Alex decided he liked the obvious trap-tunnel.

For one, it smelled a hell of a lot better than the boil-ridden hell that had been the first room they arrived in. He also appreciated the fact that he wasn’t stepping in disgusting black fluid constantly.

A small part of him felt a little bad at the dirt he’d tracked along the red rug that the Ancestry had so kindly laid out for them. Then again, the Ancestry had also been the one to get his shoes dirty, so this was really on the dungeon.

The rest of him was a little more surprised that nothing had happened yet. Even though they’d been walking through the incredibly obvious trap for several minutes now, there hadn’t been a single sign of anything actually dangerous. It was just a hallway.

But, finally, they turned a bend.

Alex came to a stop.

The hallway fed into an enormous court room. Empty stands lined either side of the large hall, and there was a raised dais directly in front of them that sat before a huge podium. And when Alex said huge, he meant it.

It was easily ten times as large as any human ever could have needed. That, Alex suspected, was due to the giant sitting just behind the podium, huge fingers interlaced and hands resting against the stand before it.

Ancient robes draped down the giant’s back. Even sitting, the giant was nearly thirty feet tall. There was an eager grin upon his gray face, revealing rows of rotted teeth. The huge monster was practically twitching with anticipation.

Above the giant’s head, words shimmered to being in flowing crimson script.

Shawn, the Arbiter (Expert 1)

Alyssa and Claire came to a stop alongside Alex. The three of them stared into the massive room before them and up at the giant.

His eyes, two beady black irises in seas of sickly parchment yellow, were affixed right on them. The giant had definitely seen them.

“Uh…” Alyssa whispered. “Can we turn around? That’s a Expert Tier monster. Expert comes after Adept, doesn’t it? That means it’s like ten levels up on all of us. There’s no way we can fight that. I think we fucked up. We need the rest of the family to take something like this.”

“No way,” Alex said. He squinted into the room for a moment, then shook his head. Something was off about this. The giant had a name. It wasn’t just some random monster… and that meant it could be reasoned with. “This isn’t a fight. Look at it. He’s waiting for us. There’s some other kind of challenge.”

“Are you kidding?” Alyssa hissed. “You think it’s not going to attack us just because there’s a podium in the way? It’s at the Expert Stage!”

“He,” Alex corrected. “Shawn has a name. If he was going to attack, he could do it now. He’s waiting.”

“He can’t fit in the tunnel. Of course he isn’t attacking yet,” Alyssa said. “And what part of that thing looks polite?”

“The smile?”

“That is a leer,” Alyssa said. “It is going to eat us.”

“Not with those teeth. They’d probably break if he chewed anything other than soup,” Claire said.

“Not you too,” Alyssa said, glaring at Claire.

“He does look polite,” Claire said. “Just because someone has bad teeth doesn’t mean they’re going to try to murder you.”

“Yeah,” Alex said with a nod. “They’re just slightly more likely to murder you.”

“They are?” Alyssa asked, blinking.

“Yeah. You ever hear of the British?”

“Oh,” Alyssa said. “Yeah. Fair point. I — wait. Stop that. There is a literal Giant leering at us. It’s not some British guy.”

“Which is a good thing,” Alex said. “That means he’s less likely to try and stab us.”

“What is… British?” Claire asked, testing the word out with a frown. “I don’t understand it.”

“A group of people very good at stabbing things,” Alex said.

“Can we please stay on topic?” Alyssa hissed. She glanced back to the giant, who was still watching them with his toothy grin. “Are you absolutely certain it’s not going to try and kill us?”

“Well… it’ll probably do a mock court thing or something,” Alex said. “That’s totally the theme of the room, right?”

“I think you’re reading too much into this,” Alyssa said. “I don’t think the System is just making themed rooms. This isn’t a circus. It’s a grave. Everything here wants to kill us. There’s no way there’s just a room with a random friendly giant in it.”

“Hey. I never said he was friendly,” Alex said defensively. “We’ll probably have to have some kind of debate with him. You know. Outwit him. And if we do, we get a prize.”

Alyssa sent a flat stare at him.

“That does seem a bit far-reached,” Claire admitted. “What are you basing this off?”

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“A lot of shitty webnovels,” Alex replied. “Are we really just going to turn around and leave after coming all this way? Even if it is a fight… we’re almost Adept Tier. It’s three on one. We’ve had worse odds.”

“What the hell kind of fights are you getting into?” Alyssa asked, aghast. “Those are horrible odds!”

“I vote we go in,” Alex said.

“Me too,” Claire said. “I don’t know if Alex is right, but there’s no way I’m turning around here. The System doesn’t reward people that don’t push themselves. We can always try to run if things go south.”

“Realistically, everything in this Dungeon is going to be dangerous,” Alex said with a nod. “And who knows when we’ll group back up with the coalition. We might not get many chances to get something good ourselves.”

The giant nodded eagerly.

Alyssa thrust a finger at it.

“You saw that, right? It wants you to come in!”

“I mean, I want to go in too,” Alex said. “Seems like we’re aligned.”

“Might as well try,” Claire said. “It’s three versus one.”

Alyssa threw her hands up. “One of you is on the other side! And two of you are dating! This isn’t fair at all!”

“Damn. That sucks,” Alex said. “So we’re going in, right?”

The painter heaved a sigh. “If I die, I’m haunting the fucking shit out of you. I’ll never let you screw in peace, you hear me? I’ll be there every single time you even send a steamy look at each other.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be dead too,” Alex said, giving her a thumbs up.

Then he stepped into the room.

Claire followed after him, and Alyssa joined them an instant later, clutching her paintbrush before her defensively as her eyes darted warily.

The instant all three of them had entered the room, the Giant straightened up. Delight flashed within his beady eyes and his grin grew even wider.

“Welcome to the Great Trial, grave robbers! You have come a great distance and battled through legions of obstacles, all to arrive in this place. All to stand before me. I commend you for making it so deep into the Ancestry of the Rotkeeper.”

The three of them exchanged a glance.

“Uh… we’ve only gone through like one room,” Alex said.

The giant stared at Alex for a moment. “You have? Really?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “The one with all the flesh and bone trees. With the gross red pustules.”

“The rot fields? They’re at the outside of the Ancestry. You shouldn’t be here yet.” Shawn scratched at his head as a perplexed frown crossed his features. “I — wait. Did you find the service entrance?”

“The what?” Claire asked.

“The service entrance,” Shawn repeated. He pinched his nose between two fingers. “The one that’s enchanted to prevent anyone from spotting it. Are you telling me you didn’t battle through legions of Rotlings to get here?”

“We followed a rug,” Alex said. “It was a nice rug.”

“Fuck me,” Shawn said, letting out a groan and slumping in his chair. “Well, this ruins everything, doesn’t it? The gravitas is gone.”

“Sorry,” Alyssa said. “We’ll be leaving, then. No need to ruin—”

Claire caught Alyssa by the collar, stopping her before she could turn and make a run for it.

“Why do you have a service entrance that leads right to the main entrance?” Alex asked.

“Because Ancestries have to be upkept,” Shawn replied with a shake of his head. “The System holds little care for the whims of the living, much less the dead. The rooms in this place are connected through magic. There are a number of ways you could have arrived here. All but one should have ensured you actually deserved to stand before me.”

“Who exactly are you?” Claire asked. “Are you saying the System didn’t put you here?”

“Of course not,” Shawn replied. Respect welled within his eyes as the huge giant rose to stand nearly fifty feet tall, looming above them like an enormous building as reverence entered his voice. “I stand watch for the sake of my Master. I — and all the other servants that remain within this place — swore to guard his remains for five hundred years… or until someone worthy arrived to carry on his legacy.”

“Five hundred years?” Alyssa asked in awe, her fear momentarily forgotten. “That’s an incredibly long time.”

“I have already lived for far longer. My master was an incredible man. I would stand guard longer would he have permitted me to,” Shawn boomed. He stepped out from behind his dais and walked toward them. Every step he took boomed through the room like thunder. “I — and all those who remain — will execute his final will.”

“What exactly is his final will?” Claire asked. “We’re a bit new to this.”

“To seek a successor, of course. The Rotkeeper dedicated his life to his path,” Shawn said. “That is the purpose of an Ancestry. To draw those who dare challenge its trials. And, from them, find the ones that are worthy of my master’s legacy.”

“Huh. So… you’re happy that people are raiding you?” Alex asked.

Shawn let out a thunderous laugh. “Of course. What fool would build such a grandiose grave if they did not want to draw attention? The System brought you here, to this place. Most of you will die. Your power will feed the Ancestry, allowing it to sustain itself and draw the attention of more powerful trial-takers. Ones who get here the proper way.”

“We didn’t mean to skip past any rooms,” Alex said. “But you really shouldn’t have a short-cut to get to the most important room if you don’t want people finding it.”

“This is far from the most important room in the Ancestry,” Shawn said with a shake of his huge head. “And there are a great many ways to find all of the rooms. Perhaps this was as the Rotkeeper intended. Proper or not, you have still found me. You are weaker than I would have expected… but I will offer the trial to you all the same. Do you seek to challenge me?”

“Can we say no?” Alyssa asked.

Alex and Claire glared at her.

“Yes,” Shawn said. “I find no pleasure in crushing the weak. I cannot say the same for the others within the Rotkeeper’s entourage. It has been two hundred years since I took my post. I am bored. Even some entertainment is better than nothing.”

“Can we ask what the trial is before we accept?” Alex asked.

“No.”

“What about the reward?”

Shawn smiled. “Also no. All I will say is that your reward will depend on how you perform. There are different tiers to success. For ones as weak as you… even surviving for a few short moments will be impressive.”

“That doesn’t sound like a mock trial,” Alyssa whispered.

“I may have been wrong,” Alex admitted, not taking his eyes off Shawn. His fingers flexed. “But you heard him. We only have to survive for a bit of whatever it is he’s going to do. That’s not a bad deal.”

“That’s true,” Alyssa allowed reluctantly. Her teeth clenched. Then she nodded. “Fine. Who knows how many other opportunities we’re going to get like this. We’ll probably run into other members of our family and regroup with them soon once our coins pick up on a distress signal. Let’s try it.”

“I’m in as well, obviously,” Alex said. He looked up to the giant. “But can we wait for a bit before we start?”

Shawn blinked. Then he shrugged. “Do as you will. I have waited long enough. How long?”

“Not too long. About an hour and a half or so?” Alex replied with a grin. “I’m just waiting on a few abilities to come off cooldown. It would be a shame to try this without being at full strength.”

Shawn inclined his head. “Very well. I will rest for ninety more minutes. Prepare yourselves during that time. When the time has passed… the trial will begin.”