Roughly a block and a half after they began walking, the boy finally took his eyes off Jabrax and noticed the short cloaked figure following him.

The teenager turning back to the demon with a confused expression. "Is that kid with you?"

Jabrax looked back at Mud, whose head was still constantly swiveling in all directions. "Oh yeah, that's my brother. He needs to get a class."

"Him? I assumed you would be the one getting a class, with your hair color... what's the deal with that mask and cloak? Aren't you hot in that?" The boy turned his head back to look at the weird child behind him.

A dainty finger landed on his chin and turned his face back towards the demon's. "Say, what's your name cutie? I'm Jabrax by the way."

The boy instantly forgot about the existence of Mud. "Hehe, I'm Dan. Jabrax is such a pretty name, it suits you perfectly."

The remainder of the trip was filled with lighthearted flirting.

A few minutes later, the group arrived at the largest road yet. The main street of Geltheas, connecting the north and south entrances of the city. And, at the center of the main road, a massive stone fortification surrounding the city's famed dungeon entrance.

In construction, the fortification was similar to the outer walls of the city. Enclosing an entire city block, the bulwark appeared to be constructed of a single massive piece of smooth grey stone. The area above the walls was covered with a massive dome, leaving no egress aside from the single gigantic gate. In the courtyard in front of the gate, a much more temporary kind of building was under construction. Several mages worked in tandem to summon and shape large stone blocks into pillbox defensive structures, facing towards the dungeon.

Dan led the group to a building directly across the road from the fortification. This building appeared to be made of more mundane methods, although the glistening pure white stone bricks that constituted the structure gave it an impressive look nonetheless.

"This is it, the Delver's Association." Dan waved his free arm towards the building extravagantly.

Jabrax released the boy's arm and stepped back. "Thanks for the help, Dan. We can take it from here. Bye now!"

Dan, realizing they were about to part ways, desperately tried to salvage the situation. "Um, maybe I should come in with you, to help you-"

The demon mercilessly cut him off. "No, we're fine going in alone. Go away."

Dan hesitated for a moment, but finally waved weakly. "Goodbye. Hopefully, we can see each other again some time."

"Yeah, whatever." Jabrax turned her back on the teenager and walked towards the Association building. As Mud followed along behind the demon, the golem was amazed by the contorted shapes the boys face made at that moment.

The inside of the spacious marble building was noticeably cooler than the air outside. Within the building, the Sapients present were noticeably divergent from what the golem had witnessed on the streets. A wide variety of Sapients lounged at tables sipping drinks and huddled around the building's various facilities. While on the streets humans were by far the most common, nearly half the Association was made up of demi-humans. Odd hair colors were also much more common, on both human and demi-human alike. Orderly lines of people extended from one side of the room, where Association employees sat in booths offering various services.

"Where do I acquire the class?" asked an impatient Mud.

Jabrax didn't reply immediately and instead headed to the back of one of the lines. "We're going to need to get a membership, probably. The cost is trivial and it should come in handy anyway, so it's fine." Mud took its place behind the demon and waited patiently.

A few minutes later, they reached the head of the line and were greeted by a kindly older woman with grey hair. "Hello there, I don't think I've seen you two before." Looking at the bulging sack over the boy's shoulder, she added "are you looking to sell beast parts? I'm afraid you've got the wrong line, deary."

The demon leaned forward and placed her elbows on the counter. "Oh no, that's just our shopping from earlier. Actually, we wanted to get membership cards, and my brother here wants to get a class change."

The receptionist squinted slightly when Jabrax called Mud her brother. "I see, memberships then hmm?" Reaching down below her desk, she produced two slips of paper. "There are two ways you can go about this. Either you can send me your status so I can decide on your clearance, or you can take the practical test." Leaning forward and lowering her voice, she added "I suggest you kids go for the practical test, even if you're not confident. Folks around here respect people who get their hands dirty."

Jabrax grinned and nodded. "The practical test sounds perfect. We'll both go with that."

"You can't just go speaking for the lad on this matter. What do you want to do?" she asked, looking towards Mud.

"He's a mute, he can't talk normally. He can use Mind magic to say things, though, if you don't mind."

The old lady looked slightly surprised, but nodded. "That's fine. You can use illusions to talk to receptionists here, we're trained for that sort of thing."

With her permission, the voice of a young boy came to her over a stream of mana. "I will take a practical test."

"Good. Now, what are your names?" The old lady produced a pen and prepared to write on the slips of paper.

"You can call me Jabrax the Red," she said as she stood up and placed a palm on her chest.

Writing on the note, she looked up slightly at the demon. "Looks more maroon to me, but sure. And you, kid?"

"I am Mud."

The receptionist let out a slight sigh. "You're using a weird pseudonym too? What is it with kids these days... that Suzy girl too..." Taking the two partially filled slips in her hand, the receptionist stood up. "Follow me then, and we'll find somebody to give you a combat test. Do you two have any combat experience?"

"A bit," replied a smiling demon.

Mud and Jabrax were led to the side of the receptionist stalls to a doorway. As they moved towards the door, Mud's swiveling head caught sight of several of the relaxing delvers watching them and pointing. Some groups even got up and followed, exchanging excited words.

"They don't look very tough, what do you think, tier zero?" "No way, look at her hair, she's tier one minimum." "What about the kid? Those look like vision runes on his mask. Those aren't cheap." "You think they're carried?" "Wouldn't doubt it. Probably the kids of some nobles come to see the Prince." "Maybe that's not a kid but a dwarf or gnome?" "You idiot, the proportions are all wrong, have you ever even seen a gnome?"

Such meaningless conversation flew between the group that followed them, and Mud decided to ignore them.

The room they were led to was nearly as large as the entrance room. Hard packed dirt made up the floor, and in the center was a large ring of stones inscribed with countless tiny runes. The ground inside the ring was scorched and pitted and stained with blood, but outside the ring the dirt looked pristine.

Against one of the walls, sitting at a small wooden table, sat three tough-looking men sharing drinks. One of them Mud recognized immediately; it was Cob.

The grey-haired receptionist walked up the trio with her hands on her hips. "Perfect, I needed someone to test these new recruits. Which one of you wants to help me out?"

All three of them looked at each other. After a tense moment, they all swung their fists out into the middle of the table, each with their hand in a different gesture. One of the men Mud didn't recognize groaned in dismay as he pulled his fist back, while Cob and the other whooped and pumped their fist.

The dismayed man slowly set down his drink and got to his feet, then walked to the center of the stone circle. Pulling his sword from his side, he pointed at Jabrax and Mud. "Alright, which of you is first?"