Orrin could see Daniel was conflicted. He had promised Madi not to make any deals but the prospect of a new dungeon was a lot to take in.

“We can give you an answer in the morning,” Orrin said, saving his friend. “Even if we agree, I’m sure Madi here will want to negotiate some terms.”

Madi nodded, mute. Orrin knew why, too. Madi’s dream was to destroy all the dungeons in this world. They had taken her mother from her at a young age and she was determined to make sure nobody else suffered that fate. Pritus had picked a particularly good boon to tempt her with.

“I’m afraid that I must have your answer before you leave this room.” Guildmaster Pritus stood to her full height. She was almost as tall as Daniel but with her regal bearing, it appeared they were eye-to-eye. “If you say no, I’ll not risk you rushing to subjugate the dungeon on your own. I have a team standing by.”

“Then can we have a few minutes alone?” Daniel asked as slumped into an armchair. “I’m still digesting and tipsy from your dwarf liquor.”

Orrin knew he was not feeling the effects of the alcohol at all. [Remetabolize] would have cleared his system completely.

“Of course, ring the bell and I’ll return.” Pritus frowned slightly but left quickly.

As soon as they were alone, Madi fell into the other armchair. “She’s got us stuck in an alley without a knife for protection.”

“What?” Daniel asked.

“It’s an expression. She knows how much a dungeon subjugation could do for Daniel. We have no real political clout to throw around. Basically, we are fucked.”

“Madi, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you curse!” Orrin exclaimed in mock outrage.

“You two are a bad influence,” she muttered putting her head in her hands. “The problem is I want this. I’ve dreamed of crushing a dungeon my entire life. If she really can get us to a new dungeon, I’ll…” she trailed off.

“She said she’d just want a few quests done.” Orrin shrugged and started leafing through the book Pritus had left behind. “We have to do some each month anyways. Why not just make sure we have the option to decline anything crazy.”

“She also wants us to take her people with us into the dungeon,” Daniel said as he put his feet up on the small table and leaned back stretching in the armchair. “Damn, this chair is comfortable.”

“Yeah, I think that might be the bigger ask, to be honest,” Madi said as she also sank into her chair.

Orrin continued to wander the room, looking at the books. The majority were treatises on subjects ranging from animal husbandry to high-level magical theory. Political essays and history books were mixed in as well. There appeared to be no rhythm or reason to the stacks and every book had a scrap of paper or bookmark in it.

“So, we refuse.” Daniel shrugged. “I trust you two, but I get the feeling she isn’t going to let us wait around for Brandt to return. Do you think the three of us would be enough?”

Madi shook her head. “Even a newly formed dungeon isn’t going to be easy at our level. Without Brandt or…” she took a breath and continued. “…Jude, we are going to need some heavy hitters.”

Orrin peeked around the jars filled with monster parts and asked, “Do you know anybody in the Guild that you would trust? We could demand certain people. The only other people I know in Dey are Tony and a bunch of shopkeepers.”

He stopped in front of a vial with tiny floating red flower petals. Orrin’s eyes opened wide. “That’s not true. I met some Guild members once that asked me to be part of their party. I’m not saying I trust them, but at least I know them a bit.”

Madi sat forward in her chair, resting her chin on her hand. “That’s better than me. I may be a member of the Guild in name, but I’ve never been allowed to train or interact with them much.”

Daniel pulled his feet off the table and let them drop. “If they wanted you in their party, they must have been desperate.”

Orrin walked up behind Daniel and flicked his ear. “Don’t be a smartass. There are three of them. Tin uses a spear and water magic if I remember right. Emily was a fire mage of some sort.” Orrin blushed a little remembering the third. “Garret is an archer of some sort but I don’t remember more.”

Madi tapped her chin in thought. “The spear user would be good. We need someone to help keep the monsters at bay with Daniel. Either one of the others would be fine. Of course, we need to meet them first…and get Pritus to agree to them.”

Orrin nodded. “So, I guess we are going to do this? Should we try to notify your dad or just escape town for a bit?”

Madi smiled maliciously. “I’ll negotiate the details with the Guildmaster if Daniel agrees to it. But no way are we telling anyone. I will not let this chance be taken from me.” Her eyes flashed.

Daniel laughed and stood up. He grabbed the bell off the table and held it up. “I almost feel sorry for the Guildmaster. Madi is going to eat her alive.”

He rang the bell.

Madi’s negotiation skills needed some work.

“Five quests? And she gets to choose which of Tin’s group comes with us?” Orrin asked as they left the Guild. “What were you thinking?”

Madi smiled. “But did you not realize the most important part?”

Daniel butted in as they walked back to the Catanzano house. “Madi, I’m with Orrin here. You gave away too much. And you argued too much over her supplying us for the trip. We don’t need supplies. Orrin probably still has enough water and food in his [Dimension Hole] for three dungeons trips.”

“I do,” Orrin added. He’d even taken an inventory of what he’d had and sold some of the things that were pointless to keep holding on to. His little nest egg of money was pushing several hundred gold again.

Madi stopped walking and looked around before pulling the two of them into a side alley. “She said she would supply the entire team. That means the two people she chooses as well. As much as we could carry out. She probably thinks we’ll take a few weapons or armor, the typical dungeoneering supplies like ropes and sleeping bags, and nothing more. With Orrin along, we can treat the two temporary party members to their pick of as much as they could ever want. That point is going to cost the Guild hundreds of gold and their loyalty.”

Madi poked Daniel’s chest. “And I had her down to three quests when you butted in and asked how hard she thought the quests were going to be. Guild rules wouldn’t have let her give you a higher-level quest than copper. We could have gotten away with three copper quests. She realized and tried pushing for three silver, which would have been a death sentence for us right now. I had to go up to five.”

Daniel scratched his chest where she had poked him. “I didn’t know there were different quest tiers.”

Madi sighed and started walking again. “Of course, there are different levels. You are both copper, look at your rings. I am too. All we can request are the copper quests on the quest board. Once you reach level twenty-five, you can request a silver ring if you want. You get control of a small group during Horde attacks, can request special quests at the silver level, and a few more small perks.”

“What kind of quests are silver level?” Orrin asked. The smells from the food vendors all around still wafted in the air. Most had closed for the night, but a few remained open. Orrin even spotted a man carrying around the balloon candies they’d tried the first day in Dey.

“High-level monster kills, political assassinations, Pass explorations,” Madi said, as she threw her hands in the air. “Anything the guild thinks would kill someone under level twenty-five.”

A minute passed as they walked quietly. Daniel finally muttered, “Sorry.”

Madi gave him a long look and huffed. “If you say you are going to trust me to negotiate, keep your mouth shut. It doesn’t matter though. We got the better part of the deal. Pritus just doesn’t realize it yet.”

“I still don’t see how Orrin ransacking a bunch of rope and torches is going to do anything,” Daniel muttered as he pushed open the door of the Catanzano house. Orrin nodded to the guards on duty, receiving a slight nod back.

“She said we could take anything from the storerooms we wanted,” Madi said with a grin. “Of course, we can take all the normal gear we need but do you know what else the Guild keeps in their storerooms?”

“Enlighten me,” Daniel said with exasperation. “You don’t have to drag it out so much.”

Madi frowned quickly but then shook her head. “Every monster killed, all the precious ores mined, rare plants, and even relics.”

“So, you plan on looting?” Orrin laughed. “What’s a relic?”

Madi’s frown returned. “A relic. You know...”

Shit, Orrin tried to think quickly. A relic must be something common to the world here. Fuck, I screwed up.

“Yeah, I know. But like what kind would the Guild have? And would they even let us take one?” Orrin lied through his teeth. He noticed Daniel standing perfectly still as well.

Madi brightened visibly. “See, that’s why I argued so hard for us to be able to take anything we wanted. Nobody knows the full inventory of the Guild’s storerooms. They’re huge and unorganized. Every Guildmaster tries to get them in order but by the time they make any headway, someone else takes over and changes the system. It’s a long shot sure, but could you imagine how loyal these Guild members would be if we got them a bracelet with stats? Or a returning spear?”

Orrin’s brain did backflips. Magic items! There had never been a mention of those in any books they’d picked up.

“But those must be rare, right?” Daniel asked. “I’ve never even heard of relics before now.”

Bless you, Daniel. Orrin thought.

“Of course,” Madi shrugged. “Finding something like that won’t likely happen, but even if we find some Mythril or cold iron, it would be worth it. Getting proper weapons out of those is a lifelong dream of most adventurers.”

Daniel smirked. “Gertrude has both and a dragon’s bone.”

Madi rolled her eyes. “Yes, you have a beautiful and rare sword, oh great [Hero]. For the rest of the normal folk, a cold iron sword would be the boon of a lifetime.”

They stopped at the top of the stairs. Madi’s room was to the left, while the boys’ room was to the right

“I honestly don’t even know what the difference is,” Daniel admitted. “I read cold iron makes the weapon stronger but I didn’t really study up on it much.”

Madi looked over at Orrin and laughed. “He’s so ignorant, I don’t know how it took me so long to figure out he was from another world.”

Orrin laughed along, while simultaneously breaking out in a cold sweat. “Yeah, I keep waiting for him to ask me how to use the bathrooms.”

Madi’s smile grew wider as they picked on Daniel together. “I’m sure Orrin can tell you all about different metal types. If you want more information, I’m sure some of the books in the library cover it too. My mom dabbled in blacksmithing so unless my father got rid of her books, they’re should be more in there. But back to the point at hand. If we find good materials, we can have better gear made. For us and the people who Pritus is inevitably going to have spy on us.”

Daniel mulled it over. “Okay. I guess you didn’t totally suck at negotiating.”

Madi put her hand on her hip. “Good night, you ungrateful piece of-“.

“Madeline, are you out there?” the voice of Lord Catanzano drifted from down the hall. “Come in here, I need to go over these numbers with you.”

“Coming, father.” Madi stuck out her tongue at the boys and left them on the landing.

Daniel grabbed Orrin and pulled him toward the library. “Guess what you’re doing for the next hour?”