“Didn’t I tell you kids to not go bringing trouble to my doorstep?”

Jason looked up from the table where he, Kera, and Lumi were seated to see Raelin standing just inside the doorway to the Lodge’s common room, hands on her hips.

She was accompanied by a huge, bearded, bear of a man that Jason could only assume was her husband, Willum. He had a massive greatsword strapped to his back, and was dressed in armor made from a mishmash of leather, metal plates, and fur lining. Jason thought he must have been sweltering under it all; while the temperature was still relatively cool, it wasn’t that cold.

Maybe he had a skill.

Raelin made her way to the set of tables where Jason and the girls were, in order to take a seat alongside the town’s only two other adventurers. Willum followed, his heavy footsteps causing the floorboards to creak beneath him. Jason realized the man must have a touch of some kind of non-human ancestry as they approached: he had small, sharp tusks that jutted out from his lips beneath the beard, and his skin held a very slight, reddish tinge.

They’d been the last to arrive. As soon as Jason and the others had reported the existence of a new dungeon, the town’s [Mayor], Tobias, had called for a general war council consisting of all local adventurers, key members of the city guard, and a few notable individuals whose expertise might be called upon should the town itself come under assault.

Jason recognized a few faces in addition to Raelin, and quite a number he didn’t. Flora was present of course, both because she had been with them for the attack and because as an apothecary, she was more or less the town’s primary physician. She was seated at a different table with Jerrik, who held [Armorer] among his various crafting classes.

Two other civilians were seated with the two shopkeepers: a stocky, soot-smudged dwarf still wearing his stained, leather apron filled with tools, and a tall, neatly dressed, dark-skinned woman wearing a pair of spectacles.

The dwarf had been introduced to Jason as Tersk, a local [Blacksmith] who also crafted many of the weapons the town guard used. The woman’s name was Sevani, and she turned out to be the town’s sole [Engineer], and was responsible for maintaining the city walls, water supply, and irrigation systems.

Jason made a mental note to speak with her later about how she’d gotten the class, and what kind of skills it came with.

“Thank you for agreeing to join us, Raelin, Willum,” Therissa said with a polite bow. “I know you just want to enjoy your retirement in peace, but excluding the newbies, here, Turi and Rahim are the only experienced adventurers we’ve got besides yourselves.”

“Now that we’re all here, let’s begin,” the elfess said, as she placed her AVL reader on the central table alongside her [Diplomat’s Eye]. “As this is a formal council called by [Mayor] Tobias, I must ask everyone to please come forward one at a time and confirm your identities.”

One by one, each person present stepped forward and inserted their license into the reader, causing a small screen to pop up briefly for all to see. Jason was the last to identify himself, and his new title caused a stir to pass through the room.

“Bloody hell, lad,” Tersk exclaimed, leaning forwards in his seat. “How on earth did a boy your age manage to earn that?”

Therissa gave Jason a long look, but said nothing at first. As he turned to return to his seat, she stopped him.

“One moment. I hate to single you out here, Jason, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask-“

Jason held up a hand to interrupt her. “I know, I know,” he said. “I do avow, not only did we not revive the core I had in my possession, it has in fact already been destroyed for use as a crafting component in the project that earned me my title. To be further clear, neither I, nor my friends, possess any knowledge whatsoever of where this newest dungeon came from, and had no hand in its creation.”

“Will that suffice?” He asked, with a pointed glance down at the [Diplomat’s Eye], which glowed a pale blue.

“It shall,” Therissa replied.

“The boy had a dungeon core in his possession?” asked Raelin. “How did that come to pass?”

Therissa started to wave her off, but Jason replied of his own accord.

“We killed it ourselves, yesterday, only a few hours before we first met,” Jason said. “The dungeon was brand new; no more than a handful of defenders. The prime reason Therissa wanted my word with the [Eye] present is because two new dungeons together within such a short time means someone is likely manufacturing them, right Therissa?”

His explanation caused another stir to pass trough the room.

“You catch on fast,” Therissa said. “Yes, that is correct. I believe we have a rogue mage on our hands, and I needed to get that out of the way."

“My apologies for the necessary suspicion,” she added with a short bow of her head, in Jason’s direction.

“No need, we understand.” Jason replied, sitting down.

Tobias, the town’s elderly mayor, stepped forward. His huge, white, handlebar mustache quivered as he spoke with a deep, commanding voice that was at odds with his small frame.

“Now that’s all out of the way, on to business. Jason, was it? Would you please relate the events of this evening to everyone present so we’re all on the same page?”

Jason did so, giving a summarized account of the river monster’s attack, some details about the creatures themselves, and a mention of how they’d alerted the farms nearest the river at Flora’s behest and escorted them into town before contacting the Mayor.

After he finished, Tobias stood up again, addressing the room.

“As you can see, matters are quite serious. Two dungeons at once, plus potentially a rogue practitioner of dark magics on our hands. I’m not aware of any disappearances lately, but I’ll need everyone to be on high alert. Keep an eye out for any kind of suspicious activity, everyone. We don’t need a repeat of the events up in Belkarion.”

Tobias turned to a middle aged woman dressed in the simplistic, light steel armor of the city guard.

“Captain Denaire,” he asked, “I trust that you’ve already begun to send word to the other outlying farms and begun preparations to evacuate them within the walls?”

The guardswoman nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Excellent. Then that brings me to our first big problem. Spring planting isn’t done yet. We can’t let that go obviously, not coming on the heels of winter as we are. But with monsters running around out there, that means we’ll need to cut off any foraging, and provide a full time guard patrol during the day for our planters, at least until we know how developed this dungeon has become.”

“That’s going to be an issue,” Denaire said. “It’s not like there’s many of us in a town this size. Even if I pulled everyone from their normal duties, we don’t really have the manpower to cover all the farms.”

Tobias shook his head. “We won’t need full coverage, I should think. For one, planting’s halfway finished already, and the deadline isn’t for a few weeks. Tackling individual farms in shifts should do the trick. On top of that, this definitely sounds like an aquatic dungeon of some breed or another. If any more raiding parties approach, it will be from the direction of the river. Farms on the east side should be safe enough.”

“Yes, sir,” Denaire said with a quick salute.

“Do we have any idea where exactly the entrance is located?” Tobias asked Therissa.

“None at this time,” she replied. “I’m afraid I don’t have any kind of tools that would help with that.”

Kera raised her hand timidly. “I, um, might be able to help.”

Tobias nodded in her direction. “Then do so, please. Coordinate with Therissa if you need anything; it’s of utmost importance that we identify the origin point and get an estimate of this dungeon’s maturity level. Does anyone have any information on that front?”

Therissa shook her head. “Not me. I’m just a [Receptionist] really. I pick up plenty here and there, and know the standard procedures, but I’m no adventurer.”

Willum stood up, his voice a deep, bass rumble. He spoke in quickly in terse, fragmented sentences, before sitting back down again. “Must be big, if raiding. Or has strong Keeper. Look for surface corruption. If present, big problem.”

“Anyone else have something to add to that?” Tobias asked after Willum had finished, looking about the room. “No? Very well. After ensuring the safety of the townsfolk, our first task will be to scout for the exact location of the dungeon, and to determine whether or not it’s already begun to affect the surface. Therissa, I’m placing you and Raelin in charge of that, please coordinate with Captain Denaire when you have more information. You have full authority to draft anyone’s assistance you need, provided it doesn’t take away from preparations elsewhere.”

Tobias coughed once, to clear his throat, before continuing.

“Lieutenant Ghot, I’m placing you in charge of the investigation as to the ultimate source of these dungeons. You have my permission to draft a handful of the citizenry to assist you with this task.”

The man seated at Denaire’s side nodded once. “Yes, sir,” he said.

“Jerrik, Tersk,” Tobias continued. “I’ll need you working full time, checking and repairing everyone’s armor and weapons, including those of any townsfolk who are willing to join the general defense. On a similar note, is there anything either of you can do to give our fighters an edge?”

“Not currently,” the dwarf replied. “All I’ve got is plain old steel. If I had better materials to work with, maybe, but there’s not much general demand for it in a small town like ours. Jerrik’s the only one who really gets the odd request now and again.”

Jerrik cut in. “I’m a bit low on stock, actually,” he said. “I only just today put in a formal job posting, which was taken up by our new friends, here,” he said with a nod in Jason’s direction. “I suppose that will mess to go on hold for now.”

“What was the job?” Tobias asked.

“Just some prism scarab chitin, and any extra Radiant Iron he happens to find in the nests.”

Tobias turned to Jason, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Would you be willing to take on some additional gathering tasks, if we provided you and your friends with transport? It shouldn’t take more than a few days, and by then we’ll know more. Additional supplies for some specialized gear couldn't hurt.”

Jason looked to Lumi for confirmation. She nodded, but also leaned forwards to tap Jason’s holstered wands, giving him a meaningful look.

He nodded once, and then turned back to the Mayor.

“Sure,” he said. “Actually, while we’re on the subject of outfitting... do we have people capable of using wands, or staves?”

Jason hesitated a moment so he could pick his words carefully. “I’d rather not go into details, but my classes are... a little unusual. If you can provide me access to a proper lab, and materials, I could probably outfit half the town with basic enchantments in about two weeks, including specialized weaponry, given you supply with me everything I need.”

“A... lab?” asked Tobias. “I’m not familiar with the word. But I’m afraid we don’t have the kind of supplies needed for mass production of enchantments.”

Jason coughed politely. “Actually, um, you do.” He gestured to Flora. “I’m betting Flora can help provide me with everything I’m missing. Get me a private space to work in, some specialized glassware and tools, and I can provide the rest.“

“You would do that for us?” Tobias asked with surprise. “Arcane powder isn’t cheap.”

“Maybe not,” Jason replied with a shrug, “but it’s a fantastic opportunity for me to improve my class levels rapidly. I’m willing to consider that and lab access payment enough for now. Anything else we can work out later.”

“Then you have our sincere thanks,” Tobias said with a slight bow.

“Sevani?” he asked, turning to the dark-skinned woman.

“I’ll meet with him before he leaves, to get the exact specifications,” she replied, making a small note on the set of parchment she had laid out in front of her.

“Very good,” Tobias said. “Then aside from canvassing the town to look for any evidence of foul play, I think the final question before us is this: Do we call for aid from the Guilds now, or do we wait and see how developed the dungeon is and try and handle things ourselves, perhaps with Feron’s aid?”

Therissa raised a hand and spoke up. “I realize I’m somewhat biased here, but I’ve actually already been in contact with a member of the Black Thorns today. When Jason first informed me of the core he’d acquired, I sent for someone to come look over the site, just in case. I could just send a new message to upgrade that request to an urgent priority. Their expertise would be helpful to have when we find the entrance, and if the dungeon turns out to be as far along in development as we fear, they could have a strike force down here in a matter of days, if we’re willing to pay the fees to use Feron’s Wayfinder Gate.”

Tobias rubbed his chin again thoughtfully. Then he let out a heavy sigh. “It’s liable to cost us a bloody fortune, but what’s money when it comes to the safety of our citizens? Very well, see it done, please.”

“I think that covers everything, then,” he said, looking about the room. “Unless anyone has anything else to address?”

Flora spoke up. “I'll need a central area where you can bring the injured where I can see to them. Usually I just do in-home visits. I don’t have a place to treat large numbers of people if it comes to it.”

Tobias nodded. “Sevani?” he asked again.

“Noted.” She relied, making another mark on her parchment.

“Then I think we’re done here,” Tobias said. “Please see Captain Denaire or Lieutenant Ghot if you have any questions. She’ll direct you to me if there are any issues.”

“Gods know I’ll be awake all night making my own preparations,” he said with a sigh. “Dismissed, everyone.”

By the time Jason had given Sevani a brief rundown on the various alembics, crucibles, calcinators, and other apparatus he’d need for a proper alchemy lab, and once Kera had finished her own meeting with Therissa, it was quite late in the evening. The three exhausted friends staggered back to the Inn, half-asleep on their feet, only to be met by a fearful Arn, wringing his hands in distress.

“Is..? Is it true?” he asked. “A wild dungeon has appeared?”

Jason suppressed an urge to snicker and make a comment about tall grass.

Instead, he answered the man’s question.

“I’m afraid it might be even worse than that,” Jason said. “It’s being considered that this dungeon might have been deliberately manufactured. If you hear about anyone going missing, please, inform us immediately so we can alert Lt. Ghot, or speak with him yourself.”

The man swore quietly, and Jason clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry. Everything’s under control. Mayor Tobias has everything in hand. He’s even got us adventurers on board, and we’ve already killed a dungeon once before.”

“You?” He asked.

“That’s right,” Jason said with a nod. “Therissa will be calling in additional help as well, so have no fear. You’ll be safe as long as you stay inside the walls.”

After reassuring the man and requesting a simple, cold dinner be sent up to their rooms, Jason and Kera drew lots for who would get the single room to themselves for that night, with Jason winning. Then the three bathed, ate their meal, and went to bed.

The following morning, Kera and Lumi joined Raelin and the other adventurers in scouting out the entrance to the dungeon. Kera’s plan was to have Raelin drive her about in the wagon, up and down the portions of the road that followed the river. Kera herself would use her belt to assume the crystal serpent form again, and essentially ‘listen’ to the surrounding terrain while Ceri scouted overhead. The other adventurers, Lumi, Willum, Turi, and Rahim, would provide escort on horseback.

As for Jason, he spent much of the morning with Flora, both at her shop and at her home, where she personally grew most of her stock.

Jason was rather blown away by her ‘house’, if you could call it that. It was more like a conservatory - a large building, covered with glass plates and filled with indoor trees, vines, and plants. Portions of the interior were fenced off by walls of interwoven ropes, often adorned with vines, forming different ‘rooms’ within.

Clearly her nature as a Life-touched had had a major influence on her taste in living spaces.

“How did you afford all this?” Jason asked, staring. Like her shop, beetles, butterflies, and other colorful insects buzzed about the place, providing a riot of moving colors against a background of green. “The glass alone must have cost a fortune.”

Flora smirked at his question, amused.

“You’re half-right,” she said. “While it was expensive, glass is fairly cheap here in Arnvale, thanks to our proximity to the Crystal Wastes. Tersk and his family run our local forges and smelters, and they provide the town with relatively cheap glass.”

“On top of that,” Flora continued, “my magic means I can supply a large variety of important herbs and powders to nearby towns. Raelin often does deliveries up to Feron and sometimes even farther for me. Everybody gets sick, or suffers injury from time to time, and I make quite a bit as both an apothecary and a physcian. Its a wonder I manage without an assistant.”

Jason cleared his throat a bit awkwardly.

“Do you mind if I ask you a weird question? I’m sorry if it’s offensive or something. But I find it strange that someone with such an incredible connection to living things would be perfectly fine with, well, cutting them apart and selling them off. How did you come to be both herbalist and apothecary?”

She smiled. “I’m not offended. But let me ask you a question in answer. “Farmers who raise livestock develop skills that improve their rapport with animals, do they not? And yet they slaughter the very animals that depend on them, in order to turn them into food for others. Is this so different?”

“I suppose not,” Jason conceded.

She gestured all around her. “You grew up in one of the crowded cities, I can tell. People like you see all this and they think ‘Wow, nature! It’s so full of life and peace!’”

“Except that nature is anything but peaceful,” she said. “Beautiful? Yes. Peaceful? Hardly. Almost everything that lives preys on something else to survive in one way or another. Insects eat smaller insects. Birds eat the smaller ones, and larger predators eat the birds, and so on. Even plants like the ones I have here must compete with one another for nutrients in the soil; some types of trees even actively poison the land around them to make it unfit for other species.”

“All creatures participate in a constant struggle to survive,” Flora emphasized. “A simple rainstorm might seem pretty to us, but it’s a cataclysmic event for a simple ant mound. Many ants actually evacuate their homes every time it rains, carrying their eggs and young to higher ground, escaping the water that seeps into their mound until it’s dried.

“Life itself is a selfish, brutal, destructive thing. What could be more un-natural than to actively interfere in that cycle and try and constantly preserve all life? That is the path that leads to foul practices such as necromancy.”

“I think I get where you’re coming from,” Jason said, chastened. “Thank you for answering.”

“Think nothing of it,” Flora replied. “What exactly are you looking for anyway? I’m still not sure how exactly I can help you with your enchanting. I mean, I know you said I helped a lot with the whole dirt thing, but...?”

She cocked her head inquisitively at him.

“What do you know about enchanting?” Jason asked. “More specifically, how potions are made?”

“Not much, really,” she replied. “Just that some kinds of enchanters make them, and they don’t last very long.”

“Well, the very basics is that enchanters just sort of... keep forcing mana into them until they absorb enough to be useful. But that process isn’t limited to just potions. Artificers like myself can do something similar with other objects.”

Jason pulled out his half-melted iron wand, showing it to her. “You were a bit busy at the time, but I infused this with a bit of runic essense while we were fighting, because it ran out of Fire magic while we were fighting. It was kind of a rush job though, so this thing’s already pretty much useless.”

He gave it a flick, and a tiny sputter of darkness flew out, only to dissipate harmlessly in the late morning light.

“Oh is that what happened?” Flora asked. “I saw you using some kind of fire spell, but then at the end you were using shadowbolts, right?”

“Exactly. Wands only have so much power they can use before they burn out, and mine did during the fight because the one I'd made hadn't had much to begin with. With a little effort and a dose of arcane powder, I was able to just shove mana back in and use some improvised runic essence to make it into something that would work for a only little while, kind of like how potions get made.”

“But where do I come in?” Flora asked him.

“That’s sort of the trade secret I was mentioning,” Jason lied. “Certain plants will... alleviate my need for so much arcane powder. Different plants are useful for different inks for scribing runes, or can be used for other parts of the process, depending on the effect in question I’m trying to enchant. Like all that Mellax I bought from you is good for enchanting things that blow up.”

“Oh. Like what you did to that Sobek?” Flora asked.

“Sobek?”

“The big crocodile monster.”

“Oh is that what it was called?” Jason replied. “Kera never had a chance to analyze it.”

“They’re one of the more savage beast-kin species, like Lizardfolk. They don’t get along with civilized society much. The ones that aren’t dungeon-born, anyway.”

“Ah, I see,” Jason replied. “But to answer you question, yes, I used the Mellax you sold me to help enchant those [Salamander Stones] I used. I’m very glad I did, as well.”

“Yes. Me too.” Flora replied quietly.

“So um, are you looking for anything in particular?” She asked after a moment, as she led him on a brief tour around her home. “As I said back at the shop, I do have things here I don’t normally sell because there’s no demand.”

“Well, I was hoping for two things,” Jason said. “Remember that bag of seeds I’ve got? I still really want to see if I can bring that project to fruition; if we can get them grown quickly to full maturity so I can harvest them, they’re very likely to provide a fantastic source of new, um, enchantments.

“On top of it, I’m in need of something to help with other elemental enchantments. Unless Jerrik’s books can teach me additional runes, All I can more or less make right now is more shadow-enchantments. Fire would be much, much more useful if we’re fighting fish monsters. Unfortunately, I’m almost completely out of Fire-aspected ingredients for my work.”

“I don’t think I’ve got anything like that.”

“You don’t have to, specifically. It’s...well, it’s that whole trade secrets thing again,” Jason said with a sigh. “More and more I’m thinking I may just have to bite the bullet and join one of the Guilds before I have every adventurer in the world breathing down my neck to make them stuff.”

Jason’s laugh had a slight bitter edge to it. “I’ve already revealed more than I’m comfortable with, really, and I’ve only been here for two days.”

“At any rate,” he said, “even if you don’t specifically have the right ingredients, I can probably make what I need with the stuff you can provide me. All I really need is to just see what I’ve got to work with.”

“So, what, you don’t actually know what you’re looking for?” Flora asked him crossly.

“Nope!” Jason replied cheerfully. “But don’t worry about that. I didn’t know what I was looking for when I came to you yesterday either, remember? And yet here I am, having already having completed the first stage in development of my magical fertilizer.”

Flora looked at him a little dubiously at first, but then shrugged.

“I suppose that’s certainly true,” she said. “Your results were certainly quick. Fine, we’ll do it your way. Don’t forget, you owe me some pots!”

Despite an exhaustive search, in the end Jason returned to the inn having found only two new sources for traits he already had, and only one new trait, ‘Poison’, from a species of mushroom Flora had found growing on one of the trees in her house.

However, she did provide him with a small supply of the ingredients he’d mostly used up the day before, so he at least had something to work with while he waited for Lumi and Kera to return. He used those supplies to replenish some of the potions they'd used, and to make himself some additional arcane powder so he'd have some on hand if needed.

First, Jason made four more [Salamander Stones], using the rest of his fire trait sources except for a single remaining hide scrap. He would have greatly preferred to wait, but his lab wouldn’t be ready until he returned from the Crystal Wastes, so he had no immediate way to reliably refine the ingredients first, and after yesterday’s performance, he didn’t want to go without them.

Next, Jason made a new type of grenade with the trait sequence ‘Volatile Produce Night’, which resulted in a glass sphere filled with an inky black substance that when smashed, would release a cloud of thick, magical darkness that would blind anyone standing in it.

After that, Jason then turned to crafting himself a new wand. This time he used his [Engraving] skill to do so, rather than relying on his Infusion skill, as he didn’t really have any spare ingredients he wanted to try out.

It took him several attempts to get a functioning one that should draw on ambient mana to charge itself, rather than draining his own. Since his Engrave skill was only at the first rank, and the skill required the utmost precision to get right, Jason ended up ruining two of his iron rods before finally managing to complete a full sequence for a [Lesser Wand of Shadowbolt]

Runic Sequence Discovered: Elemental Projectile - Capacity, Absorption, Shadow, Projection. Substitution of Shadow for other elements will result in different effects.

Jason also decided to make some additional [Tanglefoot Bags]. Although he’d not thought to try them out during the fight, the radius of explosion for his [Salamander Stones] had been impressive enough that he thought they might be of use in taking down the prism scarabs that Jerrik wanted. If he could simply pin them in place or bog them down, Lumi and Kera should have no trouble finishing them off.

By the time he was finished, the two girls had returned to the Inn. While they hadn’t pinpointed the dungeon’s exact location, once evening fell Kera had been able to detect an unusually high volume of noise coming from woods in the northwest, noise which to her had seemed like it involved a large degree of churning of water, among other things.

With Kera’s job more or less compete, having at least provided a direction for a search party to take, that meant that the following day, Jason, Lumi, and Kera would finally depart for the Crystal Wastes.