(James)

When Callum recovered from his status effect, he seemed none the worse for wear and resumed walking happily.

They trekked for a further hour, not stopping for breaks and just snacking as they went if they needed to.

They didn't encounter a single living monster as they went, and saw very few corpses, monster or otherwise.

They were all freaked out almost to silence. All except Callum.

"Why do you think the monsters are all... quiet? You think they're hiding?"

Dom hushed him with a harsh but necessary knife to his lips.

Callum looked to be on the edge of exploding in outrage, but Dom leaned in close and whispered to him.

"Listen. James saw the monsters around here. Chimaeras and figures of shadow. Chimaeras are hunters, and shadows are not going to be easy to see. They're probably watching us. So maybe don't draw attention to us."

Callum slumped, the fight leaving him.

James was glad he didn't put up a fight. Callum had no weapons on him, and James was getting worried about how he had been defending himself. If Callum was to be a tank, he would need to be pretty hardy, and neglecting weapon use would just be stupid.

So Callum had some plan, and armed with his knowledge of how these games worked, he probably had a big one. A potentially stupid one though.

Dom released Callum and they wordlessly continued following May. Callum did look around carefully around nearby houses as he went, obviously more worried.

James took a leaf from his book and looked around carefully too. As the area was opening up more, and the houses got steadily larger and further apart, he could see further without obstruction. This was as good a time as any to increase any skills he could, so he started looking further away using Farsight. This didn't last very long as he started to feel nauseous when alternating between using Farsight and regular vision. He did gain several levels in it though. Not enough to get any stat points, but enough to increase its effective range a little.

He even saw some notable oddities as they walked, some constructs that must have been brought in by the system.

As they passed a park, he had seen several trees growing in it with oddly coloured fruit and flowers that held a dark haze around them.

The fountain in the park was spitting water that was tinted white, almost as if it was filled with milk.

And on top of one of the houses a street over, he saw a small collection of statues. Upon thinking about it, it may have just been a rich fanatic that left them there, but James liked to think rich people did better things with their money.

As he started to think about what else he could level up as they walked, he noticed the procession had stopped.

Before he could ask if they were at their destination or not, he caught sight of the house they were in front of. While it was true that the area they were in was far richer than what he was used to, the building he assumed was Mays house was pretty ridiculous.

It was like an old Victorian manor but had some extensions built that were far more modern.

They stood almost in awe for a moment.

"Now I get the arcanist thing."

Dom looked sharply at James, who had spoken way louder than he needed to.

James was worried for a second as he felt the violent threat behind the glare, but May rescued him just in time.

"Let's just go inside. If there's anything hunting us, we'll find out soon enough."

They all followed the path up to the house wordlessly, James and Dana were admiring the house and surrounding garden. The others silent because they knew anything could be lurking in the large gardens.

James found himself focusing on a small collection of wicker men. In one grassed area, they stood in a circle in varying positions of martial combat. They were a weird kind of garden decoration, but James had to admit they were pretty awesome.

The way they were walking past, he could have sworn one turned itself slightly to look at him. But once he focused on it, it stayed perfectly still. It must have been his imagination.

There were large topiary animals scattered around the garden that also gave him a sense of unease. They seemed too perfect.

As they walked up the small stone staircase leading up to the front doors, James heard splashing around him. He looked over the low stone walls on either side of the stairs and saw there was a small moat surrounding the house in a low ditch.

"Ok. If no-one else is going to say it. I will. I would love for this place to be our new base of operations."

May looked at him sadly.

"Maybe, James. I don't know if my dad would be ok with that. If he's even still here."

The rapidly forming grin on James' face died. He was pushing too hard. He realised how insensitive he sounded in case her family was dead. He merely clamped his mouth in an even line and nodded for her to get the door.

It was a relatively simple set of doors made of dark brown wood studded with black iron. It was exactly what James had expected, but the knocker on the door was far from his expectations. The head of a jester hung, immortalised with a garish smile in the same black metal as the rest of the door components.

May reached out to touch it, but as soon as she did, the mouth of the jester swung open, and he began to mouth out a message. There was no sound, but the words were projected straight into their eyes.

Welcome to the (Barnes Family Mansion) dungeon.

Entry requirements:

Class: none

Occupation: none

This dungeon is unclaimed, but while it is still active, it needs an owner.

"Does that mean we own it if we clear it?"

Dom asked the metal head directly.

The dungeon is active. You must clear it, or you will die.

The jester spoke again, but this time, it was also audible. It had a twisted, wicked voice as if it not only expected them to die but wanted them to as well.

May grimaced and a shard of glowing red stone appeared in her hand in an instant. She lifted it, aiming at the Jester.

"I'll kill You, you son of a bitch dungeon."

Callum caught her arm and pointed behind her.

"We have to go inside. Now."

She looked behind her, confused. But she quickly saw what he was pointing at. James looked too, suspecting he already knew what he was going to see. And he was right.

The wicker men he had admired moments ago were sneaking up the garden towards them, almost silent. They were still further back. The immediate threat came from the large animals made of bushes that we're coming closer. James could see cats, a few farm animals like horses, and even a dragon.

They were approaching much faster. He had maybe 20 seconds to do something. So he drew his pistol. His mana was full, so he had plenty of shots, he just didn't know how much health these things had.

He analysed the closest one.

Topiary Guardian (dragon):

Level: 28

Hp: 1365/1365

Mp: 146/146

"Part of the mind of the dungeon, these golems remain hidden until they are called to defend."

"Guys, we have to run. They're too strong."

James fired quickly at the leafy Dragon as it reached the bottom steps, causing 6 significant damage windows to appear.

-62hp

-60hp

-58hp

-64hp

-56hp

-71hp

His shots did more damage than he remembered, but that might have been due to vulnerability to the explosive nature of the guns mana.

The Dragon recoiled, but it wasn't massively hurt. James thought he might have been able to take on one or two of these things, but there were a dozen approaching as well as the wicker men.

He looked back hastily and saw that the others were through the front door, and someone was holding it open for him. It was too dark on the other side to see who.

He ran for the door, earning him a road from the pissed off Dragon. It sounded like wind passing through trees, but much louder.

Once he was clear of the door, it slammed shut behind him. He pushed back on it, expecting a powerful slam, but none came. He waited a tense few seconds, but there was nothing trying to get inside. He breathed out slowly, trying to control his trembling, then turned away from the door he was slouched against.

He looked up into a pair of eyes glowing dark green. Thinking it was another monster to meet him, he scrambled backwards, hitting the door, and pointed his pistol at it, before the owner of the eyes was illuminated by Dana's mana flame. James relaxed instantly. It was only Callum. The green must have been the result of his night vision skill.

Callum laughed a little.

"Dude. You need to calm down a bit. You'll end up shooting your eye out."

James smiled too. He was admittedly quite freaked out after seeing bushes come to life and roar at him.

He accepted Callums offered hand and was pulled up.

In the small light of Dana's mana flame, James could make out the entrance hall they were in. There were staircases on either side, and a multitude of doors to choose from. May and Dom were speaking quietly to each other, Dom sketching a diagram on his notepad.

All the windows around the door were blacked out. Not by a curtain or paint, but the glass itself seemed to be coloured differently.

After a minute of them whispering, time which James spent examining every nook and cranny of the room with Dana, they turned to the group with a titled diagram of the house on the front page.

It read: "battle plan."

Dom proudly showed off his drawing and addressed the clueless couple.

"Ok newbies. This is your first dungeon crawl. Here's what we're going to do."