Dunar and Ahanu had returned from the outside the night before. The two wobbled on their feet and laughed a lot at each other''s jokes. Rainia shook her head and muttered something about her brother''s antics. Dunar explained to the Proven that he and Ahanu had visited several taverns and learned that it may be possible that adventurers are as high as floor 5 of the Wandering Spire. He didn''t give more information when he found his bed roll.


    The next day, Hannah promised the teams that their armor and shields were almost ready.


    "By lunchtime! You are gonna love it! Trust me," the stocky merchant said.


    The Proven and The Spirit Walkers had made separate camps. Habits were engrained, and adventurers typically camped within their groups. The two teams prepared breakfast and talked amongst themselves. Jeze and the Proven sat in a circle, ate hard cheese with bread, and drank Jeze''s recovery potion. Mikal examined each of their wounds and nodded with approval.


    "Berserker Orn and the Carls were not at the camp outside," Dunar said.


    "What does that mean?" Rolfe asked.


    Dunar pointed up.


    "They are on the second floor, ya?" Helga inquired.


    Dunar shook his head and replied, "Higher."


    Rolfe and Helga''s eyes went wide as they glanced at each other.


    Mikal leaned over and asked, "Did you get a bow?" The Healer always remembered the practical things.


    Ziplocke snickered as the mirth from Dunar''s face washed away, and the Leader nodded. He purchased two, one for himself and one for Helga.


    "I need to dust off my archery skills," the warrior maiden observed.


    "We have time today to practice," Dunar replied.


    Ahanu approached their camp. The dark-haired warrior with a caramel complexion wore a wide grin on his face.


    "Greetings, my Frostsworn friends!" He said.


    The Proven rose upon his approach with equally wide grins and warmth.


    "Oh? What''s this?" Helga asked.


    Ahanu produced from his weapons belt a Frostsworn battle axe with its curved blade and twine-wrapped handle.


    "I showed him the Frostsworn merchant," Dunar explained.


    "How many weapons do you carry?" Rolfe asked.


    "I like to have one for every occasion," Ahanu replied.


    "Do you know how to use that?" Helga asked.


    "I was hoping to find a teacher," Ahanu responded.


    All eyes turned to Jeze. She glared back and snapped, "Any of you can use battle axes!"


    Ahanu pouted, but there was a twinkle in his eye.


    Rolfe looked over the Spirit Walker Protector. He towered over the smaller man and asked, "You don''t have a spear."


    "I lost it when I threw it at a Hellbat. I killed it! But the body fell into lava along with my spear," Ahanu explained.


    Rolfe winced and rubbed the other man''s shoulder in understanding. Ahanu wiped his eyes.


    "I just haven''t gotten around to replacing my spear. I don''t think I''m ready to commit to a new one."


    "A good weapon is like a close friend. You both know each other well, but you will need to move on, ya?" Helga added.


    Ahanu looked up with a smile. "I am! With this," he replied and held up the Frostsworn battle axe.


    "Jeze, you have to show our new friend here how to fight with that," Helga ordered.


    The Scout glared at the others. She had plans for herself, but they did not include being a teacher.


    "I promise I won''t go too hard if we spar," Ahanu teased.


    That settled it for Jeze. She grabbed her axe and headed toward the Portal that led outside.


    "Where are you going?"


    "To purchase sparring gear. I will make you wish you never picked up a Frostsworn axe," Jeze promised.


    "Oooh!" Both Helga and Rolfe exclaimed.


    For the next few hours, everyone filled their downtime with skills training. Jeze beat Ahanu as if he owed her money. Helga and Dunar were also outside, and they dusted off their archery skills at a target range. Mikal exchanged Rune patterns with the Spirit Walker Rune casters. He was eager to learn the Vitality Spring spell. In exchange, he shared his advanced Life and Water aspect patterns with the other team.


    Helga and Rolfe exercised and lifted Stones for the first hour. The rest of their downtime they learned armorsmithing from Hannah. She improved their stitching and armor-repairing skills. In addition, she showed them how to tan hides. As promised, Hannah completed the work on their gear in four hours. For the Frostsworn round shields, she riveted the wood with the dark Hellhound hides. Hannah also replaced the central boss with Devil Steel, and she reinforced the edges of the shields with the metal.


    "These look fantastic!" Dunar observed.


    "Aye, and the weight feels the same," Ahanu said.


    The Spirit Walker Protector tested out his kite shield. Hannah had done the same thing for him as she did for the Proven.


    "I know my craft, and now to yer armor!" The merchant replied.


    Everyone tried on their armor and with a few adjustments with the straps, the armor fitted well. Helga held out her arms and spun around to show off the lamellar plates. She jingled as she moved.


    "Oh, ho! It feels great to be in full armor again!" Helga beamed.


    All the tears, rents, dents, and scratches were repaired. Jeze continued to be surprised at how well Hannah worked. Dunar paid the merchant, and after several hugs, the Proven and Spirit Walkers bid Hannah farewell.


    "Check your supplies and weapons. Proven! We march out in five," Dunar barked.


    Jeze and her team exited the portal to the outside and made their way through the enormous base camp. The sky was red, and the air was dry. Hundreds of merchants and adventurers roamed about the base of the enormous Wandering Spire. With the repurposed portals, a steady stream of goods came out of the tower that included monster hides, precious metals, and gems. Merchants from all over the world arrived at the camp to purchase the rare materials that had many applications, from crafting to enchanting.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Dunar led the team to a Diamond Bank branch. There were several scattered throughout the camp. Jeze heard that they were going to set up branches in the Safe Zones. The Proven deposited the money they earned from the Hellhound, and Hellbat hides. This included the gems they gathered from the Imps. Rainia and her team did the same. It only made sense to carry what was needed into the Wandering Spire. The Diamond Bank also provided papers of credit for adventurers to make transactions easier inside the Spire because carrying golden ducats could be cumbersome.


    After their business was completed the teams discovered that two more portals on the second level were repurposed. There were small lines to enter them at this time and Dunar wanted to review the updated maps before deciding which portal they should enter through.


    "Do we know where the Floor Portal is?" Jeze asked.


    Dunar shook his head. That has not yet been mapped out yet.


    "Was the Floor Guardian defeated?" Rolfe asked.


    "It is believed that teams of Adventurer-rank have already cleared the floor and are on the fourth and possibly fifth floors," Dunar answered.


    "Oh, ho! I wonder if it was Berserker Orn that cleared them," Helga chimed in.


    Ahanu and Rainia approached the Proven. The dark-haired man was holding a Communications Scroll.


    "We decided on where we are going. Perhaps our paths will cross again," Rainia said.


    "Aye," Dunar replied.


    Jeze and Rainia embraced while Ahanu shook hands with the others. Without wasting further time, the Spirit Walkers departed through the portal and returned to the second floor, where they fought off the swarm of Hellhounds. Dunar turned to his team.


    "Do we want to go back from where we came from? Or do we want to try the new portal?" He asked.


    "Which is the least explored?" Jeze asked.


    "The new ones," he answered.


    "I vote we take a new one," Rolfe said.


    "Aye, same here!" Helga exclaimed.


    Mikal crossed his arms and remained quiet. Dunar looked at Jeze.


    "Whichever one takes us closer to the third floor," the Scout replied.


    "Oh, ho! Three votes settles it. Let''s see where these new portals take us!" Helga cried.


    "Yay! Back into danger!" Ziplocke cheered.


    Dunar picked one of the two new portals that he felt would give them the best chances of finding the Floor Portal. The Proven waited as a stream of adventures exited the portal that was managed by a Guild perfunctory. To ensure that adventurers did not bump into each other through the portals, the official tossed a wooden card through the portal that indicated to the official on the opposite end that people were coming through or that the line ended. A wooden card thumped on the floor after the last group of adventurers ladened with monster hides came through.


    "Go through," the guild official said after he picked up the card.


    The Proven went through the portal and found themselves in another Safe Zone that was similar to the ones they were in before. It was a wide cavern with a high ceiling, jagged walls, and several exits that were guarded by a small army of Prospect-ranked adventurers. There were dozens of merchant stalls that provided much-needed services, from armor repair to medical supplies. In addition, there were many adventurer teams camped about the space, and more adventurer teams exited the Safe Zone through the many exits. Dunar studied his makeshift map and the long Communication Scroll that provided map updates of the second floor. Not every team had a cartographer, so the Communication Scroll was not updated accurately. However, Dunar selected a path that has not yet been mapped out. The team Leader rolled up his scrolls and ordered the team to move forward in formation toward one of the exits.


    To illuminate the dark tunnels, Jeze held her globe, and Helga and Mikal held glow sticks. The Proven traveled for hours through the winding tunnels that would occasionally pass through a wide-open cavern. They encountered other groups of adventurers and scavenger teams when they were near the Safe Zone, and that happened less often the further they traveled. In one cavern, a scavenger team was beset by Hellbats. The team appeared to be Prospect-ranked, and they were in trouble with two wounded and the other three desperately trying to fend off the frenzied Demons that smelled burnt flesh.


    "Do you want aid?" Dunar called out.


    "Yes!" One of the adventurers called back.


    "Of course we bloody do!" Another shouted.


    "Rude," Jeze muttered.


    The Proven quickly but carefully made their way through the winding lava streams and helped the team fight off the Hellbats. With their new fire-resistant equipment, the Proven made short work of the beasts. More were coming from above, and Fireballs splashed around them. Rolfe deflected a few with his reinforced shield.


    "I like Hannah''s work!" Rolfe roared.


    His arms were not burnt whenever he deflected a fireball attack. Helga and Dunar shot their bows. Their first shots were wide, but with practice, they were able to shoot down several Hellbats.


    "These are harder to hit than the targets," Dunar muttered.


    "I prefer to chop them up with my axe," Helga added.


    Mikal started to heal the wounded Scavenger team members and Jeze aided with the range attacks. The Scout had a grin on her face. She wanted to show off her new Rune ability, but it required focus, Will, and timing.


    When Jeze was confident, she said, "Watch this."


    The others glanced at her but returned their focus to the battle at hand. Helga and Dunar fired arrows, and Rolfe protected them from fireball attacks with his shield. Circling above them were six Hellbats. Dunar and Helga managed to strike one with arrows, and it flopped to the ground with a squishy thud. A large boulder whooshed overhead and splattered a Demon. The force of the attack was so fierce that the remaining Hellbats fled.


    Rolfe and Helga turned to Jeze with wide eyes.


    "That was incredible! Did you see that?" Rolfe exclaimed.


    "Oh, ho! Our little scout can do something big!" Helga cried.


    Jeze had to kneel from the exertion of the Rune spell, but she had a wide grin on her face. Mikal shook his head.


    "That is not sustainable," the Healer observed.


    "Knucklehead," Ziplocke snickered.


    Jeze scowled back at the two. She was happy with her performance. But, she had to reluctantly agree. The Boulder spell was still too difficult for her. It might be better that she practiced the spell more before using it in the field. Jeze conceded to herself, but she would never say that to Ziplocke and Mikal. Instead, she glared at them.


    "You have our thanks," the Leader of the Scavenger team said and offered a pouch of coins.


    Dunar waved it back and replied, "It is our duty, as Guild members, to support each other."


    "Fool!" Ziplocke hissed.


    The Proven continued on through the lava-filled cavern and needed to climb up a jagged rock face to exit through another tunnel that led to another maze of twisting passageways. The second level consisted of lava-filled caverns and twisting mazes of tunnels. For two days, the Proven marched on through, and they only encountered one other team. Only Initiate-ranked teams or higher would dare travel this far away from the Safe Zones. At noon on the second day they entered a large cavern where the walls were a deep indigo instead of the usual coal black.


    "This is odd," Mikal observed as he ran a hand along the stone.


    The others nodded in agreement. Jeze''s eyes widened, and she pointed.


    "The Floor Portal!" She cried.


    In the circular chamber, there were two portals that stood adjacent to each other. One was a deep indigo that led to the next level, and the other was green that led outside. In the center was the giant body of what appeared to be a winged lizard. Jeze paused when she saw a figure of a person who was kneeling by the indigo portal.


    "Hail adventurer!" Dunar called out.


    The stranger''s head snapped up. They wore a dark hood that obscured their face. They quickly returned to their work.


    "What are they doing?" Mikal wondered.


    Jeze narrowed her eyes and exclaimed, "They are working on the runes to the portal!"


    "To create a safe zone?" Helga said.


    Jeze had a bad feeling about this, and she shook her head. Before they could figure out what to do next, the stranger dove through the portal.


    "That was rude," Rolfe said.


    "Ya," Helga agreed.


    "Let''s be careful," Dunar ordered.


    The Proven made their way into the chamber and neared the giant corpse. It had a serpentine neck, wings, and clawed legs. The creature''s coal black eyes stared blankly and its tongue lolled out of its toothy maw.


    "Helldrake! You were fortunate it is dead!" Ziplocke shrieked.


    "That''s Berserker Orn''s symbol!" Rolfe exclaimed.


    A rune was etched into the creature''s scaled flesh. The Proven marveled at the wondrous beast that was larger than a grizzly bear. Jeze approached the shimmering Floor Portal. What did that stranger do? She wondered as she studied the Runes of the Threshold. They were clearly tampered with. Jeze froze as a head the size of her torso emerged from the portal. Its eyes glared at her, and its wide mouth opened to let loose a fearsome roar. It was a Helldrake. One that was alive, and the team had nowhere to run.


    "Proven!" Dunar called out. "Form up!"