The Dungeon was breaking apart.

And we had an Elite Earth Golem in front of us.

"Port out!" I jammed my hand into my pocket to grab my return stone. Aelin pulled out hers, but as I pulled out mine, the Earth Golem reached us.

Getting hit by an elite hurt a lot more.

My dislocated shoulder popped back in as I crashed into the log building beside me.

"ATLAS!" Aelin started to run towards me.

"NO!" I coughed up a handful of black blood into my empty hands. I'd dropped my return stone.

The Earth Golem turned towards her. I didn't trust the large shirt she called a dress to protect her very much. My left arm was numb, but I could move it now. I touched my CB and pulled out my longsword that I'd just bought. It was only rare, but it was level four, provided two Magic, and used my Magic as the damage modifier.

"DASH!"

I swung as I moved, speeding back across the distance to hit the monster. Rix had soloed something similar a few days ago, so I should be able to finish this thing off and find my return stone.

'Should' being the emphasized word.

The blade bit into the side of the rock monster. It left a cut the size of my finger, but that was enough to grab its attention.

"Aelin! Use your stone!" I jumped backwards to get out of the way of another heavy swing.

"What about you?!?" The blonde backed away from where we were fighting.

I parried another swing, then twisted the blade under the Earth Golem's right arm to slice another gouge, this time across its waist.

"I dropped mine! I'll find it once I beat this thing!"

Despite the monster roars, Bandit screams, burning buildings, and collapsing Dungeon, I heard her sigh.

"MAGIC ARROWS"

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Aelin had her bow in her hand and was shooting magical arrows in rapid succession at the monster's head.

I was too low on mana to use another barrage, and only shooting a few shots wasn't going to get through this monster's hard skin. I backed up and reached into my CB for another item.

Rix had told me that I should keep a set of Elemental Powder on me in case I needed to change the element of my weapon. I took out an air one and poured it on the blade. The blue-black sword turned white, which I took as the element changed. I ran back at the monster that had turned its back on me.

This time, the slash cut open a gash that was almost three inches deep. The monster staggered as it tried to turn around. I blocked its swing, which was strong enough to knock me down to a knee, but it also sheered the fist clean off.

"I see the crystal!" Aelin hadn't let up firing.

I needed to give her time to crack the crystal, but seeing the cracks she'd already made in the head gave me an idea. I backed away from another swing and jumped, swinging overhead as I came down.

The Earth Golem's head didn't split completely in half, but it did crack enough for me to lodge my sword in its head. The monster fell forward, which meant on me.

It vanished to dust before we hit the ground, but I still landed on my back with a faceful of monster dust. I spread out my hands in relief, then started laughing when I realized that I'd almost landed on my return stone.

I put my sword away after Aelin helped me sit up. I looked at the blonde. "Ready?"

She was staring at her CB with her brow scrunched.

"What?" I craned my neck to see.

"That was an elite." The brown woman bit her lip. "I got a drop."

"That happens." Not all the time, but it did. That's why people liked to farm elites. They were weaker than boss monsters and could give out loot unlike a floor monster.

"Have you ever seen this?" She held out her arm to show me the item on the screen.

Lv 4 ???

Soulbound

My eyes widened. Soulbound meant she couldn't give it to anyone. She could never sell it or even let anyone else hold it.

"What kind of item is it?" The entire Dungeon shook, reminding us that we needed to get out.

"I don't know." Aelin whined. "I can't take it out of my CB!"

"Then that's a problem for another day." I held up my return stone. "Let's get out of here!"

The blonde nodded, then we rode the wave of motion sickness that dropped us in the water room in front of the entrance to the Pocket Dungeon.

"They're here!"

I couldn't pick out whose voice it was as I emptied my stomach in the corner. That was not something that I wanted to do again.

When I turned around, the mural was solid, and I was able to count Aelin, Oz, Ren, Jenne, Kara, Trok, Ella, and the three demi-humans.

"The slot is gone." Jenne kneeled in front of me. "What happened?"

I shook my head. There was a lot I needed to talk to Trent about. I just hoped Tophua made it out okay.

I stood up. "Come on. I'll tell you about it back at the house."

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