A sort of ecstasy accompanied the consecutive leveling. I didn’t know for sure whether that was an addiction tactic used by Ancient Realms, or if the expansion of power just felt so tangible. I looked across the rest of the party’s levels at the top of my screen, but was interrupted by the growl of Sardon’s voice,

“Little shadow, you have impressed me,” the flickering black voids that Sardon called eyes were turned towards Cassidy. “I offer a pact of mutual power. Should you accept this arrangement, you will become my chosen one,”

Cassidy brought her hand down onto the air, pressing an option on a system message only she could see.

“Noble choice little one,” Sardon rumbled as midnight black energy flared around Cassidy, and she stood tall despite the raging void around her. And then it imploded at the speed of darkness, sucked into her chest. I watched in wonder as a little pair of black horns poked out of her dark hair. She looked just as surprised, patting the top of her head to feel her modified skull. All of you may continue. I look forward to your future. A circle of magic script appeared at Sardon’s feet, and with a flurry of bones and dark fire, he was gone.

We looked around the much emptier room and found a newly opened doorway. We found a spiral staircase at the bottom, and the slippery marble echoed as we descended. We came up to a huge sheet of glass, a window in the stairway. And it looked way down to the world below, where we could see an entire landscape, huge swaths of swaying forest, rolling hilly plains, mountains rising high into the distant clouds, and the huge glowing sun on the horizon. Surreal wouldn’t justly describe how the beams of the setting sun danced across the tiny boughs of the trees far below, and how those branches swayed with the wind in turn. This was Ancient Realms, and it wasn’t just virtual reality, it looked like more of a transcendent reality. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to call it heaven.

“Great job back there everyone. Let’s keep getting stronger together!” Alixandra beamed. She was level ten now and bounced around on the steps as she smiled at us.

“Kinda cringy,” Axel said, seemingly unfazed by his rude demeanor.

“Yeah, I know,” Alidandra giggled, her glee an inextinguishable ember. Cassidy and I opted not to comment, so we all started to descend the stairs once more. As we walked I distributed my stat points. I had forty entire points at my disposal, and I decided to do a little balancing. I added five points to strength, constitution and willpower. Then I added ten to intellect and wisdom each, reasoning that mana was my most used trait. The last five points were added to perception. Vital for my sixth sense skill, but already ahead of all my other stats. I always remembered the fundamental law of RPG games, balanced stats are usually on your side.

We emerged after a few comfortably silent minutes at a huge set of wooden doors with metal braces. Analysis told me they were oak and weighed exactly 6,011.34 lbs and had a rune inside that increased durability. I ran a hand down the surface, appreciating the craftsmanship. The rendering of this game is nothing like those old 2d games I played as kids. All four of us pushed open the doors with great effort, and found a shockingly new environment. Gone were the rooms of spacious, bright, greek architecture. This new area was only lit by dim torchlight. In the shallow light cast by the spasming orange firelight I could see dusty cobbles lining the floor, cobwebs vieling the corners and scratches etched on the wall in random intervals. Some looked like claw marks, some looked like unintelligible symbols hewn into the rough rock with crude tools.

We waited at the entrance, glancing at each other, then silently we all decided to enter. I turned around as I heard a creak from behind us, the sound of doors grinding closed. Alixandra and Axel each grabbed a torch off the wall and led the way. I stayed active by toggling sixth sense on and off, allowing my sense to pierce the darkness. With my mana reserves at a max of 127 and my regeneration per minute at 80, I was confident enough to keep a lookout while staying ready for a battle. As we carefully navigated the narrow tunnels, the suspense in the air was heavy enough to weigh on my shoulders. I kept cycling my sixth sense on and off, and then I sensed something ahead in the tunnel. Not a creature, not even a threat, but something new. A couple of feet ahead of Alixandra was a thin thread finer than silk. It was stretched across the air at ankle length, and a quick analysis called it a tripwire, weighing about a milligram and 0.0056 millimeters.

“Stop!” I called ahead to the rest of the party nearby. Everyone turned and looked at me.

“What is it?” Axel sighed.

“There's a tripwire here” I crept ahead of him and indicated where it was.

“Let’s activate it,” Axel said, and he was so polite as to wait for a response.

“I agree,” I answered. I could feel all three of my teammates look at me in surprise. I was even a little surprised by my choice.

“Well if we already know a trap is coming, then we will be ready for it. Then if we miss a tripwire later we might have a better idea of what to expect.”

“Not bad, Gabe!” Alixandra beamed.

“Good idea, Gabriel,” Cassidy muttered in a minuscule voice. We all turned and looked at her for a second. What was that, the second thing we had ever heard her say? I hadn’t kept track. I should make a habit of recording these things, any information could come in handy....

I shook myself out of my stupor and crept toward the human-sized laundry chute that had opened in front of my feet. I couldn’t see the bottom, either because of the dim light in the tunnels or an incredibly dangerous amount of vertical distance. I tried to analyze the bottom of the pit.

[Error: Target is out of range of the spell ‘Analysis’]

I shrugged and started to shimmy my way across the side of the opening where it hadn’t swung down. I had to hug the wall like a squirrel to keep from tumbling backward into the darkness below. I tried not to look down, but I was too curious, so I stared into the abyss as I walked. It’s not as scary as people would have you think.

I started to regret pointing out that trap a little bit because now I had to take the lead of the party formation. My class was useless in combat among even support classes, but I ignored the strategic fallacy and did it anyway. I had always told myself that I wasn’t the kind to be swayed by peer pressure, but I started to respect these people, and I couldn’t bring myself to reject the request, as unreasonable as that may be, of all of them. I suppose I am getting soft, I thought as I started to lose focus on the actual task I was considering. I started to subconsciously grind my teeth. I used to do that when I got bored, it would be my signal to pick up a book if I didn’t already have one for some reason. My hands grasped at nothing, feeling void of purpose without pages to flip. Books were a dying thing in the real world, replaced by their digital counterparts and other more convenient methods of learning. But the feeling of that old leathery paper across my fingertips… I took my mind off reality and back to the imaginary world, a very backward concept. Ahead of the tunnel finally expanded, and we were in a dark, cavernous fork in the tunnel. Axel and Alixandra swept their torches back and forth, throwing dim light on the walls of the cavern. I heard a noise like a leaky faucet echoing across the walls. And then a sound like teeth scratching against the stone of the ceiling. The party immediately fell into combat formation at the center of the cave, and I activated sixth sense. If pierced the thin veil of darkness before it. Sixth sense doesn't actually work like sight, it just allows me to understand the shapes and information of objects in an area. And the shapes of what was approaching were spiders the size of my head.