And suck it did.

  The clue stated that it was hidden with mice, so we spent 2 hours looking for mouse-related items in the boxes, but couldn't find anything. Clair had a great idea halfway through to cast Befriend Creature, but apparently the spell failed, as I was considered to be the only other creature in the room. We then decided to scour the floor of the room to see if we could find any mouse droppings. That was when we found the suspicious black and brown droppings, right next to a box that contained animal toys for the more exotic pets. We searched everywhere to find a nest, but there was no sign of it. It was at my suggestion to move the box and look underneath it that I ended up finding the next letter and clue. The letter O had been embedded in the floor almost seamlessly, so it wouldn't have been possible to find it at a casual glance. The small orange O was added to the nail next to the T, and we looked at the clue.

  From me you drink, Kings and drunkards all clink, written on me is what you need, but beware of greed.

  This one was harder than the previous one, but not in the manner you'd expect. The box containing drinking chalices was extremely easy to find, as it was nearby. No, the difficulty was that there were at least 9 different chalices, each of which had writing on and in them. One by one, we read out the writing and eliminated them; it ended up coming down to 2 different ones. One of them was made of wood, and the writing on it was in Kaluen. Clair said that it was a prayer to the nature goddess Feleticia. The last chalice was made out of copper, and the inscription on the outside read.

  The best offence and a trusted friend, with me at your side, everything can be denied.

  I was about to throw the chalice away when Clair snapped her fingers and rushed off. I chased after her and only caught up with her when she stopped by a box filled with armour and weapons. After a few minutes of digging around in the box, she pulled out a shield that had a small orange letter S attached to it. She beamed at me, and we put the S next to the O on the board.

  The next clue was on a piece of paper that was stuck to the inside of the shield.

  Forgotten and ignored, I see everyone's sole as you walk on by, I do not care if you walk on my face.

  I have to admit we took a lot longer to figure this one out than any of the others. I spent my time trying to recall the different ways you could look at someone's soul without being detected. Admittedly, I didn't see the spelling of sole so I would argue that it was understandable why I spent my time doing the wrong thing. It was only by pure luck and my habit of pacing when I was trying to solve a difficult problem that allowed us to find the clue. I had started pacing up and down the aisles with the boxes, Clair eventually asked me to pace a smaller area, so I ended up walking around the small square in front of the wet room. After 20 minutes, my pacing had shifted enough to the straw, dirt and grime on the floor to partially reveal a word etched into the stone floor. Clair noticed it first and grabbed brooms for both of us, and we spent a few minutes sweeping the floor to reveal the next clue.

  I see you now reading the floor, don’t you think they are such a bore? Come with me, and you will see what great shelter I can be.

  As one, we both looked up and saw a faint orange glow near one of the supports for the roof. A set, jump and Etheric Step, and I grabbed onto the support next to the orange glow. It turned out that the glow was another letter, S, I dropped it down to Clair, who added it to the nail board. Next to where the letter had been, printed on the ceiling, was the next clue that read.

  In the light I am shy, but by night I will shine. Written for all to see, shiny and sparkly.

  For a while we were stumped as to how we would get the warehouse to go dark, waiting for night was out of the question as we didn't know what time it was, it had been close to night time when we were sucked into the Dungeon, but we didn't know if the warehouse would even get dark it was illuminated by the Dungeon somehow. We tried a variety of different things to make the warehouse dark, from attempting to dispel the magic from the room to using blankets and sheets from the storage boxes to cover where we thought the light was coming from. Nothing made a clue appear, and we ended up taking a little break while pondering the clue.

  It was during the break that Clair found a rune panel by the wet room door. It just looked like a raised square on the wall; there was no writing or visible runes on it until Clair prodded it out of curiosity. Runes lit up, and writing appeared next to each rune detailing what the rune was and how to control it. She located and turned the lights off in the middle of the small area in front of the wet room, and words began to shine in a dazzling, icy blue.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  At the altar, an engraving you'll see, 'shout twice for thee', charged and filled, my secret will be spilled.

  We both looked at each other and both headed for the same box. It had been a box filled with holy symbols and everything that a shrine or temple would need to set up. We reached the box and dove into the contents looking for an altar that said 'Shout twice for thee', eventually we came across a green and black altar that had the phrase carved in large letters on the top. There was an indent in the middle of the altar that looked like it could hold something. We dove back into the box and ended up finding a black and green bowl that had a similar pattern to the altar on it. The bowl fit perfectly in the altar, and Clair filled it with water. I wasn't completely sure it had to be filled with water, but the clue also said to charge it up. Neither of us had any idea what exactly it wanted us to charge it with, but seeing as it was an altar for a temple, I guessed it was mana. I started slowly and began pushing my mana into the bowl and water. After a few minutes and about 10% of my total mana, the bowl let out a chime, and it began to reflect the image of an orange P. I stared at it, not understanding what was happening, so Clair dipped her hand into the bowl and picked up the letter.

  A disembodied voice scared the life out of both of us as it said,

  "A friendly gathering, a lucky night and a peasant's vice."

  We repeated the clue to memorise it, but neither of us had any idea what the clue could mean. We spent 2 hours throwing out ideas and looking through boxes, all to no avail. We sat down and took a break. We were both exhausted, and with us not being able to solve the clue, it seemed like we might still be here for a while. I ended up slipping into mediation while we rested, and I was thankful for it as I had used a lot of mana using Lesser Regeneration while diving in the acid. I don’t know how long I meditated for, but after a while, Clair nudged me and offered to play a game of cards while we brainstormed. Playing cards had been a pastime that Raven had instilled in the party, as it helped with training perception-based skills and dexterity-based skills. This was mainly because we had a rule that cheating was allowed, but if you were caught, you’d instantly lose the hand/round you were playing. Clair dealt out the cards and then gasped as she turned a card around to reveal the next clue. I slapped my forehead. The clue was obvious now that it had been solved by accident, but I did feel stupid at not guessing the answer. Clair consoled me by the fact that it was sheer dumb luck that she found it.

  The clue that was on the card read:

  Crash, bang and fall, the fake led 52 soldiers to hit the wall.

  I thought about it for a second before grabbing the cards and counting them. In total, including the clue, there were 53 cards. I told Clair that I suspected the cards were soldiers based on the fact that the cards had pictures of knights on them. I threw the cards at the wall closet to us, and 53 cards hit the wall, 52 cards hit the floor, and an orange letter A was left attached to the wall. I picked up the letter and added it to the board with the nails and the other letters. There was only 1 space left, so we were both a bit excited.

  The next clue was stuck to the wall where the cards had hit it, and it read,

  With valuables I hide, money, jewels and bona fides.

  It was obvious we were looking for some sort of lock box or safe but I didn’t recall seeing anything of the sort in the boxes we opened, Clair didn’t remember it either so we picked an isle each and started looking through the boxes again. 1 hour later I came across a box that held various ornate boxes, I wasn’t sure that this was the right box but as I looked through I came to a realisation that these boxes would be kept in a safe and would hold some important items for a nobel woman. I called Clair over, and we spent the next 20 minutes looking through each of the boxes until Clair came across a gold and silver metal box the size of my hand. There were words etched into the bottom.

  The Last Clue you have found. With this, we shall rejoice and celebrate; it is traditional to give a gift to commemorate.

  I almost screamed in frustration. What kind of a fucking clue was that? I was so done with the whole god damn challenge, I didn’t even want to finish the dungeon anymore and complete the Dungeon Spelunking quest. It was only due to Clair being there and reminding me that the others were probably waiting for us that kept me from destroying everything. We once again went back through the boxes, trying to find anything that could show a celebration. It was 3 hours before we had everything assembled. 3 pictures, 5 chalices, 4 banners, a table and 2 rolls of fireworks were the only items that could be used for or depicted a party. I pulled out a gold coin from my bag and offered it to each item in turn. When I offered the coin to the painting of a party, the coin vanished and was replaced with an orange letter Y. We both shouted in joy and then started to cry in relief; it was done, we had finally collected all the letters. I put the last letter on the nail board and read what they spelt, Tosspay.

  I swore, long, loud and in at least 9 different languages. Clair cursed as well, but not as much as I did. She turned a little red listening to my curses in the 3rd language I used. We had no pay to speak of, so that was not possible to do. Clair figured it was some sort of anagram, but I was so done with everything that I wasn’t any help. I felt bad after 20 minutes when Clair figured out that rearranging the letters spelt out Say Stop. She did so, and there was a rumbling at the far end of the warehouse room. We looked over to see that a stone pillar had appeared, as well as a door.

  Challenge 10 has been completed. Please collect your rewards and enter the next door.

  We both hugged each other and went over to the stone pillar. 2 bonze boxes were underneath a depiction of me diving into a barrel with Clair standing next to it with a grimace on her face. I shook my head, grabbed the item that was in the box and identified it.

  Item: Honest Cog's Always Ready Undies

  Rarity: Rare

  Weight: 0.1lb

  Description: The always-ready undies are everyman's best friend. These simple undies are able to change into a variety of different colours and styles, as well as being self-cleaning and repairing. Nothing will get in their way or stop the wearer from being ready for anything.

  Requirements: None.

  I groaned when I read the description and showed them to Clair; she had a giggle at my prize, but I did take the time to put them on; they were actually incredibly comfy, however, I was not about to say that out loud. I asked what Clair had received, but she just blushed and refused to show me. Then, at long last, we left the torture that was challenge number 10.