“No offense Pandora but that ain’t natural,” Cedrik said as her arms finished healing. We’d been watching them grow. She’d waited until the itching sensation had stopped and her hit points were back up to 153. She picked up my wristband and put it on

  Wristband of Holding, this wristband can hold up to 500 pounds worth of equipment. Items must be no larger than 5 feet long in any dimension.

  Durability 48% of 100%

  Note: Close proximity to such a powerful magical source will slowly repair the durability of this item. Repair rate in proximity to the current source of magic, 1% per day.

  Pandora had also been wondering about the orbs and now that she saw that note she noticed that some of the orbs had been orbiting a lot closer to her. Specifically, the Orbs of Fire, Light, Putrescent, and Absolute. The rest dipped in toward her once in a while but those four were staying within five feet of her.

  It’s me, Capsa thought to me. I am the powerful magical source. I am pure chaos after all.

  Of course, Pandora thought back. I wonder if that regeneration effect works for all magical items.

  It might, but probably not, Capsa thought back.

  “What are you thinking about?” Robert asked as he walked up.

  I thought about not telling him but then realized that everyone here could be trusted, “When I put the wristband on I received a message saying that it would repair the durability at a rate of 1% per day. Capsa thinks it’s because of her.

  “Easy enough way to test it,” Robert said pulling out his wand of Magic Missiles. “I used this wand earlier and it recharges at a steady rate. The last charge should come back in about 30 minutes. Let’s see if handing it to you increases the charge rate,” he said as he handed Pandora the wand.

  You have discovered a Wand of Magic Missiles

  19 of 20 charges.

  Durability 100%

  Note: close proximity to such a powerful magical source will slowly repair the durability of this item. Repair rate in proximity to the current source of magic, 1% per day.

  Note: The recharge rate for this item is vastly increased in proximity to such a powerful source of magic. This wand will recharge one charge per 15 seconds, instead of the normal 1 charge per hour.

  Pandora held the wand for fifteen seconds, while Robert looked at her questioningly, and then she handed it back.

  “It’s fully charged!” Robert said happily.

  “Yep it looks like it’s recharging based on mana regeneration, that’s just a guess.”

  “How high is your mana regeneration?” Robert asked.

  “4 per minute. Since the message I received said that the wand would get back a charge every 15 seconds, it’s either a strange coincidence or the item can get a charge for exactly how long it takes me to recover a point of mana,” Pandora said.

  “That is a strange coincidence,” Robert said. “If your mana regeneration ever goes up, let’s check this again. Also, I’m probably going to hand the wand to you for a few minutes after each encounter to top it back off.”

  “That’s fine, anything that helps us survive longer and prepare for the next fight,” she said.

  “That’s exactly what I like to hear,” Callum said as he came over and looked at her arms. “It would have taken a healer months and a lot of very high-level spells to heal the damage you took Pandora. That said, I’ll take unnatural if it will allow us to continue. You ready to look at the room the mage came out of with us and then continue?”

  “Hell, yes,” she said as she stood up and dusted herself off.

  “Everyone finished distributing your attributes?” Callum asked.

  “I stuck more points into my personal Constitution and rounded a lot of my attributes,” Pandora said.

  “Me too,” Asling, Cedrik, Pythias and Robert said.

  “What,” Cedrik said looking at the shock on Callum’s face. “Pandora almost blew herself up. Even I put more points into my physical attributes.

  Callum grinned, then said,” Me too.” Before he pointed at a leg bone lying against the wall by the entrance. “Cedrik if you would be so kind as to loot that, hey Pandora what did we kill, you received the kill message right?”

  “Yeah, it said he was a level 50 Doppelganger Mage.”

  Pythias looked over in alarm,” You’re sure that’s what it said?”

  “Yep. Also, we all received experience for killing the Earth Elemental but there’s nothing left to loot,” she said.

  Cedrik walked over to the bone and touched it. As he used his looting power on the leg bone it crumbled to dust.

  Cedrik has shared loot of a level 50 Doppelganger Mage and level 50 Earth Elemental with you

  Your Share of the Loot is 16 gold.

  “These also came with the gold,” Cedrik said putting a Shield, Quiver, Staff, Bracer, Ring, and Black Diamond on the ground. Cedrik was about to say something else when the Black Diamond shot from the ground and slammed into Pandora’s chest. Except it didn’t slam into her chest, it was absorbed by her.

  “What the” Callum said.

  “I’m fine, it didn’t hurt, give me a second to figure out what just happened,” Pandora said as she dove into her messages.

  “If you’d Identify these other items,” she heard Cedrik say to Robert as her mind was drawn inward until she found herself standing before Capsa.

  “We’re in your Mindspace,” Capsa said. “It’s a place where you can mentally focus that hovers between your conscious and subconscious mind. It’s also a place where we can talk without the fear of being overheard.”

  “Nobody can hear me talk to you when I think to you?” Pandora said.

  “Not so, when your thoughts are focused to talk to me a proficient mentalist could listen in to our conversation,” Capsa said.

  “Okay, so why am I here now.”

  “The Black Diamond that we just absorbed can only be used to enhance one of us. I thought we should discuss which of us gets to use it.”

  “What is it, or what does it do?” Pandora asked.

  “The Black diamond houses pure chaos. The others wouldn’t have detected it but as soon as it was no longer under direct control it sought its likeness and came to us,” Capsa said.

  “It seems awfully convenient that the Dungeon decided to give us an item specifically designed for us,” Pandora said.

  “Not really, the dungeon rolled and this unique opportunity came up. As to your question, this Mote of Chaos can be absorbed by either you or me and can do anything. It could give one of us a new ability, increase an attribute or secondary attribute, or do something that I cannot even fathom. Because of our inherent natures, you and I are a lot less likely to receive a negative effect. If one of the others tried to break open the diamond and absorb the mote it is a lot more likely that they would die horribly,” Capsa said.

  “Well, right now, I am extremely far behind you so I think if more of these motes are found we should use them to improve me. We’ll keep track and if, when we’re equal we’ll start alternating who gets the mote,” Pandora said.

  “I agree that we need to improve you as quickly as possible, though I would like to offer that improvement to me also improves you. We could just start alternating now, you going first of course,” Capsa said.

  “You’re right, it wouldn’t be fair to you, and you’ve already done so much for me, and us. Sure, we’ll alternate, this first one is for me then.

  “Sounds like a plan, now read your messages, and let’s see what happens,” Capsa said.

  Pandora opened her messages and read

  Congratulations, you have absorbed a mote of Chaos.

  As you share a symbiotic relationship with another creature you may each lay claim to this mote.

  Mote of Chaos has been declined by Capsa.

  Would you like to fully absorb this Mote of Chaos? Doing so can have any number of beneficial or detrimental consequences.

  NOTE: as a Creature of Chaos, Detrimental Consequences have been removed from possible outcomes.

  Would you like to absorb this Mote of Chaos, Yes or No?”

  Pandora could really use better attributes or skills but what she really wanted was an ability that would help her going forward. She chose “Yes.”

  Congratulations, you have unlocked a third Racial Ability, “Adaline’s Love.”

  This ability comes with a message from the Divine, Adaline

  My Child,

  Once again forces greater than me are pulling me from you. I will not be able to reach or watch over you from this moment forward. This small twist of fate concerning your lineage and inherent nature is the most that I am allowed to do. Know that I love you and we will meet again someday.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  -A

  The ability “Adaline’s Love” has been converted to “Shape Change, Shadow Dragon” by Divine Decree.

  This ability allows you to assume the shape of a Shadow Dragon. Cost 500 mana to change to Dragon Form or to change to Human Form. There is no duration. As a Shadow Dragon, you may utilize Claw, Bite, and Tail attacks as well as a Breath of Shadow. A cone of shadow that is emitted as a breath weapon that will temporarily open a portal into the Shadow Plane knocking anyone within its area of effect into the Plane of Shadow. While in the form of a Shadow Dragon, you may enter or exit the Shadow Plane one per turn at will through any shadow you can fit through.

  In the Shadow Plane, all physical attacks by you do double damage.

  In full sunlight, all attack damage by you is halved.

  All damage from light and fire against you is doubled.

  These negatives only apply while in dragon form.

  This Ability applies an inherent +10 bonus to Strength, Endurance, and Constitution to both the humanoid and dragon forms and you can see in all forms of darkness.

  For a moment Pandora felt her mother link with her while she read the message. She felt the warmth of her breath, the touch of her hand across her brow as she looked up into the loving face of her mother’s eyes. Adaline pulled back, turned, and looked at something Pandora could not see, then said, “I am ready,” before she vanished, and the link was gone.

  Before, she had always felt as if there was a presence, no multiple presences watching over me. She’d known her father wasn’t among them but she knew she was watched over and loved, even if they couldn’t visit or intervene, She’d always felt their presence. As her mother disappeared all of those presences faded with me.

  Pandora withdrew from her Mindspace, unable to speak as Capsa only nodded and sent what comfort she could. As she opened my blurry eyes she saw everyone looking at her and realized she had tears streaming down her face. Pandora didn’t know what the message meant but she knew in her heart that her mother and father were no longer near her. Right then my sorrow turned to determination, and she promised herself that she would become strong enough to deserve the love her mother and father had shown her.

  Robert was the first to approach me, “You were out for a bit, you okay?”

  “I’m fine, just a bit emotional because there was a hidden message from my mom in the diamond,” she said.

  “Should you be telling us about a hidden message, because you know it was hidden,” Pythias asked.

  “It won’t matter now, that was the last time my mom will be able to contact me, well until I’m able to contact her,” Pandora said.

  “Oh,” Both Callum and Robert said together.

  “You’ll get to her Pandora, if anyone can it’s you,” Cedrik said.

  She looked at Cedrik with wide eyes as that was the nicest thing he’d ever said to her. She wiped her eyes as she said, “Thanks Cedrik”

  “No worries, so what did you get from the diamond?” Cedrik asked.

  “And there is the asshole I know,” she said with a smile as she rubbed her eyes which broke the tension as everyone let out a laugh. “The gem was a housing for a mote of chaos. Before any of you ever think of using one of these things for yourself, I have received multiple messages over time saying how dangerous my intrinsic nature is, you see something with chaos in it just bring it to me. Safer for everyone.

  “Uh-huh, so what did it do?” Cedrik asked, ignoring the warning.

  “I think my mom tweaked something and gave me the ability to shape change into a Shadow Dragon, her true form,” Pandora said.

  “You can do what now?” Callum asked.

  “Shape Change into a Shadow Dragon,” Pandora said.

  “Well, don’t do that in confined spaces, you’ll kill yourself and everyone in the room,” Robert said.

  “Good safety tip,” Pandora said with a wry smile.

  “Question,” Robert said raising his hand. “Is that your true form and does it have a duration?

  “No, I spend mana and I change, I have to spend mana to change back, no duration,” she said.

  “That’s really powerful,” Robert said. “Both forms are technically your true form then. That means that spells that revert you to your true form can’t change you into a dragon or back into your current form.”

  “When we’re done in here, I’d like to try it in the huge cavern to see how big the form is. I easily have enough mana to change into the dragon and change back a couple of times. Though it will take a little while to recover that mana. Two hours or so per shift.” Pandora said and then asked, “What else did we find?”

  “I took the shield, it adds +3 to my defense,” Callum said.

  “I took the quiver, it’s a quiver of endless arrows. It has a dimensional storage area that holds 100 normal arrows and replaces 1 per minute all by itself. So enough for a skirmish, rest for a bit and I’m back in the fight without having to find, make, or buy more arrows,” Asling said.

  “The Staff that dropped was a Staff of Invulnerability. It allows me to create a shield around myself that will soak spell damage. The shield will soak 50 points of damage per charge and the staff has 25 charges and like my wand regenerates 1 charge per hour,” Robert said.

  “I took the Bracer of Defense, it looks like they create a shell around me that absorbs physical damage, only 10, but it recovers 1 of those points every combat round, so at the very least, I can soak a point of physical damage per round and 10 from an initial attack. It’s not a lot but I’ll take it, “Cedrik said.

  “I took the ring,” Pythias said, “it’s a Ring of Healing” It allows me to use healing spells on a second target within 10 feet of the original target. That’s going to help a lot Being able to do this could mean the difference between life and death,” Pythias said.

  “And we all got 16 gold as well, not a bad hall,” Pandora said.

  “Now that we’re all caught up, maybe we should investigate the passage the mage came out of? Cedrick if you would check for traps on the entrance, let’s see what that bastard had in there.

  The party formed up while Cedrik moved up and looked over the passage one more time, though I had watched him look at that doorway for the last 3 hours.

  What we found down the passage was anticlimactic. A small room with a desk, notes on the desk, and a bed. Pandora put all the notes in her wristband, they’d take them back to town and read them later.

  Robert came into the room and walked over to the bed and pushed his hand into the stone wall. His hand faded from sight.

  “It could be trapped,” Cedrik said.

  “It’s not, it’s a simple illusion over a small alcove cut into the stone. I saw a small signet ring and pouch. I didn’t touch anything. I just wanted to show you where my Detect Magic ability showed me the illusionary wall.

  Cedrik reached into the wall and withdrew the ring and pouch. He did something, she wasn’t sure what, then opened the pouch which was full of various gems. The signet ring he handed to Robert.

  Robert took the ring, looked it over, and said, “It’s not magical,” as he handed it to Callum.

  “Okay, Cedrik, you hold onto the gems, we all know you were going to anyway, I’ll hold onto this ring. Let’s head back out into the main room and see if Pandora can turn into a dragon,” Callum said.

  They exited the small room and made our way back into the huge chamber. It had to be at least 500 feet across and that high to the ceiling. The rest of the party stayed near the entrance into the giant cavern as Pandora walked until she was 100 feet away from them. She turned and activated my shape-change ability.

  There was no sense of growth or discomfort. One second she was just over five feet tall, the next she was 100 feet long and her vision switched so that she was looking down on her friends at the tunnel entrance.

  Robert was the first to step out, “You’re not full size yet, which makes sense. Your body is roughly 70 feet long with your tail taking up the last 30. You’ll need to practice with it…whoa,” Robert said as Pandora’s tail whipped around and hovered with the tip acting like a snake that was about to strike.

  “Feels Natural,” Pandora said in her normal voice, which was weird. Shouldn’t her voice have been a little deeper? She did a couple of quick turns, moved her front and hind claws, and tested the movement of her tail. This body felt as natural as her humanoid body. Then she opened her Personal Interface and looked at her hit points, “Hey, my hit points jumped to 2,215, “ she said.

  “Okay, Pandora, pack it in, that form will definitely be useful if we’re in a bind, just remember how big you were, and don’t switch if you’re going to squish us or yourself,” Callum said.

  “Will do,” Pandora said as she transformed back into her human form.

  “When you shift, shadows surround you and you just seem to step out of them, might be useful in a combat situation,” Callum said.

  “I’ll remember, thanks,” she said.

  “Okay, if we’ve had our fun it’s time to see what’s below us, Cedrik if you would, everyone else, form up,” Callum said.

  Cedrick led them to the tunnel on the same wall they’d just come out of. It was the tunnel on the left across from the tunnel that led to the surface. As they stepped in front of it Pandora could feel the breeze going down into the depths.

  “That’s going to be a problem,” Asling said.

  “I know,” Cedrik said.

  “What problem,” Pandora asked.

  “We’re upwind. Anything down this tunnel is going to smell us before we get close,” Asling said.

  “Then let’s hope whatever it is really stupid or immobile,” Callum said.

  Cedrik made his way down the tunnel that sloped at about five degrees as it led deeper and deeper. Pandora was having no issues seeing in the dark but Pythias was having to keep himself glowing so the rest of them could see. Asling’s night vision didn’t help her in complete darkness. One of Cedrik’s shadow abilities allowed him to see in the dark just like Pandora so the two of them could see if the lights went out.

  They continued down the tunnel for another two hours before Callum motioned for everyone to come together. Once everyone was close he whispered, “It’s starting to get late in the day, my clock says it’s about five in the afternoon. Do we continue or do we turn back?”

  “I vote to continue,” Pandora said. “We’ve made so many gains and you all said that the first party to clear a dungeon gets a bonus. I think we’ve all earned a bonus.”

  Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

  “Okay, sounds good, we continue, but remember to watch for areas where we can rest for the night and keep watch. Dungeons normally have more than two levels,” Callum said.

  Cedrick moved back into the lead position, and they continued down into the depths of the world for another 3 hours before Cedrik came back, “I hear noise up ahead,” he said.

  “Pandora, you can see in the dark, stay with Cedrick and go check it out. When you get close, stay far enough back that you can run back to us. Cedrick has Shadow Walk to get away. If we hear anything we’ll come rushing forward.

  “Sounds good,” Pandora said as Cedrik started down the tunnel with her close behind. Very soon the light from Pythias disappeared behind them and Cedrik led the way. The natural cavern gave way to stone-cut hallways and a dim green light glowing from an opening ahead.

  Cedrik moved up the edge of the tunnel and looked out, then motioned for Pandora to join him. As she neared the entrance of the tunnel the smell of rotting flesh and corruption assaulted her senses. As she looked around the corner she realized they were at the top of a cavern looking down on an entrance to a structure embedded in the cavern wall off to their left. Unlike the cave above, this Cavern was humungous. The tunnel they were in opened onto a ledge that went along the wall to their right. The fortress entrance was off to the left and at least 1,000 feet below them. The ledge continued perpendicular to the giant gate of the fortress and continued into the wall of the cavern on the other side. It was at least a 500-foot ledge.

  A bridge at least 100 feet across, went over a fluorescent green slime river that entered from one side of the cave and exited through another. From one of the ledges on the fortress wall, they watched as a small creature came shooting out of one of the openings and fell into the slime. They heard the scream from where we were which was silenced as soon as it went below the surface.

  On this side of the bridge was a small grouping of tents with various types of creatures in it. Some orcs, but mostly bugbears, humans, and gnolls from what she could see. The few humans she saw all seemed to be slaves. There was also, a pen with worms in it and Pandora watched as one of the gnolls grabbed a worm and cut it in half with his axe. He threw one half back into the pen, which was already healing, while he stuck a metal spike through the other half and put it over a fire, cooking it. There was already something else cooking. From where she was she couldn’t tell if what had been cooking for a while was another worm or something else, it just looked like meat.

  “I’m going to go check out the tunnel on the other side of this ledge, you stay here. When I give you a thumbs up, go get the rest of the party, If I do anything else, go get the party and be prepared to fight,” Cedrik said

  Pandora assigned three orbs to protect him then said, “Ready, and good luck.”

  “Cedrick kept to the wall and moved from shadow to shadow. Once he was on the other side he gave a thumbs up and Pandora fell back into the tunnel and made her way back to Callum. She told the rest of the party what they’d found, and she led the way. Pythias kept his light going until they could see the tunnel entrance which must have attracted some attention because as soon as I reached the tunnel entrance Cedrick was waving for her to get back but by then it was already too late.

  A flock of cat-sized flying lizards was fast approaching and surprised them. The only thing that kept everyone from getting killed was her orbs. The lizards had long sharp tails that seemed to secrete poison. As they flew in and attacked her orbs were able to defend against most of the attacks.

  Asling shot four out of the air as Pandora was able to punch and kill two. Quite a few bounced off Callum and Pythia’s shields. Robert Quick Cast a magic missile and sent out five missiles that killed five more of the flying lizards. Once they came into their own taking out the flock was not hard. It wasn’t their purpose to be hard to kill though, it was their purpose to call attention to anyone entering the cavern to those below, which they did. Callum must have realized it at the same time Pandora did because we both winced as a horn sounded below.

  That’s when Pandora realized this was a fortified ledge and this was probably a trap. She looked around and noticed a ledge above them that she hadn’t noticed before. Then I heard the sound of sliding rocks. Reacting quickly, she said, “Everyone beside Callum NOW!,” as she turned around with her head facing the ledge and the party beside her with the tunnel they’d come from off to her right. She kept everyone in focus and willed her Dragon form into existence above and between the rock slide and her party as she activated Shape Change. Pandora imagined herself hovering over the party with her wings acting as a shield against the rocks that would come crashing down any second. She dug her claws into the ground and braced herself with her tail on the ledge behind me pointing away from the party. She would have to hope that Cedrik knew to Shadow Walk into the area she was trying to protect. She craned her head to look up at the falling rocks and let loose her shadow breath for the first time.

  She felt Cedrik slam into her leg as if he’d been thrown sideways, Callum and Asling reaching down, catching him before his momentum took him over the edge of the ledge.

  Pandor could just barely make out Cedrik above the rocks sliding further away from them as he said, “Pandora, The rocks you used your shadow breath on, went into the Shadow Plane. I was in the Shadow Plane!”

  Huh, I hadn’t thought about that, but it made sense. Her breath weapon had done its job and the worst of the rockslide missed them. Some didn’t though and she was still half buried, though everyone, save Cedrik, came through with flying colors. Pandora looked at her health and noticed that she’d lost almost 500 hit points. She had 1,754. If I hadn’t had the dragon form, their party might have died. She felt Pythias heal her for 50 points of damage bringing me back up to 1813. Oh wow, she was healing nine hit points per second in this form. Give her a couple of minutes and she’d be back to normal.

  “Recover and prepare for an attack. They know we’re here, Callum said as the party climbed out from under me and looked around. We all looked over the ledge and saw one of the Gnolls near something on one of the walls sneering at us.

  “I’ve got this,” Asling said as she pulled her bow, and fired two arrows in quick succession.

  Pandora couldn’t believe it as the Gnoll just stood there, then waved his fist and did the equivalent of flipping us off with his middle finger. We couldn’t hear it but I’m sure it was insulting us. It didn’t matter. We were 1,000 feet up but well within the horizontal range of the bow. Asling had used Bullseye and Quick Shot simultaneously. Just as the Gnoll realized the arrows might hit, one arrow entered his left eye, and the other went into his right eye. It fell backward dead.

  “He pulled a lever, I can see it with my Eagle Eye ability,”

  “Show off,” Cedrik said.

  “Damn, they looked pissed,” Robert commented.

  Just then a phrase entered her mind that she had never heard before, so she figured it must have come from my mother’s memories and it seemed to fit the moment so she said, “I’ve come here to Kick ass and chew bubble gum and I’m all out of bubble gum!”

  The others looked confused for a moment before Pythias asked, “What’s Bubblegum?”