The [cleric] was in the foyer, pacing to and fro. Several other [cleric]s were seen outside of the house protected by [holy guard]s. It seemed that they had assumed that Kiresula would want to make a run for it. Just as she had wanted to do.

She cussed after having looked out of the last window. She cussed even more after checking the cellar passage, which she used back as an [Ice Mage] to help their neighbours keeping their food cold. The passage was barricaded and after Mayana and her removed the barrier, the door was locked. Having no other way, they went to the workshop and the kitchen and asked Haditera and Kanvin to come with them to see the [cleric].

A short while later, the entire group entered the foyer.

The [cleric] stopped the pacing and looked at them all with a stern expression. “Kiresula-tsei-Haditera. You have been summoned by the Holy Order of Memleket for your involvement in matters of the Holy Order regarding our [holy guard] Kedsel.”

The [cleric] had even used the full name of Kiresula, adding the name of the oldest female ancestor as addition akin to the family names that are apparently common in Ilkshehir, she realised. “I don’t know what you mean. Kedsel arrived home alive and well.” Suddenly, she felt a cold creep down her spine. She cussed mentally. The accumulation of synthic magic that happened on the aqueduct. The Holy Order didn’t like it. Of course it didn’t. “Wait, do you mean the fact that she accumulated some s… broken magic as she defended me in the Goblin attack on the aqueduct?” She decided to just approach the matter and establish the initial frame.

The [cleric] shook his head. “This is not what I am referring to. I am referring to the fact that Kedsel-tsei-Hantakgiventa has experienced some serious changes. And an attempt to find out the source of the changes led to the loss of four [cleric]s in the local dungeon.”

Kiresula was surprised. “What do you mean? I am not aware of that.”

Makit poked his head out of the workshop: “Kedsel-tsei-Hantakgiventa? What’s wrong with good old Kedsel? She was right as rain when she got back to Memleket.”

The [cleric] looked confused. “Who are you and how do you know?”

Makit shrugged: “Makit-tsei-Haditera. The brother of this adorable Kirey here. I was in the dungeon with the group. I run it every weekend with my regular group. Yesterday was the first time I ran with Kirey after she became a glitchling.”

The [cleric] looked sternly at Makit. “Are you certain that Kedsel didn’t show any sign of changes?”

“What kind of changes?” Kiresula asked.

“Different abilities or if you can perceive it, an accumulation of broken magic,” the [cleric] said.

Kiresula nodded: “The latter, yeah, but not, like a significant amount. She must have stepped into a bit of broken magic in our fight against the greenskins. It’s not, like, significant or puts her at risk of glitching any time soon. But I remember her getting a reward from the dungeon, that was a kind of scroll. So any new ability, skill or spell could come from this.”

Makit nodded: “Yeah, I had seen that she received a scroll as a reward. I kinda found it strange as normally only mages get scrolls. But if it was an ability… then it might make sense.”

The [cleric] reacted in confusion: “You are saying that the shift could come from the dungeon itself? That was also what Kedsel said, which is why an expedition to it was attempted, which ended in disaster. As such, we are looking for any available information.”

Makit responded: "And you now want to run the dungeon until something happens so that you can examine it?"

The [cleric] shook his head: "We will have to clean up the dungeon, if it is a reasonable threat."

"'Clean up' refers in this case to a core destruction?" Mother Haditera asked concernedly.

Father Kanvin stared at the [cleric]: "The dungeon had been a risk for months, it had been the cause of Kirey glitching and the Holy Order did nothing at all, but you only want to interfere once something happened to one of yours‽"

The [cleric] responded sternly: "You have no right to question the Holy Order!"

Kanvin asked just as sternly: "If the Holy Order doesn't work for the people but only for itself, then why should the people work for it and tithe towards it?"

The [cleric] responded: "This is more important than just glitching. This is a more important matter! This is about people literally losing part of their attributes! And the fact that it's a [holy guard] is just peripheral!"

Kiresula stretched her 8 points of cunning and asked: "I think this pertains to your view of the statsheet of others, doesn't it? Because if it does, have you considered that you are too low level to see it‽"

Mayana looked confused at Kiresula and then raised an eyebrow: "You mean, that since the emergence of broken magic the classes changed and the holes in the stat sheet are nothing but items that require a higher class level to see?"

Kiresula nodded: "I know that changes to classes happened. There used to be classes for tekut warriors, warriors on war goats. Like the Tsakara in the epics of Jantak. Then horses replaced tekut as riding animals of choice and today, even if you train on a tekut, the System gives you the [Mounted Combatant] class instead. So what tells you that the holes are in their sheet and not your vision‽"

The [cleric] looked angrier and angrier during this speech, now he screamed: "Silence! I am done listening to this! Kiresula, you will lead us to the core of the dungeon! From there, we will assess the threat for ourselves."

Kiresula took a step back: "Y… yes!"

Mayana responded unfazed: "She is not going alone! I am coming with her!"

Suddenly, Kiresula was struck by inspiration: "Can… another Glitchling please also come with us. A good friend, you know."

The [cleric] pondered for a moment, then responded: "Can you bring that Glitchling here?" while looking towards Mayana.

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Kiresula also turned to her wife and said quietly: "Can you bring Kju?"

Mayana tilted her head, then nodded.

The [cleric] told Mayana that woe would betide her if she wasn't back swiftly and she hurried out of the house.

They waited in silence. Haditera offered tea and a quick snack, which the [cleric] politely and cautiously accepted. Kiresula didn't take anything. Instead, she once again checked her status and checked her spells. She wanted to find a way to preserve food without her former class. Since she had become a glitchling, there had been a gnawing thing in her mind, originally, to restore her access to magic, then to preserve food magically, which was originally why she had become an [Ice Mage]. Anything to stop her from thinking about the betrayal, about becoming a glitchling, about losing her class and most of her spells. She made sure not to talk out loud but she didn't realise that she still moved her lips.

Eventually, Mayana arrived with an exhausted Kju. The [cleric] led them to a carriage. He motioned for the three to go into the back and after they did the doors locked magically. The [cleric] and two [holy guards] sat in the front.

The trip was short. However, Kiresula made the most out of the time they had and from her position in the middle, stretched out her arms as if she was hugging them. Then she used her hands and drew letters on their backs: "I will get myself out there when everyone is inside. Then we'll run."

She turned to Kju: "I will boost you when we run."

She then wrote on both of their backs: "Okay?"

Both nodded.

Mayana wrote on Kiresula's back with her hand in big letters: "How?"

However, at that moment, they reached the dungeon and had to stop their conversation.

The [cleric] and the two [holy guard]s left and let out the trio and moved towards the dungeon. The trio followed a bit behind.

The dungeon had gained more decoration. The entrance was now not only a bare, unadorned cave entrance, it was an arch with the text “Welcome to the Dungeon of the Bridge”, which led into the cave. Except that the cave now didn’t consist of unadorned, rough stone, but it was textured now. The texture looked like swirls and clouds, but Kiresula noticed that it one side seemed to remind her the structure of synthic magic and one of regular magic. Crossing the threshold, she once again received the welcome message of the Dungeon of the Bridge:

Welcome, traveller, to the Dungeon of the Bridge. The goal is to reach the bottom layer, defeat the boss and gain the rewards. This dungeon has 5 layers, 4 layers contain various fights and riddles, the lowest layer contains the fight against the dungeon boss. If you want to get information about this locale, please use [System] functions. Good luck and have a lot of fun!!

The safe room looked more comfortable now. The temperature was pleasant, the benches more comfortable and the walls contained a slight glitter and the gateways looked like the path to clear the dungeon: the fight path entry looked like a sword. The entry to the puzzle dungeon looked like a jigsaw piece.

The trickle of water now flowed into a small basin, but as Kiresula tested, it still tasted of iron.

The [cleric] asked: “Puzzle or Fighting?”

Kiresula answered: “We need the fighting path. But… it looks like the dungeon renovated. So, not sure if it moved its core.”

A [holy guard] confirmed this: “Yeah, the dungeon always was a bit underdelved, especially when it started attract broken magic and looked undermaintained. It should not have the magic to do such a huge renovation.”

The [cleric] didn’t care about this: “We don’t need to worry ourselves about where the thing got its magic from. We need to know what it did to that poor Kedsel! Let’s go in there.” He motioned to the [holy guard]s and then towards the entryway.

Kiresula and the other two where the last to filter in. She looked around. Once again, she noticed that the dungeon looked much better. As the others were fighting the goblins, Kiresula didn’t assist with this. She didn’t want them to see her casting. She couldn’t even fool her brother’s affair partner, how would she be able to fool the Holy Order for whom Thought was not a dump stat? She instead observed the goblins and the fighters. Out of impulse, she wrote on the here more natural dungeon wall: “I am sorry for leading them here. I was forced to do so.”

There was no response but she didn’t expect one.

Kiresula advanced with the others once the goblins were slain. The next room was still difficult to navigate in and see through, especially since the group didn’t navigate in [sunlight] this time. Kju almost fell and Kiresula helped the glitchling to navigate this intentionally difficult terrain, whispering that she didn’t dare cast something that would make it easier.

Kju nodded. “I know, I know. When will we get our glitchy selves out?”

She responded: “After the aqueduct.”

Mayana heard this and responded: “Sounds good!”

The [cleric] turned around: “What did you say?”

Kiresula cursed the more audible voice of glitchlings once again: “How long we need to follow this dungeon. We are quite underpowered here and I don’t have the items that Mayana made for me with me. So, Kju asked.”

In that moment, a goblin slashed at the [cleric] and drew blood. He cussed like a primary school teacher and turned around again and concentrated on his battle again.

After that battle had been won, they arrived at the aqueduct. Kiresula again stood back while the others fought. The chasm looked even more daunting than during her last visit. Before, the dark seemed dark and daunting. Now, the chasm showed the other bridges below her (albeit shifted to the side so much that you would not be able to jump to a lower floor). The goblins were also different. Half of the dozen were regular goblins, the other half were glitched goblins. However, despite their glitchedness or lack of it, they were working together fortifying the dam together.

The [holy guards] immediately moved towards the attack. The [cleric] was a bit more hesitant.

One of the glitched goblins casted [Icy Terrain] on the approaching trio to the utter shock of the [cleric]: “Did that glitched creature just use magic? How is that even possible?”

One of the [Holy guards] said with pragmatism: “It’s the dungeon casting it for the thing. Just as if it was regular magic. This is a dungeon so nothing here is real!”

That calmed the [cleric] down a bit and they attacked the fortification. Kiresula wrote an apology to the dungeon into its wall: "I am sorry for this. The [cleric] wants access to the core. They surrounded my house to get me. More people than just the 3. Whatever happened to Kedsel scared them."

There was no response, but there was no expectation of any. She knew that cores generally didn't communicate, but she knew that it perceived everything that went on within its sphere of influence. There had even been court cases where dungeon cores had been witnesses.

After the goblins had been dispatched, the Holy Order wanted to float downstream, but Kiresula explained them to instead go upstream and to stick to the sides and the seemingly merely decorative railing. She moved on the railing with practised ease, while the others struggled a bit until they got the hang on it. At least the [cleric] really didn’t seem to appreciate following the guidance of a glitchling. Mayana and Kju followed, Kju struggled a bit initially, but Mayana, who had heard the story of her wife’s trip here, took to it like a fish to water.

Eventually, they reached the end of the aqueduct and Kiresula showed them where to crawl. The passage was smaller and even less visible than before. However, the hole in the synthic magic was clearly obvious to her.

There was again a moment of incredulity when Kiresula told them to get in there and told them to crawl forward and that there was only one way.

The [cleric] put the trio under a truth spell and asked them if that was actually the way.

Kiresula’s extremely low Cunning meant of course that she didn’t even tried lying: “It looks reworked and less wide, but yeah. I had to crawl on my belly to get to the core.”

The Holy Order trio looked at each other in confusion, then they crawled in, [cleric] first.

As soon as they were out of sight, Kiresula hugged the group and said: “Let’s exfiltrate!” Then she used the Dungeon Escape.