“Why is it on fire?!” a voice cried out as Alistair entered Liliana’s sitting rooms and walked into the garden attached. The noble boy stopped upon seeing a frantic Liliana fluttering around a cauldron that was, in fact, spewing flames in the air.

“Lelantos! Don’t hunt Alistair. You can’t eat him. He’d give you indigestion!” Liliana’s voice called out, causing Alistair to turn around and see the shimmer form of a tiger appear behind him, cleaning a paw as if he’d done nothing inappropriate.

“The recipe said nothing about fire,” Liliana murmured as she stirred a cauldron hanging over a fire pit, ignoring the flames it was still producing, in the garden. It was a fairly recent addition, as was the table filled with different instruments needed for alchemy. Astrid had bought most of it for her, using the funds given by her father as an allowance, but had banished Liliana to the garden after her first attempt at making a potion had lit the rugs in her sitting room on fire.

The fire pit and alchemy materials had been something that Liliana had hesitated to request, so used to not getting anything she asked for. Yet somehow her father had heard about her interest in alchemy, and a fire pit was dug for her and even more alchemy materials delivered to her room.

“Was there something you needed, Alistair?” Liliana asked, blowing a stray hair out of her face as she looked over her shoulder. The boy’s back was facing her, keeping his eyes on Lelantos, who was sniffing at Liliana’s shoes currently.

“Don’t you dare eat another pair of my shoes, Lelantos!” Liliana chided absently, without taking her eyes off Alistair. The tiger let out a sulky sigh and flopped on the ground pitifully.

“Ah, I was just told today that a new dungeon had appeared. It’s a mid Rank 7 dungeon. With the guards, you and Lelantos, it should be fairly simple. It’s a danger to the towns and city if it’s not cleared out,” Alistair finally answered her and Liliana pulled her goggles up, revealing her eyes ringed in soot. Her entire body was covered in soot from failed experiments, but she didn’t even care, too used to it after weeks of trying her hand at alchemy.

So it’s time then? Liliana ran over her mental calendar she had in her mind. It was now the month of Lyghtfall, or September on earth, and on the edge of the fall equinox. In the game, you were given the quest and told to complete it by the fall equinox or, allegedly, the creatures inside the dungeon would grow too powerful.

In this world, equinox and solstices were powerful days, said to increase the power of creatures tied to the elements connected to them stronger power. She’d been lucky, in retrospect, that she hadn’t found Lelantos on the summer solstice, as it was tied to Light.

Fall would be Earth and Fire for alignments, as Goblins were Earth aligned creatures, they’d get a boost during the equinox. Liliana worried her lip as she considered the ramifications of that. Goblins weren’t stupid creatures, they had communities, some even had crafts. But they were still monsters, who could evolve at rank ups as opposed to the mortal races who got classes, ultimate skills, and power-ups. Unlike most games, goblins and their subsequent evolutions posed a genuine danger for mortal races, as they had the intelligence to be a threat. Along with the ability to prolifically procreate with Mana and through more natural methods. If a goblin dungeon or group wasn’t dealt within a few months, they would have the numbers to overthrow most cities or territories.

“When will we be heading out?” Liliana asked, fully turning from her smoking cauldron.

She was excited about her first dungeon, even if it would be a bit of a challenge for them. Even with the training she and the others had been doing, her growth had slowed. Making her soft debut into society, and befriending the crown princess, had meant her days had become full. She was invited to balls, galas and tea parties daily.

Which was amazing for her networking and getting social power for herself, but awful for her mental state and leveling abilities. She had at least been getting levels in [Deception] like crazy. The skill had sky rocketed from all the careful deceptions she had to lay when dealing with other nobles.

Emyr and Alistair hadn’t been spared the influx of noble invites, though Emyr dodged far more of them than the siblings. However, both hadn’t seen the amount of invites Liliana had, more a consequence of her being something new and shiny for the nobles to gawk over. It meant they both had more time to level than she, and both had passed the Rank 7 threshold. Alistair sitting at level 66, and Emyr at level 63. Both still outstripping her, even if she had just managed to hit level 53 a few days past.

“In two days’ time, to give us all time to get what we need. But the dungeon has to be culled before the equinox, so that there aren’t too many goblins when it hits,” Alistair informed her, his eyes trailing past her shoulder to her cauldron.

“Ah, Liliana, is it supposed to be doing that?” He asked, and Liliana turned, eyes widening as she saw the bubbling goop spilling over the side.

“No,” she answered. Lelantos reacted faster than the humans. Turning into ephemeral mist and disappearing into the summoning stone on Liliana’s neck seconds before the concoction exploded, sending thick globs of brown sludge everywhere.

Both teens were knocked down from the force of the sludge colliding with them at high velocity. When the sky had ceased raining hot goop, Liliana groaned and sat up. She rubbed at the brown liquid on her face and frowned, tongue snaking out and licking off a drop on her lips before her face twisted.

“Burnt marshmallow, so I added the Angel Tears too early,” Liliana murmured as she continued wiping goop off herself. Alistair was lying spread eagle on the ground, still dazed by the unexpected gooey explosion.

“What was that?” He asked finally.

“It was supposed to be a minor health potion,” Liliana pouted as she stood and moved towards her cauldron, frowning at the hardened goop coating the inside.

“More like an anti-health potion,” Alistair complained, as he sat up and looked over his ruined clothing. Liliana summoned a bottle of clear liquid from her storage and tossed it at the boy.

“Will this explode too?” he asked suspiciously, shifting the bottle around and holding it far from his body.

“No, it’s just a cleaning solution. Should get rid of the stains,” Liliana answered as she grabbed a second bottle of the liquid and dumped it in her cauldron to clean it out.

“That’s servants’ work,” Alistair told her, but Liliana was too busy cleaning her cauldron to pay him any attention. As Alistair went to leave, and avoid any new explosions, a shift of the light revealed Lelantos had fled his summoning stone once the danger was passed and Alistair glared at the cat.

“You could’ve blocked it,” Alistair informed the cat, who gave a rather sharp toothed grin to the noble. A shiver of fear skittered down the boy’s spine as he left his stepsister muttering about plants and the Cheshire beast stalking the garden.

“Is this many guards really necessary?” Liliana asked Jason as she motioned to the ten guards surrounding their party.

“Only five of them will go with you into the dungeon, all between Rank 6 and 7, to get experience as well. Dungeons are huge, and the high Mana density means creatures are always coming into existence. If we let just the four of you go into one, someone could die, even with Lelantos, my Lady,” Jason answered and Liliana pouted.

In the game, you had needed a party for most dungeons, but lower leveled ones could usually be solod if you had found no NPCs or other heroes to party with. She had run this specific dungeon several times on her own. That even this low level dungeon wasn’t soloable didn’t bode well for her god-given knowledge. The dungeon had been rather straightforward in the game as well. Only high-level ones weren’t. If all dungeons shared the maze like quality endgame dungeons had in the game, it meant she may have to take this more seriously than she’d planned.

“Fine, fine. What are all their specialties?” Liliana asked, defeated. Jason perked up and pointed towards Sam.

“Sam here is level 80 and his weapon focus is archery,” Liliana shot a smile at Sam, remembering him as a fairly common guard for her and had been the only guard to compliment Lelantos. Now most of the manor was more comfortable around the tiger, and the guards who regularly were her bodyguards had even taken to sneaking him snacks. Sam had figured out Lelantos’ favorite snack was freshly cooked bacon, and as a result, the tiger adored the man.

“This is Charles, level 68 and fire magic focused,” Jason pointed to the next boy, who had rather stereotypical red hair. Liliana wondered if it resulted from his magic, as many families with a long line of users with the same affinity eventually developed features reflecting it. Like Liliana’s family having dark blue black hair and sapphire eyes because of an affinity for Water.

“This is Sasha, level 60. Her focus is dual axes, and she’s a front-line fighter,” Jason pointed to a rather buff woman with dark, richly tanned skin. Her golden hair was tied up in braids and pulled into a ponytail away from her face. Liliana hadn’t seen her in her normal bodyguard rotation, but it made sense with such a low level. Normally Sam was the lowest level she had as a guard, and Liliana was certain it had something to do with how the young guard had reacted to her Bond.

“This is Eric, level 70 and a healer,” Jason pointed out the next guard and unlike the other guards who wore armor or some sort, he was dressed in cloth, with a light spattering of leather armor over vital spots. It made sense if he was a dedicated caster type, as they had such pitiful Endurance and Strength wearing heavy armor exhausted them. Healers weren’t overly common, and it made sense why they were sending one of the few the Guards had with them. He’d need to be more or less power leveled as leveling normally would be hard for someone with no offensive damage options.

“The last addition is Daniel, level 69. He’s a scout and best with daggers, but he can use a bow too,” Jason pointed to a small slip of a man. Daniel couldn’t be over five years older than her. He reminded her a bit of Emyr, the way he faded into the background. Even looking right at him, Liliana could feel an urge for her eyes to just slide off of him, some kind of passive skill, no doubt.

Liliana looked over at their new party and sighed. At least Jason hadn’t added any additional tanks. With Alistair and Lelantos, they already had that area covered. They needed a second front-line fighter like her, and the long ranged support would help. The healer was the most useful to them. It would mean they could have less down time between fights and save their potions for when they were really necessary.

However, it meant a new person for them to guard as healers were squishy, that they couldn’t heal themselves either made having a healer very tricky. It was why tanks getting [Regeneration] was so meta in the game, having a healer on your team was a choice some forwent in the game. They almost always got aggro, and they died fast.

“I’m going to lose so much experience,” Liliana grumbled with a sigh as she joined the riding formation they’d settled on. She’d been told in very simple terms that she was not to lead their parties when going out. While Lelantos could handle most threats, she herself was still fairly low leveled, and after a very irate Howling Hen had knocked her off Lelantos’ back while riding, Jason had put his foot down.

Jason took point, Liliana behind him and Alistair and Emyr beside her as the guards surrounded them. Liliana couldn’t keep the pout from her face as they set out.

“This is fairly normal for dungeons, nobles always head out with a party of either guards or hired adventurers,” Alistair informed her and Liliana crossed her arms, her [Riding] high enough now that she didn’t have to clutch Lelantos like a tick to stop herself from falling off.

“I know, but think of all the experience we’re going to lose!” Liliana whined, earning a snicker from Emyr.

“Better to lose some experience than your life,” Jason chided her up ahead and Liliana stuck her tongue out at the man. Alistair groaned next to her at the unladylike display while giggles and chuckles erupted from the guards.

“You’re more feral than your cat,” Alistair informed her, and Liliana shrugged.

It had been difficult to keep up her proper noble girl act all the time, especially with the people she fought beside. Slowly, over the time since she’d come home with Lelantos, she’d shown more of her true self around Emyr, Alistair and her normal guards. It had been freeing, breaking some of the chains of nobility that tethered her.

She had almost feared she’d lost those parts of herself, the parts from Earth. So much of her personality had been changed by the memories and events she’d undergone in them. Yet some of her original personality had stayed the same. Her stubbornness, her sharp tongue and rather crass behavior and sailor worthy mouth were all traits she knew didn’t come from the memories. The Liliana she remembered was a demure girl, so beaten and broken down by her life that she’d only had the barest of embers of strength left in her soul.

It made her wonder, more and more often now as the time for the Academy neared, how the broken girl in her memories had ever become the greatest villain this country had ever seen. How had she gotten the power to even meet the Academy requirements? The girl in her memories was so frightened of even her own shadow that the thought of her fighting anything was absurd.

Perhaps the change in her personality from the original was why her relationship with Alistair, Emyr, and the other nobles were far better than in the game. If being sweet and weak didn’t cut it, apparently being strong and stubborn would.

Or it was from the many fights they’d fought together that had helped their relationship. Liliana had noticed that Alistair seemed to spend more and more time out of the manor, away from his mother. She didn’t remember her brother being a socialite. He’d gone to balls, of course, but now he was gone almost as often as she. Sometimes accompanying her to events or on his own. Or he was out on the training grounds from dawn to dusk, sweating and pushing himself. Or dragging her and Emyr out to yet another area with creatures that needed culling.

At first, Liliana hadn’t thought much of it until her stepmother had made a comment that Alistair didn’t want to be around his ‘doting mother’ anymore. Liliana had paid closer attention after that, seeing the way he was gradually shrugging off the poisoned tendrils his mother had wrapped him in. He still wasn’t what she’d consider kind, but she couldn’t remember a recent time he’d really tried to hurt her. He still bantered and insulted her, but it was more in line with the way a brother was actually supposed to treat a sister.

Maybe I sped up that timeline? In the game, it took him meeting Diana to have a change of heart. But maybe because of my actions, he’s going through it sooner? Liliana wondered as she leaned forward on Lelantos, looking around the countryside they moved through.

Emyr had changed a bit too in the past months. He’d stopped stalking the shadows almost entirely after Lelantos had pounced on him hiding in the shadows in her garden. Liliana had told him he deserved it, as stalking people in the shadows was quite frankly creepy as fuck.

She knew he had done it because he was hopelessly awkward and introverted, even despite the friendship they had now. The only person she had seen him utterly comfortable around was Alistair. Despite how contrasting their personalities were. But he was more talkative with her now, and had accompanied her to a few balls and galas as well. Where he didn’t immediately flee to the shadows to hide. He usually waited a few hours before doing that, which was progress.

“Will we be camping outside the dungeon or inside it?” Liliana spoke up, and Jason turned his head slightly to respond to her.

“We’ll have two separate camps. Me and the other four guards not joining you will stay outside. The rest of you will camp inside the dungeon,” Jason informed her, and Liliana nodded. It was apparently normal to camp inside a dungeon in this world, as it usually took a few days to clear them. The deeper you went, the more unreasonable it became to have an outside camp. She hadn’t been sure if the new dungeon would be big enough to constitute camping inside, but apparently, someone had already run through it to know it did. Probably a high leveled guard as the dungeon was close to the manor.

They came to a stop in a familiar clearing. The Slime clearing that Liliana had leveled in not that long ago. The same slimes she’d fought and occasionally struggled against now fled from their group as soon as they got in range to sense them. Liliana smiled, feeling nostalgic as the others dismounted. Liliana stayed on Lelantos as she’d be fighting on top of him for a bit to level her [Mounted Combat] skill. If the dungeon permitted the space for it.

“That’s the dungeon,” Jason pointed at the cave systems on the other side of the clearing, and Liliana nodded. She couldn’t see any goblins outside of it, but knew that there would be a horde of them inside the caves.

“Here is an emergency beacon. If someone is hurt so badly Eric can’t heal them, the monsters are above the rating for the dungeon, or you get outnumbered, do not hesitate to use it. We’ll come in straight away and find you with the beacons,” Jason handed every member of their party a smooth crystal and Liliana put hers in her storage bracelet. Beacons were made of a very delicate crystal that was easily broken, so it would be a bad idea to put it in a pocket where it could get crushed and call down the high leveled guards. She was already losing experience with their party. She didn’t need any more stolen levels from the other guards charging in.

“Everyone ready?” Alistair asked the guards, and when they all nodded, Liliana grinned, her naginata forming in her hand. The weapon had been upgraded once more, and the metal had a blue hue to it now, with a black metal haft. Sunlight glittered dangerously on the razor-sharp blade.

“Let’s go!” Liliana called out, and Lelantos led the charge, eager to wet his claws with the blood of prey.