse to allow him to get what he wants when he has taken so much from us… from me.”

  Mylon and Baz looked at each other, exchanging a knowing glance. Baz let out an exasperated sigh, “Man, if he didn’t remind me of us, I would leave him to learn the hard way.”

  Baz began descending the stairs, Mylon following close behind, readying his shield and sword, “He really does remind me of you at least… a handful.”

  Aisha lagged behind, watching as the three of them walked further down the stairs and into the maw of the dungeon. She ruffled her hair roughly, groaning in frustration, “Why is it me who has been left with these brutish boys! It’s not fair!” She let out a sigh, forcing herself to calm down, and started her march after them, mumbling, “I swear, when this is all over and done with I’m going to make Zycor pay dearly for dragging me into these ridiculously dangerous messes…”

  When Aisha finally caught up to them, she found Baz and Mylon with serious expressions, moving slowly. But Zweicor, who was currently piloting Zycor’s body, continued his single-minded march onward into the dimly lit dungeon. Aisha called out to him, telling him to slow down, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

  Just a few moments later, a massive, deformed creature emerged from the wall. It was a creature that seemed to meld its flesh with stone. It appeared to try and mimic a large human, but clearly failed. Its body shifted, giant stone bricks shifting around to change its form while the flesh underneath contorted to comply with the shift. The creature howled in what sounded like pain while the process occurred, towering over Zycor. Baz, Mylon and Aisha looked on in abject horror, completely at a loss as to what this creature was.

  “The hell is that thing?!” Baz shouted, readying his zweihander.

  Mylon raised his shield and readied himself to charge forward, “Not sure, but it’s probably what sent those guys up top packing!”

  Aisha shook in place, her eyes wide with fear born of confusion. She stammered out, “A-a creature like that… i-it’s an abomination!”

  Zweicor slowly raised his head to look up at the creature, his expression stoic and unchanging. He clenched his fist shut, white lighting surging forth in a sudden flash, engulfing it. Zweicor threw a punch that collided with the flesh-stone constructs body. He uttered a single word as the lightning ripped through the creature's body, “Move.”

  The lightning pierced through the constructs body while it also erupted in arcs from the cracks in itself. The creature cried out in pain, the room lit up with flashes of lightning arcing across the ceiling, walls and floor. Novos fell off Zycor due to the latters’ movements. After a few seconds, the lightning dissipated and the creature collapsed to the floor, lifeless.

  Novos came up behind Zweicor and zapped his ankle with irritation. Zweicor jumped forward a bit, jerking his leg away, “Ah! What’s got you so upset?! Is it really because I knocked you off!? Oh come on and grow up!” Novos zapped him again for his insulting retort.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Mylon could only chuckle, “Wow… so that’s the kind of power a person obtains when they awaken…”

  “Now that’s some firepower, and that’s not all he’s got I bet.” Baz remarked in response, straightening his posture. His eyes narrowing slightly, Baz remarked, “Putting that aside, the hell is that thing he killed? It ain’t like anything I’ve seen.”

  “Probably a creature that only exists in a dungeon like this… a dungeon made by Itzal.”

  Finally regaining enough of her composure, Aisha rushed past Baz and Mylon, making sure to kick Baz in the calf as she shouted, “Move you green idiot!”

  Baz let out an audible ‘ouch,’ shaking his leg to try and shake the sting off. Aisha made it to Zycor and grabbed his shoulder, asking in a panic, “Are you okay Zycor?! Did that creature hurt you?”

  Novos moved aside for Aisha and snickered. He relished the fact that the person who forced him from his favorite spot was about to be chewed out. Zweicor glanced at Aisha, a twinge of a somber happiness for her worry. But he quickly dismissed the feeling, returning to his former demeanor and yanking his arm away, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just in a rush. Even if I was hurt, it wouldn’t matter. What matters is pushing ahead.”

  Aisha grabs his hand, gripping tightly. Zweicor looks back at her and his seemingly unbreakable expression cracks. She is staring deep into his eyes, into his soul… their soul. After a moment, she speaks up and asks, “Who… are you?”

  Zweicor jerks back, tearing his hand from her grasp, recoiling. His breaths came in quick bursts, his heart pounding, like he was caught in a lie. Zweicor swallowed, chuckling, “H-haha, what are you talking about, Aisha?”

  Aisha approached him, backing him against a dungeon wall, her hand coming up to his chin. Poking against it was a claw from her partially transformed hand wearing the special gloves she got. She glared at him and asked again, “Who are you, and where is Zycor?”

  Zweicor’s wide eyes turned downcast, chuckling somberly, “You always were troublesome, a real handful and frankly an annoyance… but a welcome one.”

  Aisha twitched slightly and remarked, “You… wait a minute, I remember now. That time we encountered Mr. X back in Abros’ outskirts, Zycor was acting similar to this… like he had to go solo, like he didn’t need or want any help… like it was all about him. Now that I am thinking about it, there were other times as well…”

  “So you did notice, huh?” Zweicor sighed, “Though, I suppose if you hadn’t noticed by now, I would have been forced to re-evaluate how smart I believed you to be.”

  Mylon placed a hand on Aisha’s shoulder, gently urging her to step back. Baz interjected with his own question, “Well, the way you are speaking tells me you are definitely not Zycor, at least not completely. So, who are you?”

  Zweicor rubbed the back of his head in mild annoyance, “Jeez, I wasn’t really prepared to answer this question right now. But, I suppose I don’t have much of a choice, seeing as how you guys have finally decided to back me into a corner. Baz, you’re half right, but also half wrong. I am Zycor, just not the one you have grown accustomed to. I do care about you guys, it’s just that I am more suited to combat than I am to social interactions. We have decided to call ‘me’ Zweicor to keep things simple.”

  “Nothing about this is simple.” Mylon softly mutters.

  Aisha raised an eyebrow and asked, “‘Zweicor’? Like, the way you would say two using the ancient numbering language?”

  “See, it was a stupid name!” Zweicor erupted. After a brief pause, Zweicor closed his eyes, massaging the bridge of his nose, muttering, “Yeah, and I told you when they inevitably were told about our situation they would laugh… No, just because they aren’t laughing right now doesn’t invalidate-… hey! That’s uncalled for!”

  Aisha tapped on Zweicor’s shoulder and asked, “I-is everything alright?”

  Zweicor looked up at Aisha, Mylon and Baz, remembering they can’t hear the ‘nuisance’ in his head, “Ah, right, Since I don’t normally worry about it I was talking to Zycor without thinking.”

  “So, you are talking to him right now then?” Mylon asked.

  Zweicor went to answer, but the ground started to shake beneath them. A heavy, soul piercing growl echoed through the halls, getting louder as it approached. Zweicor clicked his tongue and retorted, “Let’s save the full discussion for when we aren’t in a murderous dungeon created by some evil god!”

  His eyes narrowed, their color shifting to green, and he raised his hand towards the sound. Zycor, now back in control, shouted, “Guys, get behind me!”

  Baz, Mylon and Aisha did so, all of them readying their weapons. From the darkness, a lizard-like creature that barely fit inside the dungeon hallways. The creature appeared to be melting and regenerating at the same rate.

  Zycor grit his teeth and cast gravity magic, stopping the creature in its tracks. Not feeling the instant drain he was used to, Zycor let out a small chuckle of amusement. He was finally able to use this magic without knocking himself out. Baz sprinted past Zycor with a massive grin,

  “That’s great Zy, just hold it still! ‘Cause I’m taking it’s head off with one…!” Baz planted his foot forward as he threw the sword back, then swung it full force forward, shouting with all his might, “STRIKE!”

  The Zweihander cleaved through the lizard creature with ease, splitting it down the middle, cracking the ground following the line of his slash. Baz stood up straight, resting the blade on his shoulder with a smirk, turning to face the party, “This dungeon isn’t anything special after all! Those scrubs that retreated clearly didn’t deserve their rank!”

  Mylon flew past Baz, riding a tailwind he created with magic, slamming his shield into a half melted, dripping claw that was reaching out to cut Baz. Mylon’s shield erupted in fire and he threw the claw to the side, his sword gliding across the floor, becoming engulfed in lightning. Delivering a powerful upward slash, taking the creature's arm off, Mylon chastised, “This dungeon is nothing like what we have faced before! We can’t be complacent or overconfident, you moron!”

  The creature howled in pain as its arm fell to the ground with a resounding thud. Baz clicked his tongue, readying his zweihander again, “In my defense, when you cleave something clean in half they tend to die!”

  Aisha adjusted her gloves and began a partial transformation. Zycor clenched his teeth in anger, muttering, “We just cannot catch a freakin’ break! Why can’t anything ever be easy.”

  Aisha crouched down onto all fours, her hands igniting in a blaze. She put as much tension on her body as she could, releasing it to send herself soaring through the air. She landed a devastating punch on the melting lizard, a delayed inferno following soon after impact. The Lizard howled as its body was scorched, engulfed in Aisha’s flames.

  Zycor shouted at Aisha to get back, the flames getting caught with his gravity magic. The fire began to condense and take the shape of a dome, surrounding the melting lizard completely. Zycor tensed, straining to close the dome of gravity and fire. The fire swirled and rippled, its intensity and fury growing with each inch taken.

  Spouts and arcs of fire managed to break free from the gravity, spewing out at random angles. Sweat began beading down Zycor’s face as his stamina and mana was drained. Zycor cried out, “Get ready, I’m gonna release my gravity magic! After the fire disperses, hit the thing with all you’ve got!”

  Aisha and Baz posted up behind Mylon who planted his shield into the ground. He channeled wind magic into the shield and a current of wind enveloped a wider area around the shield. Zycor released the gravity hold, the condensed fire exploding out with great fury. Zycor lunged towards Mylon, his outstretched arm grabbed by Baz who pulled him behind the shield wind wall. The fire raged through the corridor, scorching every part of it. The fire slammed and fought against Mylon who stayed strong, Baz and Zycor supporting his back themselves.

  When the fire dissipated, Mylon canceled his magic and charged forward towards the lizard. He moved his shield so he could see his front and slowed his charge to a stop. Baz and Zycor crashed into him, sending all three of them to the floor.

  “Why’d you stop!?” Baz grunted, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

  Mylon pointed ahead with a slight chuckle, “Well… I don’t think we need to worry about that creature anymore.”

  Following Mylon’s finger, they too looked where the creature was supposed to be to find not even a trace of it left. Mylon kicked Baz and Zycor off and stood up with a groan, “Looks like that combo spell did the trick. I wonder how long that thing was dead, haha.”