My eyes fell on Ferrisdae, but she only quietly nodded. I cleared my throat and turned back to Keith Carr. “If you’d like, Junior Dungeon Inspector Ferrisdae and I can take a look at the dungeon and clear it out for you at our earliest convenience,” I offered. “That way your men don’t have to worry about any monsters resurrecting randomly and causing you to have to shut down.”

“A generous offer,” Carr replied with the nod of his head. “One that Ms. Ferrisdae had already spoken to me about, and I would be very thankful if you could do that. I can offer you two, this Cojisto fellow, and your moose companion a place to stay while you work. Two meals a day on top of it, and a reward for clearing out the dungeon as well.”

“We’ll accept,” I said, offering my hand. Carr eyed it hesitantly, but shook it nonetheless. Ferrisdae offered her hand and he took hers without reserve, bringing it upwards and kissing it. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “You will need to empty the mine of all the workers so that the ritual to remove the dungeon will work properly.”

“Is… that necessary?” Carr asked. His eyes slid off of me and met Ferrisdae’s, then returned.

“Yes, it is,” I told him. “Not only is time needed for the denizens to return, but it's a very complex magical ritual that can be disrupted by the presence of your men and their activities. This is the proper protocol for a reason.”

His face soured, and I could tell he was only worried about the money he was losing out on by shutting down the mine for the night. I did not care for Keith Carr, and I knew the feeling was mutual; his orange glow remained.

“I see. Very well, it shall be done. For now, I will leave you two to your discussions,” Carr said as he stood up. “I will have the foreman escort you in the morning. Or, if you’d like to strike off on your own, then you only need to take the western path outside of the gate and it’ll lead you straight to the mine. It’s a roughly twenty minute walk to get there. Had to find the perfect spot for the settlement, of course, you know how it goes.”

“Indeed. Please enjoy the rest of your day if we don’t see you again, Mr. Carr,” I said diplomatically.

“If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to send your junior to my office,” Carr continued. “Anything you need at all.”

“Thank you, Mr. Carr,” I said, trying my hardest not to scowl.

“We appreciate your help, Mr. Carr,” Ferrisdae said, then she stood up once he started walking away. “We should go find Cojisto.”

“He was at the gate when I left him,” I said, watching as Carr left the mess hall. A quick glance towards the bar showed me that the bartender was busy. I stood up, and lowered my voice. “I do not like that man.”

“Yeah, he has a really slimy feel to him, doesn’t he?” Ferrisdae asked, cringing slightly. I followed her to the door and out into the open air. “When it was just the two of us, he seemed way more interested in me than with whatever happens at the mine. He didn’t even mention a giant chicken. Also, a giant chicken?”

“I didn’t want to push it with Carr because he seemed like the kind of person who would hide away every time it showed up. But, yes, a giant chicken. When Cojisto and I found this settlement, we ran into it from the back. There was a lot of damage to the palisade in multiple forms and, actually,” I paused, pointing towards the wall opposite the gate. “You can see where it’s been attacking from.”

Ferrisdae squinted at the wall, and then nodded. “I wonder why he doesn’t find it as alarming as the dangers in the mine,” she mused. “At least the mine’s stuck outside of its resurrection cycle, this seems way more dangerous.”

“Money, probably,” I said. “You know the type.”

Ferrisdae pursed her lips at that, but said nothing. Then she did something I never saw her do: she started chewing on her thumbnail. Her attention wasn’t on me, but instead staring off towards the gate. The long walk to get here and being able to take my mind off of things in a conversation with Carr had abated my anger, if only a little, but seeing her looking so unsure of herself raised it from a simmer to a boil.

I took a few breaths with the intention of evening out my tone. “Ferrisdae, are you okay?”

“Hmm?” she asked, jerking to look down at me. Her thumb left her mouth and she quickly wiped it on her pants.

“I asked if you were okay,” I repeated. I tried to school my face away from the scowl I felt was appropriate for the situation and instead attempted to convey concern.

Ferrisdae looked down at me for a few moments, and I saw something shift in her expression. One moment there was vulnerability, but then there was resolve. “Yeah, of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, obviously forcing a chipper tone. “Fit as a fiddle Ferrisdae, that’s what they used to call me, and that counts now, too.”

That… was a very unnatural sentence. But I didn’t know how young Elven girls dealt with this kind of stuff, I didn’t even know how I was supposed to deal with this kind of stuff, so I decided to trust her as an adult.

“Just wanted to make sure, since I’m here for you and all,” I told her. “Today has been something else.”

“Just another day on the job, right? Ya big softy,” Ferrisdae chuckled. I could hear the nervousness in it, but I didn’t pry. If she wanted to talk about it, then she would.

We made our way through the settlement towards the gate. It was a short walk, and we saw Moose standing in the gate with an animated Cojisto speaking with an equally animated Jesuf. When Moose noticed us, he nudged Cojisto in the shoulder and leaned his head towards us.

“Ferry!” Cojisto shouted. He said something to Jesuf that I couldn’t hear, then bounded towards us. His companion sauntered after. “Moose said that you were alright, but it is good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Cojisto,” Ferrisdae said with a smile. “We have a lot to discuss, do we want to head back to the mess hall, or…?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Let’s talk outside of the walls and get to that mine. I’d rather not spend any more time in this dungeon than possible, and we still have three more to go after this.”

“Weren't we going to go in the morning?” Ferrisdae asked.

“I won't know for sure if we can complete the ritual tonight until we see it, but I'd rather get this over with than wait,” I answered.

“Badger, you want to head straight to the mine,” Cojisto said. “But it seems to me like we are without armor and weapons and other gear for fighting whatever might revive when the workers clear out. What do you propose we do if we run into whoever the dungeon owner is?”

I paused, considering Cojisto’s words. That was an annoyingly valid point. I had to consider things more than I was. This whole thing, I realized, was making me flustered.

“Okay, first the blacksmith, then the mines,” I said.

“We have no money,” Cojisto reminded me.

I scowled. “You know what? Let’s just find a place to discuss whatever new abilities that Dungeon Master-” I looked straight at Ferrisdae. “-Master of Dungeons gave us, then we’ll figure out if it’s even necessary. Good? Good, let’s go.”

Without waiting for the others to agree, I started heading towards the gate, crossing my arms and letting my feet fall heavily to the ground.

******

We set up in a small clearing with a few fallen trees in it. Ferrisdae and I took seats on a log while Cojisto began pacing and Moose started to eat some of the leaves off of a nearby tree.

“Okay, we’re out of the camp’s walls,” Cojisto said. “I say the first order of business in these talks is to discuss how best to fight the giant chicken. It’ll show up in three days, according to Jesuf.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“That’s not the first order of business,” I said with a scowl. “We need to talk about Himia and what they did to us.”

“Right!” Cojisto said, switching gears immediately. “Honestly, I have never felt better before. I feel stronger, and this force stuff I can conjure has already paid off wonderfully.”

“She seemed strange to me,” Ferrisdae offered quietly. “She looked like a person, but it seemed like something was off about the way she spoke.”

“When I asked her about it, she said that it would be helpful to think of her as an Information Elemental,” I said. “Living knowledge.”

“That is strange,” Cojisto said. “I regret not asking her more questions when I had the chance.”

“How did your meeting with her go?” Ferrisdae asked him.

Cojisto paused his pacing and looked towards the sky. “It wasn’t very tense, Himia explained to me that our gear would be returned to us after the dungeon has been completed. Then she told me about my class upgrade, which I didn’t think much of at the time. After that, I left.”

“I don’t know if we can trust Himia’s words, but I’m going to be even more pissed if they don’t return our equipment,” I said. I had a lot of things stored in that Dimensional Pocket, and not all of it was work related. There were personal items stored there, too.

“So we’ll have to make do with what we can find in the settlement and the dungeon,” Ferrisdae said. “Did she say anything specifically about our gear to you, Cojisto? Like why did they take it?”

Cojisto nodded. “Himia said that we should already be able to breeze our way through the dungeon, so in order to get the most out of the experience we had to be slowed down.”

I scoffed. “We’re not here for the experience, we’re here to subjugate Raitheus Razorbeak. We’re not adventurers,” I said bitterly, then waved Cojisto off. “Not all of us are adventurers.”

“Yes, but it’s a dungeon that’s been done up by The Dungeon Master, Master of Dungeons,” Ferrisdae said. “You can expect some showmanship from someone who carries such a title, don’t you think?”

“Showmanship? No, it's pure arrogance,” I grunted before turning back to Cojisto. “What about this Arcane Wrestler class that you told me about?”

“It’s awesome, is what it is,” Cojisto claimed loudly. “I got a lot better at all grappling martial arts.”

“All?” Ferrisdae asked, raising an eyebrow. I was confused by that as well.

“Himia’s words, not mine,” Cojisto said. “She said that I would be a little bit stronger during those moments, and anything I have grappled will find it harder to escape. My skills will get better the more things we defeat.”

It all became clear to me, and I fixed Cojisto with a pointed stare. “You just want to try to grapple a giant chicken, don’t you?” I asked.

Cojisto grinned at me. “What is life without challenges?”

Ferrisdae and I both shook our heads. “Never change, Cojisto,” she sighed.

“Not the right attitude to have, Ferrisdae. Fighting a giant chicken should be at the low end of our priorities right now.” Cojisto opened his mouth to object, but I didn’t let him. “What about that arcane force effect?”

"Right, that is something new as well," Cojisto said, nodding. "I can activate some kind of force effect around my body. It takes a lot out of me, though. I don’t think I can sustain it for any lengthy period of time."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Ferrisdae said. "Is it considered a martial art or a spell?"

"I don’t know," he said with a shrug. "I didn’t ask."

Sighing, I put my head in my hand. Cojisto needed to work on his information gathering skills. "I would say spell, I've never seen something like that as a martial art," I said. Ferrisdae nodded, and Cojisto continued to grin. No doubt thinking about how he was magic now. Or he was thinking about grappling a chicken. Either way, this was tiring. "Did you and Himia speak about anything else?"

“No, that was all we had talked about,” Cojisto said. It looked like he was about to start sulking, but then a smile appeared on his face and he started pacing again. I didn’t like that, but we had more pressing matters to attend to.

“How about you, Ferrisdae?” I asked. “How did your conversation go?”

“Himia was really excited to meet me,” Ferrisdae said with a nod. She immediately pushed her hair out of her face afterwards. That was starting to bother me again. “I would go so far as to say unreasonably so. Apparently The Dungeon Master, Master of Dungeons is quite taken with Oristrella and wanted to match her blessing but with the whole team.”

“The whole tier one, tier two nonsense that she mentioned,” I said. "Did you talk about that?"

Ferrisdae nodded. “Tier zero would be most normal folks, tier one would be most adventurers and those who can cast magic, and then the highest most people get is tier two,” she said. “For context, Himia put Oristrella in tier two, and also said that our very own Badger was near the top of the second tier. The Thousand Year Blizzard would be considered a tier seven spell”

Both Ferrisdae and Cojisto looked at me, and I just shrugged. “I’ve been in the game for a long time,” I told them, not elaborating further. “So we have an explanation of what Himia means by tiers, but what does that mean for us?”

“Well, apparently, there’s a limit to how strong people can get that depends on a number of different factors,” Ferrisdae explained quickly. She was almost tripping over her words. “So by artificially bumping us up, it somehow also moved the limits further down the line? I have to admit that I don’t really know what I’m talking about, and I may be messing up something in my explanation.”

“Basically what it boils down to,” I started slowly. “Is that you two, sorry, you three have been boosted up to the ranks of high level adventurers with the ability to surpass the limits that everyone has? Nothing so drastic has happened to me, but the goalposts on my limit have been moved as well?”

“I think so?” Ferrisdae said with uncertainty. “I think I missed something, or Himia answered the question in her head and only gave me a little bit of explanation. She said she did that sometimes.”

“She said the same thing to me,” I said. “She also said that your magical affinity had been changed thanks to Oristrella’s blessing?”

“That’s right,” Ferrisdae confirmed. “It had been changed to ice, but before then it was void.”

“Sorry to cut in,” Cojisto said. “But what is this magical affinity thing that was mentioned? She said mine was force, but I didn’t quite understand it and I was eager to get out of that small room.”

“Everyone has a magical affinity that that their soul resonates with, which is determined at birth,” Ferrisdae explained. “It’s generally only useful for magicians, though, and people who learn how to use magical items. Since your magical affinity is force, if you were a spellcaster then you’d have an easier time learning the Magic Missile or Force Armor spell, and once you have it’ll take less energy and time to cast it.”

Cojisto nodded. “Magic Missile, right,” he said. “Thank you for the explanation.”

I had a feeling he didn't understand it, but that was fine. He probably thought that as long as he could actually use his new powers then understanding it didn’t matter. It sounded like he wouldn’t become a proper spellcaster, anyway.

“What about you? You upgraded from Star Sorceress to what exactly?” I asked.

“Celestial Enchantress,” Ferrisdae said bitterly. She looked down at her hands when she said it, twiddling her fingers. “Despite the fact that I don't even know any enchantment spells, that’s what Himia called me.”

“Enchantress can also mean a woman who can cast magic,” I offered.

“Yeah, and it also has other connotations,” Ferrisdae responded, starting to chew on her thumbnail again. “Go around and tell people that I’m an enchantress and everyone will suddenly be on guard thinking I’m messing with their minds. Whatever, it doesn't matter. I’ll figure out what to call myself later.”

I noticed that Cojisto was staring at her as if he were confused. It surprised me that he noticed Ferrisdae’s mood, but I just hoped he wouldn’t push her. The situation needed more delicate handling than I believe Cojisto was capable of.

“What came with it?” I asked.

“I can feel that my magical energies have increased and become denser,” Ferrisdae stated, then looked to Cojisto. “Spellcasters like me have wells of magical power inside ourselves. The bigger it is, the more magic you can cast before you collapse due to magic drain. The denser it is, the more you can fit, and the more powerful your spells become.”

Cojisto nodded along with her words. “Thank you for the explanation,” he said again.

“You’re welcome, Cojisto,” Ferrisdae replied before looking back at me. “So more magic, more strength in my spells, and I actually know how to cast two more spells now. A spell that protects me from bodily harm, mostly by concealing me, and another that allows me to shift gravity for an item or person. I haven’t cast them yet, but I know what they are.”

My apprentice looked back down at the dirt. In all the thoughts I had about our situation, I hadn’t at all thought about how Ferrisdae’s magic would have been affected. Oristrella offering her blessing was a bit intrusive, but it was generally accepted that the blessing of a Dragon was worth it. Socially acceptable, I’d say, since she could decide whether or not to use it. Unlike what Himia had claimed, it was more like adding ice magic to Ferrisdae’s magical affinity.

But increasing her magic power like this? I couldn’t even begin to imagine how different that felt. While not a magic user myself, I had extensive conversations about similar events with others who were. The wellspring from which casters like Ferrisdae drew from was a deeply personal connection they had to themselves. It would be like if I switched bodies with Moose; I wouldn’t even begin to figure out what I was supposed to be doing with the new body.

It was no wonder she was having such trouble and acting out of character. The only time she felt like herself was when she was working on a problem, being distracted from what’s actually going on. This wasn’t something that should be thrust on anyone, least of all on someone like Ferrisdae. It made me sick to my stomach, and I continued to push down my anger. Getting mad now would only hurt her, and that was the last thing I wanted.

“You don’t have to cast them if you don’t want to,” I said. “I don’t care what they think they’re doing, it isn’t right.”

“Mmhmm,” Ferrisdae agreed. She stood up and started pacing with Cojisto, but I could see the conflict raging behind her eyes. I didn’t know what to say so I was glad when she changed the subject, even if I didn’t like said subject. “And what about you? You were some kind of fighter before, right? What class change did you get?”

I might not have wanted to talk about the subject, but I wanted to help distract her. “I’m Dungeon Inspector Badger,” I said, frowning and bitter. “And I’m a Dungeon Inspector.”