Chapter 17 - The Team-up - Markus

Markus had spent the past three days doing precious little besides sleeping. Only hunger and the need to relieve himself had kept him awake for more than a few minutes at a time. Despite feeling like he was perpetually starving, Markus was having trouble doing little more than nibbling at the food Aela had left on his nightstand.

Eating any meaningful amount of the bread or cheese would upset his stomach and cause him to vomit, taking more than small sips of water would result in the same as well. Markus’s skin was still quite pale, less than it had been, but he looked quite sickly in the light of the monitor.

Markus tried to organise his thoughts but his aversion to the pain made the process all but impossible. As best he could remember, Aela had been unravelling. Her body breaking down beneath Markus’s fingers.

Markus winced and clenched his fists in response to the dull ache that began radiating from his fingers. “But how was it possible?” Markus knew that he shouldn’t have been able to push his mana into Aela like that.

These thoughts had been rattling through his semi-conscious mind for the past three days of fitful slumber and while Markus did not have the entire answer, he now had some suspicions as to why it had worked at all.

It was common knowledge that the chimaeras as a collective species had been made by somehow fusing humans with monsters from the dungeons. The first chimaeras were not born, they had been made. While no one was admitting to knowing the process they had used to create them, Markus now strongly suspected Artificer’s had been the ones responsible. After all, besides Priests, none of the other classes were capable of injecting mana into foreign entities without violent repercussions.

In the dungeon, Markus had not detected mana invested in anything besides what he had performed himself. Likewise, he saw no mana in Aela, Svala, any of the monsters or the dungeon bosses and heart. So that meant that there was either mana he could not see or different types of mana altogether that was functionally alien to his understanding. Neither of these possibilities sat well with him, but Markus was inclined to believe it was the latter. Somehow, he had converted his mana into this alien dungeon mana and injected it into Aela before her own supply depleted entirely.

The physical toll it had taken and the pain it had inflicted on Markus made it abundantly clear that he did not have an adequate understanding of what he was doing and that it was incredibly dangerous. In many respects, Markus had felt closer to death in those few moments than in the dungeon facing down the boss monster. Whatever this other mana was, it did not seem to be compatible with his own. Its fleeting presence had burned like poison coursing through his veins, and then there was the matter of the tar-like discharge he had vomited out onto the roadside afterwards.

Markus understood that just because mana could be converted into this other dungeon mana, if that was indeed what had happened, it did not mean that the reverse would be possible. However, the possibility was something Markus wanted to investigate further.

Assuming it could be done, dungeons could very possibly be tapped for mana, which Markus could in turn leverage into profits as he resold that mana in enchantments. If he could somehow manage to figure it out, there was a very real possibility that Markus could retire and leave the life-threatening career of adventuring behind far sooner than he had expected.

With this goal in mind, Markus grit his teeth through the pain and tried to recall exactly what he had done when channelling his mana into Aela. Snatching charcoal and paper from his desk, Markus marked down the sigils he identified with the process. Like all Artificers, the sigils held no real meaning to anyone but himself until fueled with mana. But once they were connected to a reserve of mana, other Artificers would be able to understand the intent and attempt to transcribe their own.

Artificer enchantments were an imprecise science at best, relying too heavily on an empathic understanding of intent and a comprehensive understanding of function when an enchantment’s purpose was not self-evident. Understanding this, Markus was well aware of the challenge he would face in attempting to reverse the process and find suitable sigils for the final enchantment. Particularly because unlike the original, Markus had no readily available material to work with to make the attempt.

Unwilling to risk Aela’s health, Markus would try to wait for another dungeon to spawn and test the enchants on the monsters inside. Markus wondered how the monsters would react to such an enchantment. But the more he thought about it, the more Markus came to realize that he knew almost nothing about dungeon monsters and what motivated their actions to begin with.

Markus knew from personal experience that monsters were aggressive and driven by a need almost like hunger, to feed and protect the dungeon heart, but he didn’t know why. Similarly, the monsters had seemed reluctant to attack the chimaeras, instead prioritising Markus until forced to defend themselves. That was definitely something Markus wanted to investigate further, preferably before Svala and her other children arrived. If the monsters were targeting him because he was a human or an adventurer, it would be good to know in advance, perhaps they could devise more effective fighting strategies to capitalize on it.

Putting these thoughts aside, for the time being at least, Markus did his best to get a good night's sleep. There would be plenty of matters to occupy his attention in the morning

Waking up quite late, feeling better than the day before and a great deal healthier than the state he had gotten himself into three days prior, Markus rolled out of bed and got dressed. Knowing his custom orders with the glassblowers and armourer would be ready, he planned on stopping by to pick them up before breakfast.

Descending the stairs, Markus was not surprised to find Aela waiting for him by the front door.

“Are you feeling better?” Aela asked.

Markus smiled, “I am, but how are you doing?” Despite all evidence to the contrary, he could not accept that Aela could have bounced back from the brink of death without complications.

Aela averted her gaze and shifted uncomfortably before making her reply, “I am doing better...”

“But?” Markus prompted.

Aela glanced back at him and was silent for a moment, no doubt making up her mind whether Markus could be trusted with whatever she was withholding. “Was...unravelling,” Aela’s brow furrowed in concentration, "Falling apart, pieces fading away...” She took a step backward and pressed her back against the wall, “Markus, you...you held me together, but...” Aela looked down towards the floor and held her arms over her stomach protectively, “Pieces were already broken...”

It took Markus a moment to realize what she meant, “Oh...” He said lamely, his thoughts scrambling to find the right thing to say or something he could do to make Aela feel better. Without meaning to, the words slipped from his mouth before Markus could stop them, “Would another dungeon heart fix it? Another dungeon spawned sometime in the past two days, we can go right now-”

Markus immediately had Aela’s full attention again, her cheeks wet with tears but her eyes were now fixed intently upon his own, “For me?” She whispered uncertainly, almost too quietly for Markus to hear let alone translate. Aela wiped the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve, “You would go into the dungeon again, for me?”

“I would,” Markus agreed without hesitation, surprising himself a little, “If I had called Hector sooner...I-I want to make this right.”

Aela smiled and before Markus had time to realize what was happening, she dragged him into a fierce embrace, bodily lifting his feet off the floor. With her face buried in his shoulder Markus couldn’t make out what Aela was saying clearly enough to translate, but judging by the pressure on his ribs and the fresh tears he could feel through his shirt, Markus had to assume Aela was grateful for the offer and was all too keen to take him up on it.

This was not what Markus had originally expected when planning his activities for the day, but he could not back down now, not after learning of the sacrifices Aela had made in trying to save his life. It made him feel all the more guilty as he recalled his own rushed attempt at saving hers.

There had been no plan beyond leading the giant away from her, Markus had been so fixated on the surety of his demise that he had not even considered calling Hector to their rescue until Aela placed herself in harm’s way. If he had just called Hector, to begin with, or told Aela he had a plan, despite not having one at the time, she wouldn’t have been hurt.

At the very least, in this instance, Markus could make things right, or try to. Since Aela had his arms pinned to his sides, which made returning her embrace to comfort her impossible. Markus set about mentally readjusting his plans while patiently waiting for Aela to let him go.

Besides noting the alert of a dungeon spawning near the town, Markus knew nothing more about it, So he hoped the trend stayed true and the dungeon that had spawned was low level. After all, there was no guarantee of other adventurer’s undertaking the bounty and he did not have the funds or desire to seek out additional companions on such short notice.

This could serve as the opportunity he wanted in order to test his latest theoretical enchantments, although he would almost certainly need to make additional purchases to accomplish it. Sighing inwardly, Markus performed a mental balancing of accounts and weighed the costs against the potential benefits. Since he technically had access to Aela and Svala’s half of the bounties, Markus would not actually go into debt. However, as brief as it would likely be, the idea still did not sit well with him.

So Markus reconsidered what would actually be necessary for the test and what he would need to buy or repurpose to accomplish it. At its core, all Markus truly needed was a weapon for each enchantment he wanted to test and a small gem he could use to serve as a linked reservoir to measure the effectiveness of each enchantment.

Given the unknowable nature of the dungeon and the strange magic that fuelled it, Markus also had to accept the very real possibility of losing everything enchanted for the experiment. He also needed to convince Aela to help with the more hands-on aspect of the experiment, since Markus very much doubted he would be capable enough to handle it on his own.

With one final squeeze that nearly stole the air from his lungs, Aela set Markus down again, “Sorry...” She mumbled awkwardly.

“It’s alright,” Markus smiled and gave Aela’s hand a reassuring squeeze. He had some idea of what consuming the first dungeon heart had meant to her, so he could also imagine the distress its sudden reversal would cause her in turn.

Aela squeezed his hand back as she smiled. “Will you really take Ae-me into another dungeon?” Her smile wavered as she asked the question, her eyes staring intently into his own.

Markus couldn’t help but sigh as he nodded, “I need to prepare some things and run a couple of errands first, but I think we should be able to enter the new dungeon provided its level is low enough."

Aela smiled and squeezed his hand again. “Thank you."

Feeling his cheeks heating up, Markus glanced away and cleared his throat, “Right, well, I guess I better get on with it then,” he let go of her hand and motioned for Hector to lift the bar on the door.

Slipping out into the street, Markus spared only a single glance back at Aela as Hector began closing the door. It wasn’t until he was halfway down the street that Markus was surprised to find he was still smiling.

While collecting the custom spearhead and modified shield he had ordered from the glassworks, Markus had time to look into the prospective dungeon. Unsurprised by the general lack of information given how recently the dungeon appeared, Markus had to be content with only the level and location of the dungeon.

If the guild detection enchantment on the assigned golem could be relied upon to be accurate this time, the dungeon was only second level. So if Markus recalled the guild’s recommended guidelines correctly, the dungeon should not pose any real danger to even a novice party of adventurers.

This was good in the sense that it would prove a safe testing environment for his enchantments, but its low difficulty would also no doubt attract other low-level adventurers as well. If possible, Markus wanted to avoid an audience while testing the enchantments. There was no telling what exactly would happen and he did not want to be held liable for some noble’s son or daughter’s injuries or death, Markus had enough problems to deal with already.

Stopping by a weaponsmith’s shopfront on the way home, Markus paid the grizzled man a nominal fee to sharpen the blade, fit a stave to the quartzite spearhead and pin it in place. The rather bemused weaponsmith had taken his coin and done as Markus had requested, but he had looked at him like he was daft, crazy or both.

Markus had ignored it, he knew how it looked but he also knew the potential of the otherwise unconventional weapon material. If his theory was correct, the comparative brittleness, compared to steel, would be offset by its greater synergy with mana. A strengthening enchantment allowing the sharper blade to become all but indestructible so long as the mana reserves held out.

The superior reach afforded by the spear compared to his longsword was something Aela had suggested Markus consider after his poor form with the latter facing the dungeon boss. All too happy to take a few steps further back from the fighting, Markus was only too willing to give it a try, especially after seeing the potential of such a simple looking weapon on the training field.

The strange looks of the weaponsmith were not unfamiliar to Markus, the armourer had similar misgivings when Markus had detailed his custom order for a shield. The otherwise ordinary banded wooden heater-shield had a rectangle a fifth of its height and two-thirds of its breadth replaced with a panel of quartzite slotted into the surrounding planks near the top of the shield.

It was Markus’s intention to enchant the panel to serve the same functions as his tablet but also a few others. It was his hope that modifying the guild golem dungeon detection enchantment slightly would allow him to measure the individual strength of monsters and chimaeras. The importance of such an enchantment was twofold in his mind. First, to avoid a repeat of the dungeon spider boss incident. The enchantment would let Markus know when a monster was dead or just faking it. Second, it would let him know when Aela was in trouble again. The pain Markus had experienced while trying to save her had been truly unique and he was in no hurry to experience it again.

Both articles of equipment would be enchanted to receive mana overflowing from the ruby pendant he had bought earlier. The jewel was quite small, half the size of a penny and set in a cheap brass fitting on a thin cord, but it would serve well enough for Markus’s purposes.

He would have the smaller golem, Dolly, etch the sigils into the ruby for a paired enchantment to collect overflowing mana from the experimental enchantments so Markus could measure how effective they were.

After returning home and finding Aela was already prepared and waiting to go, Markus had to quickly assign Dolly to its task while he put on his armour and sword belt. “I won’t be long,” Markus called down the stairs while buckling his new breastplate over his gambeson. With his breastplate firmly buckled and basic supplies stowed away in his backpack, Markus checked on Dolly’s progress.

As he had expected, the golem had completed its work in a timely fashion and was waiting for further instructions. “Stay with Arlee until I return,” Markus ordered. Hector’s low mana levels worried him, but there was nothing he could do about it presently, but at least Dolly should prove sufficient protection until he and Aela returned.

“Obedient: As you command,” the golem replied brightly in its distorted voice. It hopped down from the workshop table and sped out of the room and down the hall.

Markus took a moment to look over the sigils again. Confirming the sigils etched into the pane of quartzite in his shield was as he required, Markus concentrated and willed the desired enchantments into the quartzite which swallowed it like a sponge. Knowing there was a great deal more work to do and a dungeon to explore besides, Markus turned his attention to the three kitchen knives that would serve for his experiment in the dungeon.

They were almost certainly not well suited for combat in terms of design and intended function. With no guard and only a little longer than the length of his hand, the smooth handle could easily cause someone’s hand to slip onto the blade. Markus would have to make doubly sure that Aela’s gloves were strengthened to avoid such a mishap from proving fatal. Concentrating as he had done before, Markus took his time enchanting each of the knives in turn, giving them only enough mana to function. If the experiment worked, it would not matter how much mana he gave them, so the minimum was best for now.

Turning his attention to the ruby pendant, Markus did the same again, infusing just enough mana for the enchantments to function. Feeling he was about half drained of his own reserves, Markus hoped it would be enough, especially since he hadn’t gotten to Aela’s equipment yet.

Sheathing the knives onto his belt and strapping his shield onto his left arm, Markus picked up his new spear and considered enchanting that as well, but decided that it could wait until next time, so he quickly stowed it in his room. Markus removed his helmet before going downstairs, content with wearing just the padded arming cap until they reached the dungeon and retrieving the helmet from his pack when they got closer to the dungeon.

“Are you ready?” Markus asked knowing it was a silly question given that Aela had doubtless been ready moments after he had left on his errands.

Aela nodded energetically, “Yes! and Markus looks ready too, so fierce!"

The unexpected praise momentarily caught Markus off guard, “Oh, erm, thanks." It shouldn’t have been such a surprise really, all his new equipment made Markus feel stronger and damned near invincible besides. Compared to when he had entered the first dungeon, Markus was now, if anything, over-geared. It was amazing what a few cold plates of steel could do for your morale.

“Alright, I just want to enchant your gloves first before we leave,” Markus gestured for Aela to remove her gloves and hand them over.

A little perplexed at first, Aela obediently doffed her gloves and handed them over without complaint.

Taking his spare knife, Markus scratched the required sigils into the inner facing side of each glove before enchanting the leather to increase its tensile strength. Draining just over half of his remaining mana into them just to be safe, Markus handed them back “I'll explain more on the way, but they should be good now."

Aela pulled the gloves back on again and flexed her fingers experimentally, “A little stiff,” she commented absently before catching Markus’s eye and hurriedly apologized, “But it feels stronger-"

“It’s alright,” Markus chuckled. “It’s a side effect of the enchantment. Strengthening the leather makes it a little less flexible. It's the same with our gambesons but more noticeable given the relative dexterity of our fingers."

Aela nodded but made a point of averting her eyes, perhaps a little embarrassed. She lifted the bar from the door and stepped outside.

Following behind her, Markus motioned for Hector to close and bar the door again as he began interacting with the enchantments on his shield. Much to his delight and relief, while looking at Aela through the transparent panel he could now see a bright core of orange light emanating from her chest and rippling throughout her extremities. It was like he could see her heart and veins pumping the dungeon mana through her body like blood.

A little unsettled by his attention, Aela fidgeted nervously before asking, “What are you doing?"

Now it was Markus’s turn to be embarrassed, “Oh, erm, just testing an enchantment.” He scratched absently at his nose and tried his best to remind himself that he had not done anything wrong, “I-I, erm, just enchanted my shield so I can see dungeon mana, and it works."

This immediately got Aela’s attention, “Really?” She moved in closer to see but of course couldn’t since she was now no longer in front of the panel.

Seeing her disappointment Markus quickly offered a suggestion, “Try holding your hand on the other side."

Aela did as he suggested and stifled a surprised gasp as the bright orange tendrils within her hand began visibly waving on the other side of the pane. Aela seemed mesmerised by the sight, wriggling her fingers in awe as she watched the mana shift along with her movements.

Looking at it closer, Markus was impressed to see much smaller and then smaller again tendrils of mana branching off each other in turn. He would need to look into this more later and made a mental note to do just that after returning from the dungeon.

“We should probably head out-” Markus prompted gently, “-before another party claims the dungeon."

The suggestion immediately brought Aela back to her senses, “R-right,” she withdrew her hand and began scanning the area just outside their house.

“The bounty board says the dungeon is somewhere to the north of town, it spawned in the middle of a farmers field apparently, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get to," Markus explained while adjusting his shield for travel.

Aela turned her attention northward and nodded.

Curious, Markus raised his shield and looked in the same direction, but he couldn’t see anything. He figured the dungeon was probably too far away for the weakly fuelled enchantments in his shield to detect anything and shrugged.

Most of the journey had been easy enough, they had made good time travelling the main trade road north before cutting through the woods along a muddied dirt path towards the farm located near the dungeon.

“-So basically, I want to see if I can enchant weapons to perform the process in reverse,” Markus explained for the second time.

Aela stared blankly back at him for a moment before asking the same question again, “But why do you need three knives if they are the same?"

Markus suppressed a groan and the urge to remove his cap and pull at his hair, “Because they are similar, not the same."

Glancing sidelong at him like she thought he was losing his mind, Aela said nothing.

“Look, it’s like this. Let’s say there is a monster in the dungeon and I have three weapons, a longsword, a spear and a mace. This monster is special and is resistant to most attacks and other adventurers information cant help me decide which weapon to bring. Should I pick just one? Or take them all? At the very least, if the first weapon I try doesn’t work, I have a chance to try one of the others. Does that make sense?” Markus hoped the analogy would suffice but wasn’t sure if they were having a language barrier problem or a difference of opinion.

Aela shook her head, “You take the longsword,” she replied bluntly.

Markus was stunned into silence and could only stare at her for well over a minute before demanding an explanation, “What? Longsword? How do you figure?!" He demanded.

Aela shrugged, “Longsword can cut with the edge, stab with the point and if held firmly by the blade can club with the pommel or guard. The spear can stab with the head and bludgeon with the stave, but won’t cut well. The mace can only bludgeon. So, of course, you take the longsword.” She explained it all matter of fact as it was the most obvious thing in the world and with disturbingly concise and practised phrasing.

Feeling a headache coming on, Markus suppressed the desire to make a snarky retort about her having misunderstood the intent of the hypothetical scenario and instead rubbed at his temples, “The thing is Aela, in this situation, It is like I have three longswords and no way of knowing if one or more of them will fall apart when used."

“Ohhhh,” Aela exclaimed, “Because the craftsmanship is bad,” she said while nodding sagely.

Markus could only blink and quietly count down from ten, “Yes,” was all he managed in reply. He made a mental note to avoid using weapons for analogy in the future since it was clear his amateur familiarity with the subject was not doing him any favours.

They had been walking for another half hour in relative silence before the farm came into view through the treeline. The dungeon’s presence was immediately made obvious by the large house-sized mound of earth and rocks in the middle of an otherwise tilled field. The guild golem was also visible, along with two other figures besides.

Markus briefly entertained the idea that the two people by the golem were the farmer and one of his field hands, but withdrawing his guild identification and checking the dungeon entry dismissed the delusion immediately. [Party Forming] had appeared alongside the dungeon entry, indicating that the two adventurers by the golem were either waiting on other members of their party to arrive or were in the process of forming a temporary party for the dungeon.

“Is this a problem?” Aela asked uncertainly, no doubt aware of the general situation but without her mother’s guidance, unsure on how best to proceed.

“Could be,” Markus agreed, sighing as he slipped his identification inside a leather sleeve near the top of his breastplate. “Technically, this dungeon isn’t reserved, even if they are forming a party right outside. So we could just go straight in, but I don’t think that is a good idea."

Aela nodded in understanding, “They could come after us, make trouble.” she agreed. “So what will we do?"

Markus grimaced, “We make nice and hope they either leave or let us come along," Rubbing at his temple and limbering his neck and shoulders, Markus sighed, “Just remember to be polite,” he muttered.

“Okay,” Aela replied, a little confused.

Markus glanced at her and couldn’t help but smile a little, “That was directed at me Aela, not you."

Aela stared for a moment, then smiled, “Oh,” she giggled and flicked her tongue at him.

As Markus and Aela drew closer, it became apparent that the pair by the golem was involved in a somewhat heated discussion and had not noticed their approach.

“-telling you, we don’t need help. We are more than enough for a bottom level dungeon like this!” A young woman of perhaps twenty with blonde hair tied back in a bun and armoured in immaculate sky-blue brigandine exclaimed as she jabbed a thick gloved finger at the other.

The second, a man of maybe twenty-five, sighed loudly and ran one of his ungloved hands through his somewhat darker blonde hair. In contrast to his companion, he was only wearing a dark gambeson for protection, but it was admittedly much better made than Markus or Aela’s and had clearly been tailored to fit him well.

“Look Kass, I know it’s a low-level dungeon, that isn’t the point. Inside of a dungeon, things can get out of control before you even realize what is happening,” he pointed to the dungeon for emphasis before returning his attention to his companion again. “One of my acquaintances was telling me about the last dungeon that spawned near this town, it went aberrant and killed all but one of the adventurers and wiped out their entire support team. The last party member had to be rescued, and from what I heard they nearly didn’t make it out either."

The young woman, the man had called Kass, snorted derisively but didn’t push the issue further.

Now free of the confrontation, the man noticed Markus and Aela approaching and waved as he greeted them warmly, “Hello there, are you perhaps looking to enter the dungeon?"

Markus waved back but waited until he was a little closer so he would not have to strain his voice to be heard, “We were planning to. Are you the one forming the party?"

“Yes, but where are my manners? I am Phillipe Pascal and this lovely ball of sunshine is my sister Kassandra. We were just debating the merits of patience when you arrived. I hope you don’t think it rude of me to ask for your name?"

“Markus Farus, but I prefer just to be called Markus,” Markus then gestured to Aela at his side, “This is my friend and companion Aela Svalatochter."

Aela nodded but said nothing.

Phillipe’s right eyebrow raised at Aela’s introduction, “A northerner, how interesting,” he said and despite Markus' concerns that he would make an unsavoury comment to accompany it, Phillipe did not. Instead, he seemed to be returning his attention back to Markus with an appreciatory look in his eyes. “Would you both care to join our party? While I do not have the registration for unclassed accompaniment, I assume that you do Mr Markus?"

Markus nodded, “We would, I do and just Markus is fine."

“Just Aela is fine too,” Aela agreed.

Phillipe smirked, “Then you can call me Phil, and my sister, Kass. I must agree that dropping formalities is often necessary for improving collaboration in the dungeons where a handful of seconds are far better spent warning a companion of danger than recounting their lineage,” he chuckled.

Markus was surprised to have found a kindred spirit amongst the ranks of nobility and was going to enquire further when Kassandra suddenly interjected.

“Alright, Phil,” she spoke her brother’s name with such acidic derision and contempt it was a wonder he did not dissolve on the spot, “We now have three adventurers and a chimaera, is that enough for your paranoia?"

Phillipe sighed, shrugged at Markus and asked, “What do you think Markus? Are we good enough or should we wait for another?"

Markus brow furrowed for a moment, “Shouldn’t we at least say what our classes are first, so we know our potential party composition?"

Looking a little guilty Phillipe confessed, “I must admit, Markus-” He took care to leave it free of honorifics, “-that after you introduced yourself, I had no doubts as to your identity and class. You are somewhat famous after all. A bit of a local celebrity, if you will."

“Famous?” Kassandra eyed Markus up and down and made no attempt at hiding her disappointment in what she obviously found lacking.

Phillipe gave his sister a rather patronizing look, “My dear sister, Markus is an Artificer of no small amount of skill and ingenuity. He has special permissions afforded by the guild and the makings of quite a reputation besides-"

“Ugh a womanizer,” Kassandra spat derisively, “Figures.”

Aela hissed in annoyance, her lips parting slightly to reveal her sharp teeth.

“No, or at least not so far as I have heard from credible sources,” Phillipe admitted, “The aberrant dungeon I was telling you about earlier? Markus was the one who cleared it and rescued the sole survivor."

Phillipe’s words apparently had the desired effect as his sister was stunned into incomprehensible silence.

Aela grinned smugly at her and drifted in closer behind Markus on his left side.

Kassandra slowly snapped herself out of it. “So you’re a high-level warrior?” She demanded. It was clearly the only explanation for events to make sense.

Markus shook his head, but before he could reply Phillipe beat him to it, “I just told you, he is an Artificer."

Kassandra withdrew into stunned silence again.

Phillipe smirked, “Ah a truly wonderful gift you have given me Markus, blessed silence.” He smirked again as his sister glowered at him in turn, “Ah but we had best be moving along.” Philipe withdrew his guild identification and held it so Markus could read it clearly, “As you can see, I am a thirtieth-level Mage and if my sister were not pouting, she would show you that she is a first-level Warrior."

Kassandra stuck her tongue out at her brother rudely, which only served to prove his point.

Feeling it would be somewhat rude of him to keep it to himself, Markus withdrew his own identification and had to suppress a smirk of his own when Phillipe’s brow raised in surprise.

“I had not expected that,” Phillipe chuckled and glanced at his sister before stowing his identification and motioning for Markus to do the same.

“I had help, obviously,” Markus said in response to the unspoken question.

“Of course,” Phillipe agreed amiably. “I am unsure if it is rude of me to ask, but would you perhaps review our equipment to ensure it is up to a standard you deem sufficient for the dungeon?"

Markus shrugged, then nodded, understanding his intent. Concentrating, Markus was not surprised to find that most if not all of Phillipe and Kassandra’s equipment were enchanted and individually linked to a plethora of gemstones adorning the same equipment. It also made it clear that there was more to Phillipe than Markus would otherwise have known.

“You have a prosthetic hand,” Markus said bluntly.

Phillipe smirked again and nodded, “The arrogance of youth and inexperience. I let my magic get away from me and my right hand was the price for that education."

“Are you going to fix it?” Aela asked, obviously curious and remembering how Markus had done the same for Zoe Chavare.

Phillipe’s ears twitched and his attention on Markus redoubled, “So it wasn’t tall tales,” he mused quietly.

“Maybe,” Markus replied noncommittally.

“Lady Chavare has been most insistent that a hitherto unknown Artificer returned sense and feeling to her artificial leg. Would that perhaps have been you?” The way Phillipe asked the question made it abundantly clear that he knew it was Markus but was trying to be polite.

“Maybe,” Markus repeated.

Phillipe smirked, “Talented indeed, I can see why her father has been hastily setting aside a prodigious dowry."

Now, this was news to Markus and took him by surprise. “What?" he demanded.

Although reacting somewhat slower than Markus, Aela stiffened and let out an aggravated hiss of frustration and anger.

“A dowry, the gift a prospective bride's family must provide for their daughter’s betrothal-” Phillipe smirked suddenly as he realized the cause for Markus’s surprise, “Oh. You didn’t know?"

“Of course, I didn’t.” Markus scowled and shifted uncomfortably.

Still smirking, Phillipe stroked his thinly trimmed beard, “Interesting,” he chuckled quietly into his hand.

“If you are quite done gossiping like great aunt Doddy, could we please go into the dungeon now?” Kassandra stamped her booted heel impatiently to accentuate her point.

Markus was inclined to agree, “Better to get on with it before another party shows up."

Following his lead, Aela nodded vigorously.

“Alright,” Phillipe agreed and raised his hands in acquiescence, “Let’s go."

Confirming his intent to enter the dungeon with the golem, Markus followed Aela into the yawning mouth of the dungeon and was shortly followed by Phillipe and Kassandra.

Too dark to see anything, all Markus could tell was that he was standing on loose earth covering rough stone and that the air had a definitive foulness to it that made him hesitant to breathe. Markus enchanted the discarded quartzite bauble tied to his belt and then the buckle of Aela’s belt.

With the darkness suddenly banished by the abrupt introduction of Markus's enchanted light, a trio of large hairy monsters howled unintelligibly as they fell out of a hidden alcove in the rough-hewn passage ahead of the party. With ridiculous bulbous noses, short squat legs, long arms, large hands with knuckles that dragged on the ground, the monster vaguely resembled a picture Markus had once seen of an animal called an ape.

Aela lost no time in rushing them, her pollaxe cleaving one of the monsters in the neck as she viciously kicked the second to stop it from rising. With Aela alongside the monsters for perspective, they had to be about seven feet tall, since they were each taller than she was by at least a head and markedly more rotund besides.

Driving the spike of her pollaxe down into the second monster’s back and twisting it hard, Aela turned her attention to the third monster that was desperately trying to escape the light, tripping and scrambling across the rough stone.

Phillipe pointed at the back of the fleeing monster and a ball of blue flames leapt from his fingertips, sped down the passage and struck the monster's back. Within half a second, the monster was set ablaze.

Unsure of what was happening, Aela slowly retreated back to the group.

“What in the abyss are those!” Kassandra cursed.

Curious himself, Markus turned to Aela hoping she had an explanation.

“Trolls,” Aela spat at the ground like she was trying to get a foul taste out of her mouth, which she very likely was, “Big, stupid, hairy and blind to the sun, they ambush in the dark, snatch the unlucky and eat them alive,” she darted her tongue and then spat again, “And smell foul."

Markus suppressed the urge to leave the dungeon, knowing that no dungeon was safe and that the level of danger and potential terror were entirely subjective. All the same, the prospect of being eaten alive was not a pleasant one.

“Alright,” Phillipe clapped his hands then rubbed them together gingerly, “With that in mind, perhaps it is best for one of our most proficient fighters to watch our backs while the other’s clear a path ahead?” He suggested.

Aela nodded in agreement, “Better to keep a reserve in case of ambush.”

Markus nodded but said nothing, waiting to see whom Phillipe suggested for their rearguard and was in no hurry to volunteer himself for it.

“As selfish as this may seem, I think it would be best for my sister Kass to be our rearguard,” Phillipe waited for Markus and Aela to object, but both of them agreed with him.

“I am not a little girl,” Kassandra hissed, “You don’t need to coddle me like a child!” Her complaints made it obvious that Kassandra clearly had not recognized the danger she would be in as the rearguard.

“Dear sister,” Phillipe growled, apparently on the verge of losing his temper. “When in a party, it is important to pull your own weight to make sure the group succeeds and everyone makes it out alive. My suggestion for you to form a rearguard for the party is because only two of us can adequately fill that role, and one of you also has to serve as the vanguard!"

Kassandra blanched beneath her brother’s criticism and remained quiet.

“So the choices, sister, are vanguard or rearguard.” Phillipe crossed his arms and waited for his sister to decide.

“I-I’ll be the rearguard,” Kassandra agreed meekly, drawing her longsword and taking the position at the back of the group.

Phillipe sighed, “Sorry,” he apologized to Markus and Aela, “She means well but doesn’t have experience in this sort of thing."

“It’s fine,” Markus said, willing to have Phillipe overlook the fact that Markus was only slightly more experienced than Kassandra was and equally oblivious to most elements of strategy.

“Rearguard isn’t safe anyway,” Aela snorted in agreement, “When the tunnels branch, Trolls will strike from the front and behind.”

As if accentuating her point, a phlegmy growl echoed from deeper down the passage, making it clear that the Trolls now knew there was fresh prey in their dungeon and were keen to test the party’s mettle.