Thira insisted that Crear at least try the hot porridge, but she didn't stand up to chase him down. She remained sitting next to the fire and looking at him with those big sad puppy eyes of hers.

It almost made him feel bad. But only almost. He gnawed on a stripe of grilled meat from dinner and a fresh apple, much to the dismay of Roric.

After breakfast, he actually helped to extinguish the fire, saving his packages of slowly cooked meat before shoveling earth over the flames. It got him a curios glance that he left unanswered.

The sun had crawled over the horizon and into a bank of thick clouds as they walked back the same way they had come yesterday. To escape Thira's unending chatter, Crear opted to scout the area. Not that it was necessary. It was a well traveled road and not even wolves or bears went near it. Much less the more intelligent magical beasts.

===

"Back so soon?" asked the receptionist lady, as they stood in the lobby, dripping wet. It was still pouring outside, the rain turning into sleet as the temperatures dropped further.

"Maybe it was a good thing those farting cods on a butchers plank came along. At least we won't have to camp in this Spirits forsaken weather," sniffled Roric.

"You won't believe it, Maria! This morning, we were woken up by a bunch of castrated cockerels. They told us that the Silkhook Dungeon was off-limits and for the sole usage of the Watervale Academy! Can you believe it? They even threatened to kill us, if we stepped foot into the dungeon!" exclaimed Lydia, sneezing at the end and rubbing her wet arms to get warmer.

"They did what?!" cried the receptionist lady, slamming her hands on the counter and standing up. "Guild Master!" screaming, she ran up the stairs, leaving behind the drenched and shivering group of four.

"I'll be downstairs, if you need me," murmured Crear, slinking towards the other stairs, when the receptionist returned.

"Follow me please. All of you."

Lydia grabbed hold of Crear before he could vanish and dragged him along.

The office was much warmer than the lobby and they were served hot tea. Even as they squirmed in their chairs for dripping water and mud everywhere.

Well, Crear for one had no qualms in setting his pack on the plush carpet, shaking his drenched shawl out and draping it over the wooden sculpture of a griffin for drying. Then proceeding to untie his equally drenched boots.

"Please don't." The Guild Master made a face. "It's too cold outside to air out this room."

"I thought you were inviting us to stay the night?" asked Crear innocently, finally managing to open the knot with his stiff fingers. "Why else would you ask us up here this late?"

"Stop it! I won't keep you from your beds for long. Maria said something about Watervale and the Silkhook Dungeon?"

Crear sighed and pulled the boot lace tight again, sprawling over a couch without a care in the world. Roric glowered at his disrespecting behavior. Thira cringed as mud steadily dropped from his boots onto the carpet. He wiggled around to spread the mud splatters a bit more, before laying still.

"We met them very early this morning. They came down the road before dawn, told us to turn around because it was now exclusive to them and threatened to kill us if we put a foot into the dungeon. Then they just left. It was a group of 10. Three armored, the rest in sorcerer's robes," answered Lydia.

"And you are absolutely sure they are part of the Watervale Academy? Not some kind of imposters?" probed the Guild Master.

"They had this crest on their clothes, a four pointed star with a wave and a sword in the middle."

"That's them, alright." The Guild Master sighed. "You did good to turn around and report it. I will take care of this."

"What can you even do? They're noble sorcerers, by the Spirits shorn feet. They will ignore you because you're a commoner like us. Have they taken any other dungeons around here into their custody?" snarked Crear.

"I heard about Frostwood last week. But Sandmouth and Deerfire should still be accessible, you insolent brat!"

Lydia, Thira and Roric watched the exchange. It was quite clear that these two had some kind of history.

"They went to the Frostwood Dungeon last week? Are they still there?" asked Crear.

"From what the reports say, yes," glared the Guild Master.

"Then they will send a new group to Sandmouth or Deerfire next week. And the week after, a group to the other. If it's the same as previous times, they will block the dungeons for a month. A run to clear the first ten floors of any of those dungeons will take at least a week. Worst case, we meet them inside the dungeon on our way back and get killed by them." Crear waved a hand lazily through the air.

"I hate to say it, but the brat is right," growled the Guild Master.

"But they can't do that! They can't expect us to know that they have reserved it if we're already inside the dungeon!" cried Thira.

Crear stared at her. As a sorceress yourself, you should know how they work.

"Are there any other dungeons around here? Less known, recently found or too easy for them to bother?" asked Lydia. "We really need the money, even if it means doing an E-ranked dungeon over and over again."

Roric groaned at the prospects.

"You're all C-ranked adventurers and would run through an E-ranked dungeon?" The Guild Master was shocked.

That's news. They are all C-ranked? Seriously? And they still need money? Looking at the curious glances thrown his way, it seemed his rank was also news to them.

"There are... circumstances..." evaded Lydia.

"There is only one other dungeon. It popped up recently and hasn't been explored much. The first 5 floors have been mapped, but going by the monsters appearing there, it should be an F-ranked dungeon. Maybe E-ranked, if there are more floors with stronger monsters. The two groups I sent there to explore it couldn't find a way further down. It's so easy the Watervale Academy won't bother with it. If you asked me, it's a waste of your talents. Slimes and large bats on the first floor, some foxes on the second floor, wolves on the third, boars on the fourth and bears on the fifth floor. Only few traps in between and no treasure chests."

"We'll take it!" Lydia turned to her group. "It's better than nothing, right? And even the meager drops from an F-ranked dungeon can get us a few coins. And Crear... if you want out of the party, that's fine with us. It's an F-ranked dungeon. We can clear it on our own."

"Oh, no. He will go with you," interrupted the Guild Master with a grin. "He knows what happens if he doesn't. Right, Crear?"

They all turned towards Crear, who made a face. "Where is that dungeon anyway?"

"You know the ruins to the west of the city? Where people suspect a shrine or chapel or some such once stood? The entrance is the last intact gate. You'll know it when you see it. There is a shimmering portal between the two pillars."

"Thank you for the information. We'll go there tomorrow. For now, we'll have to search for an inn. Hopefully, the Stumbling Rat is still open." Lydia stood up, cringed at the wet spots her drenched clothes had left behind on the chair and opened the door. Roric had Thira on his back in a jiffy and was out of the room. With a questing eye, Lydia looked back at Crear, who was slowly sitting up on the couch and stretching.

"You coming?"

Crear blinked, a little stunned, then smiled lazily. "Naah, I'll meet you at the gate again."

Lydia shrugged and let the door fall closed.

The Guild Master glowered silently at Crear, as the man slowly grabbed his shawl and backpack and ambled out of the room.

===

"Hello Maria. Do you know something about this new dungeon? The Guild Master said it was in the ruins to the west?" Crear leaned against the counter in the lobby.

"Oh, that. Yes. The two groups we sent there looked a little spooked, but they said they only encountered F-ranked monsters inside. Slimes, bats, foxes, wolves, boars and bears. The normal animal kind, nothing magical or dungeon-reinforced. It has 5 floors all told."

"Did they hand in any maps of the dungeon?"

"Uhuh, wait a second." Maria rummaged through the shelf behind her, returning with a stack of grubby papers.

Crear spread them out on the counter, looking them over.

Those maps are incomplete. There is a fork, but they didn't explore the other path after they found the stairs. Sloppy. Wait... "Which one is the first floor?"

Maria pointed at two papers. "These two. Each party made their own map."

"This is..." fishy. No matter how he turned the two papers around, the maps didn't match. "What's the name of this dungeon anyway? And the type?" he asked idly, wondering why the maps didn't match.

"That's what I'm not sure about. The first group said it was named Challenging the Fox, while the second group said it was The Fox Shrine. As for the type... it's made of overgrown stone. And there were murals on the walls. The entrances to the rooms seem to be identical to the gate outside. Red pillars and a red wooden cross-beam lying on top of them, with a narrow black roof."

"Sounds like either a nature- or ruin-type..." mumbled Crear, scanning the other papers. No matter how he turned them around, none of them looked remotely similar. This dungeon smells fishy. I don't believe it's a mere F-rank. Not if the floors are changing for each visiting group.

He took a quick look around the lobby. Lydia and her two fools were nowhere to be seen. Too tired to ask for more information on an unknown dungeon? How did they even make it to C-rank?

Without another word, he turned around and left the lobby in search of his own bed.

"Whoa, hey! He could've at least given me a thank you!" grumbled Maria after him.