Smugglers and Dungeons!

The fake Basila could sense that the real one was in the core room, but it didn't care. No, Icarus was stuffing himself with food.

Mana rich food.

The dungeon core marveled at the gluttony of horselords. Then it smirked.

Icarus wouldn't make a Lich. But a Boliarin was possible. It was the dungeons in his homeland which produced the most of those cursed creatures.

"Icarus," the stolen lips uttered. "Do you mind opening that door? It is just… I'm afraid of what's on the other side."

Now, the fake Basila thought that Basila was just a small girl. That she was there for decoration.

But Icarus thought otherwise.

Oh, the second Basila had started feeding him without feeding herself, he had known that something was off.

So, he had looked at his mana bar.

It was slowly filling up.

 He had eaten, and eaten, even when the meat had become so gross that he just wanted a slice of moldy bread instead.

But he had eaten.

Because he knew that something was wrong. Basila was acting strange. They were in a dungeon. Icarus was certain that should Basila get possessed, it was up to him to save her!

So, he went to the door and opened it.

He scanned what was on the other side.

There was lava on the floor. It was obvious that there was some sort of mana rich floor under it and that this was no lake.

Icarus took a pebble from the ground and threw it in the lava. It should be hardening, he thought to himself. After all, they weren't near a volcano.

It was unnatural. Mana rich.

The pebble exploded. Icarus looked at the ground.

Did that mean that water was dripping nearby?

He looked back at Basila. If that was her real body, could he risk her?

Could he risk hurting her just to free her? And even if he threw her in there, and the lava dealt with whatever was piggybacking on her back, would she be able to come back?

To him?

"Icarus, I'm scared!" The false dungeon core ran to Icarus and hugged his back. Rubbing her small chest against it.

Icarus resisted the urge to snort. The real Basila would never have done such a thing!

"Horselords first," she whispered, as she poked his arm. "Please, I'm scared, Icarus!"

Icarus sighed.

He would need to find a way to the other side. It was time he… started to hug the wall.

"Ok," he hated the fact that he didn't have enough training with his mana to make this easier on himself. But there was no telling if they were going to encounter any more mobs.

Unless the mobs could somehow survive living on a floor which was covered in lava. In which case, Icarus guessed, they were going to be hard to grill.

He didn't want to eat raw meat. The deworming potion tasted vile.

He began to walk like a crab near the wall, his fingers searching.

"Icarus? What are you doing?" Basila asked, but it wasn't Basila, of that much, Icarus was certain.

"There is a floor under that lava," he told the thief, as he continued to eye the wall.

There had to be something to give it away. Anything!

"Why should there be?" now the thief was just being nasty, Icarus thought. Oh, sure, he could try to climb the wall over the lava, but the heat was going to cook him alive.

He was probably going to be farmed for mana afterward.

But if the thief wanted to play with him, then Icarus was ready to play with it.

"That spell, Firestorm," he said. He could see a dent in the wall from the corner of his eyes. It could be something that had happened with time, he told himself.

But if it was a pressure point in the wall, he had to investigate!

The horselord slowly made his way towards it. Not giving away the fact that he had seen it.

"Yes? What about it?" Icarus cursed himself. He had taken too long to ask his question, and the ball was back in the thief's field.

But he could still salvage this!

"Well, can't you use it? I mean, can't you take away the heat from the lava, so it can turn into rocks?"

It was a good plan, Icarus told himself, as his fingers began to brush around the slight dent in the wall.

Waiting for the answer. The final proof that this was not Basila.

"What? Do you want me to bring the whole dungeon down on our heads?" Basila asked, huffing soon after.

Icarus smiled, placing his finger inside of the dent.

Something clicked.

He was running soon after.

As soon as he entered the chamber with the lava, he closed the door behind him.

The floor was warm, he could feel it.

"Strength buff activate!" He yelled. He could feel that magical strength entering his limbs once more.

He picked up the edges of a tile from the floor and lifted the whole tile high!

Then he stacked the tiles over the door like a barricade.

It had happened so fast that the fake Basila was still on the other side!

"Well," he could hear the voice of a crone. Icarus narrowed his eyes. He knew it! "There is no water or food in that chamber."

The strange creature gave out guttural laughter.

 Icarus looked around.

Wait… was the door the only entrance? Darn it all!

"And I can stay here until you die, boy!"

The laughter drowned out Icarus' thoughts. It was everything he could think about.

But then, he took a deep breath.

"Sure! But I have food and water," he lied. There was no way for the creature to know he was bluffing, though. Or so he hoped. "So, you might want to get yourself some eggs to sit on!"

As he heard the angry cursing from the other side, he looked down at the floor.

There was nothing under the tiles. Just darkness.

Icarus took in another deep breath as the creature began to batter at the door, cracking it with every strike.

He jumped down into the coldness…