The mimic was bouncing back and forth on its corners like someone was bound inside, trying to get out. In a way, I guess that was what was happening. I had locked the mouth shut on the mimic, and now it couldn’t get me.

I slowly put my dagger back in its’ sheath and pulled out the hatchet. I was going to need a heavier blade if I wanted to break this thing apart. Also, I needed to make sure that as I attacked that I didn’t let the tongue out.

I moved around to the left side and started in with charged two-handed swings. Letting the fire damage land as much as I could. I lined up each shot, trying to do as much damage as I could below the opening. Once I got a small spot opened, I saw a grayish sludge start to seep out.

I pulled out my sword and put the tip on the edge of the hole. Then I took my left hand and placed it on the lid. The whole thing started to hop up and down. I was making a horrid screeching sound. Then I started pumping my mana into my sword as I stabbed as hard as I could into the mimic.

I wished that all of the unassigned mana I had in items could be rerouted to the item I needed it in. However, that wasn’t the way this seemed to work. I could pull on the mana in my weighted skirt, but I couldn’t direct it into the sword. I tried pulling on everything that I had to see if I could loop it in somehow.

I needed more mana if I was going to get through this mess. As I was thinking about the mana I needed, I felt the Necklace of Cores start to pulse. I had put extra mana into it because I could. Now it was acting like it wanted to free itself into my sword’s core.

I directed more than forced as the mana started to flow into the sword and then from the core into Rotting fear. My next jab with the sword caused a brownish-green mist to begin to leak out of the chest. The mimic was jumping high enough now that I was losing my aim. I had to push it down again to get my sword to line back up.

I struck again, and the howling from the mimic turned to whining as grayish sludge turned greenish-yellow and started to flow out. I looked hard at the mimic, and the pop-up showed that it only had one health point left. One final stab and the whole box started to fall apart.

After a few moments of waiting, the goop that the chest became flowed back into the dungeon floor, revealing the treasures that it had defended. Laying on the floor was the gate token. Beside the token was a large cut red stone.

“Blink, Let’s go see how Dave is feeling.” I said as I scooped up the spoils of battle.

I headed over to the door and walked right in this time. No message telling me that I couldn’t go in. As I walked in, I saw Dave in his normal spot cleaning glass behind the bar.

“Hey, Dave! We’re back!” I called out as Blink, and I passed into the room.

Dave looked up at me with a moment of confusion, then his brow loosened, and he raised a hand and waved. “Arn, welcome back. I see you made it to the second-floor safe room. How was the dungeon?”

I moved over to the bar and hopped up onto a stool. “Honestly, Dave, it was odd.”

“How so?” He asked as he filled a bowl with basher meat cubes and slid it down the bar to Blink.

“The set up the dungeon made me think that the gremlins should have been spread out on the whole floor. Yet, they all attacked at once in the main room at the beginning.”

Dave chuckled, “well that sometimes happens with young dungeons.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well newer dungeons are still learning how to lay out their monsters. As such sometimes teams get overwhelmed early on.”

“Ideas why there was a mimic in the dungeon?”

“There shouldn’t have been a mimic, those don’t come along until a dungeon hit level 20 at least. They are a pain to deal with from what I have been told.”

“Yeah, but it’s mouth was locked up and the key for it was in the last chest on the floor. The gate token was in the mimic.”

Dave shook his head as he poured himself a drink, “shouldn’t have had a mimic in here.”

“But we did. I guess the good thing about all of it was that I got a skill book and a magical instrument before the mimic showed.”

“That shouldn’t have happened until level 15 at least.”

“I thought you said level 20.” I stated.

“Not the mimic, the skill book. Those don’t just show up they take serious magic to get in place. Here have a drink.”

I looked down at the drink Dave poured for me. It wasn’t the greenish-purple drink of last time but rather a lovely clear green. Reminded me a lot like absinthe in the almost neon green color.

“What is it?” I asked as I picked it up to sniff.

“Green Fairy, it is a fun drink from down in Ilhivenratian League. It is made from the pollen that is collected by farries as they travel the cosmic flowers. Then they turn it into a honey like substance when they return to their trees and ship it out from there. The best is labeled Hapsburg.”

I looked at the shot with suspicion. I knew of a city on earth called Hapsburg, and I also knew that there what a whole line of rulers with that name. “What was that other shot you gave me, the greenish-purple one?”

“Oh that was a crazy mix. I was surprised that you were able to talk as long as you did after it. It was a brew that a Gnorf came up with, in common it would be, Bearded Gnome. The real name is much longer.”

“Is this like Bearded Gnome? Put me down in just a few minutes after I stay some really dumb stuff?”

“Nooo! This is much better, smooth too for someone who could stand after drinking Bearded Gnome you shouldn’t have any problems with this.”

I threw back the drink and slammed it on the bar. Dave lied about it being smooth. It wasn’t near as smooth as I thought it would be. It burned like I just took a shot of Everclear.

“That’s some messed up stuff to call smooth!” I croaked out.

“Well compared liquor that comes out of the Gnorf distillery and alchemical plant it is rather smooth.” My smug bartender said with a smile.

“What is a Gnorf?” I asked

“Half Gnome and half Dwarf, evidentially the whole sub race started off because of a bet in a bar between a Dwarven lady and a guy gnome. The story is quite funny, the guy was an alchemist who bet that he could mix a drink that would knock her flat on her back in just a shot. She was the owner of the bar and promised to marry him if he did. Well he did and they got married. Turns out that never should have happened. Gnomes are crazy and Dwarves aren’t much better when drunk, and they are drunk half the time. Any who their kids are the Gnorf. They managed to get a bunch of others as well so it wasn’t just one overly messed up family. The stuff I gave you could power one of their airships for a day.”

By the time Dave was done talking, I was seeing pink elephants dancing behind him and thinking of what a dwarf and gnome baby would look like. “Do Gnorf’s have beards like Dwarves? I asked with a hiccup?”

“Yup it is the darnedest thing too. They can’t grow a dwarf beard but they have more facial hair than gnomes. So don’t laugh when you see it as they will get mad if you do.”

“What’s so bad about them getting mad?”

“Well Dwarves have honor that keeps them in check when they do crazy things. Gnomes want to stay alive when they are around others, not when they are with their machines, however. Gnorves are almost as strong as a dwarf and just as crazy as a gnome. They have been known to use exploding hammers in war.”

Now those pink elephants had moved from dancing behind Dave to dancing on the bar. One of them grew its ears so big that it started the fly, and then the others followed suit.

“Dave, I think this Green Fairy was a bit much for me. I am seeing Pink Elephants flying around.”

Dave, for his part, tried hard not to laugh. Then he did and kept going for a few moments before calming down enough to speak. “That happens to everyone who drinks the stuff; it is a magical drink. Other than the elephants and some times other things popping up it is meant to calm people down a bit and help relax. Nothing like that other stuff, that is meant to get you drunk.”

I took a deep breath; the elephants had stopped flying around and were now sitting on the edge of the bar, acting like they were going to fall over. “Dave, any idea why there was a skill book and mimic on the second floor of a young dungeon?”

“I do but that is one of the things that I can’t talk about.” He said while cleaning a glass with a pink elephant.

Not to be deterred, “Okay so tell me what happens if I claim the dungeon when I get to the bottom? I know I would be the dungeon master but will I be forced to be here?”

Dave looked shocked when I asked my question, “I can’t bring that up but since you asked that means you know that the dungeons can be moved. If you become the master you can help guide the growth of the dungeon. Also the dungeon will not attack you or those you tell it not to. To answer your question no you don’t have to be with the dungeon all the time but it will not grow beyond what you tell it to unless you release it. If you do then you can’t reclaim it without fighting again and it will count you as a total enemy and send everything at you all at once.”

As Dave finished saying that, the elephant that he was using to clean the glass with turned back into a rag as the others all popped. I got an icon in my vision that told me I had the at peace buff.