Quest Abandoned: Find a practical solution for a planar leak. Bonus Objective: Find a solution that uses only resources available in Gomi.

The planar leak theory was a bust, that much was obvious. His new theory was more outlandish, but it accounted for all of the evidence they had gathered so far.

“What do you see?” he asked Olza, instead of answering her question.

She sighed. When Hans didn’t break his stare, his gaze never leaving the cube and the purple light, she answered. “We followed the roots from the surface. There’s no disputing they originate here. The Polzas–I mean the purple flowers–grow from here.”

He smirked again at her calling the flowers Polzas but didn’t gloat. “And the heat comes from here also. Do you know of any plants that move heat?”

Olza shook her head. “Several varieties of plants produce heat. It’s a side effect of them absorbing mana as well as water, sunlight, and nutrients in the soil. They don’t move heat, though.”

Hans nodded. “I know how this sounds,” he began, “but I think this a dungeon core.”

Quest Complete: Identify the unknown purple flower from Olza.

“Stop fooling with us,” Becky called from her lookout point in the fissure. Druid hearing was impressive. “What is it really?”

“No jokes. I’m serious.”

“What are we waiting for? We gotta kill it.”

Spinning around with a hand out, Hans yelled, “No! Wait! You remember Mazo’s story about Reavers’ Rest. The entire island went up with the core.”

Becky growled, her eyes on the roots at her feet, but she stayed her axe. “Well, what do we do, boss?”

Aside from not touching or destroying anything, Hans suggested they make their way back to the surface. Given the potential consequences of handling the core incorrectly, he suggested they put far more thought into any experiments or decisions that could disturb it. A rash choice could blow a hole in the Dead End Mountains, and aside from the danger that event would pose to Gomi, it would not go unnoticed. People would flock to the site from every corner of the kingdom to study and investigate.

On their return journey to the surface, Becky improvised as many traps as she could with their limited supplies. She would make more when they reached basecamp. Anything they could do to keep squonks and chimeras from leaving the dungeon was worth the attempt.

Quest Complete: Complete an expedition into the Polza caves.

They didn’t encounter creatures of any kind on the walk back. The core produced monsters very slowly, it seemed, which was a small blessing accompanying their colossal problem. The other cores Hans had read about were far more efficient, producing monsters at a pace that could overrun civilization if adventurers didn’t cull the population regularly.

Based on the appearances they knew about, the core was producing one to two monsters a month, but Hans knew that was mostly guesswork. The Polza patch had only been observed for a brief time. With the size of the Gomi forest, dozens could have escaped notice and they’d have no idea.

At the surface, the party spoke very little. They emerged in the late morning, having spent a full day and night underground without realizing. Roland disappeared into the forest and returned with three rabbits. In minutes, they were processed and roasting on a spit with wild herbs wrapped around them to add flavor.

“I’m staying here,” Becky announced with a mouthful of rabbit. “I owe it to the forest to keep anything from getting loose.”

Leaving anyone alone didn’t sit well with Hans, but when a Druid mentioned a debt or a duty to nature, he knew there was no changing their mind. Having an eye on the Polza patch wouldn’t be the worst thing either.

The rest of the group departed in the morning with Roland in the lead. They knew they should hurry, but their footsteps were heavy, like condemned prisoners approaching the gallows.

“Where do we go?” Roland asked, not looking back at Hans or Olza.

“What do you mean?” Hans replied.

“Quentin and me. We don’t know anything but Gomi.”

Olza posed a question of her own to Roland. “You’re that certain of the future?”

“Shouldn’t I be? This place will be crawling with adventurers and soldiers as soon as word gets out. It’s inevitable.”

Hans urged everyone to resist assuming the worst, but that suggestion felt hollow, even to him. Roland was right. They all knew it. For Hans, the biggest discovery of his career would hurt people he cared about and potentially destroy their way of life.

***

Galad, Galinda, and Charlie didn’t speak when Hans finished his recounting of their exploration. They sat quietly, their eyes wide but vacant. He had seen this reaction over and over in his time as an adventurer. Parents made the same face when they learned they’d never see their son or daughter again, that incomprehensible truth shattering what they knew of their lives. Shock. Horror. Grief.

“How is this happening again?” Galinda muttered, her voice the softest Hans had ever heard it. Charlie put a hand on her knee while Galad wrapped an arm around her, squeezing her close.

“I’ve been giving this a lot of thought,” Galad began. “Not the dungeon, but what we would do if the Tribe was in danger. A certain Guild Master pointed out that we didn’t have a real plan if that happened. When that happened.”

“What do you propose?” Charlie asked.

“We fight. The adventurers can have the dungeon and the whole forest, but they don’t get to take the Tribe. It’s ours. We built it. We grew it.” He turned his head to address his sister directly, his arm still around her shoulders. “When mom and dad ran, they didn’t have a choice. The battle was lost before they knew it was happening. It’s different here. We can prepare. I think they’d want that.”

Galinda nodded, sniffling softly. “You’re right. We should crush. That’s best.”

“I’m sorry about the position this puts you in,” Charlie said to Hans, sincerely. “I know you’re honor-bound to alert the guild. It would mean a lot to all of us if you could put that off as long as possible.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Mayor Charlie was right. His duty to the Adventurers’ Guild compelled him to report the discovery. That had been his oath for over twenty years, and he had heard himself repeating it over and over on his way back to Gomi with Roland and Olza. He heard it in his younger voice, when his throat was softer and less worn. Taking that oath had defined the entirety of his adult life.

“He’s correct,” Hans said after a minute. “As Guild Master, I’m obligated to tell the guild.”

The rest of the room nodded, solemnly.

“I resign.”

Quest Abandoned: Protect your place in Gomi and maintain control of the Gomi chapter.

New Quest: Protect Gomi.

***

Late that night, with a blizzard beginning to beat at his apartment window, Hans heard a knocking on the downstairs door. Putting down his book, he ran to the door, fearing a new crisis. He found Olza outside, hugging a book to her chest. She was little more than a foot from the doorway, but the flakes fell so thick that she was halfway invisible.

“Mind some company?”

He said that he didn’t and invited her in out of the cold. Aside from a few pleasantries, like offering her something to drink and asking if the fire was large enough, they sat and read quietly as they had done before. Olza was restless though, shifting her position and casting glances to Hans, sitting at his desk.

“Are you sure?” she asked, finally.

“Yes.” He knew she was asking about his resignation.

“We don’t know each other very well, I get that, but being Guild Master… It seemed very important to you.”

“It is.”

She sat up, resting her elbows on the back of the couch to address Hans directly. “You’re throwing it away. Everyone in Gomi could be charged with treason. You know that right?”

He closed his book, flexing his jaw as he thought. “Gunther didn’t hesitate. That kid ran into the dark with a wooden sword, and his face when I found him… He was staring down five gnolls with a broken sword, not a lick of regret on his face. He was scared, but he was more determined than many adults I’ve fought with.”

Olza sat quietly, listening.

“Kane is more selfless than most Clerics and tougher than some Platinums. And Quentin, that boy is smart, really smart. He reminds me of Devon when he was that age. It’s like finishing the first page of the book and knowing the rest of it is going to be one of the best things you’ve ever read.

“I told someone once that unbreakable oaths were dangerous. I still believe that. Even if I was some legendary Platinum with all the friends in the world, I couldn’t live with myself if I let those kids down. If I let Gomi down.”

One of the logs on the fire burned through, cracking, the small shift kicking embers into the air.

“Resigning isn’t a war-winning sacrifice,” Hans continued. “It only buys us time.”

“Buys time for what?”

Hans shrugged. “If Galad will have me, I suppose I’ll be training soldiers. I’d much rather train adventurers, but it won’t be all that different.”

“Thank you,” Olza said after a while. “I’m glad the guild sent you and not someone else.”

***

Hours later, Hans walked Olza home, seeing the guild hall in a new light on his way back. A few months ago, he looked at this building as his fresh start, his gift from the gods. He might never run a chapter as large as Hoseki’s, but he could still be a damned good Guild Master. As of today, he was officially squatting on guild property and had no rights to access or use anything inside. Though he didn’t doubt his decision, he admitted to himself he was a failure and a traitor.

He thought about the goals he had had.

Active Quest: Progress from Gold-ranked to Diamond-ranked.

Active Quest: Mend the rift with Devon.

I’m so weak, I can’t cancel two imaginary quests.

Holding a bottle up to the moonlight, he saw that he had a little less than half of his vodka left. That should be enough. He found a place on the couch, still warm from Olza lying on it, and leaned back. Tomorrow, he would begin designing drills for soldiers, but that quest could wait. For tonight, he would wallow. He would enjoy the snow while it lasted.

***

I’d rather train adventurers.

Hans’ eyes shot open. He leapt from his place on the couch, scrambling to find his boots and struggling to find the correct hole in his shirt. He failed several times and ultimately ended up wearing it backward. He didn’t care, and he’d rather not revisit that struggle right now. He pulled on his boots as he hopped to the front door of the guild, running out into the blizzard without a cloak or jacket, the snow stacked up to his chest.

He didn’t feel the cold night as he charged toward Olza’s. He pounded on her door, bouncing with excitement instead of to keep out the chill.

“Hans?” What are you-” Olza said through bleary eyes, her hair disheveled.

“Can I come in?”

She blinked, looking at the odd man standing on her porch, covered in snow.

“Uhh yeah. Okay.” Once they were both inside, she asked if he felt okay.

“I need your advice.”

“Are you drunk?” She asked bluntly.

“Probably a little, but that’s not important right now. Please.”

She wrapped her robe more tightly and made an attempt to smooth her hair. Asking Hans if he was sober enough for Create Fire, he said he was, Olza pointed him at the pile of wood near the downstairs hearth. While he stacked the logs, she lit a Bunsen burner and set a small teapot over the flame. If she was going to listen to Hans rant and rave, she might as well be warm.

***

“Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind,” Charlie said, delivering mugs of steaming coffee to the group crammed into his apartment.

Galad, Galinda, Hans, and Olza accepted happily. Olza was especially grateful, having been kept awake all night by the ramblings of a Guild Master–well, a former Guild Master.

“No, nothing like that,” Hans said, fighting the urge to stand and pace. “Bear with me. I have questions first. From what I know about all of you, I’m betting you have answers already.”

“So, speak,” Galinda said.

“Galad, where would you train the Tribe?” Hans asked, turning his attention to the tusk.

As he often did, Galad stared back, considering the man before him before opening his mouth. “We have extra space in the second barn, places we didn’t fill with tusks. We’d make-do with that until spring. If we had enough materials, we’d build a new barn then too. We need walls first, though.”

Hans nodded, enthusiastically, eliciting curious looks from the unofficial Gomi council. Yesterday, the world as they knew it changed, and now he was giddy?

“And you? What were you planning?” he asked the Mayor.

Skeptical but intrigued, the small man answered. “I hoped I could convince you to delay formally resigning. That might keep the Adventurers’ Guild from poking around. For however much time we could get. Meanwhile, we’d stock up as much as we could, and I’d reach out to a few old friends. Maybe one of them could help.”

He asked Galinda the same question. As he expected, she only said, “Crush.”

Olza’s answer was more open ended. “I’m staying,” she said resolutely. “I’ll help however I can.”

Hans gave in. He began pacing, buzzing with energy despite the early hour. He tried to sip his coffee as he did, but when it splashed into his beard he decided it was best left on the table. “Your plans all count on the dungeon core moving slowly, right?” Looking over the group, he realized not all of the plans fit that criteria. “Aside from yours, Galinda.”

The lady tusk smiled while the others nodded that Hans was right.

“So the longer the dungeon stays a secret, the better off Gomi will be. Yes?”

They agreed with that as well.

Hans couldn’t help it. His face bore a gleaming, goofy grin. “Don’t you see? As long as the dungeon is a secret, Gomi’s safe.”

“Yes…”

“Instead of training soldiers, we should train adventurers.”

New Quest: Train Gomi adventurers to keep the dungeon at bay.

***

Open Quests (Ordered from Old to New):

Progress from Gold-ranked to Diamond-ranked.

Mend the rift with Devon.

Complete the manuscript for "The Next Generation: A Teaching Methodology for Training Adventurers."

Expand the Gomi training area to include ramps for footwork drills.

Design a system for training dungeon awareness.

Research the history and legends of the Dead End Mountains.

Protect Gomi.

Train Gomi adventurers to keep the dungeon at bay.