Roland took Connie away from the burning corpses and talked with her quietly for several minutes. James didn't bother helping Barbara collect her spent arrows. He just handed her two bundles of Iron Hunting Arrows from his backpack. There was a flicker of relief across her face at not having to scrounge through the burnt bodies for her arrows. Doris drank deeply from her water skin. James could see her hands shake while the skin was suspended. He had seen some horrific things in his time, but the smell of burned flesh and the sight of all those burning rat bodies churned his stomach.

James knelt and inspected Onyx. She had gotten into the fight and didn't seem hurt.

Name: Onyx Race: Black Labrador Retriever (Special) Level: 5 Damage Range: 1 - 6 +17 Damage Type: Piercing/Slashing Armour Rating: 9 Special: Enhanced Hearing/Smell, Melee - Bite, Guard, Track Name: Black Onyx of Power Quality: Good Rarity: Rare Durability: 210/210 Special: Dog

Roland and Connie rejoined them, and she seemed to have gathered herself together. James looked down the tunnel at the field of dead rats and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Rocko asked, looking at James in concern.

'This all feels wrong,' James shared with Rocko.

Rocko raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

'It feels like a setup.' James explained.

"What do you mean?" Rocko asked.

'We took more hits from the Scarabs than from the rats. Not a single rat hit us. Doris blocked those that got through,' James observed.

"You think it is too easy?" Rocko asked.

James grinned and continued to pet Onyx, 'No. Exceedingly difficult. But it was made easy by our specific set of abilities. So far, Connie has had the right spells to defeat each challenge. And when she didn't have the spell. She was provided with it.'

Rocko pondered that moment, "You think the Dungeon wants you to win?"

James stood up and brushed off his knee cots, 'Yes. And is feeding us a lot of Experience at the same time.'

James moved to the gathered group, "That was well done. You held together, and we were able to defeat that Swarm. On top of that, each of you got a level. Any new spells?"

Connie was usually the first to speak up, but instead, she looked at the ground. Doris spoke up, "I got a first-tier Spell called Cure Poison. It cures Tier 1 Poison, as the name suggests, but there is a chance of it curing a T2 Poison. It is touch range, but the option to cure T2 poison doesn't apply to men. Sorry."

The last part was said to James, who shrugged it off, "It is fine. How about you, Barbara?"

Barbara smiled and hugged Connie, "I got a new ability. Arrow Burst. The arrow explodes on impact, doing damage to a small area. Not like the Fireballs that Connie here was casting, but I think it is designed to do a lot of damage to a single target."

James nodded, and Connie smiled at her sister. Taking a deep breath, Connie explained her new spell, "It is called Fire Trap. I have never heard of it before and read about Wizards. It is a Spell that lays a trap for up to an hour. If anyone touches or steps on the trapped area, the trap goes off in a blast of fire."

Roland nodded to them and smiled proudly at his sisters.

"We should go," James pointed out.

Barbara took the lead, scouting ahead with her bow. James walked next to Connie, and Doris pulled up the rear. Roland and Onyx were further back, ensuring to stay out of fights.

James hesitated to ask, "I know you have been asked this a few times already, but are you okay?"

Connie sighed softly, "Yes. I was overwhelmed by the sight of those rats being blown apart. I saw flaming fur bundles flying around the tunnel. And then the smell. The smell was too much."

James let her speak and waited. When nothing more was forthcoming, he smiled at her, "You did well. You did what you had to do without losing your shit. Mind you. This is pretty freaky for me."

Connie returned the smile, "Thanks."

Barbara stopped and crouched down, waiting for James and Connie to join her. James could not see what had made her stop when he knelt beside her.

Barbara pointed ahead, "The tunnel ends with a stone wall. A large metal gate in the centre of the wall is currently open. I can't see much past the gate, but it looks like a narrow hallway."

"How narrow?" James asked, trying to see what she saw.

"A pace at most," Barbara explained.

James got up and moved over to the right side of the tunnel. Connie moved with him, and Barbara and Doris took the other side. Moving forward, James eventually saw the gate come into view. It was twenty meters away and was as she described. Moving forward, he continued until he reached the stone wall and turned to see Barbara and the door on the other side of the tunnel. The metal gate stood open, sticking straight down the tunnel. The opening was on James' side of the gate. Creeping up to the entrance, he peeked carefully down the narrow tunnel.

The narrow tunnel only went about three meters before opening into a large room. From what James could see, it was about ten meters deep. He was not able to see either of the side walls. In the room stood a single humanoid rat. The beast was a brute of a creature that stood almost three meters tall and wielded a great big two-handed sword with a green tint. James knew that any fight with the creature in melee range would be a disaster and figured ranged combat would be more advantageous to them. When the creature had his back to the entrance, James and Connie crept across the opening to join the rest of the party.

Whispering in each of their ears, he advised, "Range only, no melee. I root, you kill." Each of the sisters agreed. Roland wasn't included in the exchange as he was more of an observer than a participant. Signalling for Onyx to stay, James got into position. When the beast had his back to the opening again, James stepped out and activated the Power Grasping Shadowy Tendrils. The Power wasn't designed for a single target, but James figured it should work.

It did, and it didn't. It slowed the beast down as it turned toward the opening. Barbara stood to the side and launched a quick succession of arrows. Connie cast Magic Dart, interspersed with a Flame Bolt from the Wand. Doris moved to the front and stood ready with her shield up. James noticed that she cast Nerissa's Bane. This was the first time James got to see the spell in effect, and it was interesting to see a blue sparkle of lights descend on the beast and get absorbed into its skin.

James did a quick Inspection and reviewed the creature.

Name: ? Race: Large Were Rat (Boss) Level: 14 Damage Range: 4 - 24 +36 Damage Type: Slashing Armour Rating: 49 Special: Enhanced Hearing/Smell, Melee - Bite, Claw, Rend, Dodge, Magic

"Son of a bitch!" James stared at the creature's stats for a few seconds. That damage and AR were greater than he had experienced before. The last word also worried him.

"Invite me back into the Party," James shouted as he used Shadow Step to appear behind the creature and stab it in the back.

"I can't," Connie shouted, "Combat has already started!"

James wasn't sure how the system would allocate Experience based on two different groups attacking the same creature, but he would have to make sure that the sisters did more damage than he did. James' caused a barrier around the beast to flash blue before collapsing. The barrier absorbed most of the energy, but James was sure his sword sank a few centimetres into its back. Drawing back for a second attack, James prepared for a counterattack. Instead, the creature lowered its head towards the opening and breathed a misty green vapour. It was almost the same as the Stinking Cloud Spell that Connie used, but it came out as a breath weapon.

James wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and quickly a combo attack. Shield Bash followed up with a Sword Thrust in the back. The Large Were Rat Dodged the first attack with the shield and then rolled to the side, Evading the second attack completely. James stayed in its face with another attack when it moved to its feet. He also released a PSI Bolt. The Large Were Rat was surprised by the PSI Bolt but quickly recovered. The creature went on the offensive with the big two-handed weapon wielded in one hand.

James ducked under the sword swing and used his shield to block the rat claw. The counter Thrust of his sword was Dodged, and the two-handed sword came around for a back swing. James blocked with the shield but couldn't deflect most of the energy and was sent flying through the air. The creature was much stronger than he looked. James Tumbled back to his feet and met the follow-up attack with his shield, deflecting the attack to the side. The exchanges were fast and didn't follow any pattern or style. It was a constant shift between speed and Power, and James was hard-pressed to counter.

Doris was the first one through the green cloud, followed by Barbara. Once they were through, they stepped to the side and went to work. Doris refreshed Nerissa's Bane, and Barbara started using her Explosive Arrow. The arrows barely penetrated the skin, but the explosions caused some damage. Barbara also hit the Large Were Rat with a shot that pinned its foot to the ground. James was able to take a step back and launched another PSI Bolt. The arrow through the foot didn't bother the Large Were Rat as much as any of them had hoped.

The creature did turn its attention to Doris and Barbara and leaped in their direction. It was an impressive four-meter jump that ended with it bringing its sword down with both hands onto Barbara. She might have died if Doris hadn't interposed herself and took the hit on her shield. James was shocked that the sword went through half the shield and into Doris' shoulder. It would have gone through her skull a few inches to the left instead. Barbara was knocked down in the attack, and Doris fell on top of her. Scrambling, Barbara reached for a Potion of Health.

James couldn't jump that far, but he was able to use Shadow Step. James timed his Step, so he was mid-thrust when he appeared behind the creature. It tried to dodge, but James' blade pierced into its body. It still pivoted, and with a savage backhand, the Large Were Rat struck James and sent him cartwheeling away. Tumble was not able to save James from the painful landing. The beast tried to lever its two-handed sword from Doris' shield, but it was stuck. Instead, it decided to lean forward and bite Doris in the face with its enlarged mouth.

Barbara got her bow in the creature's face and jabbed at its eyes. Doris still took a bite to the shoulder, but the creature quickly let go when Connie appeared through the poisonous cloud and launched an Acid Bolt at it. The beast flinched back, activating its Dodge and releasing Doris before the bite could be made worse.

Doris didn't look too good when James looked over at them. James activated Shadow Step from a prone position and appeared behind the Large Were Rat a second time. Using Shield Bash, he caught the beast in the back and caused it to stagger. Barbara rolled away before she was stepped on and scrambled to her feet. Before the creature got too far away, James jabbed his blade into the creature's back. The blade was mainly turned aside by the creatures hide, but he could still leave an extended cut across its back.

Another Flame Bolt splashed across its chest before it leaped toward Connie. Connie only had enough time to raise her arms before the creature landed with an overhead double fist slam into her skull. Her magic shield flared blue, but the blow still sent her sprawling on the floor.

Barbara was the next to get its attention with another arrow, almost point-blank. The arrow caught it under the arm and sank deeper than her other arrows had. Stepping back, she protected her face with the arrow exploded. A large chunk of the beast's ribs blew out in blood and gore. Its right arm hung useless by its side, but it still turned to attack Barbara.

James Shadow Stepped between them and knocked Barbara back a couple of steps, taking the hit intended for her. The claw rang off the shield, and James countered with a Thrust of the Glrick Sword. The blade skipped across the creature's stomach and did very little damage. The creature rushed once the blade was off to the side, wrapped its good arm around James and bit into the side of his helm. The stench was horrific as James lost his balance and fell backwards, the creature's jaws biting into his helm.

Activating Shadow Step once more, James reappeared near the ceiling before falling. Before he Shadow Stepped, James had noticed an arrow slamming into the creature's neck. There was an explosion as the creature's head was blown off, and James landed on Doris.