As the Corpse Hunter and the Rift Caller trekked their way inland the sand beneath their feet turned to grass. The sparse palm trees that had dotted the beach grew closer to one another the further they got from the water. Before long the Ascenders found themselves in the midst of a moderately dense forest.

Bushes and knee high grass helped to further obscure the heart of the island from the shore. Aiden's first instinct was to set the foliage on fire and flush out whatever was undoubtedly lurking within. He decided not to out of the concern that he might inadvertently render the gold quest impossible to complete.

There was no telling what would happen if that were the case. It could kill them all instantly or trap them on the thirteenth floor. If they became trapped there was a chance they would get expelled at the end of the week when the Dungeon reset.

Which would still deprive Maria of valuable training time or cause her to miss her evaluation altogether. The latter of which would lead to an automatic failure. That or they might be stuck in the Dungeon forever. Either possibility had an undesirable outcome.

The Corpse Hunter had gone through too much to let the girl down through his own negligence. He put the unlit torch back into his pack and drew his shortsword. Then he turned to the vulture on his shoulder.

"Are you in the mood for some aerial reconnaissance Vagrant?"

The bird squawked and flew off.

"Appreciated. Let me know if I'm walking into an ambush or I'm about to walk off a cliff," the man in gray called out.

"Bluff," Maria said from behind him.

"What?" Aiden asked, turning to look at the girl.

"If it's surrounded by water it's called a bluff. Not a cliff."

"I wasn't aware there was a difference. Where'd you learn that?"

"My grandmother bought me some books about maps. Most were in Dwarven but some had translations in the back.

"I wanted to be a map maker, before my mother told me that wasn't going to happen. 'Who is going to buy a map from you? No one ever leaves the Column and the Dungeon changes every week,' she told me."

Maria frowned.

The Corpse Hunter wasn't really sure what to say. What Maria's mother had said was true regardless of how heartbreaking it was for a child to hear. And there wasn't any way to sugar coat it without lying straight to the kid's face. Not that Aiden was one to sugar coat things. So he changed the subject instead.

"Does that mean you know Dwarven then? From reading the translations."

"I know some Dwarven, yes. I know a lot of words by memory, if they're related to what you might find on a map. But I'm not sure how to pronounce them since I haven't heard any of them said aloud."

"No surprise there. You're probably one of only a handful that has any understanding of that language. It's been decades since the Dwarves visited the Column and from what I've heard most of them speak our language anyway."

"Have you ever met a Dwarf before?" Maria asked as she followed the Corpse Hunter.

"No," Aiden said while hacking apart a large bush with his sword. "Never been outside the Column, obviously, and they only come to trade once or twice a century."

"I'd like to see one someday. I bet they look funny."

"I'm sure they'd think the same thing about."

"Hey," the girl said defensively. "I do not look funny."

"I never said you did. I just said a Dwarf might think you do."

Maria grumbled and turned her focus from Aiden to her beetle. She opened the cage and the small blue shelled insect crawled out onto her finger. Then it flapped its wings and buzzed up onto her chest where it remained.

Out of the corner of his eye the Corpse Hunter saw a faint smile on the eleven year old's face as she gently stroked the bug’s shell. He said nothing. When the world knew what made you happy it had a habit of taking it from you. Best not to draw attention to one of few joys the kid had found in life.

About an hour later Vagrant let out a squawk. Maria quickly drew her daggers readying herself for a fight. Aiden put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, he's just letting us know he found something of interest," the man in gray said.

"How can you tell? All of his squawking sounds the same to me," the Rift Caller asked, putting her knives away.

"Same reason you can read Dwarven maps, I have access to the translations. Mine are all up here though," he said, tapping the side of his temple. "Let's go see what our feathered friend found."

That was strange, Aiden realized as soon as the words left his mouth. He'd never referred to Vagrant as anyone's friend but his own. Yet he had included Maria in that comment.

"I guess she's growing on me," he thought to himself.

The vulture circled over a small rise in the land which must have stuck out from the sky like a sore thumb. The Ascenders couldn't see the change in elevation until they were at the base of it. There was simply too much vegetation in the way.

"So, what are those called?" Aiden asked as he pointed towards the land mass.

"That's…a hill," Maria said awkwardly.

"There isn't some other island specific term for it?"

"Nope. It's just a hill."

"Right," the man in gray said with a tinge of embarrassment as he walked towards it.

The hill was large though it wasn't steep making it relatively easy to ascend. At the top was a small abandoned campsite including a shredded tent, an old fire pit, and some other odds and ends. Leaned up against a large tree near the fire pit was the body of a skeleton.

Aiden held Maria back as he scanned the remains. "We're good," he said. "If that's Kinsley they aren't getting back up."

The girl threw a rock at the human remains just to be safe. Which made the Corpse Hunter grin. Trust but verify, that's how you stayed alive.

"Yup, we're good," said Maria when the skeleton didn't respond to the rock that had ricocheted off its forehead and rolled down the hill.

Beside the skeleton was a wooden crate with a lantern resting on it. "Kinsley," was engraved into its base. Aiden, after making sure the object wasn't trapped, picked it up.

"Holy shit…" he said under his breath.

"What?" Maria asked, reminding the man in gray that she could hear him even when he cursed quietly.

"It's a relic. This lantern’s light can see through magical darkness."

"So we found the reward then? That means we can leave and go to the next floor, right."

The Corpse Hunter pulled out the scroll and examined it. He and the Rift Caller watched as the line about the lantern was magically crossed out. To their surprise another line of text appeared.

"When darkness is illuminated all shall be revealed," the scroll read.

"Cryptic as always," Aiden said. "But if this lantern isn't the reward then whatever is waiting at the end of this scavenger hunt must be obscenely valuable."

"Look what I found!" Maria said excitedly.

She was holding up a charcoal sketch of the island. "It was in Kinsley's lap! There was a piece of charcoal in his hand. I think he made this himself, that means he was a mapmaker!"

"I mean….you know he wasn't a real person right? He's just part of the Dungeon."

"Yeah I know but, it's still exciting. I've never met a mapmaker before. Even if they aren't really real, I still think it's neat."

"You're right, it is neat," Aiden said, trying to sound like he shared in her excitement. "Can I see the map?"

Maria handed it to him.

"What's this flat spot here called?"

"That's a plateau," she said. "Which is like the opposite of a valley."

"And this little indent on the other side of the island?"

"That's a cove, which is similar to a cave but coves are always near a source of water."

"So it's dark in there like a normal cave?"

"Yeah but there's usually water inside too."

They both looked at each other then over at the lantern..

Having a map enthusiast in the party was a very niche skill set. But Aiden appreciated not having to walk aimlessly trying to figure out where the lantern was supposed to be used.

Maria was able to find the fastest route from the hill to the cove which would save them at least half an hour of walking. She was becoming more tolerable with every new hurdle that came their way. Aiden was considering checking up on her now and then if her assessment went well. That was a big if however, best not to think that far ahead.

The Rift Caller had become more than just a child that he didn't care to see die in the Dungeon. He had gone out of his way to become invested in her well being. Which made her familiar to him now.

It was just like with the magic gauntlets and the crabs. Aiden had started something and he couldn't stop himself until it was finished. One way or the other.

Together the Ascenders made their way down the opposite side of the hill from where they had come up. The hill itself was halfway between the upper and lower portions of the island according to the map. Though it was too far to the right hand side to be considered in the middle of the island.

The true center of the island coincidentally turned out to be the plateau that Aiden had pointed to earlier. When they found it on foot Maria started to explain that plateaus usually formed in dry climates and the amount of rain needed to sustain the dense tropical forest should have eroded the plateau.

Aiden pointed out that they were in a Dungeon and things like that didn't have to make sense to exist. The child fell in a large hole as she said how dumb that was and accused the Dungeon of being lazy.

"Are you ok?" the Corpse Hunter asked as he helped her up.

The hole was only a foot deep but it was wider than the girl that fell into it.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Are you sure? You scraped your forehead a bit and it's bleeding now."

"If you're allowed to say you're fine when something makes you bleed then it's only fair that I get to do the same."

The Corpse Hunter tried to refute her logic but couldn't think of anything so he helped her up without arguing. When Vagrant squawked from overhead the man in gray took a few steps back and reexamined the hole.

"What is it?" Maria asked.

"A footprint," Aiden said.

"It's huge. Are we going to have to fight whatever made it?"

"Not if we can avoid it. So if you happen to see something the size of a house before Vagrant or I do, be sure to say something."

Maria nodded.

It didn't take long to cross the plateau. The lack of foliage made walking easy and allowed for a clear view of the area. Aiden almost resented the forest's existence when he walked back into it as they approached the northern side of the island.

Reluctantly he drew his sword and began cutting through the dense undergrowth once more. Even with the help of the Hands of the Hill Giant it didn't make the repetitive task any less tiresome. At the very least the abundance of trees allowed him to work in the shade.

Aiden and Maria stopped to take a short rest when they found a pair of rocks that were the perfect size for sitting on. Then they pulled out their dried food rations and some water and had lunch. Vagrant landed in a nearby tree to join them while still keeping a watch on their surroundings.

The young girl made a game of tossing bits of food up at the vulture who would snatch them out of the air. The spirit animal seemed to enjoy it almost as much as the child. Aiden was content to watch Maria actually get to be a kid for once.

Sure the Dungeon wasn't the place for fun and games but the last two days had been absolute hell. She deserved a few minutes now and then to forget everything going on around her. It was almost hard for the Corpse Hunter to tell her it was time to pack up but the heavy footsteps coming their way were too big of a concern to ignore.

They made a wide arc around whatever was stomping its way through the tropical forest. As much as Aiden liked having answers to his questions he was happy to never learn what the creature was if it meant they could avoid getting into a fight with it.

"The cautious cat doesn't need nine lives," he thought to himself.

Thanks to Maria’s map they were able to stay on course and continue towards the cove while avoiding the large unknown threat. Twenty minutes after they stopped hearing the heavy footfalls the Ascenders found what they were looking for. It was tucked into a shallow portion of the beach that Maria was all too happy to point out as a bay. The entrance was quite large but there was about three feet of water inside the waterlogged cave.

Fortunately a row boat was beached on the shore not far away. Aiden dragged it along through the sand with his gauntlets while Maria rode inside. Her body weight was negligible thanks to the magic relic that the Corpse Hunter was still using so he hadn't objected when she climbed into the boat.

Once the small watercraft was in the cove Aiden hopped inside. Vagrant sat in the back of the boat keeping a watchful eye on their rear. Reaching into his bag Aiden retrieved Kinsley's Lantern and handed it to the Rift Caller.

"I get to hold it?" she said, looking at the magical object reverently.

"Yeah, unless you'd rather row," the Corpse Hunter said. "I can't do both."

Maria grabbed the lantern before he could change his mind. She reached into her bag and pulled out a tinder kit, quickly lighting the relic. Then she held it out in front of her as Aiden started to row.

"Alright," Aiden said. "Are you ready to get this gold quest bullcrap over with once and for all?"

"Let's do this," Maria said, nodding her head.

Vagrant squawked from the back of the boat to signal that he too was ready..

The Corpse Hunter nodded back and grabbed the oars with the Hands of the Hill Giant. He noticed the rust starting to reform on the gauntlets. They wouldn't be useful for much longer he thought as he started to row quickly.