The world spun around Spook as gravity took control. The fall was short, but it was enough to damage him a quarter of his health. He tried moving his limbs to no avail. A debuff icon with swirling stars ticked down in his vision, indicating he was momentarily stunned. Then, a familiar raspy hiss whispered in his ears as he lay on the cold floor.

“Get away from Master Spook, vile spawn!”

Spook watched as the genie came into view and jumped off the ladder, landing on top of the Mane Lizard that was about to take a giant bite out of his skull.

The genie’s leg glowed bright red and crashed down on top of its skull, eliciting a shriek from the monster. The Mane Lizard quickly scampered away and eyed the pair with its cold eyes. The flickering torches made it hard to see, but Spook glimpsed a pool of blood gathering at its feet.

That’s strange. Shade’s shouldn’t have done that much damage. Could it have?

But before Spook could investigate further, another Mane Lizard stepped out of the shadows and blocked his view by standing in front of its wounded partner.

“Nice work, Shade. Though I’d appreciate it if you were a little quieter next time, your loud mouth attracted our two guests here,” complained Spook. He was standing up now, as the debuff had worn off. He assessed the situation, taking stock of his health and the positioning of the two lizards.

“How was I supposed to know these two were lying in wait down here?” Shade shot back snappily.

Spook didn’t have a good answer for that. Now that he thought about it, it didn’t make sense for the two Mane Lizards to be up here. Monsters never had a reason to camp out at entrances and exits. Food and shelter were the two main priorities that monsters in Inside Online were programmed to seek.

“Whatever. Let’s just focus on beating these two first. One of the lizards is pretty wounded, so this should be easy for us,” replied Spook. He could deal with the minor details later.

He sent his intentions through the soul link he shared with Shade and jumped into battle. He sensed Shade’s presence close behind him as he charged at the lizard in front of him. The monster opened its jaws to reveal a set of jagged teeth gleaming with saliva. Right before he made contact with the cavernous maw, he stepped to the left and delivered a series of punches. This time, there was more power to his attacks as his newly evolved fists were put to use. Spook jumped back just in time to avoid a sweeping blow from its thick tail.

Shade wasted no time in doing her part as well, managing to sneak in a couple of her own punches before retreating as well.

With both Mane Lizards injured in their own right, it wasn’t long before Spook and Shade dispatched the two monsters. Compared to the first, he had fought these lizards; this time, it had gone much smoother. As much as Spook wanted to attribute it to the fact that he had gotten stronger, there was one outstanding factor that had allowed the fight to go so well in his favor. During the battle, he had noticed where the pool of blood had come from. A huge chunk of the lizard’s stomach had been missing when he went to attack its side. Blood had been pouring profusely down its sides.

My suspicions were correct. It wasn’t Shade’s kick that had hurt the Mane Lizard to that extent, but rather it had already been injured previously before the fight!

“That was so easy! Is this what you have trouble with?” exclaimed Shade as she returned to his side.

“No. Something wasn’t right about this fight. It was a little too easy,” puzzled Spook as he knelt down to inspect the disappearing bodies. He noticed their stomachs were rather small as he picked up the loot bags.

“Now that you mention it, the fight had been a little one-sided. That second lizard was already bleeding out by the time we got to it,” admitted Shade.

Spook looked up at her and pursed his mouth. The genie couldn’t see his expression under the helmet, but she seemed to understand he was deep in thought as she stayed silent.

“Nothing in the Crawling Caverns should be able to wound a Mane lizard to that extent, especially since it’s defensive capabilities are so high. Flame Golems don’t roam up to the lizard dens, and Mane Lizard’s don’t attack each other,” said Spook. He gestured towards the corridor that led into the caverns. “And did you see how they behaved? One of them dragged me off the ladder. They were starving, Shade. They wanted food. Their stomachs were empty. It doesn’t add up. Why would two Mane Lizards come all the way to the dungeon entrance to find food? Their source of rodents and small creatures are back in the cavern.”

Shade offered a small shrug, a bored expression on her face. “Maybe there isn’t any food left. Why does it matter so much to you?”

“Because it’s not logical! Something doesn’t add up here, and I don’t like it. Monsters have programmed behaviors. Deviating from that path highly contradicts those behaviors,” retorted Spook.

“Hold on. How can you be sure this isn’t part of its behavior? Think about it. Monsters only act this way if they are forced into a bad situation. Could there have been something that triggered their actions?” Shade asked.

Spook fell silent as he retraced his thinking once more. Was there something he had missed? The surprise attack. The stomach wound. The desperation he felt from the monsters—the illogical behavior. Then the answer dawned upon him.

Spooked glanced at the corridor. “I know what it is! Or at least, I have a clue.”

Shade followed his gaze and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “So, what’s the answer? I hope its something good.”

Spook turned to the genie, a serious look on his face.

“There’s an Alpha.”