Author's Preface
The following morning, Ryan was woken by a loud knock on the door to his room. He jumped out of bed and stumbled to the door, his eyes barely open. He opened it to find Harken standing in the doorway, smiling.
"We have two dungeons in close proximity, both of the same level. Get dressed."
"Right now? Dude, the sun isn't even up yet."
"Exactly. We are wasting time having this discussion. Get dressed and meet me downstairs. I need a new spear quickly."
"Fine. I'll meet you downstairs."
Ryan slammed the door shut and sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes. He opened his stat screen.
[Mana reserves: 2950(3950)/∞]
"Shit, not today, Bubba. But hopefully in a few days we can do this evolve thing."
Ryan took three deep breaths, stood, put on his clothes and mask, and headed downstairs. In the lobby of the palace stood Zareth and Harken, along with Harken's troop. Six demons stood beside him in full armor. Only their eyes could be seen through their helmets, with their horns bursting through them. Two stood with crossbows in hand, two with shields, and two swordsmen. Ryan stepped beside Zareth and could hear the demons chattering.
"We really doing this against one tiny little man?"
"The commander said he has other beings he can summon."
"He's a summoner? I thought only elves could summon spirits?"
"I don't know, but the commander said if we lose, we're going to train so hard we'd wish we were dead."
Ryan smiled under his mask. "So, I'm here. Can we get going so I can get back and take a nap, please?"
"If you do not take this seriously, just give up and go fetch my new spear."
"Whoa, big guy. No one said I wasn't taking this seriously. I just need my beauty rest. These looks don't just come naturally!"
Zareth laughed and patted Harken on the back. "Come, let's head to the dungeons." He looked at Ryan. "Hope you don't mind. I decided to tag along to ensure the loser can't claim the other side cheated."
"Works for me. I wouldn't want him making excuses to his big brother."
Ryan followed the demons to a forest on the north side of the capital. They made their way through the dense trees until they came to an opening. Harken and his men stopped. He turned to Ryan.
"There are two dungeons, one there and one there." Harken pointed to the east and west sides of the clearing. "One is full of ogres, one is full of harpies. Both have the same reading, and we have classified both as B-class dungeons. Take your pick."
"Home team gets to decide, so by all means."
Harken looked at Zareth. "Home team?"
Zareth shrugged his shoulders.
Ryan sighed. "It means the choice belongs to you man."
Harken pointed to the east. "Very well, we choose the harpy dungeon."
Ryan stretched his arm in the air and yawned. "Okay, sounds good."
"Both of you stand at the entrance to the dungeon. When you see the fireball explode in the air, you may enter." A fireball appeared in Zareth's hand.
Ryan and Harken nodded and headed toward their respective dungeon entrances.
Harken stood and looked back at his men. "When that fireball explodes, we are rushing. No bullshit today. That ogre gate is basically an A-class dungeon. The victory is ours easily."
BOOM!
The fireball exploded. Harken turned and watched Ryan slowly walk into his dungeon. He gestured to his troop, and they all sprinted into the dungeon. Inside the dungeon, Harken and his men walked down the main path as quickly as possible without putting themselves in danger of an ambush.
"Shoot a fire arrow down that hall!" Harken yelled.
One of the crossbowmen gathered fire magic on the tip of his arrow and fired. The tunnel lit up, and the troop noticed harpies hanging from the ceiling.
"Open fire!" Harken barked.
The crossbowmen opened fire. The shield-bearers rushed forward as the swordsmen swung at any harpy who dodged the arrows and got close to the shields.
Harken screamed, "Duck!"
He swung his spear as an arc of aura left it and cut the remaining harpies clean in half. The shield-bearers and swordsmen stood. They continued the march toward the boss of the dungeon, clearing harpies as efficiently as they had before.
"When we get out of here, drinks and food are on me, boys. There's no way that boy is clearing an ogre nest faster than we are clearing this."
Harken and his team reached the door to the boss of the dungeon. His men were out of breath. They had pushed harder and faster than they normally ever had.
"Boss, we got here way faster than we normally would. Can we take a break for a minute?"
Harken looked back and saw the bodies of harpies littered on the ground, he smiled to his men. "You have all done well. Take a few minutes to rest and regain your composure. I doubt he's even halfway through his dungeon yet."
"How long have we been in here, do you think?"
"Not even half a day yet. The sun is probably not even high in the sky right now."
"This might be our fastest clear of a B-class yet."
Harken smiled as the men talked and caught their breath. Finally, he moved toward the door.
"Okay, let's finish this."
The men stood and got into formation. The shield demons pushed the door open and walked in first. A massive harpy hung from the stine ceiling with its wings wrapped around its body. The wings were purple and blue with massive claws on the edge of them and the feathers on its body were light blue. It opened its eyes and shrieked as it noticed the demons. With one flap of its wings, it sent a gust of wind toward them, strong enough to knock the shield-bearers down. Harken spun his spear as fast as he could and infused it with his demonic aura to dissipate the wind. He looked at his troops.
"Stand back. I'll finish this myself."
"The commander really wants to win this bet, huh?" One crossbow demon looked at a sword demon.
"I guess so. He never solos bosses. He always harps on teamwork and preparation for war."
The six men watched as Harken gathered his aura. Suddenly, Harken screamed as his aura exploded, and the figure of a massive ancient demon stood towering over him, holding a spear made entirely of Harken's aura. Harken moved his right foot back and bent his knees. He brought the spear back, and the demon created from his aura did exactly what he did. Harken thrust as hard as he could. From the tip of the aura demon's spear, a massive cone of black and red aura shot straight toward the harpy boss. A moment later, the harpy ceased to exist and a massive hole was left in the wall behind it, stretching well over a hundred feet through the stone.
Harken stood, breathing hard and deep. He looked back at his men and smiled. "I FUCKING DID IT! FINALLY! Now let's get out of here and end this bet."
His men cheered as the seven of them sprinted for the entrance. Harken raced out of the dungeon and sprinted toward Zareth, who stood in the middle of the clearing with his arms crossed. Harken stopped, his arms reaching his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. He finally slowed his breathing and stood. He looked at the sky. The sun was barely at its peak. He looked back at Zareth and smiled.
"That was the quickest dungeon we've ever raided. And I did it. I manifested the demon!"
Zareth put his hand on Harken's shoulder. "That's amazing. You've been working hard for years to do that. Congratulations."
Harken took a step back. "Your words and your tone do not match. What happened?"
Zareth pointed to a tree behind him. Harken looked and saw him. Ryan was slumped against a tree with his eyes closed, snoring.
"THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY! YOU'RE TELLING ME HE CLEARED IT FASTER THAN WE DID? HOW LONG?"
Zareth sighed. "Before the sun crossed over the canopy." Zareth pointed to the trees.
Harken's eyes went wide as he looked at Ryan again. Ryan woke to Harken's screaming and opened one eye.
"Took you long enough... little brother."
Harken threw his spear on the ground.
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