Kanna was in her office when Rowan stopped by, and she welcomed him in with an eager expression, no doubt having spotted the sack slung over his shoulder. That expression was quickly replaced, however, with one of shock, as Rowan opened the bag to reveal the magical crystals inside.

“I thought the Frost Blades were only entering a Brass-ranked dungeon?” Kanna asked carefully.

“We did,” Rowan affirmed, tilting his head in confusion.

“Did they promise you an increased share?”

Rowan shook his head. “No, the leader agreed to give me a twentieth of the loot.”

“This is not a twentieth,” Kanna replied, sweeping her hand over the sack to indicate the crystals. “No Brass-ranked dungeon in Medanas would yield twenty times the value of this sack in loot. What happened down there?”

Rowan glanced at the ceiling, doing his best to recall the events of the day. After a moment, he looked back at Kanna, laying out what had occurred within the dungeon, as well as the events that had transpired with the guard and Nor afterwards. As his story came to a close, Kanna had an understanding look in her eyes.

“I see, meeting a climber certainly changes things,” Kanna muttered. “And an Aracocytus at that! It’s a miracle you all came out alive.”

“Master, what is a climber?” Rowan asked carefully. “I have a general understanding of them after listening to Fiin and Dillo, but I’m still a little unsure of what it is they are exactly.”

“Do you want the simple answer or the complex one?” Kanna responded. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. “The simplest way to put it is that they’re monsters who don’t belong in the dungeon, that have either left or been forced out of the more mana rich dungeons deeper below. As for the more complex answer, how much do you know about dungeons?”

“Uhhh…” Rowan stammered, doing his best to remember his brief conversation with Darm on the topic. “Just that they exist where mana is dense, and that they increase the concentration of mana in the area.”

“Not bad,” Kanna said approvingly. “Well, dungeons are classified into tiers based on the mana density and the monsters that reside within. In general, the denser the mana, the more powerful and dangerous the denizens, but there are a few exceptions. The dungeon you went to is supposed to be home to thimps, with few other creatures residing there due to the low density of mana. However, sometimes a monster finds its way into a lower-ranked dungeon, usually through some sort of crack or tunnel that provides a way up from a more powerful dungeon below. We call these creatures, climbers.”

“They sound dangerous,” Rowan said, wishing he had something a little more intellectual sounding to add to the discussion.

“They are,” Kanna agreed. “Climbers are one of the biggest causes of death for lower tier adventuring parties. You said you encountered an Aracocytus, which is a monster usually only seen in iron- or silver-tier dungeons. Now that they’ve been alerted to the presence of a climber, the guild will move to seal the path it used to enter the dungeon, or reclassify the dungeon as a different rank, if sealing proves impossible.”

“A silver-tier monster…” Rowan echoed. Hearing it said out loud suddenly put the danger they had faced into context. He had nearly died down there, and only a few lucky breaks had saved the Frost Blades from being completely annihilated.

As Rowan broke into a cold sweat, Kanna nodded. “A silver-tier monster, and you not only survived but defeated it, which explains why the Frost Blades gave you so many magical crystals. They must have been quite grateful to you for your contributions within the dungeon. Did you happen to catch how much they earned from their broker for the rest of the loot?”

“Twenty-four Vlends,” Rowan responded. While his memory might not work quite so well for school work, and a little too well for recalling the faces of horrifying nightmare spiders, he could always remember financial matters.

Kanna nodded. “This is a full sixth of what they earned down there, an equal share as if you were a full member of the Frost Blades. For them to give up so much, it means they must think you acquitted yourself well, beyond well even.”

Rowan smiled at this, happy to receive praise for once. It had certainly been a scarce commodity recently, given his performance at the academy.

Closing the sack, Kanna reached inside her desk, pulling out a purse which she emptied out into her hand. Several gold coins glimmered there, as well as a few of the smaller silver Dirrins. Counting out two gold Vlends and a handful of Dirrins, Kanna placed them on the table, before returning the rest of the stash to her purse which was then stashed back inside the desk.

“These are for you,” Kanna told him, pushing the coins across the desk to Rowan. “Fifty percent of the value of the crystals you’ve acquired, as we agreed.” Seeing Rowan’s expression, Kanna laughed. “I know it sucks, but at least you’re getting paid. Back in the day, apprentices were expected to acquire reagents without any compensation at all. Just consider it a broker’s fee for getting you a place with a powerful party such as the Frost Blades.”

“Ah, I’m not thinking anything ungrateful, master,” Rowan said hurriedly. “I’m just amazed, is all. Even if it’s more than three times as much as I was supposed to earn, the fact that I could make so much from a dungeon of the lowest level feels strange. I risked my life everyday back in Taureen, and the most I usually had to show for it was a few scraps of bread and maybe some rotten vegetables if I was lucky. But in a single morning I’ve made enough to live comfortably for weeks. It’s… strange.”

Kanna looked on in sympathy. “It’s just the way of the world. Connections beget power, and power begets connections. Street-dwellers have neither, and thus they can acquire neither. No amount of hard work will change that, only luck.” Seeing Rowan’s dour expression, Kanna changed tack. “But that’s enough of the depressing stuff. You did well today, and I’m sure that there will be more opportunities for you to join dungeon runs as your reputation spreads.”

Rowan blinked. “There will?”

“Of course. Even if you hadn’t performed well, I’d have still arranged for you to join other parties to obtain magic crystals and other items—it is part of your job description after all. Your stellar performance just makes things easier.” Leaning forward, Kanna looked Rowan in the eye. “Given your performance in class so far, what I’m about to say might sound counter-intuitive, but I think you should take as many of these opportunities as you can.”

Rowan tilted his head. “But shouldn’t I be spending time studying? How can I do well in class if I’m adventuring all the time?”

“Just study more,” Kanna said with a shrug. “I don’t know, school was never all that tough for me. But the more experience you get now, the better. The classes in the first semester are mostly focused on classwork and getting new students up to speed, lots of theoretical stuff. But starting in your second term, you’ll be taking classes that focus more on the practical side of adventuring. This is the one area that many of your fellow classmates will be starting with zero prior experience, although several of them will have considerable knowledge thanks to parents or mentors who were adventurers.”

Rowan’s mind flashed to Dillo, who had spent a considerable amount of time bragging about his father’s accomplishments. “Right, so you’re saying that if I acquire experience now, I can stand out in the future.”

“Exactly,” Kanna replied, her gaze steady. “I’m not telling you to sacrifice this semester’s classes—I’ll kill you if you slack off in mine—but diverting some of your time from schoolwork to adventuring would probably prove beneficial. Most first-years have difficulty finding parties willing to take them on, but I can help you with that, and so long as you perform well, you should be able to head into dungeons at least once a week. With three months left before the end of the first semester, that’s at least twelve dungeons you can enter, maybe more if you work over the holidays. And any dungeons you get into without my help, you can keep the entire fee.”

Rowan did the math in his head. Assuming he made even just a quarter of what he’d made today, that was still nearly ten gold Vlends that he could make between now and the winter break. That could buy a lot of pies…

“What’s the best way to go about this?” Rowan asked.

Kanna smiled.