The cubes were no different from before. Frank approached them, waiting until they were very common but not touching each other, and then started heading to his left. The surroundings were largely empty of any sort of definable landmarks. Frank didn’t have an eidetic memory, so any navigation would require the use of a compass.

He wandered through them. Here and there, an enemy was placed haphazardly, sometimes standing in plain view, other times hidden behind a block until he passed it. The disorienting surroundings and constant risk of a pseudo-ambush slowly drained away at Frank’s mental stamina.

Frank chose to rest for a moment. He didn’t sit, instead squatting down so that he could move quickly if need be. He put down his sword, removed his pack, and placed one of the waterskins to his lips. After drinking, he studied the block in front of him. The mural was nonsense. Just a jumble of random imagery.

Two men speaking to each other. A giant eating a man. A claw and a hand. An apple. Four matches, one burnt and three lit.

Frank blinked. The mural changed. Two men fighting. A giant slain by a man. A fig. Four matches, one lit, three unlit. He stood up. The unreality of the situation left him with butterflies in his stomach. He felt like he was being fucked with on purpose.

He turned to leave, grabbing his things back and pulling out his compass. He moved at a diagonal, rather than straight towards the main path. This was simultaneously less walking, and the opportunity to stumble on a few more enemies as he returned.

Two more suits fell to his blade. He could tell he was walking quicker than he normally would. Once he got back onto the main path and out of the blocks he broke into a jog. He just wasn’t suited for going solo. Without the presence of others this place was eating away at his mental state.

He thought about increasing his stability, but the thought that it would change who he was kept giving him pause. Of course it would let him deal with this easier. But he didn’t want to go back to how he was before.

It was weird how much the thought of changing repelled him. Frank considered it as he walked back. He’d already been changed, twice. Once gradually, and in lockstep with his maturing and hardening in such a way that he could not extricate the effects from the things which were self-generated. Then a second time, instantly, which simultaneously altered his thinking and made it clear his thinking had already been altered.

Here he was, the product of those two things, and maybe more. He hadn’t even considered the mechanism of his time travel. He had been sent back to his original body. Had his brain been altered in some way to accomodate this? That wasn’t a question Frank could answer. Before this, he had believed that his mental state was physical. Other explanations always seemed more like an exercise in credulity.

Now though? A godlike being could rearrange the world at will. There was direct evidence of a power who appeared to violate the physical laws of reality. Suddenly he was back in a fundamentally different body, but his mental state had not immediately changed. Was that because his mind was fundamentally separate from his body? Or did the system alter him in some way? Or maybe the changes in attitude he had now were not a consequence of his stats or the events of the last few days, but of being placed in a different body with a differently configured brain

It was his body, of course, but it wasn’t the same body his mind had been in. The fact that his current improved outlook, and he did feel it was an improvement, could be the equivalent of a strong blow to the head causing brain damage and altering someone’s personality, was not a reassuring one.

Frank made it out of the cube field, and started walking back towards the others. He was just about done, mentally speaking, with this whole dungeon. Other than a quick stop at the fountain, he jogged all the way back to the start room. A single suit had managed to find its way into his path, but he dispatched it efficiently and made it back to the starting room.

Maria was sleeping. Rina had stopped practicing her sling, either due to fatigue or so Maria could rest. Bill remained motionless.

“Did you find anything?” Rina asked, when she saw him arrive. The signs of crying had disappeared from her face. She looked composed.

“A health potion. Couldn’t explore as much as I wanted to.” Frank answered her. “Have you made any progress with the sling?”

Rina smiled a bit, a hint of pride showing, but the potential high of her emotions had obviously been tempered by the recent circumstances. Her lips curled up briefly but sprung back to a neutral position. Her eyes still conveyed sadness more than anything.

“I managed to hit the same spot five times in a row.” She replied.

“How big of a spot?” Frank asked.

“About three feet across, from the other side of the room.” Rina answered confidently.

Frank glanced over the room. With the room itself being about thirty feet across, that wasn’t bad at all. In fact, given she had no resources to learn from, that was positively cause for optimism. Not only had she pulled herself together, she was approaching the point where she might actually hit something with it. The fact that the rocks could be thrown meant that she could be useful no matter what, but if that’s all she was capable of Frank didn’t think he could justify bringing her along.

“That’s excellent news.” Frank told her. “I’m going to rest for a while. Wake me up if there’s something important.”

Frank went over to the pile of things he’d removed from his pack. He put down his sword and shield, then laid out his sleeping bag, and lay down to take a nap. He fell asleep immediately, as he always did.

He woke to a hand on his shoulder. Rina was bent down, shaking him awake.

“What is it?” Frank questioned her, sleepiness immediately morphing into concern. He saw that her face was smiling though, and he relaxed.

“Bill woke up!” Rina exclaimed.

Frank immediately sat up, shucking off his sleeping bag. He saw Bill, sitting slumped against a wall, a bottle of painkillers open beside him. His hands rested on his forehead. Frank noticed the grimace twisting the bottom half of his face.

Frank stood up and walked over to Bill.

“How are you feeling?” Frank asked him.

Bill started groaning at the sound before Frank even finished speaking. He didn’t respond with words for ten seconds.

“I feel like I got hit in the head really hard.” he finally muttered. He didn’t look up or move.

“That’s what happened.” Frank said lightly. “You did some real stupid shit. Once your headache isn’t incapacitating, maybe consider why.”

Frank turned towards where Maria was sleeping. Rina had gone to wake her up too, and when he turned she was already getting up. When she saw Bill she visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Frank chose not to read into it.

“Well, now that Bill is awake, we can reset the dungeon again. Everyone get their stuff together.”

Frank followed his own advice, packing away his stuff, before walking over to Bill and getting his stuff ready for him.

“Put your pack on and pick up your sword. Then exit.” Frank told him.

Everyone got their stuff together, and one by one the others vanished. Frank followed them out.

He heard Bill yelp in pain. The sunlight streaming into the ruined temple was too much for him apparently. He immediately re-entered to escape it. Frank motioned to Rina and Maria, and they too went back. Frank did the same.

Back in the starting room, Frank let Bill wallow, and addressed the two girls. “I’m going to starting cycling through the first enemy again. If you are up to it follow me in.” He looked to Maria. “Take Bill’s sword for now if you want to come along, he can’t use it at the moment.”

Both the girls motioned as if they planned on following him, so Frank undid his pack. “Rina keep your pack in case we need something, you are going to be standing back so you don’t need the additional mobility.” He unshucked it, wielding sword and shield once more.

“Follow after me. Plan is simple. If it’s possible, Rina incapacitates it, then me and Maria move in. Never approach an enemy without my say so though, and never approach from the same side as it’s holding a weapon.”

He waited briefly for them to ready themselves, then set off down the hallway. His exploration of the previous floor was still fresh in his mind, and he didn’t want to deal with what this dungeon had to offer. He just wanted to grind the safest encounter for potentially useful items, and experience. As long as both his companions listened, Frank felt he could do just that.

***

Ghulam got up, late at night. He had one thought on his mind. Leaving. The moment Greg and Sasha had become confident that Frank was leaving, they’d started making decisions. They hadn’t declared themselves in charge, as such, but he could see the writing on the wall. It had been Sasha, during the conversations they’d had during the day on what to do and how, who had subtly manipulated the conversation so that people arrived at a conclusion that was not to his benefit.

He’d kept mostly quiet, contrasting his outburst yesterday. Of course, Ghulam, a doctor, was too important to go out and acquire supplies or scout. He could see his freedom being restricted. A few words here and there were all it took to convince the group of this obvious fact. Ghulam was too valuable to be allowed to risk himself. Only a short step from there to him being too valuable to be allowed to leave.

He had a daughter, his only child. She was in school in the North of the state. He’d raised her with the same lessons his grandfather taught him. The same lessons that the one of two survivors of nine children had learned during the Great Bengal famine. The same lesson that let his heart be cold when he needed it to be, that allowed him to survive this. He hoped she could be ruthless enough.

He mourned his wife. She would not have survived. He knew this. But his daughter, she might remain. To stay here while he might be able to help her, to leave his own flesh and blood to her fate, he could not countenance. He had underestimated Greg. Had he realized that Greg was not being manipulated by, but was actively working with Sasha on their little power play, he would have left with Frank. Now, if he wanted to have hope of finding his daughter, he needed to find him.

He wasn’t a woodsman. He was a doctor. He couldn’t go traipsing through the the brush, following their trail. It would be wasted effort. That’s why he was going to use the health potion he’d hidden tonight. From what he’d heard from others, it truly was a miraculous cure. He’d thought to hold it for himself, but circumstance demanded an ally. The fact that Maria had left with Frank was perfect for his purposes.

He walked out of the room he’d been sleeping in, heading towards the downstairs. Others stirred. It was so cold. Soon, they would need to start fires for warmth, and that would certainly change the arrangements. For now though, he headed towards where he’d had Hugo moved earlier today. Easy enough have done with a vague justification.

He passed by Laura, coincidentally awake. His demeanour remained relaxed. The same self control and ability that had removed as much of his accent as his pride allowed let him casually deceive her.

“What’s got you up so late?” she asked him. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“I just need some fresh air.” Ghulam said, sighing. “I know it’s for safety reasons but everyone sleeping so close together is a little much. Especially when there’s no running water to bathe.”

“I hear ya. Weird how even in this kind of situation we still care about that kind of thing.” Laura responded.

“It is this situation that makes us care so much. Every bit of normalcy or comfort is magnified in importance. I think if you can arrange for a soccer game or something, it might help people.” Ghulam said.

“Weird to be thinking of that when our lives hang in the balance, but I guess if we break that’s a lot worse than not using the entire day effectively.” Laura said, her tone contemplating.

“Have a good night, Laura.” Ghulam told her, and headed towards the stairs of the city hall.

He quickly arrived where Hugo was, and pulled out the health potion he’d earlier secreted there. He looked at Hugo’s dim outline in the darkness. Ghulam hoped this went well. He carefully unscrewed the lid, and walked over to Hugo. His hands opened Hugo’s mouth, and then he poured some of the gel like liquid into the man’s mouth. Close the mouth, stroke the throat to force him to swallow, repeat. Once he’d managed to get Hugo to consume the whole potion, the man started stirring. Ghulam waited expectantly.