“It's just been a few months since we last talked,” Lillin said, sitting opposite Nox. She poured him another cup of frothed milk tea that carried the scents of ginger and cardamom and prepared it just how Nox liked it—with two teaspoons of sugar. He had his first while touring the insides of her domain and the prison. It helped ward of the low temperatures she maintained within her domain. “What, in Ygg’s name, happened for you to become so resolute in your decision?”

Nox shrugged, taking a sip of the offered beverage. “Life,” he answered, eyes wandering around the room where they had ended up. It amused him how she had modeled Terrastalia’s core, her throneroom, and quarters to resemble Mou’s house on the Golden Isles. “It occurred to me that I need to commit to one thing. Delving or building a trade empire. I know I set up Ratra’s Knightly Brews and invested so much time in alchemy to accumulate funds for a delving career. But then, somewhere along the way, I fell in love with running a business, teaching, researching new magic and recipes, and everything else in between.”

“And it finally occurred to you that going after Sundarshahar is a suicidal quest that would cost you everything you’ve built.” Lillin poured herself a cup too, adding more sugar to the beverage than Nox had. He was pleased to see that his old friend still had her sweet tooth.

“And Aria,” Nox added.

He fished a wax-paper-wrapped package of stone fruit pies out of his pocket and pushed them toward Lillin. Her eyes widened. The mimic-woman, now Dungeon Lord, excitedly clapped her hands as she sniffed the package and peeked within. Every feast had made her seem more human. Nox had missed the changes she underwent after consuming Sif, the former lord of Terrastalia. Lillin appeared no different from an ordinary person. It made sense why so many city-states and even two superpowers had readily agreed to cooperate with her. Unlike her old demeanor, Lillin’s new very-human body language and expressions didn’t make her seem alien or like a dungeonborne.

“She’s important to me,” Nox continued. “Guiding Ingrid and helping her little gang back then taught me that I’d like children, too. But delving as a parent—”

“A parent pursuing an archon dungeon,” she corrected.

“Yes. As a parent who challenges archon dungeons, I’d be setting up my offspring for a fatherless childhood. This is better. Given all the breakthroughs I’m making, my new creations, and growing capital, I’m creating a world where more people can grow to higher ranks of magehood and easily contain the likes of Sundarshahar.” Nox had Otis spit out samples of his new ward clothes, the Spatial Reverse spellscripts, and a couple of other new concoctions that he intended to sell in the Galleria. “Mou and Sapna are right. I can do more for the world as an artisan and businessman than a delver.”

“These are incredible and terrifying,” Lillin said taking a moment to study them. “My realm could be in genuine trouble if my enemies were to get these. I bet the Cabal are going to set their eyes on me sooner or later. They’ll want Warmonger back.” She sat back and flashed Nox a mischievous smile. “When are you planning on getting hitched, and how long do you intend to wait before creating spawn?”

“We humans don’t like to call our children spawn,” Nox said. “You’ll do well remembering that when talking to the council, Imperium diplomats, and the rest.” Lillin’s eyes narrowed like they always did when he tried to avoid a question. “Our initial plans involved tying the knot next week. However, given everything that's happened this semester, with the deaths, still missing people, and everything else, we decided to delay it by a few more months.”

“And spawn?”

“Aria would like to straight away. She wants three and to get done while still young. Things are just easier when they aren’t legally bastards. So, I guess we will start on the wedding night.”

“Little Nox all grown up.” Lillin laughed. “I always thought you’d never get married or need me there when the time came. I’m happy that you’ve found people to call your own.”

“I’d still very much like you to attend,” Nox said. “It would be incredible if I saw you amongst the crowd during the ceremony.”

“You know that’s impossible unless Aria agrees to have the wedding in my grand halls, and I’m sure she’ll never agree. Bi Xi won’t appreciate all the strangers, changes, and noise that accompany such a ceremony either.”

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“We agreed on two ceremonies. One in the Daksinsthani style in the Galleria and another in her family’s way in the Edelweiss barony. You could always attend through one of your proxies.”

“Yes. That’ll go down well with the rest of the guests. Its not meant ot be. But you’ll do just fine without me.” Lillin handed him a ring not too different from what Nox had received from Perry. “Take this with you when you visit the Edelweiss lands next. See if they’ll agree to a prisoner transfer or a deal similar to what I have with the the Council of Ygg. The baron wasn’t particularly amenable when I sent a proxy.

“It's likely he doesn’t have anything against you. The problem is more likely with Terrastalia itself. Given the loss of life and devastation after Bi Xi stomped through the countryside and the subsequent myconid plague, it's understandable. The barony is profiting from the mushroom farms, but the wounds are still fresh. A good deal of their new population are also individuals whose lives were ruined by the blights. But I’ll see what I can do. The aether crystals from your depths and all the other materials make you a valuable ally.”

Nox paused. He was happy to do Lillin a favor, but it was also an opportunity to strike up a trade. In fact, he believed there was the potential to turn it into something beneficial for all.

“Are you fine continuing as an expert dungeon, or do you want to get stronger?” Nox asked. “I think there might be a way you become an archon. It’ll be a slow process, but faster than—”

“I’m not one of your prospective clients or suppliers, Nox.” Lillin rolled her eyes, tucking a stray curly lock behind her right ear. “Spit it out. What do you want? Our contract might be over, but we’re still friends. It's okay for us to ask each other for favors. I don’t have to say ues in the same way you can say no to my request with the Edelweisses.”

“Fine.” Nox sighed. After eighteen months of business talk, he struggled not to make the conversation a sales pitch. “I want you to offer Ingrid a warlock pact. In fact, you should be finding useful, intelligent, and trustworthy individuals all over the world and making pacts. Initially, it might cost you power, but if Joey and Nar’s relationship is anything to go by, your partners will grow rapidly. Just have them target rifts and other dungeons. Funnel bulk of the mana and essence to yourself and give your pact partner a bit to accelerate their growth. You don’t have to share all of your magic, just enough to make it a tantalizing deal.”

“That sounds incredible, but finding reliable pact partners will be challenging. I’d need to work mostly on recommendations, and I don’t trust anyone besides you to give me recommendations.” Lillin stared at her cup thoughtfully. “No. I can’t think I’ve met anyone I trust enough for something like this.”

“Do you need to, though? Warlocks have no choice but to trust and work in their pact partner’s best interests. If they betray or turn against you, reclaim your power, kill them, or make them explode. It's like one of your crystal heart servants but better.”

“Can patrons really telepathically communicate with their warlocks? Can they really peek inside of the warlock's minds?”

“Do you remember nothing of Intermediate Mana Theory?” Nox asked.

“I do. But that’s not the point. You’ve been around Joey for a while. You know him. You’ve seen him grow.” Lillin drained her cup even though the beverage was still much too hot. “The text often doesn’t match the truth.”

“Its not consistent. It all comes down to the patron’s power and the terms of the contract. It might be best if you make the terms such that your warlock has to commune with you every couple of days. During this, you may retain the right to peek inside their heads. It’ll help you keep them honest and ensure they never act against you or Bi Xi.”

“That’s my primary concern,” Lillin said after a moment of silence. “What if someone from the Imperium weasels their way into my favor and pretends to be the best warlock ever, but in secret are trying to wreck everything? This is my domain, Nox. I don’t want to lose it.”

“You won’t. If you’d like, I can help you design Ingrid’s contract, and you build off it.”

“Fine. I’ll take her on as a trial. What kind of magic should I give her? Raw spatial or shape shifting?”

“Ingrid would love the ability to shapeshift, but I think gravity will work best for her.” Nox flipped to one of the spells he brought along to share with Lillin. “Spatial Hands will already test her creative limits, and she can build more off of it. Raw spatial might be far too much for her.”

“Fine. Gravity it is.” Lillin sighed. “She’s a child and headstrong. Are you sure she won’t hurt or kill herself with the gravity spheres?”

“Not if she keeps them away from her body. Say through spatial hands.”

Nox and Lillin spent the rest of the visit assembling warlock contracts. Even though she didn’t admit it, the young dungeon lord seemed excited about the idea. Nox believed it was the prospect of making more human friends and connections that appealed most to her. The pursuit of power and eventually becoming an archon seemed like an afterthought. His old friend had changed. She didn’t just think of humans as food and sources of entertainment. She missed their presence. Lillin had grown to enjoy human company, and the idea of more friends seemed to excite her.

Even though Lillin hadn’t put it in words, he got the feeling that she had missed him.

Nox had missed her, too. Lillin was his oldest and dearest friend, after all.