I awoke to the sound of crowing in the distance. When I opened my still-groggy eyes, I found myself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. I shifted my body and suddenly, I found myself enclosed in something resembling a bag. Rats! I had been kidnapped again!

My sudden adrenaline rush pushed my mind out of the sleep-induced stupor. Focusing my sight, I saw that the "ceiling" and the surrounding "wall" were see-through in a lighter shade of green. I tentatively held out my hands to investigate my new environment. Abruptly, the ceiling lifted from my push and I found myself staring at the ceiling in Roen's signmaker shop again.

I sat up, looked around, and discovered that I was inside a pod! Breathing a sigh of relief, my mind returned to the previous night when Valatea, through her elven magic, caused petals on the wall to grow until they were man-sized. She mentioned that we will be sleeping inside these pods. Aha! I felt silly for panicking now. How could I be kidnapped right under the noses of The Elven Nation inside their secret base? I felt embarrassed for jumping to conclusions in this manner.

I looked around and saw that Valatea and Roen were busy tending to the fire and cooking in the pot. I turned my body to the right and swung my legs over the edge of the pod. I smelled a faint scent of aloe from the pod. I tried to hop down to the ground gently. However, my feet landed harder than I expected. *Thump*

The sound alerted my hosts and they immediately turned toward me.

"Good morning, Lord Mulligan!" Valatea greeted me politely.

"Good morning," I reciprocated with a slight bow.

Roen walked across the room with light steps until he reached me. He gave me a cup. "The others are still asleep," he said gently. "I didn't expect you to be an early riser," he joked.

I shook my head as I accepted the cup from him. "I'm not. But the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship started their mornings at dawn. As a pupil of the school, I was forced to rise at that time and I guess this eventually turned into a habit," I explained. I took a sip from the cup and discovered that it was honey tea. "Thank you for the tea," I added with a nod.

"Early mornings in Tregome can be chilly. The tea will help warm you up," he explained kindly.

I thought back to last night. The last thing I remembered was being totally out of it mentally after learning the Permanency spell. "Did you put me in the pod?" I asked.

Roen shook his head. "You were having a late-night study session with Rijana. And Bila was watching you the entire time. I went to bed with my wife at the midnight bell," he answered.

"Ah, I see. Then it must have been those two who put me in the pod," I realized.

"Probably," Roen agreed. "How do you feel?" he asked.

I paused for a moment as I considered the question. I had a massive headache last night. Now, my mind was clear and my body felt refreshed. "I'm feeling pretty good, actually," I admitted with surprise. "Does it have something to do with the pod I slept in?" I asked with suspicion.

The half-elf smiled. "Very perceptive, Lord Mulligan. The pods were given to us by Gaea's servants. They are magical in nature and they have a number of properties. One of which is the ability to rejuvenate the body and mind of whoever sleeps inside the pod. The longer a person stays inside the pod, the greater the benefit," he explained.

I nodded in understanding. Gaea was closely aligned with life and nature. Thus, her magic often had a healing effect.

The church bells tolled seven times.

Roen looked at me with a serious expression. "It's time for your party members to awaken. I'll open the pods along the right side of the room while you take the left side," he ordered.

I nodded and started opening the pods. The first one was inhabited by Bila. With her eyes closed, the cat was snoring lightly and looking absolutely adorable! I shook her arm gently and said, "It's time to wake up, Bila!"

The cat girl's whiskers and ears twitched. She opened her left eye and stared up at me.

I stared right back at her.

A few seconds passed and then she admitted her defeat. "Fine," she grumbled and held out her arms.

Stifling a chuckle, I wrapped my arms around her back and lifted the cat girl out of the pod. She was surprisingly light despite her height.

Bila pushed her paws against my chest and landed softly on the ground. "Thank you, master!" she purred.

"You can help me by waking the others," I replied.

With the task now split between the three of us, we managed to awaken everyone sleeping in the pods . . . including some elves whom I had never seen before! There were actually three of them: two men and a woman. Each newcomer had long and shiny, golden hair which dazzled under the flickering light from the fireplace. All three were extraordinarily beautiful or handsome looking with smooth skin, radiant blue eyes, and long, pointed ears.

I turned toward Roen and said, "I didn't realize you had more guests overnight."

My business partner smirked but remained silent.

Gate Mistress Valatea left the fireplace and walked across the room. She stood in front of the trio and spoke up. "These three came from The Elven Nation. I have asked them to come and assist in Hleara's quest," she explained. "On my left is Qaule the fighter and next to him is his wife, Onxyx the priestess of Gaea. On my right is Kourant the thief. I realize that the mages can cast the Detect Traps spell but I don't want you to waste mana in doing so." The hostess turned toward Hleara and said, "I hope you will permit them to join your mission." She bowed deeply.

Since all three elves looked somewhat similar, I resigned myself to distinguishing them via their clothes. Qaule wore elven chain mail armor on his torso but left his limbs unencumbered. He had a long sword, a short sword, and two daggers around his waist plus a bow and quiver on his back. I wouldn't be surprised if he had high-level proficiencies in all those weapons.

Onxyx wore a yellow robe, a brown cloak, and comfortable looking slippers. While she wore no armor, I saw many symbols etched on her robe. She had a staff fastened to her back and numerous rings adorned her fingers.

Kourant also wore no armor. In fact, he was dressed like a merchant with his navy colored tunic, dark olive pants, and brown boots plus a fine-looking, fur-lined cloak. The most distinguishable feature was the numerous pouches hanging from his belt and also strapped to his thighs.

I furtively activated my Magic Sense on the trio and my eyes were immediately bombarded with all the auras that their gears were emanating. "Magic sense SUCCESSFUL. Level 9, +300 XP." While the second floor was also emitting magic auras, I fully expected to see this in the secret base of The Elven Nation. But I didn't realize that the trio of newcomers was also heavily armed with magic items as well. In comparison, my companions were poorly equipped. Even Hleara and Rijana were relative paupers compared to the three elves.

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The draco evaluated the elves with her eyes and then nodded at Valatea. "These three look very strong. And given that we share a mutual interest in preventing my father's treasure from falling into the wrong hands, I will permit them to join my mission. We will depart after breakfast," she declared. With that, she walked over to the table and grabbed a bowl of oatmeal.

Everyone else followed her lead and started breaking their fast.

When the meal was concluded, Hleara held out her right hand. "Please put your hand on top of mine," she ordered. When everyone in the party did so, she whispered a special chant. A red glow enveloped her body and began to spread until everyone physically connected to her was similarly enveloped. The light then collapsed into her center and winked out of existence.

The party reappeared an instant later inside a giant cavern. The ceiling was open and glorious sunlight shone over them. People started gasping upon the sight and glare of the mountains of gold coins, gemstones, and jewelry haphazardly stacked around the cavern like sand on a beach.

However, before the party moved toward the treasure, creatures started appearing in the four ends of the cavern. There were four groups of guardians, each approaching from the north, east, west, and south. From the north came a golem made of basalt. The outer layer was fine-grained and varied between light gray and dark gray in color. It retained a humanoid appearance, its limbs resembled columns, and it stood some ten feet tall. As the golem walked, the ground trembled.

From the east came three fire salamanders. With jet-black skin, they carried either yellowish or reddish spots and stripes. Their bellies scraped the ground as they approached, causing coins to jingle as they were pushed aside by the slow-moving creatures. Poison dripped from the pores of the skin on their heads and caused the coins to melt! Additionally, each salamander was easily the size of a car! Their large black eyes stared at us with hunger.

From the south came three crabs. Their tough, elongated outer shell was again colored black; in addition, pearl-like black eyes attached to the front of the shell. Their pincers were held open, while their legs were skittering sideways toward the party!

From the west appeared a humanoid figure enshrouded with a red silk cloak. However, this creature only stood in front of the opening and did not approach us.

Hleara quickly barked out orders for the party. "Archers and mages! Please attack the salamanders! Fighters! Tank the crabs! I'll distract the golem! Someone play spotter and keep an eye on the figure to our west!"

"I'll spot," Kourant volunteered as he pulled out throwing daggers from under his cloak.

I understood the reasoning behind her command. The fire salamanders were poisonous and melee combat with them should be avoided if possible. Their skins were soft and therefore, vulnerable to arrows and spells alike. The fighters will buy us time until the salamanders were defeated. Hleara will stall the golem as well. The wild card was the figure standing on the western side. I had no clue what it was and I doubted Hleara knew either.

I studied the giant salamanders for a moment. I noted how their torsos were slithering along the ground and I realized there was a perfect spell to take advantage of their low center of gravity: Earth Spike! I cast this spell in rapid succession to impale the three salamanders. "Earth spike SUCCESSFUL. -12 Damage, +100 XP. Status: Impaled. Duration: 10 seconds. Earth spike SUCCESSFUL. -16 Damage, +100 XP. Status: Impaled. Duration: 10 seconds. Earth spike SUCCESSFUL. -21 Damage, Level 3, +250 XP. Status: Impaled. Duration: 10 seconds." While the spell offered relatively little damage compared to Fireball, it immobilized the salamanders long enough for Bjoukin and Kourant to finish them off with arrows and daggers, respectively.

"Good job!" Bjoukin patted me on the back once the last fire salamander was down.

"Come over here and help us!" Bjoukia called out.

When I turned toward the south, I saw that Van stood at the forefront with his massive shield. Taking advantage of the terrain, he held off the leading crab and the other crabs could not attack the party. Onxyx stood nearby and alternated between casting protective and healing spells on him. Bjoukia, Bila, and Quale tried to jab at the crab with their blades but the crab's tough shell was proving to be impenetrable. And each time they aimed for the eyes, the crab smartly blocked the attack with its pincer. Thus, it was a stalemate.

I turned toward Rijana and asked, "What spell do you suggest?" I drank a mana potion to refill my mana pool.

Rijana pointed at an alcove on the wall high above the crabs. "I'm going to cast Fly on you. You need to reach that alcove. Once you're in position, I'm going to cast a Wall of Ice behind the last crab and the second wall in front of the lead crab to keep them in one spot. You will then spam Lightning Bolt on the last crab. The spell will jump from crab to crab and hopefully, fry them all to death."

After the Enchanter cast Fly on me, I dutifully flew to the spot in question. When Rijana cast the first spell to create the wall, my flight effect dropped immediately. This reminded me of the importance of magic items: they could maintain spell effects, such as flight, and free the spellcaster to cast other spells. Hence, this reaffirmed the importance of learning from Rijana as much as possible in the art of magic item creation. Once the second wall was placed by her, I followed her plan and cast three Lightning Bolt spells in succession. "Lightning bolt SUCCESSFUL. -15 Damage, -12 Damage, -7 Damage, +75 XP. Lightning bolt SUCCESSFUL. -12 Damage, -9 Damage, -6 Damage, +75 XP. Lightning bolt SUCCESSFUL. -20 Damage, -16 Damage, -12 Damage, Level 4, +200 XP. Fire crab DEFEATED. +100 XP."

I immediately drank a mana potion and cast the spell again. "Lightning bolt SUCCESSFUL. -20 Damage, -16 Damage, +75 XP. Fire crab DEFEATED. +100 XP." With only one crab alive now, I switched over and cast Iceball. "Iceball SUCCESSFUL. -18 Damage, +75 XP. Fire crab DEFEATED. +100 XP."

While I was delighted that I managed to defeat the crabs, there was no time for celebration. Toward the north, Hleara was busy flying back and forth in front of the golem. She had successfully induced it to chase her similar to the way a cat tries to catch a butterfly.

In the meantime, the figure standing on the western end of the cavern made no attempt to attack us. I activated my Magic Sense and Spirit Sense to confirm a suspicion. "Magic sense SUCCESSFUL. +200 XP. Spirit sense SUCCESSFUL. +100 XP." The figure had a similar aura to Hleara. I had no doubt it was another draco who was probably sired by the late Hleandros. And just like Hleara, this individual stood on the edge between Order and Chaos.

However, before I could anything about the second draco, I had a more immediate concern: how to get down from my perch! I stuck my head out and looked down. I was at least twenty feet above ground and I had zero interest in diving, head first, into the pile of gold coins positioned right in front of the wall. Unlike Scrooge McDuck in the Duck Tales cartoon show, I was not going to swim in a pile of money. I yelled out. "Rijana, can you cast Fly on me again?"

Rijana looked at me and shook her head. "You are out of range for that spell," she yelled back. However, she grinned as she pulled out something from her backpack. It was a floating disc. The Enchanter turned to Bila and handed the disc over to the cat girl. "Can you run as close to the wall as you can and toss this disc up so that Lord Mulligan can catch it?" she requested.

Bila's eyes glowed and her tail swayed from side to side as she studied the magic item. She quickly ran toward me and used her momentum to make an underhanded toss. She skidded on the coins and slammed into a mountain of coins, which buried her. She quickly wiggled her way back to the surface. As a result, Bila was unable to watch what happened next.

The disc rotated in the air like a basketball and, somehow, managed to reach my outstretched hand. Swish, I thought mentally. I was truly impressed by the accuracy of her throw.

I set the magic disc in front of me and it floated in the air. Taking a deep breath, I bravely set one foot on the disc and then the other foot. I mentally ordered the disc to descend. It immediately obeyed my command and soon, the magic disc reached the pile of coins and stopped. I grabbed the magic disc and slid down the pile of coins. When my feet landed safely on the ground, I jogged over to rejoin the party, which was now busy attacking the golem with some coordination.

I saw that Van was taking the role of the tank again; he was skillfully using his shield to deflect the hard punches of the massive golem. Onxyx again stood nearby to heal him as needed. Meanwhile, Bjoukia and Quale were busy hacking at the golem's left knee. Bila, Bjoukin, and Kourant joined forces to attack the right knee. I quickly understood their tactic; they wanted to cut off the knees and immobilize the golem first. Once that occurs, they can target the arms next and finally the head.

I noticed that Rijana and Hleara were both casting Magic Missile against the basalt golem and I decided to do the same. "Magic missile SUCCESSFUL. -7 Damage, +25 XP. Magic missile SUCCESSFUL. -4 Damage, +25 XP. Magic missile SUCCESSFUL. -3 Damage, +25 XP. Magic missile SUCCESSFUL. -6 Damage, +25 XP. Magic missile SUCCESSFUL. -10 Damage, Level 5, +125 XP." Since my mana pool was dangerously close to zero now, I had to disengage from combat. I drank another mana potion to refill my mana pool. It was truly pathetic how little damage Magic Missile inflicted. The spell created one missile per two skill levels in Air magic with 1d4 damage per missile. Only when I reached Level 5 was I able to create three missiles and inflict double digits in damage with the spell.

I was about to resume spamming Magic Missile when the golem suddenly collapsed and broke apart into fine sand.

In response to our victory, someone started clapping.