Tim was barely out of the toilet when Selkise appeared in the tunnel, walking toward him.

"Hey! Did you have a nice walk down the lower levels?"

"Oh... how did you know that?!?"

"So you've given yourself away," the yusme grinned. "Where else could your three have disappeared all night? The ghosts were up and down like crazy till morning. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"I don't have to worry," Tim scowled, hurt that he was so easily provoked. "Try to tell anyone!"

"And then what would happen?" Selkise asked slyly.

You wouldn't punch a girl in the face!

"I'll stop talking to you. And then you'd better stay away from me!"

"Do you think your secret will remain for long? If I figured it out, why can't others do the same?"

"We'll think of something, you'll see!"

"Well, well, well. You'll either blab it yourself, or you'll tell it when they get hold of you hard enough. It doesn't have to be all at once, just one to start with, and he'll tell you about the others."

"There are no traitors among us!"

"How stupid you are," said Selkise, sighing. "Even if you can stand physical pain, which I doubt, the spell of True Speech will unleash your tongue against your will."

So we need rings and amulets that give protection from the magic of the Mind, Tim thought. And he immediately reminded himself that he thinks by the criteria of earthly computer games, and here it's completely different! Although it's hard to think of anything more practical; with enchanted gloves or boots it's much harder, plus you can't wear more than one pair. And you can decorate all your fingers with rings, even two or three on each! To enhance the effect, of course. As far as he had noticed, teachers also wore rings, and it was unlikely solely out of a desire to show off in front of the colleagues. After all, he himself now had a ring on his finger! Fortunately not an engagement ring, which Tim did not plan to get for the next decade. But he wouldn't refuse magical accessories even now.

"I bet it won't happen, huh?"

"You've got a lot of courage and self-confidence, but your intelligence seems to have been damaged at birth. Well, don't be offended. Why don't you tell me what's in the dungeon?"

Tim was actually about to get angry at the quip about his lack of intelligence and even to say something very hurtful out loud. But the last phrase seemed to let the steam out of him. And suddenly, even to himself, he began to vividly describe their night's adventure.

"The dungeon is cool! Right at the door, there's a wall with names on it, and you can leave your autograph there as a memento. And to get to the minus the first tier, you have to light a fire. There's a huge room with statues of creatures that look like spiders (judging by the slightly puzzled look on her face, Selkise didn't have the faintest idea what spiders look like). Well, anyway, they're multi-armed and furry and generally cool! There is speculation (Tim prudently did not mention the dwarves), that they tunneled into the mountain and built a school. We were also almost thrown off by an evil spirit, howling pitifully and calling for help, but we didn't give in! Otherwise we would have fallen into the abyss! And to get to the minus the second tier, we had to overcome the Horror Sphere. I did it first!"

"You're a real hero!" Selkise said admiringly.

"I was actually scared," Tim admitted, not detecting the irony in her voice, "but I got over it. You just have to imagine that the fear is illusory, and that nothing will really happen to you. To be honest, it didn't work the first time, only when I realized that it was an effect of magic, not a real nightmare. But, as it turned out, behind it was the entrance to the minus second tier!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"That's right. But to get in, there was one more thing you had to get past - the veil of total darkness. It's not dangerous on its own, but there's a precipice right behind it. You have to move very carefully not to fall down. And then the labyrinth begins in which we got lost. But we found our way back!"

"Of course, otherwise we wouldn't be talking right now. Well, you'll tell me more later, Jaamite is waiting for me to visit. See you later!"

And she left. Tim looked after her silently for a while, and then cursed his own chattering tongue with the last words. No one was pulling at it, so why did it suddenly get untied in front of that blue-skinned girl? It was as if she'd worked her magic to dispel his incredulity. She didn't seem to be working magic on him, but how will you know for sure? Worst of all, it was not his personal secret, and he was obliged to keep it, not trusting anyone, especially girls! Now she's going to go and tell her mates everything! And then Sir Pulsok will show up, asking him to make a confession. Or, in case of refusal, to test the power of the magic of Mind. And in the part of it where there is no mention of illusion or telekinesis, but only the magic of obedience and compulsion. I must warn my friends immediately and decide together what to do about the situation, Tim thought.

Naar-Tam was the only one in their neighborhood who was there. He didn't know where Ri-Bo had gone.

"I seemed to have seen him recently... he must have gone to the dining room! What happened?"

"I'll explain when we get together. But it is better not to delay."

"Then let's go and see Mez'A'Shib!"

Their drow friend lived in Room 49, and his roommates included Ivliar, Gillmir (fortunately not as intolerant of his dark kin as the other elves), Patpako, and Shugiz. According to Mez'A'Shib, there were no problems with any of them, only minor misunderstandings at first, quite natural when representatives of different civilizations come into contact. The most unproblematic was Patpako, who was very indifferent and, uncommonly even for the yusmes, absent-minded. He was the one who was constantly late and forgot his things, who had returned his grimoire three times and his wand twice, and who had been advised to tie them to his belt with a rope and drag them everywhere he went. It was he who Tim and Naar-Tam met as they turned the tunnel they wanted, but the yusme only nodded his head in greeting, showing no interest in who our friends were headed for.

They had to wait in the corridor; Mez'A'Shib was meditating and did not immediately hear a knock on the door. Tim, who was visiting him for the first time, was a little surprised to find several flowerpots on the windowsill (which on closer inspection were homemade, but rather elaborately made), and the plants in them had been 'borrowed' from the flowerbeds.

"For drowes flowers are a luxury and not everyone can afford them," Mez'A'Shib explained. "Especially not the pretty ones. Some of the elves know how to make pots, and most of my light kin have flowerbeds of their own. I decided to keep up, and traded a few of them. The elves wrinkle their noses at the drowes, but they do not averse to crystals. I could buy a whole greenhouse for my share of the underground riches, but it was better to keep a low profile. Otherwise, they'd wonder where I'd gotten so much."

The treasure they had collected during their nightly adventure they divided among themselves. And they agreed, even in pain of being expelled from school, not to show it to anyone. What to do with the crystals, to 'eat' them quietly or exchange for something equally valuable, everyone decided for himself.

"Take what you like, and I'll trade with the elves for more," offered Mez'A'Shib graciously.

It would be nice to decorate the room with at least a few flora representatives, Tim thought, since posters were clearly in short supply here. But not right now.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Thanks, but we have a little problem to discuss first, and it concerns all of us."

"Speak then! Or, if it's going to be a long talk, have a seat on the bed. Why didn't you bring Ri-Bo with you?"

"He wasn't in place. Presumably he went to the dining room."

"It's not a bad idea - we'll have a bite to eat at the same time. I was thinking about going there myself. I always have an appetite after meditation. What about you?"

Naar-Tam nodded and Tim did the same in doubt. After that incident, he had meditated only a little, for fear of falling back into the nightmare. And, accordingly, the feeling of hunger simply had no time to arise.

There was no Ri-Bo in the dining room, either. Iwiel and Yumial were whispering about something at one of the tables, and our friends went as far as possible to the opposite side of the room. Tim's throat was dry with excitement, and even though his desire hadn't fully formed, a glass of cold juice materialized in front of him. His friends saw this and got themselves a cold drink as well. And, at the same time, a snack to go with it.

"Anyway," Tim began, not wanting to waste any more time. "Now someone else knows about our secret."

Naar-Tam was about to take a sip, but he nearly choked on it.

"Who?"

"Selkise. Or rather, she guessed where we'd gone, and dared me. I blurted it out because I was surprised. And since I'm guilty, I'm willing to suffer whatever punishment you give me. If you see fit, you can have my share of the treasure."

"Don't be absurd," Mez'A'Shib grimaced. "Any one of us could have been caught. There's a reason why there are so many books on feminine cunning. You said she promised to keep her mouth shut, didn't you? Naar, you know the yusmes better than we do. How well can we trust them?"

"They are usually trustworthy companions," Naar-Tam replied after a moment's hesitation. "The thought that they might hurt someone with their actions makes them suffer. Therefore, the betrayal will go only if they are convinced that it prevents a big trouble."

"Let's hope she doesn't want to raise us that way. And why did Ri-Bo only ask her to stay?"

"What if we offer her an exchange now?" Naar-Tam asked hopefully.

"It would rather not do it," Mez'A'Shib advised him. "She will see the reason immediately. She'll almost certainly take offense and then she might not keep her word. What's done is done and you can't take it back."

"Wait a minute," Tim exclaimed. "If Selkise is in the men's compartment by mistake, one of the boys must have been in the women's one! We're evenly matched, twenty-five boys and as many girls! Whether it was an accident or on purpose, I don't know, but it's a fact."

"Didn't you know that? The twin elves decided not to split up and took the next two rooms. Eliavel made arrangements with the girls there, and they agreed to have Eliavin live next door to them."

"Yeah, Eliavin would hardly want to swap with Selkise then. Then it's fate."

"Keep your heads up. Better present her something, then she won't want to talk."

The advice took Tim and Naar-Tam by surprise.

"What in particular do yusmes like to receive as a gift?" Tim realized the idea and turned to Naar-Tam, but the peirot had nothing to say but frozen berries in sweet syrup.

"No deal. Thanks to kitchen magic, any one of them could make themselves a bucket of these treats. All right, I'll think about it. If it's my fault, I'll make it up to me."

The friends did not argue, and, as it seemed to Tim, were even glad that it was not up to them to solve the problem. But there was nothing to be offended about: a true man must be able to take responsibility for his actions. At least, that was what his parents said.

"Disinformation can also be used," Mez'A'Shib said, crunching on some roasted peanuts. "Like telling Selkise that we won't be home on some night. And we'll go to another one!"

"By the way, why do we have to go at night?" Tim remarked mockingly.

His friends looked at him in bewilderment. Tim had to explain.

"We can go anywhere during the day, right? And no one would think of looking for us. We can go out early in the morning and come back in the evening without violating the Code. And we shall have much more time to spare!"

"You're right!" Naar-Tam exclaimed in amazement. "I'm surprised no one has thought of that before."

"Perhaps there have been some who have completed their training. But they're not here now so they can't leave a clue," Mez'A'Shib said thoughtfully. "But it doesn't matter now. I'm all for it. But we'll have to talk to the kobold first. I'll take care of that."

Once again no one argued.

"Well, that leaves me to tell Ri-Bo what we talked about!" the peirot added cheerfully.

"By the way, what makes you think he should be here?"

"I don't know. There's no point in searching for crystals in public places now. He'd probably ask one of us to go exploring the forest. It is not interesting to go alone! There's no reason to go to the dwarves, or to the study room. If only to the library..."

This last option seemed very funny to our friends for some reason.

"Never mind," Mez'A'Shib said through laughter. "Where's he going to get away from us? We'll see when he comes back."

Though if they'd known the kind of trouble their friend was in, they would rush to the rescue instead of sneering.

That day, Ri-Bo really went for a walk in the woods. But not to explore, but with a purely practical purpose - to gather more ingredients for alchemical transmutations. And ask the kobold to teach him how to make at least the simplest potions. He had always been interested in the art of potions; before school, he had often helped Ba-Ku, the local healer, to concoct potions for his tribesmen who were ill. A good potion-maker wouldn't be out of work in his land. And on top of that, honor and respect from all sides!

Suddenly, two golden-haired boys came out of the bushes, blocking his path. Instinctively, Ri-Bo shoved the ingredient list into his pocket and looked around. A third anzimar appeared from behind the tree he had just passed. The escape route was cut off, there would be no escape. He was foolish to fall into such a trap! And all because of his own carelessness and presumptuousness!

"Finally," Germeht smiled happily, as if he'd met an old friend. "You can't imagine how much time and energy we've spent anticipating the moment when we could talk to you without any problems."

"And since you didn't want to come when you were invited, it's going to be a very serious talk," Kunfor grinned.

"About what?" Ri-Bo squeaked in a voice trembling with fear.

"What do you think?" approaching closer, Hindag grabbed his horns and jerked them gently to one side and to the other. "Do they hold firmly? It's not too tight, is it? That's good. And if you behave properly, nothing will happen to them. In short, everything is in your hands."

"What's that for?" Germeht snatched the bag of ingredients from the tilfing's hands. "You want some snacks for dinner? Fresh herbs are the most suitable food for goats!"

The laughter frightened the birds in the nearby branches. Ri-Bo was the only one not laughing.

"What do you want?" he whispered, barely able to keep from crying.

"Oh don't worry, not much at all," Germeht continued smiling. "We don't intend to stay here for five years and are very interested in coming home as soon as possible. And without a good pumping of magical potential you cannot get thousand points. Meditation is for nerds, so we'll go the other way! And if you're not stupid (which is often the case with tilfings, Kunfor added sarcastically), you can guess which one."

Since Ri-Bo was silent, Hindag took the floor again.

"He's probably a little dumb, so I'll speak directly. You remember what Aerg said about the crystals at the lecture? You must have found them yourself. Or are you going to deny it? Don't you dare lie to us! We see right through people like you. If you try to dodge us, you might get into trouble with your 'jewels'."

And he yanked the tilfing's horns again, this time a little harder, and therefore more painful.

"Well, let's not beat around the bush," Kunfor decided to draw a line. "From now on, you will actively search for them. And you'll bring us half of what you find. For that no one here will touch you. If anyone dares, tell us, and we'll deal with it."

The mocking laughter was again.

"In short, do you understand us? You sure?"

Ri-Bo nodded his head mechanically.

"That's it, good boy. Go on a search, in three days we'll expect your visit with a whole bag of gifts! Why are you standing here, time is money!"

And, clapping his hand on the tilfing's shoulder, Germeht headed in the direction of the school; the rest of the anzimars followed him. Ri-Bo was left alone and was finally able to let his tears flow. What an idiot he was! He should have been so stupid to get caught! He'd been warned, why didn't he listen? On the other hand, he shouldn't have brought his friends with him everywhere he went. He should have been more careful when he went anywhere by himself. But we are all very smart in the back of our minds.

And what to do now? There was no doubt that the anzimars were capable of making life very difficult for him. It's not hard to imagine what awaits him if they'll become seriously angry. Maybe tell his friends about it? But that would put them all at risk. Chilajt once had managed to scare the anzimars, but that trick wouldn't work again. Next time, they'd use their Super-Abilities and... it's scary to even think how it would end. He had occasion to see how anzimars armed with their Super-Strength broke tree trunks with their bare hands, or simply yanked them out with their roots. Those were grown-up anzimars, however, but a quarter of that strength would be enough for him. No, he shouldn't say anything to his friends! He could, of course, complain to some ghost, but what good would that do? Anzimars hadn't used magic on him, hadn't beaten him, they'd just had a "heart-to-heart talk". Even if a miracle happens and a fair punishment would be imposed on the perpetrators, it won't make him feel any better. In addition, he did not need to earn a reputation as a snitch and tattletale! Then no one will want to be friends with him for sure.

So he'll have to pay them off. The treasure found in the dungeon is enough for a while. He'll try to spend it sparingly, giving away the crystals he doesn't really need. Get the anzimars out of the school as soon as possible, it would be much better here without them. If one of them burns out from too much mana, that's no great loss. He wouldn't regret it, personally.

A little comforted by the thought, Ri-Bo crouched down and gathered the ingredients from the bag - Germeht had tossed it on the ground as he deemed beneath his dignity to give it back. Well, they'll get theirs, there'll be a feast on his street too, Ri-Bo thought with hatred. Sooner or later it will happen...