Mirna returned after a few minutes and whispered something in Silvana's ear.

—It's a nest of sewer snakes, there are probably twelve or fifteen of them, a couple of them seem to be Feral. Mirna counted about three nests.

—All right, go ahead. —Alex whispered.

The young Druid extended her staff through the opening in the rock and recited a few words in a strange language. The tip of the weapon lit up when the runes stopped moving and the young woman completed the last word of the spell.

—Sleep!

Some muffled murmurs came from the adjacent cavern and then all was silence. Mirna peeked through the hole and moved her ears in quick succession.

—Everything was clear. —Silvana translated with a smile.

The group of adventurers surrounded the column of rock and entered the room where the snake's nest was located. All of them were sleeping thanks to the Druid's spell. Dante was the last to enter, with his sword in one hand and a torch in the other.

—Are they all asleep? —asked the surprised young man.

—And for a long time. —Matilda reassured him. —Store the sword if you want, we won't use it here.

The young man looked at the snakes coiled together on the stone floor as if they were simple ropes thrown on an abandoned barn. —Silvana told me that The Order did not attack wild animals or other creatures that were not evil... I suppose that includes snakes, no matter how poisonous they are.

Silvana approached the young man with a nod. —The upper levels of the labyrinth that surrounds the citadel are full of wild animals that seek refuge and hunt among the ruins... they are not evil, it is simply their nature to defend their nests and mating territories from intruders.

—And we are those intruders. —said Rita as she approached one of the nests. —That's why we try to do as little damage as possible.

The woman took one of the eggs from the nest and left the rest untouched.

—We didn't depredate all the resources either. —Alex explained. —These eggs are ingredients for all kinds of potions and have a good resale value at the local market, but if we take them all, the snakes won't be able to reproduce and will eventually leave these ruins and the resource will be depleted. In this way we guarantee their survival.

The young man scratched his head. —That's... pretty impressive for a simple video game. —he recognized.

—Calypso is an extremely complex simulation. —replied Matilda. —And the environment is a very important part of it.

Not only were the eggs a desired haul, two of the snakes were stronger specimens than their congeners, as if they had more levels than the rest and the bright colors of their scales gave it away. Mirna carefully took one of them and used a small glass jar to collect the venom that flowed from the sleeping snake's open mouth.

—The serum is also important for neutralizing different types of venoms. —Alex explained. —and extracting it from a living snake gives it much stronger properties than if we extract it from the same snake already dead,

Once the adventurers had obtained everything they needed, they left the cave and went back into the labyrinth of tunnels that descended more and more into the bowels of those ancient ruins.

The heat increased as they descended as well as the humidity in the ground and the worn—out rock walls. Mirna had taken the lead as her keen sense of hearing allowed her to hear the presence of animals (and other creatures) before they perceived her presence. They had two more encounters with wild creatures (a few rats the size of medium—sized dogs and a couple of spiders the size of chickens) but Silvana quickly took it upon herself to knock them out without using the deadly weapons of the warriors.

Soon they left the caves and arrived at an area where the real labyrinth began; long corridors covered with gray stone slabs went deep into that citadel and in every corner there were evil creatures lurking, no longer merely simple wild animals, but wilder, bloodthirsty forms, possessed by an evil spirit that made the creature's eyes shine like blood with black vapor coming out from between the sharp fangs.

The first of these beings attacked them unexpectedly, falling down from a crack hidden in the stone ceiling. He fell in the middle of the group, scarcely two meters from where Dante was, who felt the rotten breath of the creature as soon as he looked at it with his eyes injected with blood. In the time that it took the young tactician to raise his sword, Minra's arrow had already extinguished one of his eyes in the midst of a violent explosion of black creature took a step backwards and when it was about to jump over its victim again, the heavy projectile of Rita's crossbow threw him backwards with such force that he was nailed to the rock wall, pierced from side to side by the metal bolt of the terrible weapon.

—It's yours, rookie. —said Matilda, sheathing her fine dueling sword. —It is time for you to unleash your steel...or iron, or whatever that thing you call a sword is made of.

The young man approached the creature and, using his two hands to throw a precise thrust, pierced the monster's chest where, he thought, the heart should be.

The sharp point of the sword penetrated without difficulty into the rotting flesh while the creature was violently agitated. Then it died.

—Not bad. —Alex said. —That was a monster five levels higher than you, should give you a good amount of experience points.

Indeed Dante felt his body glow and suddenly a notification on his user interface indicated that he had gained two full levels.

—I'm level three, apparently. —exclaimed the boy, easily drawing the sword from the creature's corpse.

—Excellent. —replied the young man in glasses. —Don't waste your skill points right now, wait until the session is over and then you can study at leisure how you want to develop your character... the options are almost unlimited, especially for a human.

Silvana approached with an expression of joy. —Congratulations Dante! —she exclaimed. —Soon you'll be a great warrior!

The young man scratched his head. —Thank you. —he said. —Although if it weren't for Minra and Rita, I'd be a mess now... What do you call that thing?

—Ghoul. —said Rita as she reloaded her crossbow. —It's like a zombie, but a little smarter; it can ambush and attack whenever it feels like it should.

From that moment on they had to be on guard continuously. Demonic dogs, ghost—like white spiders, huge black bats that threw themselves on their heads with terrifying screams... danger really lurked around every corner and Dante was grateful from the bottom of his heart to have so many good warriors at his side.

It was time for hand—to—hand weapons and Matilda's skill made her rapier become a thin silver line that cut through the enemies like tall grass cut by a sharp scythe.

Mirna and Rita attacked with their projectiles from the rear without rest, weakening the enemies so that when they arrived in front of Alex and Matilda's swords they could easily fall prey to their skills.

Only Dante and Silvana remained in the center of the formation, waiting for the combat to develop. The Druid did not have very effective spells against beings possessed by evil spirits, instead she used her magic to strengthen her companions, casting healing spells whenever necessary or hindering the advance of the enemies when there was danger that their number would collapse the defense of the two warriors.

In those corridors there were no plants or trees, just a little moss and lichen that crawled over the walls and entered every crack and crevice, extracting nutrients and moisture from the rock itself. Silvana could extract a little magic from those pale plants and use them to entangle the feet (and paws) of her enemies or to create slippery floors of moss to stop the charge of an attacker launched in full race.

Dante gained a new level of experience and began to feel a little more confident, however he did not disregard Alex's advice and remained in his position next to Silvana, ready to help with his battered sword in case something went terribly wrong.

After cleaning a room full of spiders, they discovered a chest hidden under a monstrous sticky cloth and after opening it they found a small round shield. Rita examined it to see if it had no curse on it and once satisfied passed it on to Dante. —Here is your first Upgrade. —she said.

The young man took the shield and equipped it in the corresponding box on his left arm, but to his frustration he felt the arm was heavy and it was difficult for him to move it while carrying that piece of equipment, he soon found out why. A sign appeared in front of his eyes informing him that he did not possess the necessary skill to use it and if he wanted to spend one of his newly earned points on learning it.

—Go ahead. —said Alex. —That little shield will do wonders for you in these enclosed spaces.

Dante used one of his skills points and immediately the shield became lighter and brighter. Now he could move his arm easily and wield the sword simultaneously.

That shield could not have come at a more opportune moment, since the next group of enemies that attacked them were Goblins armed with dangerous slingshots that threw stones at enormous speed. He had to get in front of Silvana and cover her with those dangerous projectiles, which earned him several stones in both legs and the arm of the sword, with the corresponding loss of a few points of life.

But he quickly learned the trajectory of those primitive projectiles and was able to stop most of them with his shield while the Voldorian archer annihilated the damned beasts one by one with her deadly arrows of dark green plumage.

Once the last Goblin had been dispatched, Alex called a halt and ordered everyone to gather in the center of the room.

—Good job. —He said once everyone reunited. We have made good progress and so far, everyone has behaved extraordinarily well. How are your wounds, Dante? —he asked, turning to the boy.

—Treated and recovering. —He showed the young man raising his right arm so that they could see the bandage that wrapped it from his elbow to the hand of the sword.

—Excellent. I'd like you to spend another point of skill in unlocking the branch corresponding to resistance, the first box will give you resistance to pain and a somewhat faster recovery rate than you have now.

—Understood. —replied Dante.

Alex turned to Rita. —How are we doing with the reserve of projectiles?

—I have enough. —replied the young woman. —And your Mirna?

—Nyan. —replied the cat girl, showing a quiver full of arrows.

—Silvana? How are you doing with your Mana reserves?

—Eighty percent of my reserve is intact and a little more than half of the load on my staff. —she said, wagging her tail.

—Matilda?

—Don't ask me, you can see it already. —said the swordswoman, pointing to the bar above her head. —I had to abuse the "Acceleration" skill a lot to get close enough to flank those little green pests before they could surround us... I only have twenty percent left.

Alex nodded gravely. —I'd rather you have your mana completely filled. —he said. —We have to prevent any eventuality.

The young swordswoman took out a small vial of crystals and looked at it in the light of the torches. —Do you think that the same thing will happen to me as it did to Rita and the others? —she asked.

—There's only one way to find out.

Matilda sighed and opened the little bottle and put the small crystal in her mouth. —Cross your fingers. —She said after swallowing it.

The other five members of the group held their breath as the bar of manna began to grow over the Windermere swordswoman's head... then she stopped exactly halfway.

—Shit! —she exclaimed, throwing the empty jar to the ground. —We're fucked!

Alex sat down on a rock and crossed his arms in thought. —Calm down. —he said, looking at the warrior. —Let's take it one step at a time... we know that this reduction in the effectiveness of the crystals is something that started recently and, for now, only happened in this place, right?

—Correct. —Rita said.

—It could be some kind of area Debuff, perhaps a new and powerful enemy has appeared in the ruins and this "condition" affects everyone who enters.

—It is possible. —said Matilda. —But something worries me; why doesn't the interface show any change in the states of our characters? Whenever there is an active area of effect it has to appear along with the other state changes.

The others looked confused, but Alex had already made a decision.

—We're leaving. —he said, standing up.

—Leaving? —But we haven't even gotten to where the monsters of our level are yet! —exclaimed Silvana, lowering her ears.

The young man with glasses shook his head. —It's very dangerous to keep going down without having enough mana reserves, besides... we have to think about Dante.

The young man scratched his head. —Don't worry about me. —He said. —I promise I won't bother you.

Matilda stepped forward and put her hand on the young man's shoulder. —Alex is right. —It's not just you, we're all at risk if there's something unknown down there. We need to gather some more information before we venture beyond the walls of the citadel.

Dante admitted that he was right. This was more than just a game and this Alex was leading his men with good sense, without exposing them to unnecessary danger and risk. —I understand. —he said. —A withdrawal now would be a wise decision.

—Well, start preparing for the return trip, you can use your crystals and potions to reinforce your characters if you wish.

As the others prepared, Alex began examining the bodies of the defeated Goblins while holding a strange, dark metal object in his right hand.

Dante approached intrigued. —What is it? —he asked, pointing to what Alex had in his hand.

—An extractor. —replied the young man in glasses, showing a black cylinder adorned with fine silver runes about four centimeters long by two centimeters in diameter. —Defeated enemies from level 10 onwards can have small particles of Quartz Fold in their bodies; this device allows me to extract them from their corpses. Watch.

He brought the device closer to the creature's belly and a small scarlet light illuminated the part of the metal cylinder that touched the dead Goblin's skin.

—Is this how you extract the crystals? —asked Dante, intrigued.

—They can also be mined from certain places, but they are forbidden territory for small clans like ours. —Alex replied. —Usually you get it as a "drop" from the creatures and you can refine it in an alchemist's still. All adventurers depend on this form of extraction to fuel the use of magic in their characters.

—The only exception is our friend Silvana. —said Rita pointing to the cat—girl. —She can passively extract mana directly from the plants and animals around her.

Dante looked at her in surprise. —Seriously? —Unbelievable! —he exclaimed.

The girl immediately blushed. —It's... it's a skill that all druids have. —he said.

—Don't be modest. —Matilda scolded her. —Your character is perfectly attuned to the biosphere of this planet, your regeneration of magic has no equal among all Calypso players, you should be more proud of your skills.

The young Druid seemed to shrink in on herself and Minra immediately approached her, glaring at the swordswoman as if to reproach her for her harsh words.

—In any case. —said Alex, trying to change the subject. —We learned a couple of interesting things today. We need to get back to the base as soon as possible to plan our next moves based on this new information.

Rita shook her head. —If this "Debuff" is a permanent thing, we'll have to give up using this site as a training zone... which leaves us back in the same place we were yesterday.

—What's going on? —Dante asked, looking at everyone's fallen faces. —Is something wrong?

—We'll tell you later. —said Alex. —Now we'd better get back as soon as possible. Is everyone ready?

The others nodded and Mirna immediately left the room to scan the road ahead and avoid ambushes. A few minutes later Matilda and the others left in the footsteps of the stealthy Voldor archer.

The route they took to the surface was different, as instead of going through the monster—filled caves to hunt and get money and loot, Alex took the main route, a paved tile road that climbed up to the entrance cavern and circled over itself, like a huge spiral ramp. Mirna was waiting for them at one of the exits of the maze that led to that route and waved them to approach in silence.

—What's going on, Mirna? —asked Matilda.

—Shouts. —replied the cat—girl shaking her ears. —And something big up there.

Now the screams were audible to everyone and Alex poked his head over a rock to see what was happening.

—De—Deculture! —he exclaimed.

—What's going on? —asked Silvana worriedly.

—A cave troll is chasing someone down the main road.

—It's a wizard... no, two wizards," said Mirna using her cat's eye to pierce the darkness. —Black tunics, red hexagonal emblem on the back...

—The Swarm. —said Rita, squeezing the handle of the crossbow. —What are those sons of bitches doing here? This area is not PvP.

Silvana peeked into the opening and peered over Alex's shoulder. —We have to help them. —She said.

—Are you crazy? —replied Matilda, turning around immediately. —Do you want to help a PK from the Swarm?

The druid bent her ears but nodded her head. —It is... it is our duty as members of The Order... to protect those who need it from the creatures of evil.

Rita put her hand to her face. —Tell me you're kidding... those Swarm bastards don't qualify as someone who deserves our help.

But Alex shook his head. —Silvana's right. —She said with resignation. —We can't let this go, if we do we won't be any better than those guys.

Dante watched the reaction of the others and knew that no one would question the man's decision. —How... How much bad news is that monster? —he asked.

—Very bad news. —said Rita. —They have complete resistance to normal weapons and can only be seriously damaged by fire or acid, spells that we are not very well provided with at this party.

—I can induce fire damage in my rapper. —said Matilda, drawing her weapon so everyone could see it. —But it's only a +3 modifier, it won't be enough to defeat a brute like that, what we need are battle wizards throwing continued to look at the scene without deciding to do anything. The monster was moving fast despite its size and the two men who escaped climbed laboriously up the rock spiral, it was evident that they were injured and could hardly walk leaning against the walls.

One of them stopped and turning toward the monster pointing at it with his finger. There was a spark and a line of fire shot from his hand into the chest of the huge troll, who continued to advance without even bothering to extinguish the small flames that were left burning in the rags that hung from his body.

—Flaming Dart. —said Alex. —It's a level one spell, they're completely out of mana.

The troll stopped and took a huge rock that protruded from the side of the ramp. Without even bothering to aim, he threw it forward where the wizards were escaping, who threw themselves to the ground to avoid being crushed like flies.

—Oh shit. —exclaimed Matilda.

The rock hit the tile ramp and caused part of it to collapse in the middle of a small earthquake. The wizards retreated in fear, now trapped between the abyss and the creature that was advancing towards them.

—If we are going to do something, we have to do it NOW. —exclaimed Dante, jumping out of hiding.

—Hey,—exclaimed Rita. —What do you think you're doing?

—Whatever I can. —replied the young man.

Dante stepped out onto the path followed by Alex and Matilda. —Tell me you have a plan. —said the young man with the glasses. —We can never defeat that monster in direct combat.

—Then let's push him into the abyss. —replied Dante, pointing to the well around which the path curled. —It's our only chance.

The monster was a few hundred meters ahead and above them, and luckily it had its back to them. The group ran something like half way without deciding exactly where to start. —Dante! —exclaimed the young man in glasses, stopping as he took refuge against the wall on his left. —We have to lure the monster's "Aggro" towards us, it's the only way to save those two.

—Aggro? —asked the young man, turning around.

—The monster's target. —said Matilda. —We have to draw its attention to us and make it forget the two wizards.

—Projectiles. —said Dante, but Mirna and Rita already knew what to do. They took position behind some rocks and pointed their weapons. —Ready! —exclaimed the latter.

—Silvana!

The young woman was startled to hear Dante shouting her name. —Yes?

—Can you grow moss on the troll's feet? We will try to make it slide into the abyss.

—Y—Yes! —she exclaimed.

—Wait for our signal, we'll try to get it as close to the edge of the road as possible. Come on!

The three warriors launched into the attack wielding their weapons, like little ants throwing themselves on an elephant that threatened to crush its nest with a stomp.

The Troll was huge, measuring more than three meters and its skin was made of a kind of leathery material, which looked more like ground up rock and glued together than a real living tissue, hence its name and what made it so dangerous.

The first to attack was Matilda. Using her special acceleration skill she threw herself perpendicularly to the legs of the Troll throwing a quick slash to the back of each knee while the tip of her thin sword shone with the magic of fire and left behind a spiral of black smoke.

The monster shouted and turned round to see his new enemies; at that very moment Alex and Dante attacked without mercy.

—Take this! —shouted the young tactician, throwing a diagonal slash at his left leg. The blade of the weapon bit into the gray skin and seemed to bounce off Dante, who unexpectedly received some of the energy back into his right arm, causing him to momentarily lose his balance. —Shit! —he exclaimed when he saw the troll stretching out its long hairy arm with the intention of punching its head off.

Fortunately, at that moment, Alex unloaded a precise thrust on the monster's right ankle, making it lean a little over the injured joint and slightly misplacing Dante's head, who saw the enormous claw of black nails pass just a few centimeters from his face.

It was the moment that both Mirna and Rita were waiting for. Now that the monster had turned around, they were able to shoot their projectiles into the face of the troll. The cat—girl's arrow tore off a piece of the hooked nose and bounced off to the side without causing any further damage, but Rita's heavy bolt shattered one of the troll's curved fangs and sank deeply into its drooling mouth.

—Retreat now, Dante! —shouted Alex, dodging another attack from the monster. —It will tear you to pieces with one blow!

By then Matilda had turned around and was attacking again from a different direction. She and Dante hit one of the sides of the Troll while it recovered its balance and prepared to defend itself from the three new enemies.

The magic sword of the young swordswoman not only cut the hard flesh, its red—hot point produced horrible burns that made the monster howl in pain with each thrust.

—Who has the aggro? —asked Dante, bouncing back as he pounded the hard flesh of the troll with his sword.

—Me! —shouted the Windermer swordsman jumping as the monster's arm passed underneath.

Dante attacked again and his sword finally slashed the creature's thigh area, but to his surprise the spurt of black blood that came out turned out to be a death trap. The black drops splashed on the hand that held the sword and began to burn it as if it were acid. The young man withdrew his hand as soon as possible but his life points were drastically reduced... only by a few drops of poisoned blood.

—Matilda! —Go to the edge, we'll try to knock him down together! —he shouted as he held his injured hand. —Silvana! —Ready?

—Ready!

Matilda jumped back and was right on the edge of the abyss as the rocks fell around her. The Troll launched a terrible scream and pounced on her.

—Now! —shouted Dante.

While Mirna shot a new arrow towards the troll's head destroying one of its ears (Rita was still reloading her crossbow) Silvana raised her staff while the runes started to dance around her. She fixed her sight on the ground in front of Matilda and uttered the words of the spell —Moss Carpet!

The cracked tiles just below the monster started to get wet as small green sprouts appeared between the cracks.

—Everyone push! —shouted Dante, throwing himself at the monster's legs with the shield facing forward. —Now or never!

Matilda activated her acceleration skill and threw herself headlong between the open legs of the Troll, who threw a terrible paw towards the warrior who, fortunately, had been fast enough to escape the deadly attack. At the precise moment when it slipped through the monster's legs, Alex and Dante threw themselves at full speed with the weight of their bodies against the troll's legs.

The blow was terrible, but Dante understood too late that something had not gone as he had planned.

—Oh shit! —The blood!

The poisonous blood of the troll flowed deeply from the cuts made by Alex (Matilda's sword burned and cauterized the wounds at the same time so the blood did not flow from them). That same blood fell on the floor slabs and had completely burned the thin layer of lichen and moss that Silvana had made appear between the stones. The troll's legs moved back a little because of the warriors' blow, but the powerful black claws of its feet stuck in the place and didn't move anymore.

—Retreat! —Retreat now imme—...!

The Troll turned around and launched a powerful perpendicular blow with the back of his arm, hitting first Alex and then Dante. The young man was able to cover himself with the shield of his left arm but it was a useless gesture. The small metal round was broken into two pieces by the terrible impact and the tactician flew backwards and fell among the rocks that had fallen from one of the walls due to the ferocity of the combat. His life bar was almost empty, with only a couple of points left.

—Dante! —shouted Silvana as she saw her friend fly away while Rita now fired her second shot, but the troll was already warned and used his own arm to cover the attack. The metal bolt stuck in the limb without producing any further damage. The monster then bent over Alex, who was lying injured on the side of the road and opened its hand, extending its huge black claws and pointed directly at the now defenseless warrior's exposed throat.

Dante opened his eyes and understood that they had failed. The first thing he saw was his sword hand, burnt and stained by black sores even releasing smoke... and a little closer, almost within reach of his burnt fingers, he saw a small brown lump, as if .

He opened his character's interface and as quickly as he could selected his remaining skill points and spent them all on a skill type he had considered secondary a few hours earlier.

"Enhanced Launch" reported the interface. "Base probability of success increased by 7%"

—Silvana! —she shouted, and in one movement he took it with his burned fist and stood up with difficulty. —Think quickly! —he shouted, throwing it in the direction of the gigantic Troll.

Silvana did not immediately see the small object that Dante had thrown, but she felt its power as a flash across the empty darkness. She raised the staff and pointing to where she calculated that it would fall, she recited her spell. —Spore bomb! —she shouted.

The little brown mushroom suddenly glowed and began to swell like a huge bag. The flash of light immediately caught the troll's attention but it was too late, when he looked up at that mass of fungal tissue half a meter in circumference and impacted his face fully, throwing millions of poisonous spores that stuck to his thick skin. —Get out of there everyone! —shouted Silvana! —It's going to explode!

Mirna knew that spell and was ready for the next step. She invoked a small spell and the tip of the arrow she had placed in her bow became incandescent. It was a small +1 bonus for fire, but enough to ignite that cloud of particles.

—Nya! —she exclaimed, releasing the arrow.

The explosion was terrible and luckily Matilda had already taken Alex out of the danger zone with the last vestiges of his already drained acceleration ability. The shockwave threw the Troll into the abyss and its cries were lost in the dark depths along with the dying echoes of the huge explosion.

—Healing! —Recited Silvana, approaching Dante, who had again fallen to his knees on the floor after the effort. His body shone and the few points of life increased enough so that the bar over his head became yellow. —Are you all right?

—Yes. —Thank you. —replied the boy, sitting on the floor. —The others?

—All alive. —replied Alex, still held tightly by Matilda. —Dante... I still can't believe we did such a crazy thing... How...?

But a sound interrupted them. The two wizards of the Swarm were still trying to escape. One of them took a run and jumped over the collapsed breach, landing right on the edge. After almost losing his balance, he grabbed hold of the rocks and climbed up to safety on the other side. His partner hesitated for a second, but when he saw Alex's group looking at them carefully he decided to jump as well.

He ran and jumped, but he was not as lucky as his partner or perhaps the injuries he received had impaired his agility. His legs touched the edge on the other side and the stones collapsed under the weight of his body. He managed to hold precariously on to a slab still firmly in place with his left hand and shouted for help to his companion

The other magician looked at him with contempt and fled along the way, leaving him to his fate before the amazed gazes of the members of The Order.

—That is the kind of players that are in The Swarm. —said Alex, pointing at the wretch who was falling to his death while he was casting a curse on his fellow traitor. —If it had been a PvP zone, his own partner would have thrown him in the pit just for the fun of it. —he said, shaking his head.

—The thought that we risked our lives for that shit makes me feel sick. —said Rita as she approached the group with Minra. —Luckily we're all okay.

They couldn't relax for long. Shouts from below made everyone turn around immediately. After a bend in the ramp they saw the light of several torches coming.

—Now what? —exclaimed Matilda but Alex stopped her with a gesture. —The empire. —he said, recognizing the white and gold glow of their armor.

They were a dozen warriors who were walking at a lively pace to where they were, Dante saw that many of them had dented armor and signs of having been in a heavy fight. Some even had stains of black blood still smoldering on some parts of their armor. So these guys had also been fighting that monster or one of the same kind.

The warriors were very well armed. Their armor, although quite battered by the battle, was of excellent quality. The swords and spears shone with a kind of halo that denoted their magical properties, they were definitely professional players and very well equipped to explore that area.

Who seemed to be the leader, a huge warrior equipped with a complete armor added to a huge metal shield that covered half of his body, went ahead of the group and stopped in front of Alex. —Where are the wizards of the Swarm? Where is the Cave Troll...?

—There! —shouted one of the explorers, pointing upwards. —I see one of them!

—Damn it. —exclaimed the man when he saw the crack in the road. —How did they escape?

Alex sighed. —At least one of them fell into the abyss along with the troll. —he said.

The huge warrior took off his helmet and looked at the small group in amazement. —Did you defeat the troll? Like hell!

—Barely. —replied Dante. —Who were those two wizards? Why were they chasing you?

—Barely. —replied Dante. —Who were those two wizards? Why were they chasing them?

The man grimaced. —What kind of stupid question is that? They were from the Swarm and we are The Empire; we chase and destroy that shit wherever it shows up. Did you hit your head or what?

Alex raised his hand. —Don't be mad at him, it's his first day at Calypso. —He said, trying to calm the man down. —We know exactly who you and the Swarm are, but it's not our business to get involved in your war.

The man looked at Dante gravely. —If it weren't for those black blood burns I would have found your lie comical. —he said, shaking his head. —But from the damage I see in all of you, you are obviously telling the truth. That means...

—Don't jump to conclusions," said Alex, immediately understanding the change in the warrior's attitude. —We are not on the side of The Swarm, killing that monster was our duty.

—These sons of bitches cast healing and reinforcement spells on the Troll while my men were attacking... I lost five warriors and during the battle we ran out of mana to revive them.

—You too...? —asked Silvana but Rita forced her to keep silent by putting her hand on the druid's shoulder.

—My magicians were able to change the aggro of the Troll with spells of confusion, but it was already too late for my men. Those sons of bitches fled like rats while we had to tend to the wounded, we lost two more by bleeding to death. —He exclaimed with visible rage. —And now you just let them get away like that. —How do you want me to take that attitude?

—Be glad the troll is dead. —said Matilda. —One way or another you would have had to face him.

—That doesn't change anything. —replied the man. —I am going to report this to my superiors and we will see how "neutral" our next meetings will be from now on. —he said as he put on his helmet again. —I see that the rookie has not yet joined his clan... explain to him that he still has a chance to run away and avoid the wrath of the Empire.

—Fuck you. —replied Dante.

The men of the Empire used several long spears and pieces of stone to build a precarious bridge over the gap (their armor was too heavy for them to jump) and crossed slowly under the watchful eyes of the man. Once all the men had crossed to the other side, they raised the bridge and left Alex's group looking disconsolately at the hole in the road.

—What a nice people. —said Dante scratching his head. —Well, shall we go back the long way?

—No way. —said Rita, tying a rope to one of her sleeves. —I've had enough of caves and monsters for today.

She fired the projectile which stuck hard into the rock on the roof and after checking that it was firmly embedded and would support her weight she used the rope to swing to the other side in one movement.

Matilda and Mirna simply jumped from the other side using their superhuman agility, but Alex, Dante and Silvana had to use Rita's rope to get safely to the other side since, at least in the case of the warriors, the wounds had greatly reduced their agility and movements.

I am proud of all of you. —said Alex once they were all safe on the other side. Today we have done feats worthy of being told in song. I'm sure we have a bright future ahead of us if we stick together like this to face all the difficulties.

Silvana approached Dante and smiled at him. —So... Do you want to join The Order? —she asked.

—Silvana..." Matilda reproached her but the young tactician started to laugh as he raised his sword and the remains of his shield so that everyone could see the calamitous state they were in. —And where else could I repair these things for free? —he said with laughter. —Whether you like it or not, I'm up to my neck in whatever happened back there, so count me in. —he said.

—Welcome to The Order. —said Alex, holding out his open hand. —I have to say you've made a good impression on all of us. —he added.

The others approached and patted their new member on the back while Silvana wagged her tail excitedly. —I'm going to prepare a special dish to celebrate this victory. —she said.

—A celebration banquet? —asked Rita crossing her arms. —I think it's an excellent idea.

—Nyan! —exclaimed Mirna, waving her ears.

Matilda approached the young druid and pointed to her. —I know what kind of dish this young man would like. —She said turning to Dante.

—Really? Oh...let me guess... Something with mushrooms?

All of them burst out laughing and laughter rose through the abyss, bouncing and echoing among the rock walls until they reached the place where the men of the Empire were, who turned their heads without knowing why there was so much joy from the bottom of the well.

But laughter also reached higher up, to a hidden crack in the wall where a mysterious figure in a faded robe had observed the whole battle. The stranger's eyes shone and he immediately disappeared into the shadows.