Mash looked at his friends. Two of them seemed ready to throw punches, and he still didn’t know if he should stop them. Honestly, so long as neither used skills, their punches couldn’t do much damage to each other. He would try and stop them if they were using skills, but this wasn’t something that he needed to get involved in.

“Stop them from fighting, please. Unless you wish for them to remain like that for the rest of your stay.”

The more polite voice from earlier had returned. The sudden sound didn’t surprise them anymore. Even with his request Mash still didn’t want to get involved. Luke didn’t have that same compulsion and stepped between them. He held his hands out to the side open palms stopping the two from getting closer. Mash was a little more distracted by what the voice had said.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you unaware of the current season?”

Mash paused thinking about the question for a moment. He probably was asking in relation to the north but that didn’t make sense. The information he got had stated that the north didn’t have real seasons. That it just snowed all year around.

“I didn’t think the seasons changed much in the north.”

Mash heard a laugh coming from the door frame. This was obviously not from the polite man, as he spoke over the laughter.

“You have been misinformed. There are standard seasons here, but it never gets warm enough to melt the snow. However, the winters are brutally cold. You are lucky that it is still summer, otherwise, some of you might have perished in the cold. However, the seasons here do more than just change the temperature. The seasons affect the moods of people and creatures. The summer as you would refer to it, is known as the season of anger here. Monsters become more aggressive, and people are more prone to anger. I believe that is affecting your friends now.”

Mash nodded, though he wasn’t sure if the man could actually see them. He spoke a moment after.

“But why don’t I feel anything? Luke seems fine too.”

Mash pointed toward Luke a moment after, as he realized that they didn’t actually introduce themselves. He followed up with his own introduction when he realized.

“And I’m Mash. What’s your name by the way?”

“Of course, I am Kerik Del. As for why you weren’t affected, it might be due to a skill. Do you have a skill to resist changes to your emotions? We have found that even the most basic skills should entirely prevent the influence. Most adults naturally build up a resistance to it so it usually only affects unaware travelers and children.”

Jill and Red seemed to relax as they heard Kerik’s response.

“That’s better. Mash why didn’t your skill stop it for all of us? I thought it affected all of us.”

Mash just shook his head.

“No idea, I can check it later.”

His gaze swiveled to the door indicating that he didn’t want to talk about his skills if he could avoid it. Kerik was polite, but that didn’t really mean anything to the city or the person. Jill subtlety nodded her head. None of that changed the fact that he actually didn’t know why it didn’t work.

“I can understand your reluctance to talk about your skills, but we must request knowledge of any passive skills that may affect others. As well as have you answer several questions verified by truth skills. It shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Can we come inside first? At least get out of the cold.”

Jill asked but Mash didn’t think that they would, otherwise the door would’ve opened already.

“If you were lower level, we would allow such, but I believe your levels exceed the guard's average and thus must remain outside until the danger can be verified. I apologize, but I can try and be as fast as possible. You all may answer at once. Do any of you harbor any ill will towards Dellhome or any of its citizens?”

Kerik started speaking quickly, but they all understood the question and chorused their response in sync.

“No.”

“Good. Do any of you possess passive skills that would be considered dangerous or pervasive? Passive inspection skills of any kind would fall under this category.”

This time they had mixed results. Luke was the only one who could confidently say no. Mash nodded his head and replied with a simple yes, but Jill and Red weren’t as certain. Red spoke up.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I am unsure how your city would classify my skill.”

Kerik replied smoothly.

I will need a short description of the related skills from the three of you. If you would prefer secrecy, then you must return with a special exception permit. The application process is rather long though.”

‘No, it's fine.”

Mash replied quickly. He knew their skills and didn’t think any of theirs would cause many problems. Plus, if he didn’t say anything he had the feeling that Red would want to hide what she could. So, he explained in detail what his domain let him see. In the end, Kerik asked another question.

“Are you able to see beyond the door in front of you?”

Mash nodded, and then remembered to reply out loud.

“Yeah.”

The questions shifted to Red and then Jill. Each of them received a few after they explained the skills in question. Jill had the most as she mentioned several skills. Some of which Mash didn’t even think mattered. After everyone was done, Mash was relieved to see the doors open. The ice that had been growing on them broke as the door swung inward. Hot air rushed out melting the remaining snow around them and warming his skin. Mash stared down the hallway which he now got a good look at.

There were slits along the walls. Probably meant for spears, arrows, or magic. On top of that, he would bet that there were some traps too. Mash didn’t inspect it too carefully, as he stared at the two dwarves that stood at the far end of the hallway. Mash had only met one dwarf before, but they were recognizable.

They were slightly shorter than average but taller than he expected. Not to mention, they didn’t exactly fit into the image he had. On top of only being around a foot shorter than he was, they weren’t stocky. Well, one of them was stocky in that he had a lot of muscle, but the other was skinny. The odd thing about them was the strange evenness of their bodies. Their legs were the same length as their torsos and arms. They both were wearing some kind of bluish armor. The metal was thin, and he didn’t see any of it around their shoulders or knees.

The skinnier of the two waved and gestured them over. The man wore something over his eyes. At first, Mash thought they were glasses, but it was a long bar of glass, that was stuck to him with some kind of rubber. Mash guessed it was a type of goggles. The armor he wore seemed a little big on him. On the other hand, the man next to him made the armor seem small. He was bulky with muscles that showed where it could. The surprising thing about both of them though was their hair. They both had long hair that was tied into a braid and wrapped around their necks. It almost looked like a weird beard at first, but he realized that they were actually clean-shaven.

“Welcome to Delhome. As per my earlier explanation, we require you to wear colors indicating the nature of your passive skills.”

Kerik as it turned out was the skinnier of the two and the speaker. He held out long strips of cloth. Mash was given a purple one, while Red received a yellow one, and Jill received a blue and a red one. Kerik explained what each was for.

“The purple one indicates an invasive perception skill. The yellow is for one that could be harmful but isn’t inherently harmful. The blue indicates protective skills in nature. And red is for dangerous ones. The combination of blue and red indicate a dangerous protection skill. I do not know how long you plan on staying within the city, but with your combination of auras, there are few inns which would be willing to provide you with a room.”

“Do you have any recommendations?”

Luke asked the question somewhat hopefully. Mash would’ve asked the same, but he was trying to find the city. He couldn’t see anything though. All that he could see was more hallway.

“Where is the city?”

Mash spoke right after Luke did, not really giving Kerik the opportunity to respond. Kerik seemed to be deciding which question to answer when the other dwarf spoke.

“Just follow me. I’ll show you a forging good inn but you're buying me some drinks for ruining my night. I’m Trek Del.”

So, saying, he turned and started walking down the hall.

“Wait, you guys are brothers? There’s no way.”

Jill looked at the two of them like they were aliens. Mash actually knew the answer to this already though it seemed he had done a little more reading than she had in this regard.

“No Lady Jill. Everyone born in Delhome has the name Del. Rather than an earned name or family name like is done even further south, we possess city names that represent our home. It can be changed through a lot of paperwork and sponsorship, however.”

Kerik answered while also following the group as they walked down the hall. Red noticed the oddity at the same time Mash did. She spoke before he could though.

“Are you also planning on leading us, Kerik? What of your duties?”

“It is no consequence, Lady Red. Truthfully, we were only patrolling the gates and were lucky enough to stumble upon you four. Normally, nobody would enter through these gates, so they are rarely watched. Most guards only take this patrol to have a break from work. If it was anyone else, they likely would not have been near enough to hear your knocking.”

“Is your city typically so casual about it? Also, please don’t call me lady anything. Jill will do just fine.”

Jill shivered slightly when she mentioned how she was addressed.

“Don’t let his stickler act fool you. He may speak with all the rules, but we were both sleeping when your knocks woke us up. As for the way we addressed you, it's just because your guild listed you all as nobles. Kerik told you only the redhead would want anything like that.”

Kerik dipped his head in an apologetic bow, his face colored slightly by a blush. All of a sudden Kerik seemed like a very different person to Mash. Instead of a polite hard worker, he now became the lazy man that never got on anyone’s bad side. Someone who faked being a good worker by having a good attitude. Mash had met a few people like that.

“I don’t want honorifics either. That goes for all of us.”

Red added in her own piece. She spoke for the group. Mash took the purple strip of cloth in his hand and wrapped it around his shoulder like a band. Luke had done the same, and it seemed like a good place for it. He then stepped beside Trek and noticed for the first time that they had been descending. It was such a gradual decline, that he only noticed now when he stepped beside the dwarf. The man glanced up at Mash before sighing.

“You know you’re too big for your age.”

Trek's eyes were glowing faintly purple, and Mash knew that those words weren’t only because of the height difference.