The dungeon smelled like wet stone and something that might have been centuries-old death.
Alex pressed his back against the rough wall, trying to ignore how his new teenage heart was doing its best impression of a jackhammer. The corridor stretched ahead into flickering torchlight—all medieval stone and ominous shadows that definitely had "bad things happen here" vibes.
Behind them, the portal had sealed completely. No going back now.
Great. Just great.
"Stay close," Elena whispered, dark energy crackling around her fingertips like she was about to cast Avada Kedavra. "And try not to get us killed in the first five minutes."
"Why does everyone keep assuming I'm going to—"
"Because you're holding that sword like it personally offended you," Marcus interrupted, not unkindly.
Alex looked down at the weapon that had appeared from his storage ring. It felt completely wrong in his hands—too light, too sharp, too likely to result in him cutting off something important.
"I've never used a sword," he admitted. "Unless you count foam weapons at a Renaissance fair. Which was mostly just hitting my roommate while shouting 'Have at thee!' like an idiot."
Elena pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wonderful. We get the comedy relief."
"Hey, I made it through the fair without stabbing anyone," Alex protested. "That has to count for something."
"Does it though?" Elena muttered.
...
They made it exactly twenty-three minutes before meeting their first monster.
Alex knew it was exactly twenty-three minutes because his brain had apparently decided that timing their doom was somehow helpful. The skeleton warrior stepped out of an alcove with all the dramatic flair of a B-movie villain, complete with glowing red eyes and rusty chainmail that screamed "I've been waiting here for plot reasons."
"Oh, come on," Alex said. "A skeleton? Really? What's next, a zombie? Maybe a vampire with a bad Eastern European accent?"
"It's called undead," Lily whispered, consulting her glowing notebook like it might have a strategy guide. "Basic type. Level estimate... maybe three or four?"
"I've got this," Elena announced, raising her hands with the confidence of someone who'd definitely done this before.
Dark energy swirled around her fingers, forming into what looked like a bolt of pure shadow. Very impressive. Very fantasy-heroine-saves-the-day.
She fired it at the skeleton.
It hit center mass and... did absolutely nothing.
Elena stared at her hands like they'd personally betrayed her. "What? That should have—I don't understand—"
The skeleton charged with a grinding sound like coffee beans in a blender.
"Shit, shit, shit—" Elena backpedaled, still trying to figure out why her magic had decided to take a coffee break.
Marcus stepped forward, his war hammer appearing from nowhere with a weight that made the air whistle. "I got it!"
The hammer connected with the monster's ribcage. Bones flew everywhere like the world's most violent piñata, but the skeleton just kept coming, now with fifty percent more exposed spine action.
"It's not dead!" Lily called out, which seemed fairly obvious to Alex.
"The head!" Alex shouted suddenly, his brain doing that thing where random video game knowledge became life-saving advice. "Go for the head!"
Marcus paused mid-swing. "What?"
"Basic undead—I mean—" Alex waved his hands frantically. "It's like zombie movies, right? You gotta destroy the brain! Or where the brain used to be! The skull! The magic has to be centered somewhere!"
"How do you possibly know that?" Elena demanded, still backing away from the headless-but-not-harmless skeleton.
"World of Warcraft," Alex said honestly. "Also every zombie movie ever made. Plus basic logic—if you were going to animate a dead body, where would you put the control center?"
Marcus grinned like Alex had just solved world hunger. "I like this guy."
The next swing took the skeleton's head clean off. The body collapsed immediately, bones scattering across the stone floor with a sound like dropped chopsticks.
Elena stared at the remains, then at Alex. "That... actually worked."
"Sometimes the simple answer is the right answer," Alex said, then paused. "But seriously, why didn't your shadow magic work? You looked like you knew what you were doing."
Elena's expression shifted from impressed to confused to slightly annoyed. "I do know what I'm doing. Shadow magic should absolutely work on undead. It's like, basic magical theory. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
Lily was already kneeling by the scattered bones, her notebook out and glowing brighter. "Look at this. The bone structure—it's old, really old, but look at these markings."
She traced what looked like tiny carved symbols along the skeleton's ribs.
"Runes. This isn't natural undead. Someone made this. Like... magical clockwork. A training construct designed specifically for this trial."
Alex blinked. "So we're fighting magical robots instead of magical zombies."
"That's..." Marcus paused, considering. "Actually not that different when you think about it."
"Right?" Alex felt oddly vindicated. "Dead body plus magic equals problem, regardless of the specific magic type involved."
Elena looked like she wanted to argue with his logic but couldn't quite figure out how.
...
The first trap nearly killed Elena ten minutes later.
"Wait!" Alex threw out his arm, blocking her from taking another step. "Don't move."
Elena froze mid-stride, one foot hovering over what looked like perfectly normal stone floor. "What now?"
Alex pointed down. "Pressure plate. See how the stonework changes pattern right there? And those holes in the walls are way too regular to be natural wear."
To demonstrate his point, he picked up a piece of loose rubble and tossed it onto the suspicious section.
Immediately, darts shot out of the wall holes with enough force to punch through armor. They clattered to the floor as the trap reset itself with mechanical precision.
"Okay," Marcus said slowly. "That would have been extremely bad."
Elena stared at the darts, then at Alex. "How did you see that?"
"Structural analysis?" Alex shrugged. "In engineering school, they teach you to spot when something doesn't fit the pattern. Plus this is exactly the kind of trap you'd put in a tutorial dungeon—dangerous enough to teach respect, but with obvious tells if you know what to look for."
"You can see patterns," Elena said, and it wasn't a question. "Things that don't belong."
"I guess? It's just how my brain works. I see a system, I automatically start thinking about how it functions. Then I start thinking about how to optimize it." He paused. "Or how to break it."
Lily scribbled something in her notebook. "Pattern recognition at that level is actually quite rare. Most people see what they expect to see."
"Is it useful?" Alex asked.
"In a place designed to kill us with clever traps?" Marcus gestured at the dart-filled corridor ahead. "Yeah, I'd say it's pretty damn useful."
Elena didn't say anything, but Alex caught her studying him with a thoughtful expression as they carefully stepped around the pressure plate.
He wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
...
The corridor opened into a larger chamber with three doorways leading deeper into the dungeon.
"Choose your own adventure time," Marcus announced. "Anyone have preferences?"
Alex studied the three passages. Left sloped downward with a faint breeze—and something else. A sweet, cloying smell that made his stomach turn. Right was level but narrow, with scorch marks on the walls like someone had been playing with a flamethrower. Center was widest but felt... wrong somehow. Like walking into a spider web in the dark.
"Not left," Alex said immediately. "That smell? That's decomposition. Something died down there. Recently."
Lily wrinkled her nose. "Oh. Oh, that's horrible. You're absolutely right."
"Right passage," Elena declared. "Fire damage means previous combat, but whatever caused it is probably gone."
"Actually," Alex said, "fire damage might mean fire traps. Or fire monsters. Or fire monsters with fire traps."
"Well when you put it like that," Marcus said cheerfully, "they all sound terrible."
Alex's magical interface helpfully provided commentary:
*Team consensus: Nonexistent*
*Survival probability: Still terrible*
*Helpful suggestion: Stop overthinking and pick a direction*
"You know what?" Alex said. "Elena's right. If we're going to face something dangerous anyway, better to do it in a wide corridor than a narrow one. And maybe whatever killed the other guys left behind useful loot."
Elena blinked, clearly surprised he'd agreed with her.
"Plus," Alex continued, "if there are fire traps, at least we'll see them coming."
"See?" Marcus grinned. "Tactical thinking. I told you I liked this guy."
Elena looked like she wanted to say something but just nodded instead. "Right passage it is."
As they headed toward the scorched tunnel, Lily fell into step beside Alex.
"You deferred to Elena's expertise even though you disagreed with her reasoning," she said quietly.
"She knows more about combat than I do," Alex replied. "And she's clearly used to making decisions. Better to work with that than start a fight when we need to watch each other's backs."
"Most people would have argued."
"Most people don't need their teammates to keep them breathing."
Behind them, Alex caught Elena's slight smile.
Maybe this team thing had potential after all.
...
The scorched passage led to a circular chamber that looked like someone had used it for dragon barbecue practice.
Burn marks covered every surface in patterns that radiated outward from the center, where a crystal pedestal stood holding what looked like a small gem that pulsed with inner light.
"Loot!" Marcus said hopefully.
"Trap," Alex said at exactly the same time.
"Both," Lily corrected, consulting her ever-present notebook. "It's definitely a trial reward, but look at those burn patterns. Whatever was guarding this had serious firepower."
Elena studied the room carefully. "So where's the guardian?"
That's when magical circles started glowing all around the pedestal.
"Oh shit," Alex said with feeling. "Everyone back! Back to the entrance! Move!"
They scrambled backwards just as something materialized in the center of the room.
It looked like a knight made of living fire. Eight feet tall, radiating heat that made the air shimmer, carrying a sword that was literally a blade of pure flame.
When it turned its attention to them, Alex felt like he was standing too close to a bonfire.
"Fire elemental," Lily whispered, flipping frantically through her notebook. "High-level construct. We are so completely dead."
"Maybe not," Alex said, his brain shifting into engineering problem-solving mode. "Elena, can your shadow magic affect fire?"
"I... I don't know. I've never tried. After what happened with the skeleton—"
"Marcus, how heat-resistant is that hammer?"
"It's enchanted academy gear. Should handle most things."
"Lily, any support spells that might help?"
"I can cast barrier shields, but they won't hold long against that much thermal output."
Alex nodded, a plan forming in his mind. It was probably stupid. It was definitely dangerous.
But it might just work.
The fire elemental took a step toward them, leaving molten footprints in the stone.
"Okay," Alex said, gripping his useless sword tighter. "Here's what we're going to do. And Elena? This time, try to trust me.