Reynard strolled in like he owned the place and took a seat at the edge of the room. He didn’t bother catching my eye or anything, he knew I had to come to him. On one level it was my job, while on the other… Ugh.

“Are you going to order anything this time?” I asked. I kept it professional, but didn’t try hide my distaste. This wasn’t a valued customer. He just looked at me for a second, then he laughed.

“Hard to believe you’re still working here, kid,” he said, shaking his head. “I saw you in the Guild wearing leathers that must cost 10 times what you’ve earned here so far. You trying to blend in or something?”

God, he pissed me off. “Sure, I pulled down 15 gold this morning… but thats gotta be chump change for the likes of you, right? So what are you doing here?” I glared at him and interrupted when he tried to give a smartass answer. “I mean here in this town. Shouldn’t you be drinking fine wines and screwing high-class whores in the capital with all the other high-level assholes? Instead you’re fucking around with me on some two-bit scam you’ve got going with the Guild.”

That struck a nerve. “You know nothing,” he snarled. “You think the Guild exists to help those with drive reach the top?”

“It doesn’t?” I asked. I hadn’t given the question much thought, actually, but [Intrigue] prompted me to keep him talking.

“The Guild exists to control adventures. Keep the powerful commoners in line, so they don’t threaten the nobles. The higher you rise, the more oversight you get - oh if you’re a good little adventurer you get to live in the pretty city, but step out of line… and they send you here.”

“Not exactly a hellscape.”

“Its a dead-end hole for someone like me, and even you know it.” he said. “A dying three-level dungeon, and a countryside with nothing of any threat. I could kill monsters for a decade and never gain another level.”

“So you want to get out of here,” I said thoughtfully.

“I am getting out of here. Theres just one tiny problem thats cropped up, that you’re going to help take care of for me. Next week Guild Master Lyons is out of town - there’ll be a hearing held just after he leaves.”

“And I’ll be attending?” I asked doubtfully.

He snorted. “An Illusionist like you, you’ve got an [Invisibility] spell, don’t you?” I nodded. He’d called me an Illusionist. Did that mean he didn’t know I was a Phantasmal Artificer? Or was he keeping that card hidden for now? “Right then, you should have no trouble getting in. I’ll give you a heads up closer to the date. All you gotta do is keep that Truthstone glowing blue.”

“Doesn’t the Guild have some sort of check for Illusion magic?” I asked.

“Maybe if we thought we needed it,” he said smugly. “But I’ll be running this hearing. All the witnesses are arranged. We just need to make sure that no inconvenient lies are exposed. Easy as pie.”

“Sure,” I said, noncommittally.

“And if they were exposed,” he said leaning forward. “Well, depending on how it goes, I might be done with the Guild, done with restraints on my actions. I’d just cut my way out of there and there’d be no one who could stop me. You might try to hide, but I’ve seen through your illusions once - would you care to gamble a second time?” He laughed at my blank stare, and then got up and left.

You have recovered 6 HP

You have recovered 96 MP

[Mana Development] Level acquired through use

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 1 XP

My morning notification was welcome, but I still hadn’t recovered all my mana from our last expedition. We had expected this and weren’t planning on delving today. I needed to take my mind off Reynard, which meant I was going shopping.

I wasn’t quite ready to throw out the equipment I bought yesterday, so I wasn’t looking for upgrades. I did look for, but couldn’t find a magic weapons shop. There was an alchemist store though, so I thought it might be worth a try. Upon entering, I found myself corralled on two sides by a waist-high railing as a loud bell announced my entrance. Directly in front of me was a counter with a man behind it. He looked up as I came in, frowning at what he saw.

“I’m afraid we don’t stock any of the lesser herbal concoctions here miss,” he said. He gestured at the walls, which I now saw were lined with shelves of small bottles. Out of reach behind the rails and behind glass to boot. “These are Alchemical potions, and the least of them are sold for gold.”

“I have gold,” I said. He didn’t look convinced. I hadn’t dressed in armour to go shopping, so I was wearing a dress like any other town girl. More respectable, but poorer looking. [Charm] had reverted back to having me curtsey, but it was grudgingly allowing a little of the confidence I’d projected while wearing pants to show. I pulled out my nameplate. “I’m with the Guild.”

“Ah. Well then, welcome valued customer.” A smile flickered across his face and left as quickly as it came, leaving his face… still in a scowl, though a lesser one. “You must be new.”

“I guess so,” I said brightly. [Charm] seemed to take his attitude as a challenge. “I have been down as far as level 2 though!”

“Have you. I had noticed one of my jobs had been fulfilled. Did you bring back any Qua'rodu lily?”

“I think so? To be honest, one of my teammates was taking part of the collection part.”

“How… organised.” He mused, peering closely at me now. “And… you do not appear to be drunk. Well, I look forward to working with you in the future, Adventurer. I am Noah Herbert.”

“Pleased to meet you Mr. Herbert,” I said. I’d wanted to go with Noah, but [Charm] insisted. “I’m Katherine Meland.” I curtseyed.

He nodded in acknowledgement, his expression easing into something that was almost pleased. “You should know that I maintain my own job list, similar to what the Guild holds.”

“Is that allowed?” I asked.

“The Guild allows it, as long as some restrictions are met. I can only request for myself, and I can only offer store credit. If you were planning on spending money in my store though, you’ll find the rewards 50% greater than when the Guild takes their cut.”

“Thats a pretty good deal,” I said. “I’ll have to run them past Felicia though- she takes the jobs based on what we’ll find on our planned route.”

“Planning?”

“Is that so surprising?” I asked, getting a little worried. I knew that Adventurers as a group were not that impressive, but there were some good ones.

“Unusual, but perhaps not so surprising. This Felicia, would she happen to be Oliver Heath’s apprentice?”

“You know her?”

“He has spoken of her… spoken well of her.” he corrected himself. “Should I assume that the boy Kyle is in this team of yours?”

“Its a small town isn’t it?”

“Quite. Now was there some business with me that you had in mind?”

“Well, its my first time buying potions, so I’m hoping you could go over your range and give me some ideas for what would be useful for an adventurer.”

“Hmm. I suppose I can spare the time. Let us start with healing. Are you familiar with Master Heaths work?”

“Yes, but those potions aren’t alchemy?” As I spoke, Noah was going around selecting a few potions which he placed on the counter.

“Correct. I do stock a few that I’ve gained in trade-“ he waved to one corner of the room, “-but healing potions utilise the unique [Healing] gift that belongs to Oliver’s Profession. The rest of his wares are not, strictly speaking, magical. Alchemy cannot replicate the way that they simply restore health in one hit. Instead we have these.”

He indicated three potions in blue coloured bottles. “Enhancing natural healing. 3 times, 10 gold; 5 times 50 gold; and 10 times for 200 gold. The effects last for 30 days.”

“Thats…” I thought for a minute, letting [Calculate] do its work. “If your natural healing was high enough, thats much cheaper than the regular potions.”

“It depends heavily on circumstances,” he said. “On your natural healing rate, on when the wounds are taken, and on one other thing.” He grimaced slightly. “A person can only be affected by one alchemy potion at a time. When a person takes a second one, the one with the longer remaining duration is cancelled out.”

I tried to game out situations in my head. “It seems like, in most cases it would be easier to just take a healing potion.”

“Probably,” Noah agreed. “Its main use is for high-level individuals who have taken large amounts of damage and want to heal over 30 days.”

“Right. What else have you got? Anything to restore mana?”

“Potions, no, restore, no. However…” he reached under the table and produced a softly glowing blue gem. “Mana crystals are a natural product, but alchemy can be useful in merging smaller, or damaged stones into a larger, healthy crystal.”

“How do they work?” I asked.

“You can put mana into them, and take it out at a later date.” he replied.

“Ah, so it doesn’t restore mana, it lets you save it.”

“Exactly.” he said. “Cost averages about 2 gold for each mana point of capacity. This one is 200 gold, 100 mana capacity. You can expect them to become costlier when the size increases above 250, 500 or 1000 mana; due to the rarity.”

“Thats a little out of my price range,” I said wryly. “Moving on?”

“Of course.” He indicated three more bottles, then paused. “Oh one thing I should have mentioned. My prices are fixed, there will be no haggling. My prices are set as low as is possible while still allowing me to profit. As a local producer, you should find my product priced cheaper than most of the market stalls will haggle down to. They have significant shipping costs after all.”

“That sounds like a relief actually.”

“Excellent. Now, as I was saying, these four are especially popular with adventurers. Heat Resistance, Cold Resistance, Water Breathing and Dark Vision. Heat Resistance is 5 gold, the others are 3. Duration is 4 hours.”

“Why does Heat Resistance cost extra?” I asked.

“Its practically a necessity on the third level,” he said. “Its tunnels with lava after all. This will protect you almost completely from that type of heat. If you should touch lava, you would find it very painful, but you would be unharmed. I don’t recommend you do however, as your armour would certainly start to melt or burn, whichever is appropriate.”

“It doesn’t protect my gear then?”

“It does not. Most arms and armour are capable of withstanding the heat levels there, as long as you avoid the lava. They get painfully hot of course but that isn’t a problem as long as you are under the effect of the potion.”

“Have you got anything useful for the second level?”

“Ah… Dark Vision is useful in the tunnels on the second level, but otherwise… insects are a common complaint, yes?” I nodded, shuddering. “I have a few options there, but they all have limitations.” He pulled out a small, sealed pot. “First, insect repellant. This isn’t a potion that affects you, its an ointment which causes insects to flee. For best effect, smear it on exposed skin. Its pungent, but not noxious to humans.”

“Whats the limitation?”

“It is pungent, and while not especially attractive to beasts, does attract their notice if in range. The next two are potions - one changes your smell so that it does not attract insects. This keeps you from attracting them, but it does nothing for the ones that are already there - perhaps attracted by a fresh kill. Still, you will be less bothered by them.”

“And the final one?”

“It changes your skins oils to become violently toxic to insects. Any insect that touches your skin or hair will die within a second.”

“That sounds tempting, but… ultimately useless?”

“There is no XP, and the creatures will reset at midnight regardless, but some people gain satisfaction from it.” He shrugged, and pulled out some more containers. “These are not potions, but have particular alchemical effects that you might find useful. Glue trap. Smoker. Firetrap. Steel Eater.”

“Steel Eater is some kind of acid?” I asked. The other concoctions seemed fairly self explanatory.

“You’re familiar with such? Interesting. Not exactly though. Steel Eater can be thought of as an ideal acid, that only eats steel. Even Darksteel and Silversteel are unaffected. It and the firetrap are 10 gold, the others are 2”

I guess anythings possible with magic, I thought. Noah moved on.

“And finally, these three. Improved Strength, Agility and Finesse,” he stated, pointing to each one in turn. “+1 to the aforementioned Ability for 6 hours. 10 gold.”

Oh, that would be handy. “Only one at a time though?” I asked plaintively.

“I’m afraid so.” he said, sadly. “Now, that is the basic outline of what I have available that would be useful to delvers. There are variants to these, extra duration for the most part, but they are probably prohibitively expensive for you at this time. As for other possibilities, if you have specific needs in mind, I might be able to suggest something?”

“I can’t think of anything,” I confessed. “Thats a lot to take in.” I thought for a moment. I think I’ll take a Darkvision though, and the Insect… Repel.”

“Excellent choice,” he said, making the other bottles disappear.

“Oh, can I ask another question? Its not potion related, but I think you might know the answer.”

“Ask away,” he shrugged.

“Is Oakway dungeon dying?” I guess I hadn’t managed to distract myself from Reynard after all. Maybe I needed clothes shopping.

“Hmmm,” he paused considering. “It is commonly speculated that it is, but there has been no sign of degradation so far.”

“Then why do people think it is?”

“Because there has been no sign of growth either - there hasn’t been a new level in 20 years. Common received wisdom states that dungeons are either growing or dying, if it is not growing then it must be dying. However…” he paused again. “Oakway dungeon, despite being on the smaller side, has always struck me as being more ambitious than most. Each of its levels is significantly larger than the last, and the ramp up of threats is much higher than you’d find in a typical dungeon. Its possible that it has spent these 20 years building a even more ambitious level and simply hasn’t finished yet.”

“So theres no way to know until something happens?” I asked.

“Exactly right. Here are your purchases, have a nice day.” he said.

There were no enchanting shops in this town. I knew there was such a thing as enchanting - it was one of my unlocked skills after all. And there were a few enchanted weapons for sale, but no shop. After scouring the town, I decided to find someone who might know something.

“No, theres no Enchanters in Oakway,” Paige said.

“Then where do enchanted weapons come from?” I asked with some exasperation.

“Elsewhere,” she replied unhelpfully. “Adventurers bring them in for the most part. The ones you see in the shops would be sold by them. You’ll mostly find Enchanters closer to the Capital, where the money is, or out by the frontier where theres demand and cheap materials.”

“Well, thats just not fair.” I said, sulking.

“If its that urgent, I can put out a request for information on the nearest Enchanter for one gold?” she suggested. “Or maybe your out-of-town friends know someone?” She pointed to where Sean and the others were chatting at one of the tables.

“I guess it can’t hurt to ask,” I said, and headed over.

“Enchanting?” Eric asked incredulously. “You must be getting gold to spare from Level 2, if you’re thinking about that already.”

“Maybe.” I said. “You guys are doing level 3 right? Are you using potions for the heat?”

“I have a spell for that,” Nina said. “I use it on Eric as well, but the others have enchanted protection.”

I turned to the others. “Can I see? And how much did it cost?” I asked.

Sean rolled his eyes. “I found mine, which was lucky, because its much better than Edvard’s.” He pulled out something like an army dogtag- a small plate of metal attached to a chain around his neck. He didn’t take it off but invited me to come close to look at it.

[Identification]: - Silversteel Amulet - Quality: Great - Properties: Enchantment (Temperature Control)

Looking at it, I could see 7 glittering runes inscribed in different colours arrayed around what looked like a much smaller Mana Crystal than what Noah had shown me. “How does it work?”

“You need to charge it with your mana,” Sean said. “Takes 10 mana, which lasts for 2 hours.”

In the meantime, Edvard had taken his necklace off, and held it out for my inspection. It did seem cruder than Sean’s, and was made of a green-yellow metal which I couldn’t identify.

[Identification]: - Brazen Jade Amulet - Quality: Good - Properties: Enchantment (Cool)

OK, I guess I can identify it. This amulet only had 3 runes and no mana crystal.

“Brazen Jade?”

“Its another magic metal found in a dungeon up north,” Edvard said. “I’m not sure of its properties, I think it makes poor weapons, but good armour. Not that it matters for a amulet. This one cost me 100 gold, and it works all the time, without charging.”

“Is that because its simpler? And do runes have to go on magical metal?”

“Probably, and I think so. I’ve been told that if you don’t, it degrades the steel in a week or so.”

Ah fuck it, I thought to myself. There wasn’t any point to delaying getting the skill, was there?

[Enchanting] Level 1 purchased

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 1 XP

You have 3 unspent Rune points

Then I looked at the amulet again.

[Identification]: - Brazen Jade Amulet - Quality: Good - Properties: Enchantment (Cool)

[Identification]: - Rune [Constant Effect] - Quality: Good

[Identification]: - Rune [Cool] - Quality: Good

[Identification]: - Rune [Touch Effect] - Quality: Good

Huh. “Can I look at yours again?” I asked Sean. He allowed it and I saw that his had the same three runes, plus [Sense (Temperature)], [Trigger], [Warm] and [Accept Energy]

“Why all the interest?” Sean asked. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of taking it up yourself?” The others laughed.

“Maybe,” I hedged, unwilling to reveal that I’d bought it just now.

“Oh, come on, theres planning, but planning ahead for a Level 7 skill? Keep your eyes in front of you, girl!” Sean chuckled, shaking his head. “I mean, even getting ready for the next level of the dungeon is premature - you’re not ready to take on the Kobold nest.”

“Its supposed to be quite difficult?” I said idly. “Lots of cramped dark tunnels and traps?”

“And lots of Kobolds. 10 tunnels full of them.” Sven got a dark look on his face. “We only went through there once to get the key, and it was a trial.”

“Did you really have to k- clear out all the tunnels to face the boss?” I asked. “And aren’t there only 8 entrances to the system?

“The more you clear out, the easier it is.” Edvard said calmly, unaffected by Sean’s emoting. “When you face the Kobold Chief, he summons every surviving Kobold to help him fight. Then he tanks your attacks, while his shaman casts spells. Even if you clear all 8 entrances, there are two warrens that can only be accessed from the Chief’s room. So you’re guaranteed to have a whole lot of minions getting under foot… it was a decent fight.”

“The tunnels are alright to move through, but they’re too cramped to swing a longsword. Had to do everything with my spare weapon.” Sean was still reliving the fight.

“Well at least that won’t be a concern for me.”

“Will be for your teammate, you know, the one that does all the damage.” Eric pointed out. “You can see how it affected our Fighter. Edvard was fine, but I was pretty much useless until the final fight.”

I shrugged. “I heard that Kobolds have low threat levels though.”

“Thats only the half of it,” Edvard said. “Nina, you can tell her how it works.”

“Kobolds have skills,” Nina explained. “So their effect level isn’t simply Threat times Ability, they are also multiplied by their skill. Like us.”

“Its that ‘like us’ that actually worries me.” I said. “I don’t want to kill humans, and they seem a bit too close to human for me to feel good about killing them.”

The others exchanged a look, one that made me think that they might not have the same problem. Have they killed humans? I wondered. The adventurers life was a dangerous one, but even so… They seem too nice to be killers, but if someone attacked them outside a town, what else could happen?

“Unrelenting hostility.” Nina said, breaking me out of my reverie. “Focus on that. Kobolds will never be anything other than the enemies of humans. You’ll see soon enough.”

“Why is that, though?” I asked. “Why would dungeons make them like that?”

“Well, they say that dungeons were the creation of the God of Destruction. That he sought to put an end to the races by creating an endless supply of monsters seeking the death of all civilisations.”

“Thats… not what dungeons do though?” I said.

“No,” Nina continued. “The other gods opposed him and set limits on the dungeons. Naldyna blocked them from coming into this world, and Fyskel is said to have made them drop treasure, so that adventurers would come and be killed, partially appeasing Ashmor. Phadan made them expose their cores, enabling them to be killed. I don’t remember the rest of the story, but they were all supposed to have a hand in it.”

“Huh.” was all I could say. I’d heard most of those names in the tavern, enough to know that Naldyna was the Goddess of Nature and Phadan was the God of the Dead. Was the story true? I suppose there was no way to know. I let the conversation move on, taking a less active part. I wanted to get back to [Enchanting]

[Runes] were like [Spells], in that there was now a list that I could purchase them from. They cost less, but I had less points to spend. I’d probably get more if I raised the skill, but… I had a feeling that I could get [Spells], and now [Runes] from finding a spell book, if I had the [Research] skill. Now here were some [Runes], laid out in front of me. Was it worth seeing if I could learn them? I’m going to want it anyway when I find a spellbook, and that is a fairly high priority…

[Research] Level 1 purchased.

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 1 XP.

I stared at Edvard’s amulet, trying to activate [Research] I got the sense that it was working, but would need more time. Then I looked away, and tried concentrating on [Memorise]’s relocation of it. I got the same sensation. Excusing myself from the group, I retired to my room.

You have learned the rune: [Cool]

You have learned the rune: [Heat]

You have learned the rune: [Effect: Touch]

You have learned the rune: [Constant Effect]

You have learned the rune: [Sense (Temperature)]

[Research] Level 2 acquired through use

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 1 XP

You have learned the rune: [Trigger]

You have learned the rune: [Accept Energy]

It took almost an hour to learn each one, so that was how I spent the rest of the day. And that was how I learned [Enchanting]