Watching the child Ascend to the next level against his advice annoyed the ever living hell out of the Corpse Hunter.

"This is why I hate kids," he said aloud.

The vulture perched atop his shoulder bobbed its head up and down in agreement. Aiden stepped through the door to the ninth level, grumbling quietly to himself.

On the other side of the door was a long straight pathway made of decorative stonework. Flanking the path were rows of hedges with small clay pots nestled beneath them every ten or fifteen yards. The shimmering marble door to the next floor was visible about a hundred yards away at the end of the elongated courtyard.

Being such a low level, this floor of Dungeon was pretty straightforward and Aiden had seen its layout a hundred times over. As an Ascender walked the path something would pop out of the clay pots and attack. To get out all you had to do was make your way down the path until you reached the exit, either fighting or finding a way to avoid the potted monsters.

"Some of these floors have a shortcut built in, follow me and…" Aiden had begun to say as the girl sprinted towards the nearest pot and kicked it open.

Without even waiting to see what was inside she stabbed downwards with a small dagger. The tip of the blade sank into the head of a coiled up snake. It let out a death wail in the form of a short hiss just before she pulled the blade back out.

She turned to run towards the next pot but a gloved hand grabbed her by the shoulder. The Corpse Hunter spun the eleven year old around and looked down at her.

"I don't know who you're trying to impress, but leaving this Dungeon in the back of my corpse wagon isn't going to appeal to anyone. Myself included," said the man in gray.

The girl glanced behind him before looking back up at his face. "I don't see a cart."

"I didn't bring it with me this time."

"Then why threaten me with it?"

"It was a metaphor."

"Your metaphors suck," she said as she pulled free from his grip and dashed towards a nearby pot.

Just as before her dagger sank into the shattered pot before the snake hidden inside had a chance to react. Its blood ran down the edge of her blade as she yanked it out of the broken pottery.

"The only thing I hate more than kids, are kids who don't listen," the Corpse Hunter said to his familiar.

Vagrant squawked.

"You're right, I do hate that more," Aiden admitted to the bird. "Let's see if we can keep this one alive "

As the young Ascender ran to the third pot an arrow pierced its side before she could reach it. The snake inside was so thoroughly skewered it didn't even react to the injury. It simply rolled over and died. The girl glared back at the man in gray who had a short bow in his hands and an annoyed look upon his face.

"When I tell you to do something you need to listen," he said as he walked over to the child.

"I need to train," she replied.

Defiant kids were even worse than ones that simply didn't pay attention, Aiden thought to himself. "I have almost thirty years worth of experience crawling through this Dungeon kid…"

"Then you should have an easy time keeping up with me," the girl said, cutting him off as she ran for the next pot.

Vagrant squawked with amusement at the quip.

The Corpse Hunter sighed, drew back his bowstring, and lined up his arrow with the girl's legs. It wouldn't be hard to drop her. Even with her small frame he could hit her in the shin. She'd heal up fine in a few weeks, no permanent damage.

That thought left Aiden's mind almost as quickly as it had appeared. Sure it would have made things a lot easier but he wasn't a monster and he wouldn't harm a child for the sake of his own convenience. Unless they found a really good way to piss him off.

The arrow shattered the next pot and decapitated the snake inside moments before the child could break it open. She scowled at the Corpse Hunter again and ran towards an adjacent clay pot. Aiden nocked another arrow and sent it sailing into the center of that pot as well.

This went on for several minutes. The girl chased down the snake-filled containers only to have the man in gray destroy them before she could get there. Half the pots had been obliterated along with their inhabitants before the girl groaned angrily and stomped her way towards the Corpse Hunter.

"Stop it!" she shouted.

"No, you're the one who needs to stop. You are going to get yourself killed and I'm not in the mood to carry around a dead child for the next six hours," the Corpse Hunter said.

"I'm not going to get killed by a bunch of mostly harmless snakes."

"How do you know they’re mostly harmless?"

"Because, we're on the ninth floor. Monsters can't cause status effects until after level ten. So that means these snakes don't have any venom and if I did get bit it would be a basic flesh wound and nothing more."

There was a brief pause before the man in gray responded. "I honestly didn't expect you to know that."

"I'm not stupid. I've been training in this Dungeon almost every day since my tenth birthday."

"Congratulations kid, that means I only have twenty six years worth of experience more than you do."

"You were going to tell me to climb up on the hedges and walk across them like a bridge to avoid the pots, weren't you?" she asked, ignoring the Corpse Hunter's comment.

"If you knew about that then why didn't you do it? Being in this Dungeon is all about mitigating risks."

"I'm not here for shortcuts and easy loot, I'm here for training."

"You shouldn't be here at all, kid. The Dungeon is a literal death trap."

"Maria," the girl said.

"What?" Aiden asked.

She had replied so quickly she almost cut him off again.

"My name is Maria. You can stop calling me kid."

"You are a kid."

"I didn't say I wasn't, I just said you don't have to call me one."

"If I call you by your name will you leave the Dungeon?"

"No," Maria said adamantly.

"Kid it is then," said the man in gray.

It didn't take long for Maria to carve her way through the remaining snake filled pots. Aiden had continued to destroy them with his bow until the girl tried to stab him. After that he simply followed behind the tiny psychopath, killing any wandering snakes that happened to spawn behind them.

While the exit door had been visible from the far end of the Dungeon, the large pit of snakes in front of it was only noticeable from a few feet away. There was a ladder on the opposite end of the pit not far from the door. If anyone was unlucky enough to fall inside they could try to climb their way out. Neither Aiden nor Maria was interested in trying the ladder.

"I'll jump it first then I'll toss you a rope," the Corpse Hunter said.

The pit wasn't terribly long and with a running start the man in gray was able to land in the center of the platform on the opposite side near the door. He turned back around to face Maria but the blacked haired child was gone.

"Hey kid," Aiden called out.

There was no response. The only sound he heard was the door shutting behind him.

***

The tenth floor consisted of a large swamp that stretched out as far as the eye could see. A cloudy sky let in filtered sunlight from overhead that cast shadows over the cypress trees and moss covered mounds that littered the wet landscape. It was slightly humid but a light breeze made the artificial climate more than tolerable.

Each of the mossy mounds was only a few feet apart from the ones beside it which made it relatively easy to leapfrog from one mound to another. Which is exactly what Maria was doing when the Corpse Hunter walked through the marble door. With the aid of his tall stature and long legs Aiden was able to quickly catch up to the girl.

He grabbed her by the collar of her leather armor just as she was about to jump onto a nearby pile of moss.

"Let go," Maria said sternly.

Aiden spun her around to face him.

"Why are you so determined to throw your life away kid?" he asked sharply.

"I already told you. I need to train."

"For what? Do you think you're going to reach True Ascension all by yourself? There's another ninety floors above us as far as anyone knows. And they are filled with things that are a hell of a lot more menacing than pottery and reptiles."

"I wasn't alone until you scared away my other party members."

Maria crossed her arms and scowled at the man in gray. She spent so much time looking miserable it was a wonder the expression didn’t become permanent.

"As if they would've made much of a difference. That bunch wasn't doing you any serious favors, kid."

"They were the only ones willing to Ascend with me."

"Is that why you don't have a guide? There weren't any Veteran Ascenders willing to put up with your crap?"

The young girl's determined expression softened briefly. "They said it was pointless because I wouldn't get strong enough in time, even with their help."

Maria immediately looked as though she regretted what she'd just said. She swiped at the Corpse Hunter's wrist with one of her daggers causing him to let go of her armor. Once free she immediately leaped to another tiny island and began hopping away.

"Be honest," Aiden said to his avian companion. "Was I that big of a pain in the ass when I was her age?"

The Vulture squawked and flapped his wings.

"That's kind of you to say but you're a terrible liar my friend."

***

When the man in gray and his Familiar caught up to Maria the second time she was standing on a large flat mound. A dead bullfrog the size of a man's head lay at her feet. Two more stood on opposite ends of the mound, their obscenely long tongues wrapped tightly around the girl's arms.

"Godsdamnit," the Corpse Hunter said to himself as he rushed forward to help.

He had to zigzag from platform to platform to get to where she was standing. A large cypress tree momentarily blocked Aiden's view of the battle. By the time he made it onto the large mound the frogs were already dead.

Their severed tongues hung from Maria's arms. She slowly pried them off with her knives while quietly voicing her displeasure.

"Gross, gross, gross."

All the determination in the world didn't change the fact that she was still just a kid.

"Are you ready to go home yet?" asked the Corpse Hunter.

"Depends. What time is it?" Maria asked, trying to seem unbothered by the slimy frog appendages.

"If I take my eyes off you to check my pocket watch you're just going to run off again, aren't you?"

"Probably."

"Yeah I bet. You're awfully good at slipping in and out of trouble. What's your Fate kid?"

"None of your damn business," she replied as one of the frog tongues fell to the ground.

"Watch your language you little brat."

"Why? You swear all the time."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do. Just because you curse under your breath doesn't mean other people can't hear you."

"Shit," the Corpse Hunter said quietly.

"See," Maria said as she cut the other tongue off.

"Damnit, I mean…ah damnit. Just how far up were you planning to Ascend today?"

If she was willing to call it quits after another level or two Aiden was willing to put up with her. Leaving her alone meant she'd likely die but he still had a long list of enchanting components to gather. Not to mention the corpses that were still marinating in holy water back in his garage.

There was also that weird black goop that had come out of the Copper Prince's nose, or lack thereof, after his body was purged. The Corpse Hunter wanted to talk to Lady Edevane about that. If it was some sort of toxin she could probably identify it.

"Why do you care how high I plan to go?" the girl asked.

"Because I have a lot on my plate right now and babysitting an eleven year old is what one might consider a waste of my time."

Her face stiffened. "Then go. I never asked you to tag along behind me."

"Godsdamnit," Aiden said under his breath.

Halfway into the word he remembered what Maria had said about his cursing but he was too frustrated to stop himself.

"Look, I have too much to do right now to argue with a child. If you won't go home then so be it, but I am leading the way through this Dungeon and you are the one following me. Got it?"

Maria looked the man in gray up then paused for a moment. "Fine."

Aiden turned his attention to Vagrant. "Fly up and find us the shortest path to the exit, would you?"

The vulture launched himself off the man's shoulder and flew up above the tree line. A few minutes later the bird was circling over a large cypress tree not far from where Maria and Aiden were still standing. They hopped their way to the vulture, stopping to kill a few sets of frogs along the way.

Most were quickly dispatched by the Corpse Hunter's shortsword though Maria still killed her fair share. In a one on one fight against an opponent her size or smaller it was pretty clear the young Ascender could hold her own. Naturally Aiden didn't tell her that as she'd probably take that as a sign she could run off by herself.

If the girl wasn't so hell-bent on charging her way through life at full speed she might turn into a skilled Ascender someday. Though that would also require her to learn how to listen to her elders in addition to doubling her current level of patience. If she could do that, she might have a chance at a bright future. Well, as bright a future as anyone living in a Column could hope for.

The large cypress tree that Vagrant circled above stood at the end of a large mossy mound. A shimmering marble door was embedded in the center of its trunk. Aiden wondered if he could push the door open and shove the kid through before she had time to stab him.

That might be a risk worth taking, he thought, as a frog the size of a horse leaped out of the nearby water. It was identical to the other frogs they'd fought already, aside from its absurdly large size of course.

The green skinned creature opened its huge mouth and let out a thunderous roar. Which came out like a very loud bullfrog croak. While not very threatening to the Corpse Hunter the frog was large enough to swallow a child whole.

Maria turned to look up at Aiden.

"Welcome to the tenth floor, kid. Go show him what you're made of," the Corpse Hunter said.

He had hoped she would ask for his help so he could use this as a teaching moment. An opportunity to illustrate the many dangers of the Dungeon and explain how it wasn't a place for children. Instead the girl nodded and charged at the frog, daggers out.