The walk through the dungeon was surprisingly… quiet. Barely any of the kobolds were actually this far back in the dungeon and the tunnels seemed to go on forever. That gave Artyom plenty of time to let his mind wander to what happened right after he got knocked out.


    Much to his chagrin, Artyom’s dream-state just before waking up was still a haze. He remembered getting several level ups and Skills, yet didn’t feel any stronger. There was some other System text afterwards that came off as more bureaucratic than rewarding, followed by the Skill that woke him up: [Emissary of Dharma].


    “The mapmaker mentioned having it, and how it canceled out all his other Skills. I’ll need to ask him for details about it once I’m done here,” thought Artyom to himself.


    It was only thanks to his spells that Artyom felt confident enough to focus on something other than his surroundings. Detect Life revealed every living creature within an incredibly wide range, making it easy to keep away from any traveling groups or lone scouts.


    Another spell, Lessened Footfall, muffled the sound of his steps by reducing the gravity and inertia of his feet… or something like that. Magic interacted strangely with physics, and none of the techies had bothered to figure out its actual effect. All Artyom knew was that it made him quiet without reducing his speed, which was more than enough.


    Enough so that when he encountered a lone kobold patrolling the same long tunnel, he was able to get past them without a hitch.


    Just before the kobold was about to turn the corner and see him, Artyom sped up his pace and turned towards the wall, climbing it up effortlessly. Of course, his supposed spider-like display didn’t last and he began to fall back. Thankfully the man from Earth grabbed onto a stalactite while his feet secured themselves on a pair of makeshift footholds on the ceiling, keeping him airborne long enough for the diminutive creature below to pass him, none the wiser.


    Artyom fell back to the ground in a way that would put a cat to shame, making not a single sound. He gave the creature a smile before turning around and continuing down his path.


    “What are the chances that one will turn back aground?” Artyom thought. “Maybe I should’ve killed ‘em instead?”


    In the end, the man from Earth decided not to. He was moving faster than the kobold anyway, and he could convince the creature to leave him alone if it came to it. Killing them would just create a mess that would get them all rushing after him.


    “Not to mention what those four said about this dungeon. If they wanted to kill me by sending me here, then it’s likely a lot more dangerous than they led on. Starting a big fight isn’t in my best interest.”


    Unlike with the Dark Lord’s war band.


    Artyom’s face froze as he remembered the destruction in Freeacres and the field of corpses he’d left in the aftermath.


    He couldn’t help but let out a mirthless chuckle at the irony of it. Literal monsters were less evil than some regular people here. Kobolds certainly didn’t relish committing war crimes. The only thing they were interested in was getting praise from their boss!


    Speaking of their boss, he wasn’t quite a kobold himself.


    From the many fantasy worlds Artyom and the members of TOAL had visited, the creatures would flock to whatever strongest monster tolerated their presence and looked sort of like them. Usually it would be some kind of draconid; wyverns, wyrms, and sometimes even dragons if they were willing to put up with the little goobers’ shenanigans.


    But according to that same collective experience, kobolds had never worked under a creature that looked like… that. Bipedal, stocky, and carrying a pickaxe. Was it some kind of dwarf-dragon hybrid? He doubted it, this thing was brand new. And it wanted to eat him.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    “If I encounter that thing, I doubt I’ll be able to trick my way out; I’ll have to fight it. But I can at least make it easier for myself.”


    Just as Artyom finished that thought, he reached a new room. While Detect Life highlighted a sizable crowd gathered around the center, it didn’t say anything about the layout of the room itself.


    Peeking inside, he saw a large space similar to the one he was captured in. It was essentially a fifty foot radius half-sphere filled with an array of rock formations, with a peculiar looking one at the very center. What looked like a pedestal stood in the very middle, surrounded by kobolds ambling about and chatting with each other or just playing, and a chunk of metal sitting on top.


    “Looks like the prison cells are at the very back, even past the treasure room. Score!”


    Artyom walked into the room with a smile on his face and his stealth spells deactivated, immediately getting the attention of all of the kobolds.


    They immediately jumped up and rushed towards him with weapons.


    “The prisoner is escaping!” a few of them shouted.


    “No I’m not,” replied Artyom. “The boss wants to eat me now so I’m going over to him.”


    The kobolds lost much of their zeal and began to lower their arms.


    “Really, now,” said one of the diminutive creatures, eyeing up Artyom. “Then which way are you going to take to get to him?”


    “I don’t know, I got lost. Can you show me?”


    “Oh sure, he’s down that corridor over there,” the same kobold said, pointing towards one of the tunnels that connected to the room. All suspicion had left him.


    “Thanks. Also, he wanted to take a look at the treasure to make sure it’s still safe. I’m sure if he sees it, he’ll say something about how great of a job you’ve all been doing!”


    “Really? Then take it!” shouted the kobold closest to the armor piece as he ran to grab it and bring it to Artyom.


    “Perfect, thanks. Also if you hear sounds of fighting, stay where you are instead of coming to help out. It’ll make your boss really angry if you leave your positions.”


    They all looked at him with wide eyes and nodded.


    “Alright, bye!” said Artyom as he walked to another exit.


    “Wait, you’re going the wrong way, that leads to a dead-end!” shouted one of the kobolds before Artyom could leave.


    The man from Earth swore to himself, but kept a smile on his face. “Oh whoops, thanks for catching that. No wonder I got lost in the first place.”


    He went down the “correct” tunnel and reactivated his stealth spells.


    “I guess I locked myself into this path by saying I was headed towards their boss, but it was the only story I could think of that would let me know where he is and to get the treasure. Maybe I can still sneak past him? If only there was some convenient path back to the entrance that only shows up after you get to the end, like that one game.”


    As Artyom was lost in thought, he heard a scream coming from a fork in the path just up ahead. The side-tunnel it came from was cramped, and after running over to it, Artyom had to bend over even further to see inside.


    A kobold was wildly swinging a pickaxe around at a giant centipede in a small cavern that opened up at the end of the tunnel. The giant insect remained several feet away, well out of reach of the frantic attacks, and just stared forward with dripping mandibles. It knew the kobold was tiring out and wouldn’t be able to keep swinging for longer.


    Automatically, Artyom channeled a Gravity Lance in his hand and aimed it at the centipede, but paused before he could throw it. Did he really want to save the enemy here? One less kobold meant one less potential foe when he fought their boss. But the continued screaming and a dead kobold would immediately put everyone on high alert, making it harder to sneak around.


    Artyom almost thought he felt even more relief than the kobold when the Gravity Lance connected with the giant centipede’s head and tore a hole right through its brain.


    The kobold kept swinging for several more seconds before they opened their eyes.


    “Huh? Wha- who are you?” they asked.


    “Just a prisoner heading over to the boss to be eaten,” said Artyom with a shrug.


    “I’ve never seen a prisoner do that before… you escaped, didn’t you?”


    Artyom charged up another Gravity Lance.


    “But the exit tunnel is guarded by the boss, and we have to go through his room if we want to truly escape.”


    “Hold on, we?” Artyom asked as he let the attack spell disperse.


    “That’s why I’m digging this tunnel,” said the kobold as they walked over to the end of the cavern and began to swing their pickaxe at it. “To make a new exit route for everyone so we can escape.”