My companions and I made our way out of the forest, waving goodbye to the Dryads, Ossara, and the weeping Treant that I had successfully calmed down. We had spent the night in the Dryad’s domain, and it was now early in the morning the next day.

  “Goodbye, Carter! I hope I’ll see you again soon!” The tree, whose name was apparently Thuldur, shouted.

  “Who’s Carter?” Zorrack asked, mystified, and the rest of my companions looked around, searching for the mysterious entity known as Carter.

  “He’s probably just confused,” I said, waving an arm dismissively. They all seemed to accept my explanation, and we set off back towards Mount Boom.

  Along the way, Cedric asked an interesting question. “What’s our next goal?”

  I sat in thought for a moment, but as if answering, the system sent me a new quest.

  Forge? So you can craft stuff in this game? Er, world?

  Seems like I need to find a dwarf or something…

  I realized that Joshua had been rather quiet in terms of quests lately.

  Hey, you still there, dude?

  [Sadly.]

  Got any quests? Preferably peaceful ones?

  [After you made a mockery of my last one, I think I’ll hold off for now.]

  I shrugged my shoulders as my companions and I arrived back at Mount Boom. I took in the sight of our one, now fallen, “house” and the Warg Den that we had been using as home base.

  Place needs an upgrade…

  Another time, perhaps we could find a craftsman who’s also skilled in architecture.

  “Alright,” I said, thinking out loud. “You two are close to your class upgrades, right?” I asked, looking at Viressa and Cedric. They both nodded in agreement.

  “I got a class quest as well!” Fang said excitedly.

  “Good. Ok, here's the plan. I have a key for a dungeon that I received from one of my quests, but only three of you can come with me. Since you guys haven’t gotten your classes yet, I think it’d be best if Zorrack and Fang come with me and Azazel.” I told my companions. They nodded, but Viressa and Cedric seemed mildly disappointed. “In the meantime, you two work together to complete your quests and find anything of importance around Mount Boom, alright?”

  With that, I accessed my inventory, bringing up the common item I had received from an earlier quest.

  Hopefully, I could get my race evolution quest at level five while in the dungeon, while also being able to earn some of the gear I would need to complete the territory quest. Before I activated the item, however, I turned to my companions to say one last thing. The quests were cool and all, but there was another goal that I wanted to complete as well.

  “Hey, I thought I’d tell you guys something,” I started, and my companions turned attentively, “back in Hell, I had a friend, his name was Kril. He sacrificed himself for me, and without him, none of us would even be here.”

  My companions, especially the three demons whom I had saved using the Abyssal Rift skill, looked on somberly at my short story. I continued, “More than anything, I want to find any way to bring him back.” I brought out Kril’s Essence from my inventory, shining a bright red in my palm. “If you guys see anything that could help him, please tell me right away.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  They all nodded, and I activated the Common Dungeon Key.

  [Warning, you must defeat the Dungeon Boss in order to escape; failure to do so will result in death!]

  [Proceed?]

  Yes.

  A massive green portal opened up, almost like the Umbral Gate Luminarch had used to enter the Mortal Realm. It swirled ominously in front of me, and I glanced at Zorrack and Fang, who seemed determined to conquer the dungeon. With Azazel perched on my shoulder, the four of us stepped forward, entering the portal.

  We were suddenly transported into a small, dark hallway. Iron bars lined the walls on either side of us, and the ceiling was so low that Zorrack’s head nearly bumped against the ceiling as we walked. The green portal had disappeared behind us, and we had no way of escaping.

  It was like some kind of prison.

  “This place gives me the creeps,” Azazel muttered, staring around at the ominous atmosphere. There was only some dim lighting, torchlight every few feet as we passed by jail cell after jail cell. There was nothing in them, except for the occasional skeleton or cobweb.

  “There!” Fang shouted, and I turned to see what he was talking about. A tiny green creature, just slightly smaller than Cedric, faced us, holding a small knife and wooden shield. He had pointy ears and a similarly pointed nose. Black, beady eyes stared through the darkness, and he was clad in a ripped brown and gray cloth.

  Even before the monster panel appeared, I knew that it was a goblin.

  “Conserve your HP and Mana! We don’t know what else could be down here!” I called, and my companions got to work. Zorrack went first, activating a new skill, probably from his warrior class.

  [Warrior’s Might]

  Somehow, the already large demon seemed to grow even larger. The dark hallway could barely contain him as he stomped forward, crushing the goblin with one meaty blow.

  Several other goblins appeared around the corner, and it was my turn to fight.

  [Summon Lesser Fire Spirits]

  [Bloodrazor Claws]

  I charged forward, fighting alongside my summons. Fireballs rained down on the group of goblins, forcing them to raise their shields, and while their vision was obscured, I ran through them, sending their miniature frames flying through the air. Although my HP had decreased from using both skills, it almost instantly replenished due to Bloodrazor Claws' healing properties.

  [Exp +10]

  [Gold +15]

  [Tattered Goblin Cloak +1]

  Fang had seemingly leveled from our earlier expedition into the forest, now using a skill of his own as well.

  [Bite]

  His jaw widened, then he bit down, severing the goblin's leg. It fell and was quickly finished off by a stomp from Zorrack. Azazel didn’t even bother to join the fight, as it was over too quickly. He yawned casually, stretching his tiny arms into the air as we fought. After the massacre, I was now eighty percent of the way to level five.

  We might be too strong for this.

  [Don’t be so cocky, Carter.] Joshua warned, and I bit back my response, knowing he was right. There was no certainty in this world. In a video game, a common dungeon would probably be easily conquerable for low-level characters, but I still wasn’t fully familiar with the rules of this world.

  We made our way forward, routinely smashing any stray goblins left in the prison. Finally, we arrived at a large gateway made of wood and laced with iron reinforcements. Two massive metal door knockers hung on its face, so high that only Zorrack would’ve been able to reach them. The ceiling was raised to accommodate the size of the gate, and two decorative statues lay on either side, one depicting a lion-like creature with wings, the other, a human wielding a spear and shield. He resembled a Spartan in some way.

  “Is this the boss's room?” I asked aloud, but was met with a snarl in response. Behind us, a group of larger, red goblins appeared, wielding swords and clad in iron armour. Some wore hoods and wielded bows and arrows, and I even saw one in the back with a staff, perhaps some sort of wizard.

  “Alright, let's get serious, these guys look like they mean it,” I called out, and Zorrack grunted in agreement.

  [Dragon’s Will]

  The Hobgoblins crumpled to their knees, quivering in fear. It seemed like Azazel’s skill was quite effective on them.

  “Hurry,” the dragon hatchling strained, “I can’t hold it for much longer, there are too many.”

  I leapt into action, dashing from Hobgoblin to Hobgoblin and severing limbs from bodies. My Lesser Fire Spirits joined me, lighting the red creatures ablaze as they zipped through the battlefield. Fang bit at the Hobgoblins, but had trouble getting through their thick skin and tough armour. Zorrack had no trouble crushing their skulls with his huge strength, crunching bone like a paper bag. Soon enough, however, Azazel’s skill wore off, and the remaining five Hobgoblins stood up, readying their weapons.

  An arrow flew forward, slamming into my shoulder. I grunted, and Joshua complained in my head.

  [Man, this split soul thing sucks, I felt that.]

  A second arrow came racing towards my head, but I deflected it at the last moment using my claws. I ran forward, knowing that I had to deal with the ranged damage dealers as quickly as possible, but a large Hobgoblin stepped in my way, pushing me back with his iron shield. Zorrack came crashing in, shoving the Hobgoblin a few feet in the air.

  “Get away from the boss!” He screamed, trampling forward and striking another Hobgoblin with his fist. Fang leapt behind him, biting into the necks of the barely breathing Hobgoblins lying on the floor, finishing them off.

  I turned my attention to the archer, but the wizard-type Hobgoblin was readying a spell.

  [Lesser Water Lance]

  The spear of liquid flew forward at a terrifying pace, splashing harmlessly against my cloak.

  [Never thought that skill would come in handy.] Joshua laughed, referencing the water resistance passive I had picked up back in Hell.

  I ran forward, aiming for the Hobgoblin's head, but he was quick. I only managed to split his staff in two before he dodged out of the way. The red creature began to retreat, but my wisps of fire whipped forward, cutting off his path. He turned, facing me with scared eyes.

  I hesitated for a moment, feeling almost… bad, for the creature. Goblins in popular media were almost always depicted as evil, and so up till now, I had no qualms with murdering them. The same went for any of the wild beasts, such as the Plains Wargs or the Sizzle Slimes, but something about the goblin's expression was… weirdly human.

  [You’ve already killed humans before dimwit.]

  Don’t remind me.

  But my thoughts were interrupted by another arrow, which landed with a squelch in my side. The mage Hobgoblin turned to try and escape, but he was set on fire by the spirits, screaming as he fell. I turned my attention to the final Hobgoblin, but Azazel leapt from my shoulder and charged at him.

  [Dragon’s Rage]

  His sapphire eyes glowed intensely, and an aura of blue surrounded the tiny dragon. Another arrow flew towards him, but it shattered on contact. Azazel bit into the Hobgoblin, bringing down the much larger creature. He raised on his hind legs, slamming down with his claws viciously.

  The Hobgoblin lay still.

  “Good work, team!” I congratulated, and we all simultaneously turned towards the massive gate behind us. I wrenched the arrow out of my body and tossed it to the floor, wincing in pain.

  “This has to be the boss, right?” Fang said, jumping up into Zorrack’s arms.

  “Must be. Are you all ready?” I replied, and I watched each of my companions nod in turn. We stepped forward, pushing the gate open.

  It was time to fight the Dungeon Boss.