Deacon moved to take a step toward his party but found the ground beneath his feet beginning to melt and warp from the high pressure steam venting from his pores. Now that he was looking down, he noticed his boots were gone along with the rest of his clothes. Even the strap holding his bag on was starting to fray at the edges. Deacon checked his health bar noting it was climbing back up to full thanks to Triage, but his soul energy was a different story entirely. It was steadily running down to zero. At this point he had fifty percent of his total three hundred percent left. Somehow all this steam was draining his soul energy. He needed to turn the tap off.

Before he could do anything else, Deacon felt the ground around him starting to give way. He started sprinting in a random direction. This also burst more egg sacks and Deacon was glad the steam prevented the disgusting fluids from coating his now naked body. That was when Deacon realized he was going about this all wrong. He needed to calm himself, not run around like a lunatic. Stopping in place, Deacon clasped both of his hands together and attempted to slow his racing heart. To his surprise, the amount of steam coming from his pores began to reduce. That came with a reduction in the constant whistling sound as well. Then he noticed his soul energy stabilize around thirty five percent. It wasn’t until after all of that he finally heard his party members calling out to him.

“Deacon, we need to get out of here!” Ralph was shouting through cupped hands.

“This place is coming apart. Loot the boss chest,” Hani screamed while gesturing toward a large golden chest not ten feet from Deacon’s position.

Deacon couldn’t concern himself with that. He needed to disconnect from this current source of energy. Then he slapped himself in the forehead, remembering he already knew how to switch back and forth.

“Ice in my veins,” spoke Deacon as he tapped back into just the Nether plane. All the steam around him winked out as he headed over to the golden chest. As he opened it, he received several slate messages.

You have completed the Inverted Tower Dungeon. You are awarded the following items.

Sandals of Water Walking: While wearing these sandals you can step upon the surface of water as if it were solid ground.

Belt of Strength: This belt grants the wearer two strength attribute points.

Black Weaver Netting: This net reduces the weight of anything caught within by fifty percent.

Deacon thought the items were neat but nothing special. They all went in his bag except the sandals. Right now he didn’t have a spare set of boots, and these would have to do. They looked like woven straw sandals and Deacon had no idea why anyone would enchant these for water walking.

The aberrant soul that was injected into the Dungeon Boss has been removed. Would you like to exit the dungeon and reset it to normal operation? Yes/No

Quickly selecting yes, Deacon found himself and his party standing outside the tree in a swirl of bright light. The webs that were covering the nearby area had all flaked away. Green leaves began to spread on the surrounding trees as the first rays of dawn peaked over the horizon.

“By the ten hells, can you please put some pants on?” Ralph said covering his eyes with one hand.

“You weren’t kidding. Not an ounce of fat on him,” Hani replied taking a step back.

“This happens often then. But why the sandals?” Tantus questioned.

“My boots got destroyed when I did that… I actually don’t know what that was. Hang on I’ve got slate messages,” Deacon replied as he dug a spare set of pants from his bag. He was happy to notice that the strap on the bag began to repair itself. Deacon turned his attention to his messages.

You have reached level 24; you have one undistributed attribute point.

You have created a Dimensional Viaduct between two planes of existence. This should not be possible on the Mortal Plane. Rule Breaker has activated… Within your soul Dimensional Viaducts can be created.

Trailblazer has added Dimensional Viaduct to your abilities.

New Ability learned: Dimensional Viaduct- A Dimensional Viaduct connects two separate dimensions and allows the energies of both to occupy the gap. Soul energy will be drained at ten percent a second to maintain the connection. At higher levels you will see reductions in soul energy drainage.

Soul Matrix Manipulation has increased to level five. Dimensional Viaduct is now a sub-ability of Soul Matrix Manipulation. Strengthen Soul Matrix Manipulation to get greater benefits from Dimensional Viaduct.

Unnamed connection between the Nether Plane and the Infernal Plane. Would you like to name it? Yes/No

Deacon’s mind was racing. He had created a link between two of this worlds hells. The cold of the Nether Plane and the fires of the Infernal Plane created a blistering hot steam connection. He chose yes and named it The Boiler Room. There were even more messages waiting as he snickered to himself internally before he noticed Ralph was snapping his fingers in front of his face.

“Are we going? You know we have other things to get to, right?” Ralph asked as several lights started to float into the clearing from all directions.

A shrub of green and yellow energy began to grow five feet from their location. It blossomed into a three foot tall Amaranthus poinsettia. The leaves were internally read with yellow highlights around the edges and tip. From beneath the foliage, outstepped a woman in a floral patterned dress with a long slit up the side that reached her hip exposing an exceptional amount of pale skin. The dress grew further up her waist splitting into a deep V-neck displaying ample cleavage. She had a long neck and a beautiful face. Her hair was green and draped across her face exposing only one silver eye. Flower petals swirled around her upon unseen gusts of wind.

All of this pageantry was undercut by her six inch diminutive stature. Deacon and his party just stood there uncomfortably waiting for the woman to speak. Then Ignis shot out of Tantus’s hair to float right in front of her.

“My queen. I found him and he managed to fix the dungeon. The spiders are gone!” Ignis announced getting a cheer from all the other wisps in attendance. Like that was a starters pistol, pixies, nymphs, and satyrs of all sizes and colors began dancing within the clearing of this dungeon tree.

Deacon and the others all stood back to back in anticipation of an attack that never came. That is when the queen of the Fae chose to speak. Her voice was soft as silk with only the slightest hint of seduction.

“Champion of Chimera, I Morgana, Queen of the Fae thank you for your service today. Not only did cleanse the rampant dungeon but you gifted our beloved Ignis with a title. That hasn’t happened to one of the fae in centuries. As such, I’ve increased your quest rewards,” spoke Morgana with an air of authority.

Quest Complete: Rally Round the Family- Ignis the Will-o-Wisp has asked for your help in dealing with a Rampant Dungeon that is ejecting monsters into the real world. Discover the source of the change and return the dungeon to normal function. Reward: Reputation increased with the Fae, Title upgrade, Ticket to the Centennial Games, Cats Grace.

Title Upgraded: Dungeon Bound II- While in a dungeon and equipping this title you can sense traps before they go off, find better loot, and can’t get lost. Now dungeon monster weak points will be highlighted in your vision.

New Ability gained: Cats Grace (Passive)- Land on your feet from falls up to twice your level in height.

“Ignis, what title did you get? Also what’s this about Centennial Games?” Deacon asked confused.

“I received a Dungeon Diver title. It grants one emergency escape upon entering any dungeon. It is really good.” Ignis answered while flying in a figure eight pattern in front of Deacon.

“We also got that title. Didn’t you?” Tantus asked looking curiously at Deacon.

“We’ll talk about that later. Excuse me, your majesty. What’s this about the Centennial Games?” Deacon questioned hoping to get a straight answer.

“You will be representing the Fae in this years Centennial Games. You come highly recommended by Finley the Teller. I dare say he downplayed your handsomeness though,” replied the queen as she was lifted up by a leaf to stoke Deacon’s exposed chest.

“Um… I’m not sure I completely understand. What are the games?” Deacon prodded, taking a step back to disconnect the queens hand from his chest.

“Oh poo. The games are typically a series of challenges set out by the heavens between the Mortal Plane and the Earth-bound Planes gifted. Those that walk the path of strife and conflict. The ones that have the greatest potential to leave a mark on the world,” explained the queen as the leaf brought her back under the canopy of the poinsettia.

“Wait, wouldn’t those from the Earth-bound plane be ascended? How is that fair?” Deacon asked looking perplexed.

“Not all residents of the higher planes are ascendants silly. They are just the children of those who may have ascended. Don’t worry there won’t be much of a level disparity. We have the utmost confidence your place well,” replied Queen Morgana as she walked backwards into the plant before disappearing.

That seemed to be the signal as all the other Fae creatures that just recently flooded the area all faded into the world like they were never there to begin with.

“Let’s head back. I think we’re done here,” spoke Ralph, iron grip on the hilt of his sword.