I was leading the way as we made our way deeper into the cave. We’d already encountered some traps and with Zevrack busy with his newest invention, I was the one with the highest trapfinding skill. I wasn’t eager to be back in a cave again so soon. It had only been a month since the last one, but this was the only job I’d managed to grab from the board that had any kind of decent reward at all.

Behind me was Patience, our rogue. She was my backup on traps since she had the skill, though she’d never had as much of an opportunity to develop it as I had from working with the Buried Claw. Her name amused me, as did her entire getup, though I suppose all black was ideal in our current situation. From what I’d gleaned from her and the others who dressed like she did, they were from a more northern human settlement called Crofton. They’d been here for a few hundred years. My theory was that they were pilgrims at some point, a lost colony that was brought here to help populate Tu’reyne. Patience herself was not much like her people. A drunk, and a gambler, the only vestige of them she kept was her name and clothing.

I paused, raising my hand up. There was something off. I heard the others stop behind me and I moved forward, taking a clear scan of what was in front of us. Looking carefully I was able to see a circle that had been carved into the ground, with symbols going around its border. I grabbed a nearby rock, and tossed it inside. There was a hum of energy, and the rock was suddenly black with soot, as if it had been flash heated. I walked carefully around it, and guided my companions to do the same. Patience stepped deftly and carefully around it.

After her came Tiberius, who took a more direct path and got the edge of his cape singed in the process. Tiberius, or Tib, as I called him much to his annoyance, was wearing a breastplate over a toga and held a gladius in one hand and a shield in the other. He was a harsh and serious guy that I didn’t much care for, but as I was the late arrival to the party I didn’t have much say in who I traveled with.

The last two were Nica and Millicent. Nica leapt over the circle, landing perfectly on the balls of her feet. She had a bow with an arrow already notched, and wore the belt of a giant bat across her shoulders. Nica was the only one of us that was native to the city of Itlan, and had acted as the group's scout.

Millicent, rather than go around the circle, simply removed a small ceremonial knife from her hip, and made a quick cut on the edge of the circle. After that she simply walked through it, a small smile on her face. She wore a simple blue robe, and a small hat that reminded me of a beret. She was the type of person I’d expected to meet when I’d encountered humans again. She came from a kind of medieval city to the west known as Kingsland. She was a mage, and had a kind of quiet amusement about her in everything she did.

After we were all through the trap, I continued leading the way deeper into the cavern. At one point the path branched. I picked the leftmost one first, and we walked through it until it opened up into a larger room that seemed to be a study of sorts. There were bookshelves, a desk, and three medium size chests against a far wall.

“I don’t see any traps,” I said, after a quick glance around the room.

“Good. We’ll take a short rest to look around, then try the other path,” said Tib, assuming he was in charge. Which he was, to a certain degree, but only because he was saying the obvious implied things out loud.

Millicent moved toward the books, and Patience toward the chests. Nica stayed at the room's entrance, watching our rear in case something came looking for us. I stayed near the center of the room, and thought about what this room and the trap outside had meant. The job I’d managed to grab was a simple one. There was a town, monsters kept showing up, they seemed to all come from this cave. So far we’d been attacked by some kind of wind spirit that sent cool air through the cavern, and a group of what I’d been calling ‘snickens’. Chickens with long snake like bodies that still had wings, but also had two sharp fangs between their beaks.

This room, and the trap, seemed to indicate that someone lived here. A mage of some type, one who seemed to enjoy experiments.

I heard a sudden thump, and was broken from my thoughts by Patience slamming into me. We fell backward, and landed hard against stone. I pushed myself up quickly, helping her up as I did. I looked for the culprit and was surprised to see that all three of the chests that had been against the wall, had come to life.

One had stretched itself lengthwise like an accordion, and its handle had morphed into spikes. Another had opened up to reveal two powerful arms ending in massive fists, I assumed that was the one that had struck patience. The third of them had opened to reveal a massive set of teeth.

Nica shot two arrows at the snake-chest before the rest of us could react. They struck true, and the creature started stretching toward her.

Tib moved toward the toothed one on the far right, raising his shield and setting his jaw in grim determination. Millicent assisted by throwing a beam of fire at it.

With those two taken care of, that left only the one in the center. It began to grow, adding a small pair of legs to itself, which it began to hop on lightly while throwing jabs in the air. I smiled, sheathed my sword, and quickly slipped on the brass knuckles I’d just had made a few days before we’d gotten this quest. I left a dazed Patience, and approached the creature. I matched his hops, and through a few warm up jabs too, then we started circling one another. He sent a few test hits my way, but I was no longer where he struck each time. I sent a few jabs his way, scuffing the wood that made up his body. After that we sped up, exchanging blows rapidly, blocking one another, and generally having a good fight. It’s height made me feel like I was sparring dwarves again, and just like with them I used my reach to maximum advantage. After I blocked a particularly stiff blow, I swept the creature's legs and started pummeling him with the knuckles. Splinters flew everywhere, and after a few moments the creature stopped moving. I cracked my neck and slipped the knuckles back off my fist.

Congratulations! You’ve slain a Beat Box (lvl 8)! You gain 300 xp!

That was fun. A good way to get the blood pumping. I looked over at my companions. The snake-chest was not full of arrows and dagger marks, Patience having decided to avoid the beat box’s blows, and help Nica. The toothed one was now completely busted, and on fire, with Millicent already back to the books on the wall and Tib pulling a splinter from his face.

I peeled open the Beat Box, and looked inside in case it was hiding more than just fists. Inside I found a small bell on a collar. Confused, I held it to my ear and gave it a little ring. There was a pleasant jingle. I looked to my companions to have them check their chests in case there was something inside them, but when I spoke no words came out. I tried again, then tried yelling, but nothing. I clapped, but that was noiseless as well. I could still hear my companions, panting, retrieving arrows, and even looking in their own chests to see what they could find.

I walked over to millicent, thinking her magic ability would be the best way to discern what was going on. I knocked on the desk behind her, but again found it silent, so I moved around and gently tapped on her shoulder. She leapt and gave a gasp that drew everyone else's attention.

“Cor! Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

I apologized automatically, but of course nothing came out.

She raised an eyebrow to me and everyone else approached. I gestured to the bell, then clapped my hands hard to demonstrate what was happening.

“I think quiet suits him,” said Patience.

“Agreed,” concurred Tib.

Millicent grabbed the bell and shook it, noting the same lack of sound that was affecting me. She pulled on the bell and it came off, leaving a perfect replica on the collar itself. She muttered under her breath and I felt a thrum of magic as she looked it over. Her eyes widened.

“Cover you ea–!”

Sound suddenly exploded from the bell like a thunderclap causing us all to jump, with me actually hitting the ceiling as I did. I landed hard on the stone floor, barely managing to catch my face before it hit the ground. Everyone shook their head and waited for the ringing in their ears to stop, when it was close to done Millicent handed the bell to me.

“It’s called a ‘Cat’s Bell’. It neutralizes all sound you make for five minutes, but once that time is up all of the sound that has been stored is released all at once. You activate it by ringing the bell directly. It’s safe to hold by the strap.” She turned her attention to the other chests. “We should probably check the other ones too, please let me identify them, I don’t really enjoy this ringing noise in my head and I’d prefer to avoid having something similar happen.”

I was a little embarrassed, but beyond that I was also excited. An item like that had a lot of potential uses. This job may pay off in more ways than one.