“Elle is my Soul Companion. I don’t think it would be easy for you to get something similar to her.” I said, Raven always wanted whatever was new, shiny or different from normal.

  “Shit,” She turned to look at Archibald, “How can I get one?”

  “You would need to recreate the same circumstances that the Reaper achieved.” Archibald said, “You need to find the Lucky Wheel prize room, have a gold prize key, a prize upgrade coin and then get the 1/300,000 jackpot reward of a new class ability.”

  I hadn't realised how lucky I was to have ended up with a prize like Elle. The circumstances had come together in my favour, and an Etheric Wisp seemed to be the perfect companion for me as a Soul Reaper. The fact that she could mimic some of my abilities was good since she’d be able to help with things like collecting souls or scouting; however, she’d said that she didn’t have any of my combat abilities, which meant I’d have to be careful about sending her into dangerous places alone. I wasn’t sure if she would die or if she’d just be unsummoned if she was reduced to 0 HP. I realised I needed to ask her more questions when we had a bit more free time.

  “Fuck. That’s not going to happen, not with my luck.” Raven grumbled.

  I turned to Elle as she waddled over to me, despite not actually needing to walk; it just added to her charm. Her duck form was unimaginably adorable, and I resisted the urge to pick her up and stroke her as I would a normal duck.

  “Luca?” Elle said, tilting her head as a dog would. “Who are they?” She waved a wing at my friends.

  “The woman who was talking is Raven, the Gnome in the plate armour next to her is Harold Shieldsworn.” Harold waved at Elle, “You have already met Clair, and this is Taylor of the Ice.” One by one, Elle quacked and nodded to them as I introduced everyone. “They are my friends and adventuring party; we have been together for about 8 years now, and I trust all of them.”

  I looked at my friends, I trusted each of them with my life, and I had not been let down once. There had been plenty of times when they had come through for me when I needed them. They’d saved my life more than a few times, supported me when I entered some wood carving competitions and even bailed me out of jail, that time my drink was spiked, and I urinated on the guard barracks. I had been part of other adventuring parties in the past, but there was always a contract involved since I was designated as a non-combat class. Most parties didn’t like taking along non-combatants on adventuring contracts, as most normal non-combatants were unable to look after themselves when a fight broke out. Harold and his guild, The Wanderers, were the only guild that would take a chance on me.

  “Everyone, this is Elle. As Clair said, she’s my Soul Companion.” I looked at Raven, “Raven, you can’t steal her as she has the use of most of my abilities.

  “I wasn’t even thinking about it,” Raven said unconvincingly.

  “When you say most of your abilities, how many of your abilities can she use? And does she still have the same restrictions as you?” Taylor asked.

  “Elle is classed as a utility companion, and I think she is limited by Reaper’s Purpose as well,” I replied, looking at Elle, who nodded in confirmation. “You can always ask her.”

  “Hmmmm, this could be interesting as it would increase our scouting abilities and potentially our combat ability if she can use Man on the Job’s shroud as you did with the minotaur,” Harold said, stroking his chin.

  “Well, then, I suggest you have a chat with Elle; she does have some shape-changing abilities that might be useful as well,” I said, finishing the drink Archibald had given me. “I’m going to get another drink.”

  I looked down at Elle, and she nodded at me before turning to face my friends. Instantly, Raven and Taylor began asking her rapid-fire questions. Taylor’s questions were about Etheric Wisps and her abilities; Raven’s questions were more like demands for cuddles and asking about other forms she could take. I smiled and walked back over to the bar. Archibald, the Dungeon architect, was sitting behind the bar, drawing on a piece of paper.

  “Sorry, just wait a moment, please. I just want to finish this design.” Archibald said without looking up.

  I craned my neck to see if I could make out what they were designing. They were scribbling furiously on the piece of paper, and I could only make out a few lines and circles before an intense pain blossomed in my head. I turned away and closed my eyes at the pain. I obviously wasn’t meant to understand whatever Archibald was doing. I had an idea and cast Identification on the piece of paper.

  Item: *%!@/]{“!

  Rarity: (*&$}[“

  Weight: *Error*

  Description: *Error**Error**Error**Error**Error**Error**Error*

  Requirements: (&￡^${}￡&!>

  The pain in my head exploded, and I must have lost consciousness for a few seconds because when I looked up, the piece of paper was gone, and Archibald was frowning at me.

  “That was not smart, Reaper.” Archibald scolded me. “Perhaps it is time for us to have that conversation while your companions are occupied.”

  I looked over at my friends to see that Taylor had their magical tools back out and was taking a few readings of Elle. Clair and Harold were talking to Elle, getting her to change into various forms, including some that I hadn’t taught her. Raven was shouting at the fight between Doug and Justin. I turned back to see that Arichabld had pulled out a tall glass filled with ice, various fruits and bottles of liquid as well. A knife appeared in their hand and they started rapidly cutting up the pieces of fruit.

  “Are the accords still upheld by the Reapers?” Archibald asked without looking up. I instantly felt all the hairs on my neck stand up at the very pointed question, which was like being asked by an assassin if you were their target.

  “It has been a long time since I have spoken to any of the elders, but I still uphold them,” I replied. “Including section 9,” I added quickly.

  “Please refresh my memory, what was section 9?”

  I gulped and began reciting section 9 of the accords like I had been taught all those years ago.

  “Places of power that exist on multiple planes of existence, such as Dungeons, temples and domains, are excluded from the practice of soul collection, with the exclusion of those found to be harbouring soul-stealing entities. Entities that enter a Dungeon of their own free will in search of rewards, prizes or deals forfeit their rights to have their soul collected and put to rest by a Soul Reaper.”

  “It is good that you uphold the accords,” Archibald said, nodded and stabbed the knife into the wooden bar counter. “I take it then that you are not here to take the souls that reside within the Dungeon.”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head and holding up my Soul Lanter so Archibald could see it. “My lantern is the storage vessel and lights up green when there are souls to collect. As you can see, it doesn’t detect any souls for collection.”

  “Hmmm, does that include the undead that you fought in Challenge 1?”

  “My soul lantern would have drawn them in if they were mine to reclaim. The ability that governs the soul lantern has the restriction Reaper’s Purpose, so it would follow the accords.” I shrugged, “If there were any in the skeletons, it would seem that they now belong to the Dungeon.”

  “Good,” Archibald said as he drew the knife out of the counter and went back to cutting up the fruit in front of them. “I have to admit the way that your party, as well as Simon Gale and his ilk, entered the Dungeon is highly unusual, but it has been a while since anyone has entered, and it was getting a little lonely, hence my side project,” they pointed towards the fighting pit. “But you have caused a bit of a stir.”

  “Please forgive us. I had not planned for things to turn out the way that they have.” I admitted, “I had intended to collect the necromancer’s soul before anything happened, but it just kind of spiralled out of control.”

  “Your intentions are irrelevant; what has happened has happened.” Archibald shook his head, “You are still young, Reaper, and actions have consequences.”

  I winced. This was not going as I had hoped. I was hoping that, due to the Dungeon levelling up, the architect might be a little more lenient; however, they had their own set of rules that they had to work to, just like I had Reaper’s Purpose restriction. I didn’t know the rules that a Dungeon had, but I knew that they wouldn’t favour me.

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  “You are hereby banned from the Spring Falls Challenge Dungeon,” Archibald said, and I felt a deep thrum of power reverberate. A notification popped up, and I felt my shoulders droop.

  You have been deemed a danger to the existence of the Spring Falls Challenge Dungeon and have been banned by the Dungeon Architect. You will be blocked from being able to enter the Dungeon at any entrance. Should you find yourself in the Dungeon, you will not receive any rewards and will be forced to exit the Dungeon.

  “That takes care of the punishment for your actions,” Archibald said, nodding in approval. “However, you have helped the Dungeon increase its level, and I know the Source would want to reward you for the gift you gave it.”

  “The gift?” I asked in confusion. Archibald opened their mouth to say something, but there was another thrum of power, and they closed their mouth.

  “It appears that it is not for you to know.” They said, frowning, “normally I would ask what you would like as a reward; however, your luck in the Reward Room means that any prize or gift I could offer would be so minor in comparison to the ability you gained that it would not be worth giving.”

  Archibald looked me up and down, I mean, really looked me up and down, like a chef inspecting a piece of fish to determine if it was fresh. I felt a touch uncomfortable for a few seconds before they looked up at my face and nodded.

  “I will stabilise some of the magic in the items you possess. It is unstable and will break down once you have finished your task.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Archibald ignored the question; instead, they raised a hand and aimed it towards me. The architect opened their mouth, and a series of sounds came out. It could have been chanting, but the language was unknown to me, and I didn’t understand anything that they were doing. A blue circle began to form around their outstretched hand, and lines began to fill in around the circle. It grew more and more complicated as circles appeared within the lines and larger lines formed outside of the circles. The entire process took a few minutes, and it was intimidating to stand there in front of Archibald as they worked, what could only have been Dungeon fuckery. When they finally stopped whatever noise was coming out of their mouth the circle shot forward at me at such speeds I didn’t have time to dodge. I closed my eyes and flinched, expecting to feel an effect or physical force as the magic hit me, but I didn’t feel anything. I slowly opened my eyes to see Archibald scooping up the chopped fruit and dropping them into the tall glass with ice. I looked down at my body, expecting to see that I was missing my trousers or shirt, but they were still there.

  “You have received your reward, Reaper,” Archibald said disinterestedly, “I do have some questions before you return to your companions.” I nodded, and they continued. “What exactly was wrong with challenge 10?"

  I winced again and realised that I winced a lot. I’d hoped that they had forgotten my earlier comment, but they were the Dungeon’s architect; of course, they wouldn’t forget something about the Dungeon’s design.

  "Well,” I said, shyly rubbing the back of my neck, “it was too long and tedious. There were too many storage boxes to go through; even for a full Dungeon raid party of 10, it might have been a bit faster if there were more of us, but we were only 2, and if it wasn’t for dumb luck, I’m not sure we would have solved some of those clues. Maybe have a smaller version of challenge number 10 so that if there is not a full party of 10, they can do that one.”

  Archibald stood there for a minute just staring at me without blinking. I was starting to get really nervous, as I had truly pissed off the architect by calling one of its designs shit, then suggesting that I could do it better. I was about to apologise when Archibald spoke up again.

  "I will review yours and your companions' attempts at challenge 10." Archibald nodded, "Are there any other suggestions that you would have for any other challenge?”

  “Err,” I stalled, “Not that I can think of?”

  “Very well, please take your drink and enjoy the final fight with your companions.”

  I felt like I was missing something or that I had angered Archibald, but when I tried to question them about it, they ignored my question as if I hadn’t said anything. I headed back over to my seat and found Elle sitting in it with a small plate of bread in front of her. I tilted my head as she smiled back up at me. I wondered how I could tell that Elle was smiling even though she still had a duck beak. I shook my head and picked up her and the plate. I sat down and put them both on my lap as the announcer started the next fight.

  “This next fight is the most anticipated fight of the season and our Grand Finale.” The announcer called, and they sounded very excited. “In the red armour, hailing from the other side of the continent and the most aggressive combatant we have ever had the pleasure of hosting here. Please put your hands together for Justin Piecessss!”

  The announcer drew out the skeleton’s surname for 5 seconds and added at least 3 extra syllables onto the end. A large, hulking skeleton entered from the left side of the arena. It had a long snout and a mouth filled with long, sharp fangs. Its head was elongated like that of a crocodile or a lizard folk, its body was thick, and in life would have been pure muscle. The skeleton had a long tail that dragged along the ground after the monster. It walked to the middle of the arena and took a defensive stance. When it stopped, the announcer continued.

  “In life, Justin was a dragonkin who, in life, enjoyed hunting and eviscerating any fool who would challenge his martial prowess. Justin’s use of their fists, claws and sharp teeth has given him the moniker ‘The Feral One’. Justin has survived the last 9 seasons in the Dungeon and only lost 4 matches during that whole time.”

  The announcer paused as Lady L wrote the odds for Justin on the board; they had 1/32 odds of winning the fight. I frowned as that was surprisingly low odds for a skeleton that looked so fearsome. I sensed that if I’d come across them in the Dungeon, it would have been a very close call. I wondered who their opponent would be since the odds were so low for Justin to win the fight.

  “In the blue armour, we have Doug the undefeated. Doug was originally an adventurer who lost their way and fell into the Spring Falls Dungeon. Doug has bargained with the Dungeon to allow it to hone his fighting prowess in return for promising their body to it after they die. Doug is the only living member of this fight club and is the current reigning champion.”

  A short elven man wearing a blue robe stepped into the arena. He had long flowing green hair with sharp blue eyes that seemed to take in everything before him. Doug’s robe covered him as a cleric’s robe would, but around their waist, they had a leather belt that held a sword and a sheath in place. The way Doug walked with confidence and didn’t bat an eye at the monstrous dragonkin in front of them told me far more than the announcer could ever. I looked up to see Lady L write Doug’s name on the gambling board and give them 1/2 odds of winning.

  “Will Justin be the first fighter to beat Doug? Will Doug manage to cling to their life? Betting is now open and will last for 2 minutes.”

  It seemed odd that an elf had given their soul to the Dungeon to stay as a fighter. I wondered why they had done so, but I felt a tapping on my arm, and I looked down to see Elle looking back up at me.

  “I think Doug is going to win.” She said.

  “I agree, for an elf to want to stay in a Dungeon to fight is odd, but I’ve heard of people staying in Dungeons for stranger reasons,” I said, shrugging.

  “Are you not going to gamble on the outcome?”

  “Gambling isn’t something that I’ve liked doing, and I don’t really see the point in gambling on this fight,” I said, shrugging. “Plus, I don’t really have any money on me to gamble; Raven won my last silver coin a few days ago.”

  “So you are broke?” Elle asked directly,

  “Yeah.” I smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of my neck.

  “The betting period is now over. Put your hands together and make some noise for this season’s grand finale.” The announcer said before taking a deep breath. “HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOO!”

  I blinked, and just like that, I missed the fight. Doug was standing over a pile of bones that was surrounded by scraps of red armour. I stared at the human in the pit for a second, still trying to work out what had happened.

  “There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, Doug is this season’s winner.” The announcer called. “Thank you for your patronage, and we wish you a good evening or a happy delve.”

  I watched as the elf walked out of the fighting pit, and Lady L wheeled the gambling board away.

  “Was that it?” Raven asked.

  “That was a mighty fine technique that Doug displayed,” Harold said, nodding.

  “Don’t act like you saw what he did. I didn’t see what Doug did, so how the hell would you?”

  “I don’t need to see if Doug eliminated his competition in under 1 second. How is that anything other than a fine fighting technique?” Harold asked, which seemed to make Raven mad.

  “You oaf, we both gambled on Justin to win, and he lost.”

  “Ahh, but I didn’t gamble everything on it,” Harold said, holding up a partially filled coin pouch. “I hope you did the same.” The look Raven gave him said that she hadn’t.

  “It’s your own fault, Raven,” Taylor said, “you saw the odds, and you took the risk. Don’t yell at Harold because you lost everything.”

  I looked around to see that Clair had gotten up at some point after I sat down and was at the bar talking to Archibald. I suddenly had an ominous feeling in my stomach as I saw them talking before Clair slammed her drink down on the bar, she turned and I saw a shocked look on her face.

  “We need to get going right NOW.” Clair called, “The necromancer left the Dungeon just before Harold and Raven entered the room.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Shit.”

  “Damn it.”

  “Anything you want in the bag, pass it to me,” I called as I put all my carving knives and blocks of wood back into my bag.

  I was passed numerous items over the course of a few seconds, and everything disappeared into my bag of holding. I still wasn’t used to having dimensional storage, but I was happy for the weight-reducing capabilities, as I knew that if it didn’t have any, I wouldn't be able to lift the bag. Harold had passed me a few pieces of metal armour and some swords that he wanted to either sell or use. Taylor only had her equipment that needed to go back into the bag, and Clair had already put her stuff in the bag earlier. Raven seemed to have an almost endless amount of junk that she had stolen from the Dungeon, and when I say junk, I mean junk. There were broken candles, books, tables, weapons, cooking ingredients, and she even passed me broken furniture that she said she’d find a use for, but other than firewood, I had no clue.

  “Right,” Harold said once we were all standing next to the exit to the Dungeon. “We don’t know what is out there, so prepare for an ambush.”

  We all nodded, and I cast Mage Armour on myself. I felt a few buffs from Taylor and Clair land on me, increasing my strength and dexterity, as well as a few resistances. Elle stood on my shoulder, still in her duck form, but I felt a change come over her. I looked over to see black robes forming around her. I nodded and activated Right Clothes for the Job as well. Then we all walked through the exit archway and left the Dungeon.

  You have received 1,800xp for completing the first 10 floors of the Spring Falls Challenge Dungeon.

  You have failed the quest Dungeon Spelunking. You have not completed all the levels in the Spring Falls Challenge Dungeon before leaving.

  You have left the Spring Falls Challenge Dungeon. You have been permanently banned from entering the Dungeon ever again. Thank you for visiting, and we hope to never see you again.