“Ah, human Lux, you weren't joking, you truly are weak!” Novgar's deep laughter rumbled through the air. Lux rolled his eyes; Novgar had never learned to hold his tongue.

  When Novgar finally stopped his fit of laughter, he finished digging the hole for Lux, a smug expression etched on his face. Lux pushed past his disgust with a steadying breath. Monster core, monster core, monster core, it would be worth it.

  He approached the monster's head, closed his eyes, and plunged his hand into the opening. A slick, unpleasant warmth enveloped his fingers as he delved deeper into the brain. Every squelch and squish of the tissue made his stomach churn, and he had to stifle a gag.

  Lux had assumed finding a hard sphere amidst the mush would be straightforward, but he was mistaken. It felt like an eternity, though only a minute, searching through the spongy mass. When his fingertips finally grazed something solid, relief washed over him. He curled his fingers around the sphere and pulled. Along with the core came globs of brain matter and hot blood trailing down his arm. Lux looked away, trying not to retch.

  After a moment to compose himself, he shot a glare at Novgar, who was grinning widely. “Do you have a cloth or something?” Lux demanded, eager to rid himself of the goo.

  Novgar pointed to a patch of grass. “Wipe it on the ground.”

  Setting the monster core down, Lux dragged his hand through the grass, determined to clean off every last trace of gore. Once his hand was somewhat clean, he used the grass to scrub the sticky mess from the core. When he was done, a sparkling orange globe rested in his palm.

  Excitement surged through him at the sight of the orb. He wanted to ask Novgar what to do with it, but the green-skinned warrior was busy extracting something from another beast’s head. Lux chose to keep his questions to himself; there was no way he'd put his hand inside another one of those creatures.

  As Novgar and Silver continued their work, Lux's attention waned. Remembering the book he’d found earlier, he decided reading would be safer than extracting monster cores. He settled on a clean patch of grass.

  The golden book glittered in the sunlight. He inspected it thoroughly, but there was no title to be found. Curiosity piqued, he opened it to the first page.

  Blank. Page after page, the book was empty. What kind of book was this? With a sigh, he closed it, disappointed.

  He picked up the monster core again, rolling it between his palms. Watching the others had lost its appeal, so he started tossing the orb in the air, catching it each time. It became a game: higher and higher, testing how far he could push it before dropping it. On the eleventh throw, Novgar called out to him, breaking his concentration.

  The core, luckily, landed on his book instead of smacking him in the face. “Human Lux, come see this monster core!” Novgar was waving an especially large orb.

  Lux reached down to move the book off his lap, and froze. The orange core was vanishing into the golden book, his eyes widened. “No! My monster core!”

  Frantically, he tried to pry the sphere out, but the more he struggled, the faster it seeped into the pages. It was as if the book was determined to keep it.

  “Novgar, the book is eating my monster core!” Lux shouted. Novgar’s gaze snapped to the book, and the massive core in his hand slipped, rolling to the ground.

  Novgar stared, horrified. “Why would you open it here?”

  “Open what? I’m not opening anything! I just want my monster core back!” Lux pleaded, gesturing at the book. Novgar's expression turned frantic, and he charged toward Lux.

  Panicking, Lux leaped to his feet, letting the book fall. Instinctively, he bolted in the opposite direction. But Novgar adjusted his course, quickly closing the distance.

  “Don’t chase me! I’m sorry, okay? I won’t open any books again!” Lux shouted as Novgar caught up, scooping him up like a sack of flour. Novgar sprinted for the shelter of the trees surrounding the clearing.

  Lux’s head bounced as Novgar ran. Nausea came swiftly. He tried to steady himself by digging his fingers into Novgar's bulging arms, but the muscles were too thick to grasp, and the green skin was slick with sweat. Resigned, Lux flopped in Novgar’s grip, waiting for the world to stop tilting.

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  Beneath a massive tree trunk, Novgar set Lux down. Peering around the bark, Lux tried to discern what had prompted Novgar to run.

  He gaped. Monster cores were swirling around the book, being pulled from the scattered skulls of beasts, arcing through the air to orbit the book.

  The pace quickened. Cores zipped through the air with alarming speed, a storm of glittering projectiles. If Lux had stayed near the book, he would have been pummelled.

  Trembling, he watched as the book swallowed the cores one after another, gulping them down hungrily. Was he next? Lux glanced at Novgar, his stomach twisting. The book was consuming all the cores Novgar and Silver had worked so hard to collect.

  He decided to take his chances with the forest rather than this madness. Lux inched away from Novgar, moving quietly. Maybe he could make a run for it and reach a town on his own.

  He hadn’t gone five steps when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Lux spun around, staring straight into Silver’s icy eyes. The slim man squeezed, sharp pain shooting down Lux’s arm. Lux cried out involuntarily.

  “Human Lux, everything okay?” Novgar asked, approaching with suspicion etched on his face.

  Lux shook his head as if it might fall off. “Nope, just going to pee.” He tried to sound casual. “I have a nervous bladder, it’s a medical condition, had it since birth.” The excuses tumbled out.

  He looked from Novgar to Silver, waiting to see if either bought his story. Silver's eerie smile made his knees knock together, no way did Silver believe him. Luckily, Novgar seemed more trusting.

  “Oh, there's a good spot over there,” Novgar said, pointing to a bush. “Don't wander off once you're done, it's not safe for little humans here.” Satisfied, Novgar returned to watching the spectacle by the book.

  Silver released him, nodding towards the bush. Lux let out a nervous laugh. “I'm shy, so don’t watch.” Silver turned away, and Lux made his way to the tree, relieved that stress made him want to relive himself.

  Any thought of running vanished after bumping into Silver. He wouldn’t make it five meters past the terrifying man.

  Lux adjusted his clothes and trudged back to Novgar and Silver, silently praying for a miracle. None came.

  Back at Novgar’s side, Lux looked at the source of his woes, the book lying silent. No monster cores in sight. Lux tensed, bracing for the worst.

  He waited for Silver to retaliate. Surely, they would punish him for losing all those monster cores. But when nothing happened, when the silence dragged on, Lux slowly turned to face his fate. Neither man looked at him. Both were fixated on the book.

  Novgar broke the silence. “The little human is a Lucky Charm!” He declared, his eyes dancing with glee.

  “Mm.” Silver's gaze flicked to Lux, but his hum was noncommittal. Did that mean Lux was off the hook for the disaster?

  Novgar seemed to read his mind. “Little Lucky Charm, you found the dungeon!”

  He turned to Silver, excitement radiating from his entire being. “Novgar will keep the little human. Novgar has always wanted a Lucky Charm!” Lux's blood ran cold. He was positive Novgar’s idea of “keeping” him didn’t involve a safe city.

  Luckily, Silver shook his head. For once, Lux felt a shred of gratitude toward the enigmatic silver-haired man. Lux’s thoughts circled back to the book. “That’s a dungeon?”

  He'd heard of dungeons. When Mystic Beau opened, stories spread about them, places filled with monsters and treasure, the go-to for monster cores. If you could survive.

  Every race that entered Mystic Beau was drawn to these dungeons.

  Lux's eyes sparkled, almost matching Novgar’s, as he eyed the golden book. Five minutes passed in silence, the book dormant. Finally, Lux turned to his companions. “Um, are you sure that’s a dungeon?” The book looked nothing like the tales. No doors, no entrance. “Are you supposed to stand on it?”

  “Human, you say the funniest things.” Novgar erupted into laughter. “It’s not a dungeon yet. That paltry amount of monster cores wouldn’t have enough energy to activate it.” He scratched his chin, deep in thought.

  “It seems the information was accurate, Silver, there really was a dungeon book in the area. Pity we didn’t find the corpse of that person as well.” Novgar’s gaze locked onto Lux. “Human Lux, where did you find the book?”

  “Was there anything else in the crevice?” Novgar was practically bouncing.

  The truth was, Lux hadn't paid much attention when he woke up. He only noticed the golden book because it stood out so prominently. "Uh, I'm not sure," he admitted.

  Silver headed towards the crack in the ground where Lux had emerged earlier. Novgar gestured for Lux to follow, and soon all three of them were clustered around the narrow opening. Novgar was far too large to fit, and Silver wasn’t much better.

  “Little human, you go in and see if there's anything else inside,” Novgar commanded, indicating the crack. Lux instinctively recoiled.

  They had just been discussing a dead body. Lux wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he could guess what they expected him to find. There was no way he was crawling in there if it meant encountering a corpse.

  Silver, as expected, didn't give him a chance to bolt. He grabbed Lux and shoved him into the gap, positioning himself at the entrance to prevent any escape.

  Novgar's voice came through muffled by Silver's bulk. "Hurry, little Lucky Charm. We've already wasted too much time. All this blood will draw other monsters."

  That was all the motivation Lux needed. Faced with the choice between monsters or a harmless skeleton, he'd take the bones any day. He squirmed deeper into the crevice, this time keeping his eyes peeled for anything unusual.

  The further he wriggled in, the tighter the space became. Lux had to twist and squeeze himself forward. He was about to give up when he spotted a boot. "Ah, darn it, I was hoping nothing was in here."

  With some manoeuvring, he soon reached the boots… and the skeleton they belonged to, draped in tattered scraps of fabric.