“So many surprises back to back in two days. I’ve never heard of two intelligent races bonding before. She shares all of your traits, including the ones you learned today. She might not get them right away, but she will.”

“Guess you don’t need to go through the pain then, Luin,” I said.

“That’s good,” she responded before handing me back the book.

I placed it back on the pile I had just used, and Hiroaki nodded, taking the Azure core for using the third book.

“Speaking of cores. Your sister mentioned the Dungeon Core when she told me about what Horrow’s group had done. What does that type of core do?”

“My sister has a big mouth. Dungeon Cores are the rarest of cores and hold an incredible amount of Mana. They aren’t used to absorb like normal cores but allow the one who holds it to create a Dungeon. Horrow’s party sold me the Dungeon Core, and I used it to create a Battle Dungeon at the center of Mythtide.”

“What is a Battle Dungeon, and what does creating a Dungeon grant you? I can see the benefits of monster drops.”

“Have you been inside a Dungeon yet?”

I nodded.

“Do you know what kind it was?”

“I was told it was a Mining Dungeon.”

“Alright. There are many types of Dungeons. The most common Dungeons I know of are mining, harvesting, and battle.

“Mining Dungeons are almost always underground tunnels filled with vast amounts of minerals and ores. They have monsters that populate them. That type of Dungeon levels up as more ore is harvested and extracted.

“The second type of Dungeon is a Farm Dungeon. Like the mining version, it levels up as crops are grown and harvested. This dungeon spawns monsters but in what are called harvest raids. When the crops are ready, monsters will spawn to eat the crops and attack the farmers.

“The third type of Dungeon is what Mythtide has, a Battle Dungeon. This Dungeon levels when anything dies within it. Be it the monsters or adventurers. This Dungeon is about the loot and is set up like a game. Parties go in and clear out floors and a floor’s boss before they can decent down to the next floor.

“This type of Dungeon brings adventurers from far and wide to clear out the levels. It’s one of the few places you can find Enchanted or Magical Gear outside crafters.”

“People die in your Dungeon?”

“All the time. They know the risks. Still, they push forward and try and go deeper. Mythtide’s Dungeon is Level 12. It’s one of the deepest Dungeons outside of the Akhusite Kingdom’s two inside their capital.”

“What does the level of the Dungeon mean?”

“It shows how many floors it has. Level 12 means it has twelve floors. Each level after the first is harder than the last. We have a few parties who have made it to the eighth floor and have been farming it for years. Too many deaths on the ninth floor have stalled the progression of our Dungeon.”

“How many floors are in Akhusite?”

“The last I heard was fifteen and eighteen.”

“I see. What level do you recommend going into the Dungeon here?”

“A full party of at least Jade ranked. I would not recommend you going in till you’ve leveled a few more times.”

“Thanks for telling me about everything. Last question. Do you know anything about the mage, Kadler?”

“Why are you asking about that crazy coot?

“I have a lunch meeting with him tomorrow to learn about Void magic.”

“He’s the guy you’d want to speak to for that school of magic around here. Just be on guard. He’s an acquired taste for most and often rubs people the wrong way.”

“Understood. Thank you again, Hiroaki. I’m sure Luin is starving by now. Could you recommend anywhere for dinner? We got some more gold today from quests and want to try out a nice meal.”

“I would try the Jackel’s Grill. It’s close to the port. It’s not the nicest of places, but if you’re looking for an amazing meal, that’d be my recommendation.”

We thanked him again and left his office. The trip to the restaurant didn't take long, and we took a table near the far corner, away from the noisiest of the sailors. A few minutes later, a barmaid made her way over to us and asked us for our order. I asked about what kind of meals they had and instantly ordered the honey-glazed shanks for both Luin and me.

Hiroaki was indeed correct as the meal was incredibly good. The meat fell off the bones, and the mashed something like potatoes was covered in sour cream, and the salad drizzled with the same honey glaze. It was by far the best meal I’ve had since coming to the planet.

I looked over at Luin, who was ripping pieces off the shank as she held it. I thought about teaching her how to use the silverware, but her hands didn’t seem to be in the correct shape to use them. She hadn’t touched her salad at all.

“Luin, try the salad. It’s tasty.”

“Bleh,” she made the sound as she stuck her tongue out.

“Suits me,” I said as I forked her salad onto my plate and finished it off.

We sat and watched people come and go until Luin began yawning. Soon I was as well, and we headed to the Inn. Once inside, I let Throlk know we needed the baths brought up. He nodded, and we went to our rooms. The boys came about fifteen minutes later with both tubs and filled them. I paid the boys for another bar of soup and gave Luin the half-used one and a rag, telling her to clean herself Like I had the other night.

When she finished, I poured water over her head to rinse her off, and she laid in the tub to soak, kicking her legs over the tub’s edge. Cute little bugger.

That night sleep seemed to elude me. I’d wake up from a nightmare, unable to recall what had happened. After the second or third time, I seemed to find the peace I needed.

We had more sausage and eggs the following day, much to Luin’s delight. We went to The Guild, where Hiroaki drilled the sword formations into me some more before we dueled. After our training session, I lay on a bench until my body healed itself. Hiroaki found my guard to be less than satisfactory, and the pain let me know how bad I had done.

We waited in the hall, chatting until I spotted a man come inside with gaudy bright green clothing. His entire outfit looked like he was about to go sky diving. I watched as he looked around the hall and over to Draf, who then pointed towards us. The bright green man then walked over to us.

“Zeal?”

“Yep, yep,” Luin replied.

“You don’t look like much of a mage,” he said towards Luin.

I laughed. “Sorry, I’m Zeal. Not sure why she responded.”

“No, bother. Draf tells me you want some private lesions and have Guild Tokens for compensation?”

“I do.”

“Most excellent. I would love to spare an hour for once such a token. We can talk as we eat. Do you have enough for lunch for you and your pet?”

“I do. Her name is Luin and is my companion and bond.”

His eyes went a bit wide, and he regarded the blue Kobold again.

“My apologies. We can head a few doors down to the Tallow and Flame. They have decent food and amazing house wine. Have you been there?”

I laughed again. “Yes, it’s where we’re staying while we are in Mythtide.”

“Excellent. Before we leave, make sure you have something to take notes on. I do hate to repeat myself.”

“I have a notebook. That won't be a problem.”

We left the hall and went over to our inn. We sat at one of the back tables, and the barmaid who saw us already brought a large mug for Kadler. “What would you two like?” she asked.

“The house wine and a bowl of water for her. Does Obbah have any more of that sausage leftover from this morning?”

“She does, two meals then?”

I agreed to the two meals, and she was gone a moment before bringing us our drinks.

“Ok, Zeal, tell me what you know of the school of Void magic.”

“I can cast a Tier 3 Door. That’s about the extent. I think, or believe you need eight runes to anchor a portal between locations.”

“That’s incredible. I can’t even cast a Tier 3 Door. I don’t have the Mana to sustain it for more than a blink. Eight runes? You need nine. Wait, you saw eight on the inside of a portal, I take it?

“Correct.”

“Alright, If you’ve seen a few of these, you will have noticed there are always the same three runes. It’s good, you have. Not a lot is known about these three, but they must be used to make any two-sided portal work. Here let me create something for you.”

He took a piece of paper from my notebook, then a pencil out of thin air. He drew a line down the center and eight lines across it. He drew the same three runes I noticed on all portals for the top three. Then to the side, he wrote must-have.

He pointed to the third rune on the list. “Ok, this rune many believe to be the rune for Urzatis. Many believe if this rune was exchanged for one of the other two planets in the sky, you could theoretically create a portal there. Unfortunately, no one knows what those runes are or has the Mana to cast such a faraway gate.

On the paper he was writing on, he simply wrote; 1, 2, and 3 on the left in the following three lines. He wrote to the right of them; North & South, East & West, Elevation.

“Alright, these three dictate where the portal is to exit. You need to have the runes for the original gate on that exit portal. Making a two-sided gate needs to have the correct runes on both sides for them to connect and anchor.”

“How do you know these coordinates or runes to use?”

“Simple, you get Cartagrapher Rank 2, and you simply know them. Outside of that, you would need to know some incredibly complex math or have a physical map with coordinates. I’d suggest saving up for the Cartagrpher Rank 2 book. You’re looking at a few thousand gold coins for a chance to use it. The bigger capitals’ guilds may have one.”

“Is there anyways to rank up your skill instead?”

“That’s what I did, but you only get Rank 2 when you’ve grown your map to show over a thousand square kilometers. I was fortunate enough to have parents who owned a trading company, and sailing between places counted.”

“Ok, you said eight runes for gates, but there is a ninth?

“Only the gate’s creator knows the ninth rune as it’s used to connect the gates and acts as a key.

“The seventh rune tells the gate how to power it. Most short-distance gates can use ambient Mana. That’s this symbol here. Then you have those who create Mana gathering array and Mana Batteries. You use this rune here for the battery and place the same rune somewhere on the battery you wish to use. If you use more than one battery, use this rune here and place the same on the batteries.”

“What if you have many gates? Can they use the same batteries?”

“Great question! Yes, you can power multiple gates this way.”

Kadler then began to write out a bunch of runes for the eighth line on the left. Then wrote ‘Type of Portal’ on the right column before speaking again.

“The eighth rune is used to dictate the type of portal. There are many types that far exceed the list I’ve provided. I’ve written down: Always-On, One Way, Prohibit Gas and Prohibit Water. Metal Detection and Monster Detection.

You can use One Way on the entrance and Monster Detection on the exit portal. This will create a one-way gate that sounds an alarm if a monster comes near the portal’s exit. People use two sets of these near a dungeon to keep monsters from entering a town.

Now for your ninth rune, when you push your Tier 3 Door spell into the doorway, you use this rune, word, or an image to lock that gate to you. As long as you are the only one who knows that key, you can turn the portals on and off as you please. The only thing someone else can do is destroy the gateway severing the connection.”

“Incredible. Why hasn’t someone made portals all over the planet?”

“Because that, Zeal, would lead to wars. Merchant groups would lose money if they didn’t shuttle cargo around on boats and carriages. Kingdoms or empires would use them to conquer their neighbors.”

“I understand. No way to add additional controls to the portals?”

“If you can, no one has figured that out yet. Two-sided portals remain small distance conveniences. Now, let's talk about one-sided portals. This is my favorite and how I make most of my money.”

Kalder went over the three runes required to make a one-sided portal. The first rune was the type of one-side portal, a Void space. The second rune was how to power it and was by ambient Mana. Then the third, the key. With the key, no one could alter the bag without destroying it.

“Now you know how to make simple void bags. If you would like to make more advanced ones, We can meet up for lunch again, and I could take another of those tokens off your hands. Speaking off, I'd like my payment as our time is up.”