“No, it isn’t, but . . . I don’t think it’s the alcohol that’s causing the smoke. You see that?” Lucas asked. “Look at that.” He pointed to the center of the flames, where the first bottle of liquor had burst open, and waited for them to catch on. It was only slightly noticeable at first, but the longer the flames burned, the more obvious it became: the dirt floor was slowly sinking. “It’s burning away the ground.”

“How the heck does dirt burn?” Nick asked, his voice muffled by the torn cloth.

“No, we only assumed that it was dirt.” Lucas grabbed Nick with his left hand and yanked the Mage back. “We’re walking on a hardened web disguised with a thin layer of dirt by whoever put this dungeon together.”

Lucas himself couldn’t believe it at first, but there was no way to deny it. One layer of web after the other was revealed as it was burned away, making it look like an abandoned hornet’s nest had been set ablaze. The edges of the hallway pulled back and crumbled, and then the middle followed suit. Finally, after a few more minutes, the floor where Bonnie had thrown her booze collapsed with a loud sucking sound, revealing a giant hole.

“What the hell made that?” Nick asked.

“Oh, no. Nope nope. Nope nope nope!” Bonnie began backing away, clearly panicked. “Let’s ditch this right now, boss. Stop staring at it and come on. There ain’t shame in running. I’ll give you a discount. I’ll call off the price for this whole mission. Let’s just get the hell out of here!”

“Ha!” Nick grinned, cackling to himself. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid, are you? Let’s go down there and kill everything. Let’s burn them to the ground! Screw that note! I say we make sure we burn the whole damn house down! A good flame’s beauty needs to be spread to whatever the hell that is!”

The only thing in the hole that was visible from where Nick and Lucas were standing was the thick spider webs denoting what was obviously a miniboss room. Lucas wasn’t a hundred percent sure why he even signed up with Xun Guan when she had laid out the plan for him to be a villain. He had done it so hesitantly, like he had been pushed into it. It was just like the days when Yu Hua would drag him from one dumb outdoor activity like hiking or fishing to the next, telling him he had to learn to enjoy the small stuff, to lie back, relax, have a picnic, and stop focusing on his work.