“Finally! What took you so long?”

Pos was not surprised by the greeting from Nog. As he appeared on the second floor, the [Berserker] was already waiting with the rest of their party near the central pillar. The party was impatient, and Pos could understand why.

That little trip into the Hall of Carda took longer than expected.

Pos looked around and did not see any other adventurers near them. Some adventurers were sitting around, waiting for their party members to complete the first floor, and several parties were waiting in a line before the Lake Room. As only one party of adventurers were allowed in the room, the adventurers were awaiting their turn.

As the layout of the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques became known, most adventurers decided that it would be safer to wait on the second floor than the end of the first floor. Both areas were safe, but no one wanted to be sitting on the edge of a toxic fog.

Pos looked towards the entrances of the other two rooms. There were no lines, and the entrances were opened. Pos went to his party and signal everyone to group together.

As they gathered in a circle, Pos could see that Nog was about to give him a piece of her mind when a signal from Vorma stopped her. Pos silently filed that away. He knew the two female dwarves were friends, but the relationship must be closer than he realized if a simple sign from the [Sorceress] could stop Nog.

Still, it’s not good to test the self-control of a [Berserker].

“I found something.”

Pos took out the treasure he received from the Guardian as he told the party of what he found. The Hall of Carda, the Guardian, the game of 21 he played, even the new God mentioned by the Guardian, Pos held nothing back. He wasn’t sure how much of what he said registered with the party though, because they only had eyes for the treasure.

The treasure was a card. A rectangle piece of layered paper that had the picture of a vial on it. The words ‘Vial of Change- Catkin’ was written above the picture.

“Can I touch it?” Jes asked.

Pos saw no reason to reject the [Scholar] and passed the card to him. A smile grew on the scholar’s face as he ran his hands over the card. Pos found the smile to be a little creepy, so he was glad when Nog directed a question to him.

“What does the Guardian look like?”

“He looked like a cat that’s the size of a human. Stood on two legs, spoke well, was intelligent, and even though we didn’t fight, he looked strong and powerful.”

“A cat that’s the size of a human. You mean a Catkin?” Vorma asked as she pointed at the word on the card. Understanding what Vorma was asking, Pos nodded.

“A new form of Beastkin.”

Everyone turned to Jes, who was still looking at the card in his hand with an unhealthy intensity. The [Scholar] did not seem to know he had answered the question. Umdar coughed loudly when it became clear the [Scholar] was in a world of his own. Jes only came out of his fudge after a few moments. He looked up, saw the party looking at him, and went crimson red. He quickly passed the card back to Pos.

“Well, you discover anything?” Nog asked.

The [Scholar] nodded. “It is clearly magical. Not just the card, but there is some sort of magical energy in it. The energy is quite similar to the energy I feel from Bags of Holding. I think the card is some sort of storage item. We need to bring it to a priest for confirmation, but I am pretty sure the item inside the card holds divine energy.”

“It is an item made by a God?” Umdar asked, fear evidenced in his voice. Fear that everyone in the party held.

Everyone looked at Jes, who replied with a sigh, “Yeah. Maybe.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“What do you ‘maybe’? It either is, or it’s not!” Nog said, her voice a little louder than Pos was comfortable with. He looked around, but no one was paying any attention. The others probably thought they were having an argument.

“You need to remember that dungeon cores are part divine. It’s how they create their dungeons. This card may be created by this dungeon core.” Jes said.

“So, there may not be a new god?” Umdar asked hopefully.

“Maybe.” Jes hedged with a shrug.

Pos scoffed. “So, you are saying you believe the dungeon core created this card, invented a fake God, created a Guardian, ordered the Guardian to give me the card while lying about its origins? For what?”

The [Scholar] had no answer for him, and it became clear that Jes had said what he did more in hope than expectation. He was wrong, he knew he was wrong but had to try anyway. Pos did not blame him. No sane dwarf wanted to be part of a brewing religious conflict.

That was why they worship Rocks and Gems instead.

However, Pos had met the Guardian and knew he was no dungeon monster. Pos would not be surprised that the Guardian was part of a new species created by this new god. He told the party his thoughts, and the reaction was striking.

Jes nodded, Nog groaned, Umder put his head in his hands, and Vorma just dropped her head with a smile.

“Pass the card to me.” Vorma said after a moment.

“Sure. Why?”

“If Jes is right, this card is some sort of storage device. I am going to push some mana into the card and see if I can call out this ‘Vial of Change’.”

Pos immediately pulled the card back from the [Sorceress]. “Wait, what?”

“Why do you want to do that?” Umdar immediately asked.

“Look at the card. Vial of Change- Catkin! If Pos is right, and I think he is, that should be the name of the new species and drinking the vial may change one’s species to that of a catkin.” Vorma pointed at the card and explained.

“You want to change your species?” Nog was in shock, along with everyone else. Why would anyone not want to be a hearty dwarf? Vorma just shrugged.

“Imagine being the first of a new species. If we are right, whoever drink that vial is going to be in the history books!”

“The Guardian is the first,” Pos pointed out.

“Dungeon monsters doesn’t count.” Jes replied with a shake of his head. “No, Vorma is right. Whoever drinks it will go into the history books; it is a bad idea though. We don’t know what the vial does, and more importantly, we are under contract.”

“The contract is to clear the-”

“This supersedes that,” Jes interrupted Vorma with a wave of his hand, “and you know it. This card is more important than whatever treasure that is in the room. Maglor would want this card and vial. If we go out now, he’ll consider the quest fulfilled once we give this card to him. Failure to do so might be a breach of contract.”

“What about the Guild?”

Everyone stayed silent at Umdar’s question. It was a good question. Everyone would want the card, and they might be upset with the party if they hand it the treasure to the ‘wrong’ person.

“Maglor registered the quest with the Adventurer Guild. He already paid the Guild. By rights, he has first dips on any treasure we take out of here. At most, the Adventurer Guild can only take a percentage of the treasure.” Pos said without confidence.

“That won’t stop them. There is a part in their charter where the Guild could claim the treasure ‘for the good of the world’.” Umdar said.

“How often had that charter been invoked?” Vorma asked Jes.

The [Scholar] shrugged. “I’ll need to look it up. It’s rare, but it had happened before. I think it’s more than likely that the Guild will use that charter on the treasure of a new God.”

Silence descended on the group. After some long moments, Nog slapped her hand on her knee. “This is going nowhere. I say we make this someone else’s problem.” Everyone looked at the [Berserker] who continued. “We go out, tell the Guild everything we know, give this card to them, and tell them Maglor has first dips on it as he is the one who posted the quest. Let them sort it out.”

Pos’ eyes widened in surprise, and joy. However, not everyone agreed.

Shaking her head slightly to Nog, Vorma objected. “The quest was to clear the Bamboo Forest Room. If we don’t hand the card over to him, Maglor may not accept that the quest is complete.”

“Then, we come back and complete the quest. The quest was to clear the Bamboo Forest Room, right? No one said we need to complete it in one delve. We’re just temporarily leaving the dungeon to store an important treasure we found with the Guild. Nothing wrong with that.” Nog said before she looked at her friend. “Vorma, you are getting ahead of yourself. We don’t know what this vial could do. For all we know, it could turn you into a baby kitten. There are better ways to go down in history than taking a dangerous unknown magical vial from an unknown god.”

There was no arguing with that.

“And Maglor would probably be too busy fighting the Guild for the card to bother with us.” Pos said with a smile. He liked this idea, and seeing the smile on Umdar’s face, he was not the only one. Jes and Vorma were reluctant, but they understood this was their best play.

Sometimes, you need a [Berserker] to cut through all the muck.

A few moments later, every member of the party used their Recall Stone and appeared back in the Adventurer Guild. They followed the plan, told the Guild everything, and ignited a firestorm.

Pos did not care. As Maglor, the Guild, and members of various religious orders were arguing about the card, he and his party were enjoying a mug of ale in the Blooming Jug inn.

Like Nog said; the card was now someone else’s problem.