(Curator Pov)

This feeling... Trepidation. Anticipation. Familiarity. Core palpitations. All dredged to bare by the sudden appearance of a purple-haired girl.

Flanked on both sides by the golden gi- by Zhenya, Su and Rudi. Those piercing amethyst eyes stared into the dungeon’s false sky, right at my big Dp eye.

“It’s gonna be one of those days.” The thought wearily came to mind. As per standard fair, whenever this group decides on a dive. And then she waves at it! Further solidifying my mounting headache.

Right off the bat, I could tell this girl had Head’s touch about her. A distinct energy that all his chem-lementals exuded.

Yet, this girl was undoubtedly not a dungeon resident. How vexing. Possessing Head’s essence of science. A departure from Bargas, Kheru, and Virgil, who fueled their strange abilities with defined essences unique to themselves.

And that’s not even the strangest thing. Head’s dungeon essence only makes up half of the purple girl’s being. Best I can rationalize is that these components make up her soul. The other half was far and away, the most bizarre thing I have ever laid eyes upon. Even stranger than being a half-not-but-close-to dungeon creation.

Old, even older than Head’s essence. Hell, I’d wager even older than G or even Whit. Almost primal, like the moon, bringing to light mysteries hidden in the dark of night one moment before shifting into something cloudy and unreadable.

The body doesn’t match the soul? No. The soul proceeds the body?

Perhaps, I’ve been working with the whole moon theme for too long, but that is the only way I could describe her other half.

Being a dungeon of stories (Also dealing with my actor’s bullshit daily.) I was pretty accustomed to picking up physical tells. And can say, with almost absolute certainty, that the girl was as young as she appeared. Just smarter, weirder, and mature (Somewhat) beyond her age, but not ‘old’ in the same sense her soul would suggest.

The mystery only deepens the further I delve.

On the flip side, as the group traipsed around the first floor, the purple girl, Junia, hyperactively surveyed her surroundings. Like a kid in a candy store, that one.

Encountering a pack of wolves, Zhenya and Su effortlessly thinned the pack like the old hands they were. Setting the stage for Junia to show off her skills.

Like Rudi, the girl fought while mixing potions on the fly, with incredible efficacy to boot, leaving chucks of wolves in her wake. What was even scarier was how proficient she was in creating health potions. I’m not an expert or anything. But I have never seen any other alchemist pull a stunt like that in the heat of battle.

Buuuut. This all comes with a caveat. Each potion carried an unintentional side effect, whether by design or intentionally slipped in. Though I’m leaning towards the latter, Junia’s eyes scream mad scientist or witch in this case.

Her offensive potions caused-. The only way I could define what transpired is as localized phenomenons. Ranging from everything as small as a mound of dirt popping out of the ground to sudden downpours.

The purple-haired enigma cleaned them up in the end, but that level of walking chaos is insane! Don’t even get me started on the sheer madness her healing potions inflict.

Poor Zhenya. At least Junia had something for hair growth...

If messing with causality wasn’t an indication, my Dp eye definitely picked up magical shenanigans. Every energetic movement made when concocting a potion was accompanied by a strange blur. Almost like frosted glass or static grains as the surrounding Dp violently rumbled.

And that’s not to say the mad scientist herself wasn’t slipping in the odd ingredient here or there on the fly, but I felt that the ‘old’ portion of her soul was affecting things.

Other than that burning wreck of a two faced-talent was her mastery over stones. Magical stones that reacted to various compounds, ‘unlocking’ their use.

Depending on color, the stones seem to serve different functions. The most common was white, which acted as semi-durable constructs. For now, Junia only saw it fit to will them into flat walls.

Little to say, the first floor stood no chance. With Zhenya’s pliability, Su’s speed, and Fredrica’s defense, the only thing the golden girls were missing was the range and options that magic provided.

Here’s hoping, you crazy alchemist.

She’s just a bundle of stories wrapped in one package. Wouldn’t even mind if she stuck around and joined the gang. The air mystery brings about the tide of romance, doesn’t it?

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(Zhenya Pov)

After touring Junia around the dungeon, I swear the little bugger is on more of a sugar high than Tsukiko when she’s talking about one of her novels. It’s a miracle she doesn’t explode on the spot.

Walking to the west end of town, I entered a rather grandiose Kingdom-style inn called The Sunrise. Walking up to the receptionist, “Excuse me, I’m here to see a Tsukiko. She should have informed you of a visitor.” From the slight glare she’s giving, I can tell the receptionist is one of those types.

Not deigning me important enough to speak with the receptionist simply shrugs me on my way. Eh, not the worst reaction I’ve gotten since coming here. If anything, some of the old clientele at the Crescent Hare’s Inn were far worst, as in more vocal about me.

Honestly, I think my height deters a lot of the usual shit-heads. The ones with more muscles than brains. Also helps that I can probably match them pound for pound in muscle.

You know... I’m starting to worry about my femininity. Oh, goddess. I can’t have a crisis now!

Knocking on Tsukiko’s room. The girl pops out faster than a snow poof in an avalanche, and ushers me in.

Despite what I imagined a love-obsessed shrine maiden’s room would look like. A toss-up between a dimly lit den of forbidden literature or an overly-girly pink. I was happily surprised to find it neither.

Homely, nicely lit. It felt lived in. Every facet of the room had been touched by Tsukiko in one shape or form. Generally in the way of plushies or tiny knick-knacks. Even the shelf was stocked with storybooks from the dungeon. With consideration that this was an inn, all her belongings could easily be packed up at a moment’s notice.

Striding upon the woven mat floor, Tsukiko pulls out a chest containing all her magical doodads. Yep, today is my first lesson in magic. Like Pa always said, ‘never limit yourself to one approach. That’s a sign of a mediocre hunter.’ People in our line of work use everything at hand to hunt our quarry.

Magic might be the exception here. Too expensive, but it’s the spirit that counts.

“Alright, Zenni. I want you to try and find as many ice-infused practice balls as you can.” Right off the bat, I focus on the literal hundred balls in the chest. And immediately blackout for a couple of seconds, only for the brat girl to start giggling.

“First lesson, don’t try to sort everything at once. The human mind can’t process that much information. Instead, imagine it more like sorting minerals in a mine.” The shrine maiden got way too giddy with herself for thinking up that analogy.

“Instead of pouring all of the ores down the shoot at once. Try sorting through each type and creating a mental list. Start with ice since you’re most sensitive to them, ignore everything else. It’ll be slow at first, but with practice and time, you’ll be like ol’Tsukiko here and do it lickity split.”

Unable to restrain herself, Tsukiko immediately lifts up thirty teal-colored balls. “Once more. Turn around.” Changing the amount of ice-elemented balls in the box, I try again.

This endeavor lasted the whole day as I tried lowering my time. All-the-while Tsukiko tried drilling other concepts into my thick skull. She’s an absolute drill Sargent, funnelling her usual energy into teaching.

Stuff like when using mana crystals. The size and purity cover the casting cost. But if I attempted to create a blizzard from a small ice crystal. Naturally, mana from my own body would be used in addition to supplement the casting. Yeah, becoming a husk happens far too often for eager students.

While all magic stem from the elements, they vary from person to person. In her words, it’s super rare for users of the same element to fight in a similar fashion. Even if they were trained by the same teacher.

It gets even muddier when you factor in people who practice two elements. Maybe out of fifty people, three could be considered similar enough to be grouped together. Seems like a small sample size, but then consider that magic is an expensive and time-consuming form of combat many don’t have the opportunity of mastering.

Simply put. Tsukiko, like all other magic tutors, is only going to run me through the basics. From there, it’s all trial and repetition until I create my own ‘style’. Yeah, it is safe to say that anybody using magic is a character. The world of magic is cut-throat where only the strange survive.

Other than that, Tsukiko added that theoretically, people can control pure mana like those in dungeons to horrifying results. But apparently, only the Emperor and his bloodline can do that.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, we decided to call it quits. According to Tsukiko, I made a ton of progress. I’m still not sure what’s so special about these hands of mine, but honestly speaking. The concept, these crystals, has me creeped out.

From what Junia and Tsukiko tell me, they’re stable. And I shouldn’t be worried about being called diamond hands anytime soon. Unless I go and do something stupid like running out into a blizzard again.

Making my way home, Su greeted me from the kitchen, just having whipped up some food from her homeland. Braised fish with a side of... beans and some sort of white dressing. I think she said it was ground from the flesh of a hard-shelled fruit found there. It was delicious.

Once again, Su surprises me with her growth. Not only did she haggle for ocean fish with the misers down by the stalls. She also made friends with Ayase, the lady who vouched for me on my first day here. Offering to take care of the kids so the caretaker can have some time for herself.

“Right, then. Su, you ready?” Finishing our meal, Su and I got up and made way to the training grounds. Along with practicing magic with Tsukiko, I’ve been training with our resident assassin.

A clack of wooden weapons heralded the start of combat. Su immediately disengaged, but this wasn’t a usual bout. Both of us carried our trade tools.

Flicking a thin stick instead of a dagger at the pale assassins retreating form, I chased behind. Presenting her two outcomes, either she deflects or dodges this.

Dodge. Sidestepping the flying stick, Su reaches for her belt, bringing her own faux dagger to bare, deflecting my follow-up attack.

Sinking into a frantic tempo of brief engagements and fast-paced blows followed by a swift retreat.

Su demonstrated how the Drowned earned their reputation as the Archipelago's bogeymen. Juggling her wooden machetes and daggers, the devil slowly but steadily wore me down with her inexhaustible stamina.

Low. High. High. Mid. Low. Low. I ducked, weaved, and parried what I could. Taking minor bruises and nicks under her breathless assault.

This fight had a simple end. It stops when your opponent is down or surrenders.

Seeing an opportunity, how bout I spice things up. Letting go of my dagger, I reach around my belt and grip a tiny pebble of an ice crystal. Here goes nothing.

Focus the mind, clear all unnecessary thoughts, and visualize. The ice crystal turns to dust in my hand as I throw it off to the side. Instantly reforming into a palm-sized snowball, it hurls itself back into the fray.

This managed to catch Su flat-footed, not expecting me to be using magic this soon. Using her surprise to my advantage, I lunge forward. Executing my two-pronged strike before Su could recompose herself.

I swear the girl’s body reacted before her mind did. Twisting her waist at an obscene angle, Su sliced the snowball in half with one blade while the other moved to block my strike.

Although I managed to land a hit, that was by no means a significant blow.

Pushed back, we once again made eye contact. Wordlessly signaling to each other to continue.

Long story short, I held my own for some time, but the relentless assassin eventually wore me down. After which, we visited the public baths before heading home, our muscles sore as all hell.

I need to start figuring out my own path. Freddie’s a beast in close quarters, and Su can run circles around me. I’m on to something, I think. There's something in incorporating magic into my usual combat style. I just need to find that spark to kick everything off.

It’s not elegant, by any sense of the word. But I can do this. I can’t get left behind again.