They had to extend their last delve in the Dungeon for two reasons. One, Altia needed to process the plants so they didn't vanish when leaving the Dungeon. Second, Nero's stunt of teleporting to the grass field respawned Rafflesia and they had a single [Egress] card.

Nero took the time to put in the seven hours required and train his pets so his [Monster Tamer] Class could grant them a fifth of his Attributes. Then he let the beasts loose in the Dungeon. The low-level trippers weren't the strangling shredding abominations as before. Now they were barely nuisances for the combat badgers. His crag turtle's water blast could shear the moss off of the weak shamblers, now the size of dwarves. But it had the impact of lowering the number of nuts, and fruit in the forest and potency of the herbs.

Altia took the seeds from the plants and processed some of them into several powders and dried the other herbs so they could survive the exit. Nero went into the thicket and killed Rafflesia, earning another white Skill card, [Thorn Brambles]. It summoned a thorny bramble bush on a small area to deal continuous damage and hinder movement.

One "day" alter they were finally ready to leave. Gone was the bountiful and deadly Dungeon. The beauty was still there but it was old news for them. Nero used [Egress] along with his Skill and took Altia outside with him. She didn't have another [Egress] card slotted.

Glom and the guild personnel were waiting for them. It was two minutes to midnight.

"Welcome back. How was your gray-grade experience?" Glom asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"Better than you'd believe. Let's go home, we're done here," Nero replied with a smirk. He shook his head as he passed past Glom, "You really won't believe."

They got into the carriage and Glom's suspicion increased. He finally asked. "What is it that I won't believe?"

"Well, we've killed the same boss at all grades from orange to gray," Nero hinted. "In a very short amount of time. Would you say that is a difficult thing to do?"

"Yes, very difficult..." the squiig dithered away, his ears flipping as if to follow his thoughts. "Don't tell me you... got another one of 'those' things!"

"Aye, I got another one of 'those' things," he mimicked Glom's speech pattern. "If by those things you mean stuff only their rightful bearers can read."

Glom squeaked. He recomposed himself and held his tail in his hand. "So, kill a Dungeon boss repeatedly at all grades from orange to gray. In a short amount of time. A week?"

"Month."

"Fair enough. Yes, I cannot fathom that happening easily. It opens a new field of research. I believe we can base off on these three examples and extrapolate for other achievements of equivalent difficulty. Maybe seek common ground, a theme that binds them."

The scholar started to mumble by himself, absorbed in the budding field of research about black cards. To Nero, the theme was obvious. The cards' texts and illustrations stated as much. Go forth, fight the Dungeons, shed blood and sweat to keep the monstrosities inside contained.

The two Skills were meant to make the tasks that granted them easier. By resetting a Dungeon and farming the boss without leaving and skipping time to dusk, you could quickly sap its energy. By having a safe place to rest and store supplies, especially one that could be tailored to your wishes, you could move from Dungeon to Dungeon without returning to civilization to resupply. The shelter had both tactical and strategic value. You could house troops inside. Go into the untamed wilderness where dread Dungeons slept for centuries, spewing monsters as easy as a sleeper snores.

And what about the Class? Nero felt as if it was meant for him. Not him, but someone with his condition. A level zero. How deep did the card's text resonated with him? It was what gave him a fighting chance. An advantage over the others, maybe. The higher tiers were blocked to him, and he dare not nurture the faint hope there was a black card to grant him access to those.

The truth was, black cards were considered fairy tales, and he obtained three of them. That was quite the accomplishment. Nero sighed. It wouldn't do to let that rise to his head. He made allies but also enemies of two countries if they learn of what he did. For Altia and Serena's sake, he needs to play with his cards close to his chest. He could be proud but pride itself was a flaw. The [Jester] endures scorn like water off the back of a duck. Everything he had could be taken away. As much as he wanted to believe the two institutions' backing, he couldn't let the taste of power rise to his head.

"What are you thinking about?" Altia asked, the desire to tease obvious in her intonation.

"Just about the future. What we'll do."

"Yeah, we have no pending crisis. Oh, no! Let's look for the next one." Nero just glared. "What? I came here to do research and enjoy some quality time with my husband. We did little of either."

"I thought you liked delving with me. Was the last week troublesome?" He asked.

"No. It's not that. But this pressure," She was clearly distressed. "We're dealing with things way above our league."

"Oh. I get it. I was thinking of the same thing."

Glom chuckled quietly but said nothing.

"I want to go home. And drag Serena with us."

The squiig cleared his throat. "If you want to go to Hom, I am scheduled to go activate another batch of Arbitrii at Varani in a few days. It's nearby, isn't it?"

"Yeah, just a four-hour hike to our village," Nero replied.

"Can we go with you?" Altia asked.

"Yes, why not? I could use an assistant or two. You need to tune up and synchronize Arbitrii, Nero."

"Yeah, speaking of which, I looted more than a hundred of those from the thugs," Nero revealed. "Is there anything good I can do with them?"

Glom paused to think for a while. "Well, they can be salvaged for parts and a few of the Essence-conductive crystals. The most expensive part, the Anima resonance crystal, however, is rendered inert when the wearer dies. That crystal is what stores the patterns for your Attributes, Class, Skills, resonates with your bandolier and belt, makes these objects as well as your Arbitrium, and, in part, the left arm impervious to damage or theft, and what converts the equipment cards into items. We can make more of them but nobody knows what they really are or how they work. And the process of crafting these crystals is expensive. Of the whole cost of the bracer, two-thirds easily goes to pay for this crystal.

"But to answer your question, yes. you can remove the mechanisms for several things. You can use them to make modifications to your own Arbitrium, which I don't recommend, or to assemble other clockwork devices, or to modify the ones you have."

The Arbitrium, their bandolier, and belt couldn't be damaged. To an extent, the left arm also could not be entirely severed from the body. The downside to this was that the bracer consumed one's lifeforce to protect against damage. Using one's Arbitrium to block a blow was almost as bad as taking said blow on the body.

The last two options were interesting. Having more clockwork devices would increase the power of his rifle because of some resonance between the devices. And modifications could lead to improvements or personalization. Off the top of his mind, he knew he wanted a way to counter the overheating that [Empower Attack] caused.

"Nice. What do you say, Altia? A quick hop back home?"

She nodded. "We should take Serena with us."

They made it back to the Lyceum. Glom led them into Bezzias lab, where he pointed out a spot marked on the ground for the shelter portal.

"You can make the portal in there. There won't be any accidents if you do. I'm going home," He pointed at the box-home-workshop he usually carries along with him. "Good night."

He came back right after. "Oh, Her High... Serena left a letter for you," He corrected himself. Since it was Serena's wish to abdicate, it wasn't right to use the treatment pronoun anymore.

Altia took the letter and read.

Altia and Nero,

I hope this finds you in good health. I'm okay and currently staying with guild master Amaryllis. The Lyceum campus is too big and too crowded to properly protect (or hide) me. Everything is fine and we'll meet each other when you come to pick your reward. I hope you gave Rafflesia a good beating or a dozen. I'm looking forward to seeing you.

P.S.: I hope you're not angry at me anymore for my stupid choice. I was afraid. I'm sorry, I should be there with you. Forgive me.

With love,

Your sister.

She clutched the letter and cooed. At Nero's request, she let him read it. "We'll meet tomorrow. Let's sleep," he said.

The next day they took a normal carriage to the Adventurer's Guild. Bezzias' horseless vehicle was undergoing maintenance. Through the windows of the wooden transport, they saw the worry in the faces of the people walking the streets. The number of stalls reflected the traffic as several merchants just closed up shop. At the guild, no knight was recruiting inside the guild and the environment was muted. Most adventurers departed for greener pastures or at least less bloody ones. War was coming. Or wars if several countries joined in.

The polite kitsune receptionist sashayed to meet them, her tails flowing after her with the grace of a school of fish. Maybe the environment of his shelter was affecting Nero's metaphors. Altia elbowed him.

"Greetings. How may I help you," She asked, her eyes between either of them to avoid a confrontation.

Nero passed his arm around Altia's elbow, grabbed her hand, and interlaced their fingers, in a way he could control her arm and elbow.

"We are here to see the guild master," he replied in a low voice. "She issued us a quest and we completed it."

She smiled and pointed at a door leading behind the rows of counters, "Ah, you must be Altia and Nero. Please, this way."

They navigated a maze of corridors. Several doors were marked as meeting rooms and staff offices. They went up two sets of stairs into the third floor and then an ornate door. The receptionist opened it without knocking and led them to a waiting room. The room was clearly meant for entertaining nobility guests. It was large and had distinct spaces, a long meeting table, a sitting area with comfortable couches, a counter where a buffet of pastries and drinks was laid on, and a reserved area in a corner with a small round table with five chairs for smaller meetings. Rails on the ceiling and floor divided the areas, probably to slide a veneer through and separate them. Aside from the door they came from, the room had three other smaller doors.

"Please wait here. Refreshments are available on the counter, please feel free to enjoy them. The guild master will be with you soon."

She left them there. Nero was hungry and he took a sample of the pastries available. Altia spent some time admiring the furniture before joining him. Five minutes after they were done eating, one of the doors opened. Amaryllis and Serena came through. The pixie deftly fluttered to the side, allowing the former princess to hug her friends. Altia took a step forward and was the first to enjoy the warm embrace of the nereid. Nero just grinned and reveled in the sight. Amaryllis floated next to him.

"It is heartwarming to see such bonds forming," She cooed.

"Indeed," He replied curtly. It wasn't time for long speeches.

The two women parted after a while. Serena pounced Nero. "Brother. Oh, brother, how I missed you."

It was somewhat forced but he could feel a sincere effort behind her words. The fact she threw her arms around him when mere weeks? months? before she would shy away from mere physical contact was a blessing. Nero hugged her back.

"Sister?" He tried dipping his metaphorical toes in this new relationship.

"Yes! Yes!" She exulted without letting go of him. "I spent a week writing and pouring over my memories, dirty secrets that could bring nations down, and soul-searching. And in your absence, I found that I want very much to be a part of this. To be my friends' kin." He chuckled. She sniffled. Those were happy tears.

"Aye, we'll see to it," He promised.

Serena released him and glared up close with a stern face. The assault began.

"Now, brother! What is this about a monster girl harem I just heard about?"

Nero choked on his saliva. He coughed and frowned. "What?"

"Don't you 'what' me, brother!" Serena chided, angry. "Altia told me you wanted to make a monster girl harem! Starting with that wretched Rafflesia!"

"When?" He didn't overhear anything.

"Yes, Serena. It was terrible," Altia whined. "He wanted to grab and pin down Rafflesia and establish his dominance upon her until she submitted to his whims!"

Nero withdrew into his head to study the situation. His eyes moved to and fro between the two. They were teaming up against him and he tried to figure out their motivation. Was it some petty vengeance from Altia just because he suggested? He had no interest in Rafflesia as a female, he didn't even consider her as one. She was a plant and he only used the female pronouns because... Amaryllis giggled and Nero smelled mischief.

"Oh, come on!" He complained. "You must admit she is a good crowd control creature. Those vines and the spores, plus her mobility!"

The pixie landed on the small table and was literally holding her belly as she chortled loudly. When she got everyone's attention, her mood switched from joyful to professional.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, kids. It is so fun seeing you two teasing him but I am busy with a ton of preparations for the incoming war that may come around any day now. So, let me set this straight. Nero!"

"Yes?" He snapped in attention at her call. It was impressive she had that kind of effect, her Charisma and experience leading people showing now that she shed her usual goofiness.

"One, they are teasing you. Two, Dungeon bosses cannot be tamed. They don't even drop a pet card and I can tell this across thousands of confirmed kills of the same Dungeon boss. Third, highly intelligent monsters cannot be tamed even if they are not bosses. Fourth, monsters with average to low intelligence also don't have much loyalty. The guild forbids taming them and we actually purchase those cards for internal uses I'm not allowed to disclose. But they are disposed after their usefulness is over."

Amaryllis shifted her attention to the female ape-kin. "Now, Altia!"

"Here!" She replied as if in a classroom.

"You are too amateurish in your teasing. There are two rules I'll teach you now. First, tease in moderation and use your sensibility to gauge your mark's reactions. If they don't at least suspect you're teasing like when Nero gave a pretty good reason any [Monster Tamer] would agree as to why Rafflesia was a good combat pet, you should've toned down or gave him a big obvious hint it was teasing. If you don't follow rule number one, you are not teasing. You're bullying. Bad girl! Bad!

"The second rule is the most important. Never tease to hide your worries. Teasing that hit too close to home regarding wounds, trauma, or fears by either party is a no-no. And I am sure you know what I'm talking about. Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"No!" Altia rebutted with a flustered face. "No need to say it out loud, I got it. I really got it."

Nero hugged his wife to calm her down. He had no idea why she got this nervous with a solid piece of pixie wisdom. The guys were natural-born pranksters but they also were a very empathic and easygoing race. Almost everyone went along well with pixies, even with all the teasing and pranks. Even the most stubborn and sullen races like dwarves learned to at least ignore them.

"No monster girls, I got it. No intelligent monsters either," He promised her.

She hugged him back, with the same strength she used sometimes when they slept together.

"Well, who wants to see some purple cards?" Amaryllis deftly drew their attention and changed the subject, to keep the youngsters from brooding on their inner demons.