Since I came up with that new method of reincarnating Dungeon Masters, it's no exaggeration to say I've reared six children, five of whom were Dungeon Masters and the last one was Blondie. However, Blondie wasn't the last one; that title belonged to Dungeon Master 10, formerly known as Charlie, who arrived much later and came with something that made him a little different than the other dungeon masters—he was human, much like Blondie. Unlike his fellow dungeon masters who were under my care because they weren't human and as such it was up to me to raise them to be bona fide beings of the respective species they reincarnated into. The youngest of that small circle of non-human dungeon masters was him, the tall "man" who looked to be in his mid-twenties, standing in front of me.

"How did you find me?" I asked him—by the surname that ultimately wound up sticking to him—Bortz, by his dungeon master appellation, Dungeon Master 13.

"I heard from Goblin's little bird that you were training somewhere around these parts, then as I searched around I felt that commotion and I knew you were here, Ma'am."

"Good," I said, tapping him on the shoulder, a genuine smile on my face. Then, noting how his eyes were on the people behind me, I made an introduction, "Everyone, this not-so-little-boy is Ivan, my favorite child after, of course, Blondie. He's also known as Bortz to those most intimate," I said, tempted to reveal who he was as a Dungeon Master to Licht since I didn't see any particular harm to it, even if I said the name. Aquaflora, who was the only non-dungeon master present, wouldn't understand anything, but ultimately, I chose not to. Licht most likely figured out who he was anyway.

"Bortz, this... I don't think I even have to introduce you two, you clearly already know each other, right Miss Aquaflora?"

Staring at him with an apprehensive eye, much like she at first constantly glared at Licht, "Yes, we've met before, that being said, we didn't exchange names."

"Oh, well now you have," I declared. At these words, Bortz looked at me, nodded, then with a simple nod of the head acknowledged her existence.

While the greeting lacked the warmth expected from an "introduction," even though it wasn't much of one, it wasn't cold either. The way he looked was far less colder than the way I noticed Goblin stared at Aquaflora; it was like he would throw himself at her throat without notice. Here at least there was none of the antagonism, there was just indifference, which is, in a sense, a relief.

After all, he went through the same thing that made Goblin hate anything remotely Argyrian so much, but it seemed that it only affected Goblin that much. That makes sense; he has much more reason to hate these people than Bortz and Blondie have other than what last happened. His hatred of them was more of an amalgamation of previously bottled emotions.

Anyway, that's a relief to see that it's at least just him.

Moving the attention away from Aquaflora, I then pointed at Licht and introduced the two Dungeon Masters, "Bortz, this is Licht," I simply said.

Immediately a difference between the two greetings was apparent; Bortz immediately approached Licht, who began, "We missed the opportunity to meet each other several months ago... I've heard a lot about you, but I didn't expect you to be this impressive looking," he praised, genuinely eyeing Bortz up and down.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Licht was by no means short, but he wasn't exactly what you could call tall. From the look of him, one could tell that he could have been taller, but he was caught up in the sweet curse that is suffering from one's own success, namely that he leveled his longevity skill to level 2 before his height reached its full potential.

At level 1, longevity eliminates the physical deterioration that comes with old age without actually removing the aging factor, allowing the wielder of the skill to stay forever in their “prime” until the end of their lives.

At level 2, it locks the wielder in the age they achieve that feat, meaning that it could be any age; for Licht, it was an age where he's yet to finish growing. Of course, if one compares his situation to the both extremely unfortunate and extremely fortunate Dungeon Master 04, who managed to level that skill before he got out of middle childhood, he should consider himself lucky, very lucky. But that didn't change the fact that compared to a giant like Bortz, he looked like what he very recently was: a teenager, one that ironically looked like he clearly admired Bortz for the physique he boasted.

"I've heard about you too," Bortz said. "From Goblin and Blondie."

"Oh," Licht paused apprehensively, "I hope they said good things about me."

"They have, especially Blondie," Bortz smiled, one that I could tell Licht suspected to be sarcastic, but as he extended his hand for a handshake, he gave doubt to accept the handshake that Bortz, not surprisingly for me turned into a warm embrace.

I chuckled, as I said, "Don't let his intimidating corpulence give you the wrong idea, there is no gentler soul than my little Bortz over here," stroking his back. "Wanna know what his appearance doesn't belie about him? His reliability, which is why he was the one I sent alone to seek help from the Ferron Family patriarch."

At these words, Bortz turned to me with an expression that brought a smile to my face. Glancing up at the behemoth white whale hovering up above with a settlement on its back, I asked, "Is that what I think it is?"

Bortz nodded. "It is. A gift from the Ferron family patriarch so that my journey back is smoother and that I deliver his answer to you faster," he explained.

Yes, I didn't need to be told for I knew with assurance what the answer was.

Picking up on the answer, Aquaflora asked, "He accepted?"

"He did," Bortz confirmed with a nod after receiving confirmation to divulge the intel. Then noticing him with an inquiring glance that told me there were more, and giving him the aval to just spill the info out. "Just like, I have heard from Blondie and Goblin, also have agreed the Matriarch of the Aurian family to the coalition to take down the maddened Argyrian patriarch and his stampede."

"Oh," I went, genuinely surprised by the news, "I didn't expect two good news to be announced to me like that today," I asked. "When did you receive that news?"

"This morning, Ma'am," he explained. "I initially intended to wait for you at the mansion, but then I received the news from Goblin, he and Blondie are now heading for the next destination."

"Oh," I voiced again pleasantly.

"Next destination, where's that?" Licht and Aquaflora asked.

I looked at them and smiled, "Our rendez-vous point," I declared. "Pack your things, people, training days are over, we must get moving to not make these two wait for us long."

"Where are we heading?" Licht asked.

I looked at him with a smile then announced, "Where else but Argyrian Territory, where it all began."