The trek into the city was a welcomed departure from our daily repeated descents into the dungeon. I worried that we may get lost in this damn city again, trying to find the business affiliated with the outpost. I needn't worry. The United Dungeon Exchange, to which our outpost was associated, was one of the biggest and most frequented businesses in the entire city.

We picked out the shortest looking line of the bunch. Unlike the magic association this line moved along quickly. This was a place where dungeon loot was quickly bought and sold. It didn't display any of the bureaucratic and slightly snobby atmosphere of the magic association. Their interest was only in serving as many customers as possible.

Upon reaching the front of the line we met a kindly looking plump middle age woman. She had a real salt of the earth sensibility. A welcomed break from most of the people I've had to deal with. Upon explaining our situation and showing her our cards she waved over a kindly older woman. The first thought that came to my mind by her look and demeanor is that this was Susan's long lost friendly cousin.

That was almost certainly not the case. Yet I couldn't help but picture them side by side. Maybe I just have a weird fascination with doppelgangers and was trying too hard to make them seem alike. This woman, who I didn't get the name of, and so I decided to mentally dub 'nice Susan', picked up each card one by one to inspect it. I had no idea what she could be looking at. An old meme popped into my head, 'it's magic, I don't got to explain shit!'

After looking at each card and then examining us she handed them back to the plump woman. Facing us, nice Susan spoke. “Your identity has been confirmed. The balance in each account is six gold coins, twenty silver coins and ten copper coins. Is that correct?”

I had no idea if it was or wasn't. I probably should have been keeping track of my finances better. I looked around for help. Malik was the one who chimed in. “That's the right amount, but why didn't we receive any interest on our holdings?”

Kind Susan smiled. “I'm afraid that's not a service offered in the general account set up for you. I suggest you take that up with accounting.” I saw Malik was about to throw a fit. I quickly stepped in to defuse the situation. Suggesting while our trio goes to buy some magic that Malik should deal with this problem for all of us. It wasn't like we lost much with such small accounts.

He begrudgingly agreed. Each of us made a withdrawal of six gold coins. I was a bit surprised by how Malik acted. I didn't know there was that side of him. Maybe I should make more of an attempt to get to know him outside of a dungeon setting. While he went to handle the financial situation, the three of us headed off to the United Magic Guild Association.

With Meri and I leading the way, we only got slightly lost. Only one wrong turn. I'm calling that an accomplishment. As we made our way to the front desk, part of me was relieved to not see the bear beastkin today. We updated the information we gave last time. I wondered if being repeat customers and no longer being completely green would lead to better service? At least it couldn't be any worse.

As we waited, we had a mini debate on if we should use our gold to buy three rank one spells or one rank two spell. It was a bit of an oversight to not talk about it before hand. I just assumed we would all pick a rank two spell, but now that I thought about it I could see the appeal of doing things the other way. Having four different spells to depend on would give your attack patterns more flexibility as opposed to just two.

Maddy's argument for buying a single grade two spell was hard to ignore. “Everyone can do as they please, but I plan to buy a rank two spell. Quality is more important than quantity as I see it. It takes time and hard work to level up a single spell. If I buy a bunch of rank one spells it will only take longer for each to reach their potential and they will be weaker when they do.”

I was coming to a similar conclusion, but Maddy beat me to it. Sometimes I allowed myself to forget how clever she was. I needed to remind myself just because she let me call most of the shots didn't mean that she wasn't as capable of leading our trio just as well, if not better than me. I reprimanded myself for not asking her opinion more on matters in the past few weeks. I had been so consumed with getting stronger that I failed to consider that.

To my surprise, we had only been waiting a mere fifteen minutes before a young pretty elf came to see us. She was tall and thin with skin almost as pale as the moon. There was not a single blemish or freckle on her. Her silver hair flowed straight back with each hair perfectly in place. Her pointed ears reaching up to just below the top of her head.

I would say she was beautiful, but something was missing. There lacked any clear distinguishable feature you could call beautiful. As if her face was a perfectly structured blank canvass with nothing upon it. The only thing that was noticeable on her face was the slight smile she wore that didn't reach her cheeks, much less her eyes. “Hello, this one is called Nessa, would your group please follow me?”

We did so until we finally came to a much larger and luxurious office than last time. There were more seats than needed, so we plopped down in the ones closest to her desk. On the desk facing us were 3 cups filled with a liquid that smelled both earthy and sweet.

While the set up was nice, it only made me more ticked off with how we were treated last time. Leveling up and being repeat customers had me expecting a change, but something this drastic? If they had these kind of resources they would do well to make a better first impression.

A glance towards Meri made me feel less alone. One of the rare times I recall her showing even a slight annoyance on her face. So slight that unless you had gotten use to reading he facial cues you wouldn't have been able to tell what she was thinking.

“Please make yourselves at home, and do try the drinks we prepared for you. It's something elves have been making for thousands of years and perfected.” I took a sip. Dammit, it was good. Not unlike eggnog, but not so sweet that it took away from the mix of flavors in it.

Nessa seated herself. It was fast but I caught glance towards Meri and a crinkling of the elf's nose. So I guess even this well practiced and refined elf was a little racist, at least towards beastkin. As I looked at her and recalled the younger male elf I saw when I first came here. I had a hard time squaring that in my head. This is more or less how I expected an elf to look and act. Was such a difference common?

Where they more different from each other than the books in my world and here had led me to believe, or was that first elf more of an exception. Perhaps why he only dealt with the lower level adventurers? I wanted to get to the business at hand, but it was hard for me to pass up on this chance to ask a few questions.

“Excuse me Nessa.” The elf looked up at me just as she finished putting all her papers in order. “I hope you don't mind, but I was born in a small village I've lived in all my life before recently. Having never seen elves before, I wonder if you wouldn't mind me asking a few questions.”

She gave me the same small smile as before that didn't touch any other part of her face. “Of course young warrior, I'm use to such questions. I assure you they are no trouble, so please don't be shy.”

If I’m any judge, she did consider it a bit troublesome, but screw her. If she thinks my beastkin friend is too smelly to be worthy of being in her presence than I don't mind imposing. “Well, from everything I’ve read about elves, you seem very much like I pictured them to be. However, the last time I was here we were waited on by a young male elf who seemed to be less... elven like.” I raised my hand up uselessly in the air. Unsure of how to not ask my question rudely.

She nodded, seeming to understand. “I apologize for our young ones. They can be impulsive and impatient. Ruled by their emotions. That changes as they gain more life experience. How old would you guess he looked in human years?”

I shrugged. “I would say about fourteen or so. It's a bit hard to tell. He looked older in the eyes than he did phyisically which threw me off.”

Nessa gave a knowing nod. “Until they reach the age of maturity, we tend to age at about half the rate humans do. Once we reach the age of maturity the aging process slows down and is closer to one tenth when compared to yours. It takes decades of meditation and discipline to learn how to be a proper elf.”

I sat up in my chair for my next question. “If you all have such long life spans, then why is it that there aren't more elves that achieve high levels in the dungeons?” I imagined an elite group of high level century old warriors taking over the world. Surely such a thing was in their capabilities, wasn't it? They had all the time in the world to train compared to humans if they aged so slowly.

Nessa for the first time showed emotion. She let out a small laugh at my words but quickly recovered. Putting her hand to her mouth and clearing her throat. “I apologize, its just that this is such an obvious question. Besides dungeons being disgusting and malodorous, we don't tend to seek out something as ungraceful as combat. We prefer the innate beauty of magic.”

She was no longer addressing me anymore as she spoke. “Magic is nature's most beautiful and complex art. The intricacies lead to both profound understandings and endless depths of contemplation. To say one has truly comprehended even a single spell can take decades of vigorous dedication. It's something that no other race on this earth is more suited to accomplish.” She turned to face me, as if realizing I was still here. “What's the spell you purchased last time you were here young warrior?”

That took me a bit off guard. “Ummm... Burning Blade.”

“Ah, a very interesting spell. Depending on the circumstances, it can be one of the weakest or one of the strongest rank one spells. Would you mind handing me your sword young warrior?” I gave a confused look, but handed her my sword.

She took the sword in her hand and carefully examined it. Without any effort or concentration shown on her face, the blade turned a dark shade of red. "I'm only a novice when it comes to the Burning Blade, but let me give you a free piece of advice. You should wait no longer than level seven to get a new sword. This metal isn't designed to have magic easily flow through it. If you don't buy a new sword by the time your spell reaches level seven you'll be working harder for less of a return.”

She ended the spell and handed the sword back to me. She again looked over her papers and then back to us. “So, what kind of spells are you looking to purchase today?”

I couldn't say anything after that. Seeing how easily she surpassed what had taken me so much concentration and effort had me dumbfounded. Luckily, Maddy was there to pick up the slack. “We'd each like to purchase a rank two spell.” Nessa smiled and grabbed a book from the shelf directly behind her.

Maddy led the discussion on what we looking for while I sat there dejected. “We're looking for two spells that have long range capability. As for the third spell.” She looked to Meri who didn't look inclined to speak. “We're open to suggestions on what you think may be a good option.”

As Maddy talked with Nessa, I shook the cobwebs out. It was no time for moping. I needed to focus. Maddy was now excitedly talking about a spell known as Ice Javelin. Since it was called Javelin it was clearly meant to be thrown. It wasn't all that heavy, which made the range reasonably long.

Nessa stressed the benefits of being able to call on the ice element. In a pinch it could be melted and used as water. Not only that, if your weapon broke it could be used as a spare one. Not as sturdy as steel, but better than fighting empty handed. It also complimented our group dynamic. I could use fire and she would be able to use ice. We could cover the weakness of the other.

Meri was a much more difficult case. She had her arrows and she already had a spell to make those more powerful. Her fox claw made her dangerous in close combat. She was clearly the most balanced fighter of the three of us. I looked to Maddy who was having just as much difficulty as me when it came to trying to help her find the right choice.

Meri surprised us both by speaking up. “I-I think I would like to learn the healing spell please.” After getting the words out she fixed her eyes on her lap. She rarely asked for anything. Clearly something about this was very important to her.

I turned toward her and spoke softly. “You can pick any spell you want Meri, but aren't you worried about not getting stronger?”

Meri took a deep breath to work up the courage to continue. “It's okay if I’m not strong. I just don't want to see either of you hurt again and be unable to help.” I guess that first fight with the Devil Goat and seeing our injuries left a bigger mark on Meri than I thought. Poor girl. I was about to give her a comforting pat on the shoulder before Maddy jumped in.

“That's our Meri! You're just the sweetest thing ever!” Maddy, never one to be shy in front of others, got out of her chair and partially lifted Meri out of her seat while giving her what would have been a bone crunching hug. That is if Meri wasn't much bigger and stronger than Maddy due to being a beastkin. Meri's eyes darted around as her face turned red, but she never resisted the hug.

Mercifully Maddy eventually let Meri go. She sat back down in her chair looking sheepish, but did nothing to illustrate she wished for Maddy to take her arm off of her shoulder. Nessa clearly didn't care for the public displays of affection and did her best to hide it.

Eventually the focus came to me. I still didn't know what to do. My second spell should be used to balance me out, but the more I thought about it the more I couldn't get the idea out of my head that too much balance would lead to weakness. Like the old saying goes. Jack of all trades, master of none. If I focused on one particular type of magic and became very proficient at it, wouldn't it make all my other spells that much more powerful?

I looked over the spell called Fire Sword. Unlike Burning Blade, which heated up the sword itself, Fire Sword encompassed the blade in flames and allowed you to manipulate those flame. Depending on how much mana you put in, the fire around your blade could extend far out at the higher levels. On top of that, its shape wasn't fixed. With enough skill it could even be bent around corners going by the description in the book.

The heat from the fire was not as intense as the heat and destructive power of the burning blade. That didn't mean it was weak. It would still get plenty hot enough to burn enemies alive. The fact that the flame stayed connected to my sword meant that I didn't need to depend on a throw or shot to hit a mark.

If I missed I could just redirect my flame with relatively low mana cost. Since I was already getting use to using burning blade, I could most likely pick up this spell quickly compared to something completely new.

I looked to Nessa. “I think I'll take the fire sword spell.”

Maddy chimed in. “That doesn't really make sense Bill.” You already have fire. Shouldn't you learn something else?”

Nessa considered. “Not necessarily. Specializing in one type of magic has its benefits and drawbacks. While you lack variety in your attacks, through enough pure power and skill its possible to overcome that weakness. Some of the strongest people who have ever lived have been specialist well others have also been the most varied. There isn't a single path.”

I didn't care if it would make me stronger or weaker in the end. I wasn't interesting in being the strongest who ever lived. I needed to get my sister back. Fire may not work against every monster, but it worked against all humans. Logical arguments aside. Something about using fire just felt right. It felt natural. I achieved 2/10 burning blade in a single day. If that wasn't a sign to go down this path I don't know what is.

Nessa brought us our requested books and gave the same warnings we receiving last time. After collecting our eighteen gold coins, she escorted us to the front desk and promptly got rid of us. In what would be considered a perfectly polite way for a elf I'm sire. “Please grace us with your patronage again and safe travels young warriors.” Between my questions, Meri's beaskin nature and Maddy's display of affection, I don't think she was sad to see us go.

We made our way back to the United Dungeon Exchange. Malik had already finished up his business and was chewing on something rather delicious looking. I asked him to point out where he bought it so I could grab three more. “My treat.” I told Meri and Maddy. After a long walk to the city there weren't any objections from either of the ladies about letting me pay.

We conversed about all we've done as we made our way back to town. Compared to being in a dungeon all day, this didn't even qualify a tiring. A nice breeze and shade from the trees along the flat dirt road made the hike very pleasant. Not unlike a fun nature walk. Since we didn't have to wait around for too long in the magic association this time we made it back to town with a couple of hours of sunlight left.

There was enough time for a quick trip into the dungeon, but I could tell no one was keen on the idea. Instead we agreed tonight would be about celebrating our progress. We'd been working so hard lately it would be nice to relax for just one evening. We all needed to recharge our batteries for the journey ahead.

We had rank two spells to learn and would being going deeper into the dungeon tomorrow. Thinking about it now, Malik had really come a long way since we met him. He still was pretty standoffish, but his time with June and us had made him much more social and friendly. We decided to meet at June's tavern at dusk. If I was going to have a few drinks I didn't want to do it with the sun up. They couldn't see you do anything stupid in the dark, right?

Maddy and I sat together giving Meri a joint reading lesson. She has come a long way with her reading. The reports of beastkin being stupid were clearly exaggerated. She was already starting to read parts of her spell book. It wouldn't be long now until all of us could use magic.

The time got away from me a little. The sun had already started to set. We didn't want to be late. I turned to the ladies. “Well, do you want to head out to the Tavern now?”

Maddy jumped up. “Not like this! Come on Bill, isn't this suppose to be a celebration? I say we dress up a bit.” Meri didn't show any indication of agreement or disagreement. I may as well let Maddy have her way. Why not? I guess she was right about it being a celebration in any case.

I nodded. “Well, since your going to take twice as long as me, how about I meet you there? I don't want to keep Malik waiting too long.” Maddy agreed and quickly ushered me out of the room. Did I say ushered? More like a polite bouncer. I guess commenting on how long she takes to get ready wasn't the smartest thing to say.

I went to my room, setting my sword next to the bed. The clothes I had on wouldn't do. I didn't have much in the way of stylish but I had clean and presentable. I pulled them on. Thinking about it now, I could really use a hair cut. Oh well. This was as good as it was going to get. I hurried down the stairs and made my way to the tavern.

I was the first one to enter. Another slow night. June waved me over. “Hello Bill, you look almost presentable. Not in those dirty dungeon clothes I see.”

Where they really that dirty? I sat down in front of her. “Well, as it turns out June. We're going to be having a little celebration on our recent progress. Malik and my companions will be here shortly. So you'll be in for a pretty busy night. Fair warning.”

She gave me a smile and poured a cup of red wine for me. “Well, ever since Malik went off the booze my pockets have been hurting a bit. I could use the business. There aren't nearly enough drunkards in this town for my taste.”

I took a sip. “So Malik really hasn't touched a single drop since you two started seeing each other?”

She gave me a coy smile. “What, you don't think I'm worth giving up a vice or two for?” She added a little wink for good measure.

I couldn't help but laugh at that. “Of course you are, I would never think that. It's only too bad Malik got to you first. Is it too late for me to swoop in?” I gave her the same coy smile back.

She shook her head and laughed. “Put some hair on your chest first. Then maybe I'll think about it.”

I lifted up my drink. “That's what I'm working on. Top me off and help me out?”

She did so. “So Bill, how are things going with that beastkin lady friend of yours?”

I shrugged. “It's going fine. She's getting a little better everyday. Still complicated though.”

Sitting back on her chair across the bar she looked me dead in the eye. “You know, maybe you should just give up on her then. Some people aren't meant for each other. There's that other young lady you travel with after all. You two sound like you get along. Is something stopping that from working out?”

Well, that is a tricky question. Maybe it would be a better idea to not get too drunk tonight. Remember Bill, no drama. Before I could answer her, two men walked through the door. Large and strong looking with swords at their sides. Their eyes had something in them I didn't like. They sat next to me and ordered a drink. My hand subconsciously felt for my sword. It wasn't there. Why would I bring it? This was a celebration, right? Well, there was nothing to be worried about. Yet.

After ordering their drinks the slightly older one spoke to June. “Hello Mum, seems like this here is a place that gets frequented on the regular, maybe ya can help us. We're on official empire business. Lookin' for a trio of youngins. Might even be going into da dungeons around here. A young man with dark hair, a girl with golden hair and a foxkin girl. Ya see anyone like that?” Now it was time to worry.

June gave me a glance and saw the panic on my face. She was quick on the uptake. “Nope, can't say I have, and I would've heard. Adventurers are my demographic. Haven't even heard anyone mention a group like that.” She gave them a big friendly smile which revealed nothing. I needed to get out of here and warn them, but I couldn't make it look suspicious.

June turned to me. “And you there. That's your last drink. I don't want you spilling your dinner on the floor like last night!”

I quickly downed the cup. Spilling half of on myself as I staggered. Maybe I oversold it. I put the cup down. June took the guards attention off me and brought it back to herself. She was recalling a story she heard of a foxkin girl a few towns over some weeks ago. Just a few more steps was all I needed.

Malik burst through the door, giving me an up and down look. “Started the party a little early I see Bill.” He laughed and put his arm around me, leading me back inside the bar.

“Malik, I want him out. Can't you see he can barely stand?” Malik wasn't picking up on her hints. Not that she could be obvious about it

“Come on June, He'll be fine. I just wanna have one drink with all of us here.” Malik sat me by a table and went over to the bar to buy a round.

The men turned to him. “Ya have da look of a man who goes into da dungeons. That correct friend?”

Malik put two silvers on the counter. “That's right, why you asking?”

“We're looking for a group of youngins. A boy, a foxkin girl and woman with golden hair.

Malik gave him a strange look. “Whose asking?”

The man straighten up. “I am. That's all ya need concern yourself with.”

Malik looked him dead in the eye. “I don't like your tone, 'friend'.”

June motioned me to go outside while their attention was focused on him. Just as I was making my move, Maddy and Meri came through the door. It wasn't until they were half way towards me that they noticed something was wrong.

The two men turned to see her. “That's the girl!” The taller one called out. Madeline froze where she stood, eyes darting between me and the two men. “Madeline, we need ya and ya friends to come with us. Don't give us no trouble now .”

Malik spoke up. “They aren't going anywhere. Who the hell do you think you are?”

The shorter man spat out. “Shut ya fuckin' mouth. This is Highmar business. If ya know what's good for ya then you'll leave and never speak of this.”

June saw the situation was getting out of control. “How about we all sit down, have a drink and talk this over? There's no need to do anything drastic.”

The taller man whispered to the shorter one. The shorter man nodded his head mumbled. “Okay, no witnesses then.”

The shorter man faced June, taking his sword out in a flash. She put her hands in front of her, as if to plead with him to stop. It was too late. The tip whistled through the air and cut her across the belly. Her mouth opened in surprise, matching her stomach. Blood poured out from her stomach along with her entrails. She tried to push them back inside as she collapsed onto her back.

“JUNE!” Malik yelled, as if saying her name would somehow reverse what happened.

The taller man pulled out his sword and turned on Malik. “TAKE THE GIRL, KILL THE REST!”