(Zhenya POV)

Hitting the town, we took to the place like a snow poof infestation! Shops, smithies, ateliers. Checking out the ‘tools of the trade’ as Diana pointed out, dreaming of what could be if we only had the GP.

Eh, we’ll just have to be extra careful in the dungeon.

Local attractions like the botanical gardens were free though. Gorgeous, by the way. But there was always this somber air about the area that made it hard to enjoy.

That aside, there was one other place we had to check out. The climbers guild! Perched ways up on one of the world tree’s massive roots. Pretty straightforward, their goal is to climb above the clouds and reach the peak of the world tree, the world's summit.

And this was where our other request started. In actuality, it was a recruitment poster disguised as a request. But o’well registration was free, and the initiation test was easy... For me, at least. They even set us up with basic climbing gear.

The request only paid out if we reached the top. But there were milestone rewards if we hit certain heights.

GP rewards.

Well, screw the dungeon. This is so much simpler and less life-threatening.

Bark is nothing compared to the icy cliffs, but the sheer size of this thing was insane. I’d wager it’s even taller than the sacred peak.

That was our day. Frankly speaking, we barely made it up the tree stopping at the 5th rest stop. Our total reward came to 75 GP for each of us. All in all, not bad.

During our breaks, we chatted it up with other climbers. And man, each and every one of them had a theory about what the peak held. Some of unimaginable wealth, others of power, dreams, knowledge... A bigger tree. Yeah, I can tell some of these guys climbed a little too high without proper gear.

By the time we touched ground, the sun was on its way out. And despite all the climbing we were still raring to go. Actually, I think it got our blood pumping even more. It’s been so long since we had an honest to goodness fight.

“Hey, you wanna go a few rounds.” On our way back to the inn, Fredrica gently tugged me over to a sturdy building. The sounds of clashing weapons echoing from within.

“Eyyy, sparring? Count me in.” It’d be good to get some training in before heading into the dungeon proper. Ahhh. Who am I kidding? I’m raring for a fight to get the ol’spirit burning again!

Trading in our usual gear for training equipment, we found a spot and quickly laid down ground rules. “First down, call for timeouts, no face hits.”

Like Pa always taught, I readied myself.

“Huh. Zhenya, you know that stance of yours is oddly reminiscent of the ones taught in the Dutchy.” Is that so? Looking Fredrica up and down, the most similar point was how we gripped our swords when in neutral stance. But that’s as far as it went. Everything else might as well be distant cousins.

Whatever the case was, we didn’t bother diving deeper.

Making the first move, I step in, brazenly slashing down on Fredrica. The moment I see her bringing that shield up, I feint before we make contact. Dropping low to the ground with my full weight, I redirect my sword driving it into the dirt and steel myself.

Never far behind that shield, her sword cracks against mine. Damn, even with two hands she hits hard.

Riding the impact, I skid across the dirt, coming to a dust-covered stop right at Fredrica’s flank. In a breath, I lunge for her side. Feeling the tip of my sword just graze her, I throw up an arm and instantly take a back-swinging shield, swatting me away.

“Not bad.” She stretches, quickly slashing the air a couple of times. Agh, I keep forgetting how fast she gets without that armor of hers.

Well, let’s see if she can handle some finesse.

Pulling out a wooden practice dagger in my off-hand, I go at her again. In one motion, as my sword plinks against her shield, I take a step forward and hook my dagger around it, pulling myself past her. Once again, Fredrica turns to backhand me with that shield, but it whiffs completely.

Taking a cue from last time, I was already a step away from her.

Plunging past her out-of-position shield, wood grinds against wood as I force a clash. I can’t beat that ridiculous strength of hers, but this isn’t about winning. All I need is a buffer.

Wrapping my leg around hers, I bash my dagger’s pommel into her chest while twisting and pushing.

But knees standing strong. She flexes and grabs my pant waist turning this into a ssireum match. “First to drop loses, huh?” Totally not playing to her strengths or anything.

It was more of a jab at her than an actual complaint. Small talk to fill the silence as we fought.

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“Closing time!”

Fredrica and I gather our stuff and start heading back to the inn.

“Now that was a workout!” Fredrica stretched, practically shining. She actually was. I hope they have a bath.

“Pah!” Popping the top of my waterskin back on, I pass it over to Fredrica. “Ya got that right. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this good after a fight.”

“That being said. I think we can say I won.”

“What! No way. I got like forty more hits on you!”

“But you couldn’t bring me down. On the other hand, I had you on the ropes.”

This went on until we got back. Where a hot meal awaited us, also the inn did indeed have baths.

(???, The Crescent Hare’s Inn, 2nd floor, a dark place)

Once again, in an all to familiar loop, she woke up to a darkly lit room. Windows all but covered, only the light from her crystal lamp gave recourse in what might’ve been an endless room.

Today would be like the rest. Write, eat, remember, try to forget.

Scurrying up to the light, she wrote in her journal as she’d done all days prior. The first ran smoothly through her mind to the page, then she wrote the same tale again, muddier and more indescribable.

Again and again, until what she had initially written morphed into a false reality. A fabricated story, fiction that she wanted to delude herself in. If everything went like normal. If they hadn’t taken that request. If they had never set foot inside the dungeon that night. If they were still here.

But like always, it broke her heart as her tears washed over those happy fantasies to reveal the cruel truth she painted over.

Like always, she laid her book next to the lamp to dry. And took a spoon to the food, always impersonally lifted into her room. Slow bites as always so she can focus on eating and not think about unpleasant things. When done, she went back to writing fantasies that she could never escape to.

When she cried enough, was tired enough, she let herself pass out so she wouldn’t have time to regret.

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Once again, in an all to familiar loop, she woke up to a darkly lit room. Windows all but covered, only the light from her crystal lamp gave recourse in what might’ve been an endless room...

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..

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Once again, in an all to familiar loop, she woke up to a darkly lit room. Windows all but covered, only the light from her crystal lamp gave recourse in what might’ve been an endless room...

.....

..

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Once again, in an all to familiar loop, she woke up to a darkly lit room. Windows all but covered, only the light from her crystal lamp gave recourse in what might’ve been an endless room.

She began writing again in her small dim light of escape. But today was not like the rest. She heard perhaps the only friend she had left shout, louder than she ever heard in quite a while.

She wanted to help, she really did, but she didn’t know where the door was. So unused and shrouded in dark, it ceased to exist in her world.

Frozen in place by what she heard, it doused her aching heart in ice. The hounds were here to eat her heart, to pick and pull it apart.

Roused into action by her fear, she kicked over her crystal lamp, turning it off.

The hounds never came. She never moved. The lamp never turned back on.

She didn’t sleep, but she also could not find it in herself to act. It was comforting in a sense. It allowed her to forget ‘herself’. Maybe if she closed her eyes reality would fade away. But reality knocked on her door.

(Zhenya POV)

“She should be awake by now.” Diana leaned one arm on our table after we finished breakfast. “Remember, be gentle. She can be dangerous even if she doesn’t mean to.”

Leading us up to the second floor, down the hall behind clutter was a door seemingly made to be hidden away.

Fredrica and I glanced at each other, deciding who would go first. Eventually, I knocked on the door, running through every point Diana lectured us on last night.

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It was just after dinner. Immersing ourselves in the inn’s open-air bath, we closed our eyes and let the exhaustion wash away. After a while we heard someone entering, it was Diana.

Her stiff creamy white ears swayed in tandem with her long fluffy fur-like hair. This was the first time I’ve ever fully seen a beast person’s body. Fur ran along her robust forearms and legs, ending in normal hands but pawed feet.

Sliding into the bath, she let out an exhausted sigh. Must’ve been racking her head about us the whole day.

There was a pregnant pause where only the sound of pumping water could be heard.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” She started, ears flicking anxiously. “I thought you were like the hounds who came before. But after you left, Nickolas told me more about you two. I’m still not fully convinced. But I’ll give you a chance.”

“So listen closely now. The girl you’re looking for is named Sushila. She’s an assassin.” Well, this took a turn, but the gentle, rippling water softened the blow. “She was part of an all Islander adventuring team a couple odd years back. They were the Coalition's attempt to gain influence in the dungeoneering game.”

“They never managed to gain a foothold, logistics they blamed.” Fredrica piped up, all too relaxed.

“That’s what they officially announced. In truth, the team wiped and it was covered up due to pride.” Diana thumped the water all too angrily. “They left her here to rot!”

Fredrica seemed to have something on her mind but held back.

The rest was a crash course on Sushila’s personality, likes, and dislikes. “I’ll take you in the morning.” She got out of the bath, leaving us with a lot to think about.

Getting out, we noticed a sign on the door, ‘reserved do not disturb.’

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Even after knocking on the door, there was no response and calling out for her yielded nothing. “Diana did give us this key.”

We both knew what was coming. Armor on and shield ready, Fredrica took point. I was behind her holding two pots Diana lent me. Note to self: invest in a shield.

The door swung open, and a nail whistled through the air, aimed at the gap in Fredrica’s armor. She reacted just in time, shifting her shield. This is gonna one hell of a day.

A storm of weaponry improvised or not was thrown at us with expert precision. Weathering the flurry, inching into the room, it all suddenly stopped. The room was pitch black. Looking around, I stumbled into a lamp but turning it on only revealed an empty room.

No one on the floor or ceiling... I looked from the corners to straight above us. Sushila!- Surprised, she scrambled and lost her footing falling right on top of us.

Agh... finally seeing our fabled assassin’s face, my blood runs cold. “H- Hey, Fredrica y-you don’t think she tried to...?”

“Nah, no rope.” Freddie recovered all too easily.

“But, But.” Sushila’s skin was deathly pale, tinged with purple. She was literally cold as a corpse. And when I checked her pulse, there were only some post-mortem beats. “Quick, we have to resuscitate her!”

Pulling out a potion, I swish its contents into my mouth. Here goes nothing. I bring our lips close-. Her eyes wearily open, and a hoarse voice rings out. “Ag- My -He-d.”

But I didn’t even... Seeing my face so close Sushila’s eyes focus, darting awake. Crawling into a corner, she wraps herself in blankets, shivering.

“Hey there.” Fredrica keeps her distance. “We’re friends of Diana. We mean no harm. She just asked us to come here and collect these smelly sheets for her to wash.”

She’s scared shitless, but I don’t think she’s going to flip out.

Not so fast or slowly, we collected the dusty sheets while bantering between ourselves to get her used to our presence. Now with some natural sunlight entering the room, we left. “Sushila we’ll wash these and return them to you as soon as possible, okay?” No response.

Softly closing the door, we let out a sigh. “That’s one way to introduce yourselves.” Diana let out a snicker. “But I’ll say, you guys did better than most. The washing thing was a good move, I’ve been meaning to do that, but Sushila’s stubborn about keeping them up.”

It’s going to take a while for Sushila to warm up to us. But after seeing our first encounter, it didn’t take any convincing to get Diana on board with our plans. We were going to work here as temps.