Before leaving the monstrous mad scientist's secret laboratory, Dan took a moment to refresh Detect Monster, Eagle Eye and Unerring Aim. The first two were only somewhat helpful, but there was no reason not to have them active. The third was almost cheating for a combatant whose primary weapons were a sling and Dark Bolt. He'd had them all active the entire time in the dungeon, and saw little reason not to have them in effect pretty much every waking moment.

The Dungeon so far had been wholly linear. There was one path through it with no apparent means to veer off or find a different way to go. It had been named "Prison of the Fallen Naga", but as a facility for incarceration the design seemed wasteful and inefficient. Perhaps it had been shaped away from its original purpose. In any case, the pattern continued. There was a door out of the laboratory followed by a hallway with a mud floor, stone walls and an arched stone ceiling. The one thing that was different was that it was unlit. There were no torches or windows. This didn't really present a problem for Dan, who had Thermal Sense, Echolocation and Tactical Precognition to navigate by. Ray, quite sensibly, snagged a ride on Dan's right shoulder.

The hall was rather long, and terminated in another door that was impervious to all of Dan's attempts to detect what lay beyond it other than Danger Sense. That sense spoke in clear and unambiguous terms. If he opened the door, he would die instantly. Which was a problem. The door was the only way forward.

"So Ray, apparently if I open this door, I'm going to immediately die according to my Danger Sense."

"We could use the same method we did at the first such door in the dungeon. You wait back in ambush and I open it."

"I'm not quite sure that's a good idea this time. Danger Sense isn't saying that it's merely dangerous, or likely to result in death. If I open that door, I die instantly. Whatever can do that seems like it might be able to do the same to you."

The raven cocked its head, then cocked it again. "Oh. That is indeed a different matter. The System does not cheat. This is your dungeon, and this is a puzzle within it. There will be a way to pass this obstacle, whatever its nature."

"I mean, I figured that. But how? I don't even have any ideas."

"In general, it seems like there must be a measure we can take that will neutralize the method of instant death before we open the door. This may mean waiting for a particular moment in time or preparing in a certain way. It is possible the key is in the belongings of the defeated monster you described as a mad scientist, though I do not know what we would look for there. We may also be able to squeeze more information from your Danger Sense. It warns you when you envision a course that leads to your immediate harm, does it not?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. That seems like the place to start. I can imagine slightly different actions involving the door - you opening it while I stand back four feet, five, twenty, in the other room, or opening it quickly or slowly, that kind of thing. We'll see if any of them predict a different outcome. I think that the instantaneous nature of the threat also tells a bit. If it was for instance a trap that shot poison darts, that would kill me, but it'd take a little bit of time. At least several seconds. If it was a monster that could bite or crush or otherwise physically damage me, again I'd expect that I'd take at least a second or two to die if it was anything we could realistically fight. So I'm thinking it's something in the manner of a trap that's triggered when the door opens, maybe an aether enchanted device that shoots a massive fireball or something like that."

"Speculative, but your thoughts do have some value. Why don't you see what your Danger Sense has to say about opening the door very slowly?"

Dan did. It was safe to pull the handle, which was a small length of a wooden rod parallel to the ground. It was safe to crack the door open. It was dangerous but not lethal to open it slightly further. The instant the door opened past a roughly sixty degree angle, Dan would die. It made no difference if he crouched low to the floor when the door opened, or if Ray opened it as he stood back several feet. As soon as it opened wide enough, the lights would snuff out.

Several experiments later, a human and a twilight raven crouched behind a rectangular wooden table, pilfered from the laboratory. It was turned on its side to act as an improvised barrier. The human held a rope which ran to the side of the table, along the mud floor and under a smaller table before taking a ninety degree turn up, bent by the edge of the small table, to where it was tied around the door handle. This bit of engineering let them unlatch the door. Dan also had the longest of the naga spears at hand, laying on the ground with the butt against the door and the head away from it. The plan was to check what would happen if they unlatched the door with the rope and pushed it open with the spear.

Dan envisioned pulling the robe and pushing with the spear. His Danger Sense was quiet. This was apparently a safe thing to do. He thought of opening the door then standing up after two seconds. This was instant death. He consulted his familiar.

"Well, that's progress I suppose? It's safe to open the door, but as soon as there is a clear line of sight into the room, I die. So whatever kills me, it needs a clear shot, somehow. That's also consistent with being able to partially open the door before dying."

"Yes, we have been able to learn a bit of the nature of this threat. I fear we are still some distance from a solution to the puzzle though."

"I know Ray, I know." Dan stood up, walked around the table, and paced in front of the stubborn door to death. They'd tried so many things already. His mind still churned away at the problem, but they were both running out of ideas. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face, imagined opening the door for what seemed like the millionth time. It was moderately dangerous.

Wait, what?

He opened his eyes and imagined opening the door.

Instant death.

He closed his eyes and tried again.

Moderate danger.

"Uh, I have no idea why, but if I open this door with my eyes closed, I don't think I die."

Ray hopped excitedly on the edge of the table. "Excellent, excellent! This is just the sort of puzzle solution I would expect. I do not know what could kill a being with open eyes but not one with closed. Dungeons have held stranger things than an object or monster that it is fatal to look upon however. This door seems to open to such a thing. It is fortunate that whatever power it holds is not triggered by other senses."

"Sure enough. Is this really that easy? I wish there was a way to check if it works the same for you, if you'd be safe with your eyes closed."

"Sadly, I'm not sure this room is safe for me at all. I do not have your obscene level of Perception, and would be greatly hindered without sight. If my guess is right, figuring out that you must keep your eyes closed is most of the challenge here. You should be able to handle it yourself."

Dan considered. This was the first time that Ray had begged off or expressed concern for their own safety. But again, their incentives aligned, and the familiar contract would not allow Ray to knowingly act to Dan's harm. The raven really did believe this would work.

"Alright then, let's wait until the hour is up and I can use Kinesthetic Enhancement again, then we'll find out what's behind this door."

Dan ate a few berries, drank from his water skin, and did his best to relax and not think about how there was a very real chance he was going to die shortly after that door opened. All too soon the aether ability was ready. He activated it, checked with Ray, who was hidden behind the table, then closed his eyes and opened the door.

It was as if a dam had broken. All of his senses blocked by the door were freed, and data flooded into him. Echolocation, Tactical Precognition, Detect Monster, Thermal Sense, Sense Power, Sense Aether, Sense Life, Sense Weakness - they all combined to paint a clear picture within his mind. The room held nothing but a single monster. It was small, no warmer than the surrounding air, glowed with aether, and was both powerful and fragile. The last element of the picture was that he had to dodge to the side immediately because the little monster was about to spit something that would kill him if it hit.

Dan slipped to the side as a stream of liquid flew through the air where his body had been a fraction of a second before. He launched a Dark Bolt at the monster.

Congratulations! Dungeon Mini-Boss Defeated.

Reward Bonus Multiplier - Party of One!

Reward Bonus Multiplier - Dungeon Pioneer!

Bonus Aether Gained.

Congratulations! You have reached Level 9 in Esper Class. 2 points of Perception awarded. 1 free attribute point awarded. 1 free level 9 perk awarded. 1 free Aether Ability awarded. Aether Ability "Perception Enhancement" (R5, Esper) awarded.

Monster Defeated, Hatchling Basilisk, level 15. Aether Gained.

Bonus Reward! Beneficial Mutation "Fangs of the Basilisk" awarded.

Warning! If accepted, this reward will permanently alter your physical form.

Accept or Decline?

That was not how he'd expected the fight to go. That was a lot to take in following a fight that lasted about one second. One thing stood out in his mind: Danger Sense and Tactical Precognition agreed that it was once again safe to open his eyes.