It appeared as if the hallway was clogged with a ballooning wall of flesh. As Jack approached he threw up twice, first when he saw how the skin pulsed and moved. The second time when he smelled it.

It was like smelling raw beef mixed with fermenting fish. Hundreds of veins were underneath the skin, as thick as his arm, they bulged against the surface. Every few seconds you could see something pulse through them, it was like a snake swallowing a large rat, and you could see it travel all over the wall.

The only reason he continued to inspect it was that Identify said this was the source of the dungeon’s magical power. He was trying to glean some sort of understanding of magic and how it works. A theory he was forming was that you needed some sort of organ to manipulate magic. He was basing this off the fact that being magic touched was somehow a racial evolution.

Not wanting to touch the wall with his hand, Jack held his hatchet by its blade, poking the wall with the handle. The skin pulled back like a vertical eye opening, a wall of viscous mucus was left in its place. The wall of mucus seemed to defy gravity until with a pop the wall of mucus fell to the floor splashing against his shoes and legs. After throwing up a third time, he looked inside the heart.

The walls like raw muscles were twitching and pulsating with thousands of veins. At even intervals around the room were thick tubes the size of logs attached from floor to ceiling. The tubes looked like giant worms, having banded segments every four to seven inches. Each tube had a pair that they seemed to be fused into forming lopsided X’s. There were a total of six of these X’s, with each pair connected at a different height.

In the very center of the room was a large round boil filled with foggy liquid. While looking at the boil, Jack received a notification.

**Alert** You have discovered the bounty of this dungeon. Warning attempting to interact with anything besides the bounty will revoke your current protections.

Hovering above the boil were the words ‘Dungeon Bounty’. Immensely glad the system gave him a warning before he started poking anything, he slowly walked towards the bounty.

In front of the boil, he was met with a prompt asking if he would like to claim the bounty. When he clicked yes the boil popped splashing him again with mucus. Suppressing the urge to puke again, he noticed laying in the small crater that remained sat four items: A gun, a scimitar, a bracelet, and a two-foot pole. Jack was shocked to find he recognized each of the items.

The gun was the same one he had shot at the boss before they were both petrified.

The scimitar was the blade Emily chose to bring in the dungeon, he remembered her saying it made her feel like a pirate.

The bracelet was also Emily’s, her grandmother had willed it to her. It was solid silver with a small orb charm attached to it. Inside the orb were flakes of gold dust, it was supposed to bring fortune and prosperity. Emily rarely went anywhere without it.

Lastly, the pole was Jay’s collapsible ten-foot pole he used to scout in this dungeon.

Confused as to why these items were in the dungeon heart, he picked up the bracelet.

Bracelet of Fortune A sentimental item passed down through generations of a family.

+2 Luck.

“WHAT!?” he turned the bracelet over in his hands inspecting it to confirm if it was the same one Emily wore. Had it always provided a buff? Did that happen when the Genesis Wave hit? He quickly inspected the other items.

Extending Pole One of the first weapons of an ancient hero, this versatile pole will help you to follow in his footsteps.

+2 Strength.

Adjustable Length. Scimitar of Rage The frenzied warrior has finally found a worthy weapon.

+10% Strength, Endurance, and Vitality while in Battle Frenzy.

-10% Intelligence, Wisdom while in Battle Frenzy. Pistol of Protection A shield against those that would hurt you and your allies.

Create a Barrier that lasts for 5 minutes. (500 mana)

Charge 1000/1000

Recharge: 1 mana per minute.

Jack stared at the objects in his arms in utter confusion. These were magic items, but the last time he saw them they were normal. The existence of magic was ruining his need to know how things worked. When you could just wave your hands and say ‘it’s magic don’t worry about it’, where was the limit? When running and playing games, he hated that explanation. He would always try to look behind the rules to figure out how something is done, not just the result.

Looking down at the slime on the floor, Jack wanted to take some of it. Maybe he could figure out what it was made of, or gain some insight on the heart from it. The warning the system had given kept him from collecting it though, he didn’t know if the slime was part of the bounty and he didn’t want to lose his protections.

He scanned the room one last time trying to memorize everything for later reflection. Walking out of the room the wall of flesh closed behind him.

Traveling far enough that he could no longer smell the flesh, he sat against the wall exhausted. He put the items down except for the bracelet, he sat there staring at it and rolling it over in his hands remembering how much she loved it.

Jack woke up with a startle, he looked over and saw the wall of flesh still pulsating. He must have fallen asleep while resting. The bracelet was still in his hands; slipping it on, he stood up.

He wanted to test out the other items far from any monsters so he walked well out of eyesight of the heart. Once alone, he put the pole and sword on the ground, holding the pistol in his hand. He started to go through Jay’s instruction on taking apart the gun but immediately hit a roadblock. The clip would not eject, the safety wouldn’t move, he couldn’t take any part of it off, it was like it was all welded together. He had to assume it has something to do with it now being magic. The only part he hadn’t touched was the trigger because he naturally assumed that was how you activated it.

Aiming for the ground twenty feet away he pulled the trigger. A beam of golden light shot from the barrel and when it hit the ground a golden barrier appeared spreading to block the entire hallway. It had a grid pattern to it and reminded him of classic science fiction force fields. Walking up to it, he could faintly see a timer counting down, informing him how much longer until it would dissipate.

Pressing his hand to it, he found he could pass through it. Testing with a ball bearing it could also pass through, but when he rolled it in a way that it would come back to him it could not pass the other side. Gathering the other items, he passed through as well, testing for himself that it was a one-way barrier. It was as solid as a stone wall with no give at all. A swing of his hatchet left him with a sore arm when it didn’t cut into the barrier at all.

Deciding to save the other shot, for now, he went to the sword. He didn’t think he would be able to get into whatever a ‘Battle Frenzy’ was, but figured he’d try. After five minutes of awkward swinging leaving him tired, he gave up.

When wielding the pole in his hand, he could feel a surge of power within himself. It was like he had spent months at the gym working out, nothing superhuman but just strong. The pole felt solid in his hand; he remembered that it had always felt mostly hollow.

Looking at the knob on the side of the pole, he turned it to extend the pole, as it very slowly went to its ten-foot length it looked different than normal. Before it was the mechanical use of springs to extend out thinner rods layered on the inside, so one end was always thinner than the other and it happened almost instantly. But instead of springs, the pole was literally growing and getting longer. It was still as solid as it had been when it was two feet long. He was trying to figure out how it was supposed to make it smaller now that it was no longer mechanical; when he had the actual thought of it getting smaller it began to shrink.

With some testing, he found that he could make it up to thirty feet long and down to an inch. Turning the knob into the ‘on’ position would let him freely change the size at a rate of about six inches a second. While ‘off’ it locked into its size. Shrinking it to the inch length he stored it away, although he did lose the strength bonus while it was in his pocket. With some force, he was able to get the sword into his sheath and after retrieving his holster from his inventory he put the gun away.

Arriving back at the broodmother’s den he took note of the time difference.

This monster is currently undergoing a transformation into the next boss of this dungeon. Time remaining 86 hours

Including falling asleep he had been in that hallway for eleven hours. Going around her, he saw multiple groups of babies and a few soccer ball-sized females around the chamber. Seeing a flash of blue and hearing an excited squeak a baby came running up to him. He recognized her markings since he had spent a while observing them.

She started running around him jumping up and down, others came and joined her, making him smile. After a few minutes, the rest seemed to grow bored with the activity and went their own ways leaving Jack and the familiar baby.

Female ManaWeaver Level: 2 Current mood: Playful.

A newly hatched manaweaver.

Quicker and less aggressive than their male counterparts,

but relatively harmless.

Usually only attacks in self-defense and defense of another member of its brood.

While they can still produce webbing,

they can not infuse it with mana until they are more mature.

Age: 6 days

Highest attribute: Intelligence

Highest skill: Hydraulic Leap

For defeating the boss of its dungeon this creature is currently not hostile to you

“Huh, so you leveled up a Hydraulic Leap skill?” Still wanting to try and activate Mimicry he sat down to study her closely, she just stared at him for a while. After she seemed to get bored, she jumped at him, startling him, until he realized she was trying to wrestle with his shoe like he had seen her do earlier. Watching closely in case she started to use her fangs he moved his foot back and forth making sure not to hurt her. This seemed to make her squeal with joy as she doubled her efforts to pin his foot, which he eventually relented and let her win.

Seemingly proud of herself she did a jump dance around him. Watching, he noticed her pale legs suddenly get darker right before she jumped. Wanting to see it more he started clapping and trying to encourage her to jump more. She immediately looked confused, stopping what she was doing.

“No I wanted you to jump more, you know jump” when he said jump he would hop a little. The little spider bounced a little in response. Laughing, he tried jumping as high as he could which wasn’t much. The manaweaver, seeming to understand, jumped up which was met with clapping and mild cheering from Jack.

The excited spider, happy with the praise, continued jumping higher and higher until her standing jump went over Jack's head. Every time she tried going higher Jack would see her legs getting darker when she built up the jump. Just when he believed he figured out what was happening he got a notification.

**Skill up** Mimicry Level: 2 **Skill Unlocked ** Through observation, you have unlocked Hydraulic Leap with Mimicry. Would you like to learn this skill Yes No

Fist-pumping he clicked yes.

**Skill Acquired** Hydraulic Leap Level 1 Increase the distance you can leap by pumping blood through your legs at high pressure.

The manaweaver started squeaking trying to get his attention, when he dismissed his screen and looked back at her she began jumping again. “Oh sorry I wasn’t giving you attention, but look I can do that now too.” Jack crouched down and tried to activate his skill, it took some concentration but eventually, he felt pressure go through his legs. He shot up almost ten feet and let out a cheer before he came crashing down to the ground falling on his back.

Dazed, he could hear the excited squeaking of the spider as it hopped up and down next to his head. “Ok got the jumping part, I just need to work on the landing.”

Standing back up, he looked down and the spider was crouched like it was ready to leap up but it held itself. Its legs were pulled in tight and close together, when she saw him watching she stood, spun around, and then crouched again. “Do you want me to do that?” Jack attempted to copy her by taking a low tight crouched stance. She then jumped up only about a foot but as soon as she was off the ground her legs went wide, giving her more balance and making it easier to catch herself when landing.

Laughing to himself, he realized she was trying to teach him after he failed so hard. Doing the same, he activated the skill throwing his arms out and spreading his legs to try to catch himself when he falls. Failing again this time he crashed his knee into the ground giving him a large bruise.

The next attempt was slightly better, as was the one after. Over the next few hours, through sweat, tears, and some actual blood, Jack learned from the baby spider how to jump properly.