The sky was dark and heavy, looking as though a powerful storm was about to explode at any moment. The clouds were so thick that barely any light was able to pass through, making the entire world look dim and eerie.

Just a short time ago, we’d come down some long stairs and had emerged into this new world. Everything felt just a little more tense, a little more dangerous. It made me even more aware of the fact that all I was wearing was a ragged robe and a pair of sandals.

“Where the hell are we?” I asked as I looked around, growing more apprehensive with every moment. I’d already felt like I was in over my head before, but now it was even worse. “Where are we even going, anyway?”

All I knew was that the group was on some kind of mission for the Wardens, but I still didn’t know what that mission was or why they were going deeper into the Labyrinth. I was just along for the ride, and it was far too late for me to turn around and try to find my own way out.

The others shared a look before Giles said, “Miss Donna has a right to know what she’s involved in.”

“No argument from me,” Pham agreed.

Lenore and Grayson merely nodded, apparently deciding that since the Wardens were willing to share, that was all there was to it. I was just happy that I was about to get some answers.

But before anyone could start to explain, there was an echoing thud off in the distance. It came again and again. The ground shook as something large and heavy seemed to be coming in our direction.

“Shit,” Lenore cursed. “It’s the fucking welcome party.”

Everyone turned to face the approaching threat, weapons drawn and ready. It took a few more seconds before the large figure was close enough to make out its shape in the dim light.

There was a single monster and it was massive, the size of a full-grown elephant, one of those big African ones. It looked a bit like a giant rhinoceros, but it’s body was covered with a glossy black shell that also made it resemble a beetle.

The monster let out a deep grunt before lowering its head so that the massive, four-foot-long horn was pointed forward, then it continued coming towards us.

“I don’t think my shield is going to stop that thing,” Grayson said.

“I might be able to do something about it,” Pham offered as he stepped forward and held out his hand.

A couple of Pham’s wind blades shot through the air, one after the other in rapid succession. They both hit the monster, but it didn’t even slow down, in spite of the fact that it now had deep gouges in its armored body.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Pham said with a grimace. He then fired his scepter, sending a blast of electricity towards the monster, but that didn’t seem to do much more than the wind blades had.

“MOVE,” Grayson ordered as the monster came at us.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me back and out of the way, then he lunged forward and slashed at the monster. His sword hit the shell and left a deep scratch, though it was shallower than what Pham’s attack had done.

The monster continued moving forward for a bit before it finally slowed and then began to turn around for another charge. It grunted again, somehow sounding annoyed.

“Ugly bastard,” I spat out. “Looks like a rhino must have fucked a bug to make this thing.”

“That’s quite the mental image,” Pham commented.

“But so fucking true,” Lenore added with a sharp laugh.

Giles activated his shield ability, creating a large shimmering dome around us all. The monster hit the dome and charged right through it, causing the bubble to shatter and vanish as it passed through.

The monster wasn’t coming at me directly, so I fired a ‘Hex’ at it as it charged passed again. This time, it nearly hit Grayson, though he leapt out of the way at the last second.

“No holding back this time, Miss Lenore,” Giles told the archer.

Lenore just scowled but nodded agreement. A moment later, she took aim and fired her arrow, though as soon as it left her bow, it seemed to split apart. Suddenly, six arrows flew through the air at the same time. Four of them struck the side the monster, though only one of them didn’t bounce right off.

“Quantity isn’t doing shit,” Lenore spat out. “I guess I’ll try quality.”

She concentrated for a moment and a new arrow formed in her hand, one that looked a little different than the previous ones that I’d seen. This arrow seemed to be made of a silver and golden metal. That arrow was quickly shot through the air until it struck the monster and sank in nearly halfway.

The monster let out a shrieking roar, now sounding pissed. It turned for another charge, though this time it came even faster. It looked like it was starting to take this whole thing seriously.

“Everyone, scatter,” Pham called out. “We’ll be less of a target of we’re spread out.”

“Or there are just more targets for that big rhino bug to come after,” I added.

Lenore fired another of her special arrows at the monster and it went in deep, just like the first one had. And though it seemed to hurt the monster a little, it didn’t hurt it nearly enough to make it stop.

“Maybe it’s time that YOU stop holding back,” Lenore snapped at Giles.

Giles nodded at that. “You’re right, Miss Lenore. It is about time for me to bring out my heavy gun.”

That got my attention since I hadn’t really seen Giles do anything other than that shield, at least not with his abilities. He stood back and held up his hands

My ‘Hex’ was nearly ready to be used again, so I prepared to do that while keeping an eye on Giles. The invoker stood there with his halberd slung over his shoulder while holding out one of his hands.

Suddenly, a massive column of flames erupted right where the monster was positioned. It went up at least thirty feet into the air, where it spun around like a flaming tornado for five long seconds before it abruptly vanished.

“Holy shit,” I blurted out in surprise. I stared at Giles and asked, “Is that what you got for not being able to lie?”

“No, Miss Donna,” he responded with a faint smile. “This is from a different contract, and the fire elemental I got it from doesn’t care about such rules.” Then he shook his head. “Unfortunately, I can only use this ability a limited number of times before I lose it.”

I stared at the rhino bug, which was still alive, though no longer charging forward. It was on the ground, it’s entire shell badly charred and cracking, but it was still trying to get up and move. I hit the thing with another ‘Hex’, just for good measure.

“Thanks for doing the heavy lifting this time,” Grayson called out, right before he rushed towards the monster and drove his sword into its eye, almost all the way up to the cross guard.

Lenore added another one of her golden arrows, right through the other eye. “Bullseye,” she called out smugly. “Right through the fucking eye.”

After this, the monster finally stopped moving and simply collapsed. We all stood back and watched it for a few a few seconds with Giles even poking at it with his halberd before we all agreed that it was indeed dead.

“Hey,” Pham called out. “I see a treasure box.”

I looked over and saw a wooden box off to the side, one which looked a lot like the box where I’d found all the food. However, when Pham opened this box, I saw that there was no food inside. Instead, there was a bracelet and a lump of glowing metal.

“We can get an artificer to look at this when we get back,” Pham said as he gestured to the bracelet. “And some unobtainium.”

“That will make a nice bonus,” Grayson commented.

I stared at the metal before Pham slipped it into his pack. Unobtainium. I’d heard of the stuff. It was one of the rare materials that could only be found inside the Labyrinth. Because it was so hard to get, it was pretty damn valuable.

I wanted that metal. Or more accurately, I wanted the payday that it would provide. I needed that money, especially since I didn’t have a single damn penny to my name. Once I got out of the Labyrinth, I’d need that money to help me start over.

For several long seconds, I just stood there, caught between the question of how I could get my hands on that unobtainium and the guilt I felt for even considering this. These guys had been good to me, and here I was, thinking of robbing them. I felt disgusted with myself.

“Hey, Donna,” Pham said, knocking me out of those thoughts.

It took me a moment to remember that he was talking to me. I was Donna now. I hadn’t really chosen that name, but I’d been stuck with it nonetheless.

“Yeah?” I asked a little sharply, feeling a little defensive after what I’d been considering. Did he know what I was thinking about?

“I was thinking about your sword,” Pham said.

He gestured to the sword in my hand. I hadn’t really even used it during that fight. It had just been dead weight, the same way it usually was. But admittedly, it was comforting dead weight.

“What about it?” I asked, a little confused.

“I don’t know if you’ve decided on how you want to approach your build,” Pham told me. “But I’ve seen the way you keep carrying that sword around.”

“It didn’t exactly come with a sheath,” I pointed out.

The shaper nodded at that. “I was thinking more along the lines of whether or not you really want to use it. If you want to really use that sword… If you wanted to become a well-rounded fighter, you’ll probably want to start slotting points into all of your physical stats. Strength, dexterity, agility, and vitality will all be useful for that. Your abilities will be just another weapon you can use.”

“Okay,” I responded thoughtfully. “But I think I heard an ‘or’ in there.”

Pham grinned. “OR,” he said, putting a little emphasis on the word, “you can lean into your abilities more and go the mage route.” He paused for a moment before adding, “And if you want to do that, you’ll probably want to get a staff.” He held up his staff for emphasis.

“And what does a staff do?” I asked curiously. Pham always had that staff with him, but I’d never seen him do anything obvious with it.

“That can depend a little on the staff and the player’s class,” Pham explained. “But for the most part, they’re batteries. You can store some of your energy during slow periods, then tap into it again when you’re in a fight. That could mean boosting the power of your ability, or just being able to use them more frequently. And a lot of staffs have other bonuses, like being able to increase your range or accuracy.”

“That sounds…promising,” I told him.

I’d never been very good at fighting up close and personal, and I didn’t see that really improving much just because I added a few stat points. And then, there was the fact that I kept remembering one particular fight where someone else had died. That memory was one that I’d never forget, no matter how much I wished I could.

I nodded thoughtfully since I’d already been leaning in that direction. Sure, being able to fight better would be useful, but what was the point of having magic if you couldn’t make the most of it?

“Thanks,” I told Pham, appreciating the advice. He’d definitely given me a bit more to think about when it came to my build.

“We should probably get going,” Grayson announced. “I don’t want to wait around until another of those monsters shows up.”

“Wow, Grayson has a good idea for once,” Lenore teased him.

Everyone quickly checked to make sure that they had their gear, then we began to move on. However, we hadn’t gone far at all before I heard another rumbling in the distance, one which sounded very much like the rhino bug.

“Shit,” I grumbled. “That does NOT sound good.”

“No shit,” Lenore responded, nervously looking towards the sound. “I recommend we pick up the pace immediately.”

“And I second that,” Grayson said, already picking up his own pace.