"Ropers?" Lily asked, recalling an anime she had watched where a girl was molested in the first episode by a roper while her companions watched like perverts. (First episode of Tower of Druaga: Aegis of Uruk, in case you're wondering.)

(I've seen that anime a few months back, loved it)

Ropers? Weren't that those creatures with the tentacles that disguised themselves as stalagmites and stalagmites? This was getting weirder and weirder. A Dragon? But this Eye Tyrant thing was beyond the Dragon and by the sounds of it no one made it past it so it may be the final monster or just the beginning of something else.

Her magic in the waking world dealt with luck and probability but here she had access to other magic, fire seemed to come to her but was there anything else?

Marson nodded. “Yes, Ropers. There are a few around and they can disguise themselves as stone stalagmites and stalactites. They can fire their tentacles forth and their touch with these tentacles sap away strength. There are a few around, thankful they are rare but powerful creatures.”

“We should rest and get a jump on things early on since we have the Tombs to explore.”

“I forgot that dwarfs had a vague sense of night and day while underground. I still say that you're making all this up.”

Slate gave Clyde a dirty look, Marson agreed with a grin. “I need not sleep as you do so I'll be up if there are any questions that are to be asked.”

"Sleep sounds good," Lily said. Of course, she had no intention of going to sleep since she was already asleep. A dream within a dream could only get worse.

She nods before searching out a place to rest wishing she had blankets at least. She had asumed that they would not have a dream within a dream but was not total certain.

There was nothing funny about sleep. When she woke it was to the aroma of sausage that Slate was frying up and willing to share. He was almost out of the fresh food that he scavenged though the food would do him little good if he did not consume it soon.

“Good morning,” Clyde was all set to go and armored up. Looking to Izumi then Lily he spoke. “Today we press forward into the Tombs.”

Lily woke up, surprised she had managed to fall asleep within a dream. She was sure by now she would be waking up for real. Of course, one look around her told her this was not the case. Maybe, just maybe, this was reality and not a dream? She shook her head, trying to clear away these doubts. She got up and stretched. When Clyde spoke to her, she nodded an affirmative before getting breakfast.

She ate in silence not really sure that she wanted to be here of all places but almost certain that one of the guests to the island was having a bit of fun. It was odd though that she could sleep. She felt refreshed too but it was almost as if she closed her eyes then opened them again, the “dream” she may have had did not happen leaving her to wonder about this.

As she nibbled upon the offered sausage she figured she knew what sort of place the Tombs were, a place full of the living dead had been her guess so she says nothing to the effect of going there or what that place had been like rather she studies Lily again as if trying to determine if she were part of this nightmare to or that she was part of her imagination.

Indeed the Tombs had been a section of the dungeon that had been full of the living dead as the girls would find out readily enough. The top layers of the Tombs had been full of simple skeletons and zombies, easy enough for them to deal with but as they delved deeper the challenges became greater. Ghouls, wights, wraiths … Slate had made dealing with the undead far easier though.

“Here's were it gets a little tricky,” Marson relaid as they cleared a room of a zombie chimera. Challenging but still nothing that a group of their size could not handle.

“Two paths that keep changing, one dead ends, one keeps going but it changes often enough by stone shaping magic I assume One way leads to a Lich who's place tend to be random; he can even counter spell magic.

“The other leads to a Vampire. Each creature is quite dangerous.”

As they delved deeper into the dungeon, Lily was starting to get used to fighting. It reminded her of an anime she had watched a week before going to Shokushu. Sword Art Online, where the characters are trapped in a video game. "I wonder..." she muttered as she studied her sword while Marson explained. She thought about a shield she could use. If this was truly a dream, she could control it. And much to her surprise, a shield appeared before her. It was a round shield made of bronze with a horrible face carved into the front: the face of Medusa herself. "Oh hey, it worked!" she said loudly out of excitement as she picked up the shield. She turned to Izume and grinned. "Do you know Greek mythology? This is Aegis," she said. Of course, that was a test to see if Izume was real or not. If she were a part of this dream, Greek mythology would obviously mean nothing to her. Though at the time she said it, Lily didn't even realize she was testing her companion or this reality.

“Hm, what is it?” Izumi looks seeing the shield. What was going on she had wondered though she gives a brief nod. “Oh, wasn't that Athena's shield? I know a bit about it of course, I still get mixed up with some of the little stories though all in all I know many of the bigger myths.”

She had considered carefully about what she could do, though at the moment she needed nothing things like food would not be an issue though she never had to consider food in a dream before.

(good anime too)

Lily concentrates and Aegir allows for the manifestation of the shield as he watches this event play out. He still wonders when, if ever he should reveal himself to her and Izumi. This had not been the first time that he encountered either after all though it was to torment Izumi in a prior dream.

But with Lily, she had been the first to spend a complete night with him. He had placed her on his list of favorites of course . Now they had a choice, they could split up but it was unlikely given how strong each monster had been.

“So anyone want to choose which way or should we just flip a coin?”

"Do we even have a coin to flip? Normally I can't ever find one when I need one," Lily said. She couldn't help but smile, finally glad to know that Izume was real. At least whatever was going on, she had a real person here she could trust.

Izumi studied both slopes. She felt the ominous feel of evil emanating from either direction so it did not matter. She wondered how long it took for the monsters to re-spawn here, which path would be safest to take.

She could not adjust the luck of Clyde, she needed eye contact for that though for the others she gave them a little something and asked for Clyde to remove his helmet before she would hit him with good fortunate as well so if anything dire was going to happen it was probably going to happen to her before anyone else.

“Alright, for the next twelve hours or so you should have good luck so I guess the path we take doesn't matter.”

“No, we don't have too. Left.” Slate marched ahead. “I dealt with the Vampire down that way before.”

“The walls of the passages shift constantly so you never know where you'll end up.”

They went left, good luck or not the passage ended up in a chamber both Marson and Slate had been familiar with.

“Vampires it is.” Slate grinned and as the continued they actually came across a village, subterranean buildings with individuals pouring out of them or in alleys, their eyes glowing red as they approached, the minions of the Vampire, Vampire Spawn and by the looks of it they were not about to let them get any further as Clyde orders everyone to get in a circle back to back Slate digs out hos holy symbol keeping some of the creatures at bay on his side of the circle at least for now ...