Glenda cocked her eyebrow again but said nothing, sipping from her mug.

"From what you describe, you won't grow anymore until the next Challenge. The few Champions in your level range probably won't show up here, and the only way to lure them would result in stronger Champions showing up than you can handle."

"Therefore, creating a small space for me to live will save you the cost of repopulating your Dungeon. You are correct that while I am in the Dungeon, you can not have anyone else enter, but we both know that the likely hood of someone showing up is slim.

"You could use your Mana to create items that we can sell in the city. We can arrange for things to be brought here and returned to you. This will expand your repertoire of goods that you can create.

"That is true, but only to a limit," Glezda said, shaking her head. "I am limited to what materials I can use to make items. I am currently limited to iron.

"How much would it cost to increase your limit to Steel or even Fine Steel?

"Steel is within my grasp, but not Fine Steel. If I diverted all the experience I would spend on prepopulating the Dungeon, I would be able to purchase the upgrade to Steel. I have no patterns to use."

"Well, since we will use the Dungeon as a base, you won't need any goblins. And we are not far from the city. We can find your patterns for making things out of Steel even if we start small and make daggers or jewellery. Later, we can then use the goods to provide more patterns. Then later again, we can buy Enchanted items that you then use to earn experience."

"My rate of Mana Regeneration is not very high. But I can produce several items a day, I am sure."

"How long would it take you to replace everything we encountered in this dungeon?" James asked.

"I have the experience and Mana reserved to recreate everything. But it would probably take me a month to recover the Mana alone. My experience would require longer."

"But donated Enchanted Items will help with your experience gain?"

"Yes. I can even turn them into more useful Enchanted items, but there is a loss of experience. I can absorb a Rare Enchanted item and make an Uncommon Enchanted item with that experience."

"Almost the same as selling the Rare item and buying the Uncommon item.

"Agreed, but then you don't need to worry about availability with me."

"Why is that?"

"I have access to all Enchanted items. That is how I selected the specific Enchanted items you and each of your companions."

"So, what do you think of the idea?"

"I would like to think about it. There are pros and cons to your proposal. As well as some benefits and hindrances that neither of us may be aware of."

"Such as?"

"I will let you know when I think of them. I will also need to communicate with my Patron and see if she is okay with this arrangement. We may not be able to make this arrangement based on some obscure Challenge Rule. That is what I need to inquire about."

"How do we meet up again?"

"Return to the Dungeon within the week. If you do not return, I will assume you have decided against the idea. Which I doubt, considering it is your idea. Keeping the goblins outside culled would be a good start since it will drain the deity who has been tormenting my Patron. That will encourage her to agree with your proposal.

"Do you at least see the merit of what I am proposing?

"I do. If it goes well, I may gain more power this way than if I had just remained in a regular dungeon and waited out the Challenge. I can still gain something from the rest of the year."

"Good, I am glad that it is in your benefit. I will arrange for the goblins outside to be culled and collect a few steel items for your assimilation. I will be back in four or five days.

They both stood up, "Before you go. I would inquire about the original intent of my bringing you here. If not for this year, but the next Challenge."

James nodded, "Okay, how can I help."

With that, the table changed to a map of the Dungeon, from the start to the end. "How do I make this more tactically challenging for the same cost in Mana and Experience?"

James grinned and got to work.

James appeared outside beside Doris, Connie and Barbara. All of them blinked rapidly at the bright light of the day. They appeared behind a large rock near the river but downstream from where the goblin caves were located.

"That was awesome!" Connie shouted.

Doris started cursing and looking around for her missing crossbows and swords. Barbara was a little more physical in her exuberance and danced around, waving her new bow-. That reminded James to get his bow back from her and the sword and the wand.

"What happened? Rocko asked. "You were gone for over an hour before reappearing."

James held a hand to Rocko before turning to the sisters, "We should find a place to sit. We need to go over our notifications and divide up the loot. Also, I need to collect my loaned gear and head home."

That dampened their enthusiasm, but they didn't say anything.

James viewed his notifications. Unfortunately, none of them were flashing.

Luck +1

Charm +1

Analyze +1

Information Gathering +1

No one leveled, but they were still pleased with their rewards. James found it interesting that the sisters did not realize that they were placed on hold for over an hour while James talked to Glezda. He was also a little disturbed by the idea that a Dungeon could trap someone that way.

The division of the loot was pretty simple. Glezda let Doris keep a crossbow, 20 bolts and an iron sword. James was restocked back to the number of potions he had when he started. There were a few extra potions above and beyond this, but those he left to the sisters to share. This was funny, considering that Doris swore she hadn't taken any of the crossbow bolts with her.

They end up with more than two hundred gold in gold, silver and copper. They also had a handful of gems and the five Enchanted items they found. Doris had the Ring of Strength +3, Connie had the Staff of the Asp, and the Ring of Dexterity +3 and Barbara had the Boots of Stealth +3 and the Leather Armour. It wasn't until they pooled the Enchanted items that they realized that James didn't have any of them.

James waved away the Staff and the Leather armour as not something he would use. He was interested in either the Boots of Stealth or the Ring of Strength. All the items were Common and worth about fifty to a hundred gold, the staff and the armour being worth the most. The sisters were more than fair, and James thought they wanted to encourage him to adventure with them again. This translated into them giving him a better deal. They had got more loot in the one day than they had seen in their lifetime.

James decided on the Boots of Stealth +3. He also promised Barbara if he ever upgraded them, he would give them back to her. Doris took back her Ring of Strength +3, which left the Ring of Dexterity +3 up for grabs. Connie agreed to pay each of the other Party Members 20 gold out of her share of the coins for the ring. This seemed more than fair, so we all agreed.

Connie was the only one with the Appraisal Skill, so she determined the value of the gems. At Rocko's urging, James learned the Appraisal Skill from her. It was common for people to pay for learning a Skill, but they agreed it was an even trade since she had learned Meditation from him. They were not spectacularly valuable but ranged from five to twenty gold each. Connie also wanted to buy the Wand of Flame Bolts from James, but when Rocko told him it was worth over three hundred and fifty gold, that killed her interest.

In the end, James walked away with the Boots of Stealth +3 and just over 93 gold. He declined the gems and took gold instead. This seemed fine with the sisters as Connie knew a jeweller in town who would pay well for them.

When James stood up, he was surprised that it was Doris who made the first overture. "Are you coming back tomorrow? We can do the Dungeon again."

James shook his head, "Once a dungeon is done; you can't redo it for a week. But the goblins outside will keep reappearing, so feel free to kill them all. Even if you don't take their loot, kill those in the first six caves."

James didn't miss the look from Rocko. Rocko knew something was amiss but didn't say anything. Not that the sisters would have heard anything anyway.

"They would not be worth any experience at this point, or if so, very little," Barbara sighed.

"Then bring some low-level friends and have them clear out the lower-level caves while you clear out the upper-level caves. Imagine what you can gain in a week, just clearing out the top six caves. They dropped, on average, four Enchanted items? As well as a lot of gold and potions."

"And a scroll from yesterday," Connie added.

"There you go. Not sure if the trend continues, but that is about two hundred gold a day." The sisters looked at each other and nodded-; it was an excellent coin to make in a day. At least for them. The only thing is that they would not gain as much experience as before. If they wanted more experience, they would have to travel further away from town.

"Before I go, I wanted to ask. Did any of you gain any titles?" James asked.

Again, the sisters looked at each other and nodded their heads.

"We gained a title called 'Dungeon First' we also gained 25% towards our next level," Barbara stated.

"That is good. I will return in four or five days. I will meet you in the tavern before you leave for the day or here if I can't get there early enough. I encourage you to bring some people who might be willing to gain a few levels. Who knows, maybe they will pay you for it."

This made Doris' eyes light up.

"Thank you, James," Barbara said, Doris waved to him, and Connie gave him a quick hug.

With that, he turned and stepped through the Astral Portal.