Nate spun the pen around his fingers and leaned back in his desk chair. His homework for the next couple of days lay mostly completed in front of him. It was easy for him. After all, most of it was information he had studied in the past.

The items pertaining to the dimensional zones, monsters, and how they had changed the world were another matter. However, he found reading about them interesting and had been devouring all the books and articles on the internet he could.

Right now, none of that was enough to hold his attention for longer than a minute or two at a time.

To the side of his homework sat his notebook with all his thoughts on the dungeon. That little book was the cause of his current mental funk. At times he typed his thoughts in a password-protected file on his laptop, and other times he used the notebook. Either way, the end result was the same.

He was trying to understand more about the dungeon and how it functioned.

Early on, he had identified that the resources came mainly from the monsters upon their death. Energy seemed to be generated no matter what, as long as something was inside the dungeon.

All of the resources that were listed at the top of the dungeon screens were ones that he recognized. There were no fantastical names like ‘Mithril’ or ‘Unobtanium’. At least not yet. In fact, most of them seemed to come from the composition of the blood and body. They were remarkably normal in that way.

Which led him to his current dilemma. Did he want to find some way to game the system for maximum resources? Or was he more interested in spending that time learning what he could about the dungeon?

Was there even a way to maximize profits? As far as he could tell, it simply depended on the monsters dying. Which meant he just needed to make the traps better.

Which brought him back to one of his earlier issues. He needed to wait until later before going inside with his avatar.

Nate kept working on his homework while he thought things over, hoping the task would trigger an idea.

It didn’t work, but it did help him to finish all his homework ahead of time. By the time he finished, his father was home, and dinner was ready.

The TV was on, displaying some news about the party that had left to explore the structure.

“What’s going on?” He asked, seeing his parents absorbed in whatever they were saying on the news.

“There’s some news about the expedition already,” Niall said, waving him over to the couch.

“Oh? How many have they managed to kill off already?” Nate snarked, plopping down next to his dad.

“They’re not saying. It’s just reporting that they’re making good time and have run into several monsters. Nothing ground shaking or unexpected, in other words. They’re trying to prepare people for when they do reveal the numbers, I’m sure.”

Nina nodded. “The numbers can’t be good if they’ve already started subtly laying the groundwork for when they do reveal them.”

“Yeah, but we already knew they wouldn’t allow most people to return. If nothing else, they would want to contain the information on what they discover as much as possible.”

Niall thumbed the remote and turned off the TV. “Either way, I’m sure we’ll hear more tomorrow sometime. Come on, let’s eat.”

Nate stayed sitting for a moment longer as a thought occurred to him. Who would report back about the dungeon if the entire team wiped? Sure, they would get the hint eventually that everyone had died, but he wanted people to know what the dungeon was doing. Didn’t he?

He stood up, deciding that was a problem for the future. He couldn’t control people, and he wasn’t responsible for what they did either. The signs out front were already enough of a hint that something was going on. If future groups wanted to explore it, he would take them as they came. That was all he could do for now.

There was a knock on the front door as he was walking towards the kitchen.

George Trellow was standing on their front porch, wearing a long black trench coat with a scarf and hat that cast his face in shadows.

“You look like an old-schooler mobster dressed like that. The only thing missing is a cigar.” Nate joked as he invited the man inside and took his coat. “We were just about to eat. Are you hungry?”

George laughed. “Good, perfect timing on my part, then. I haven’t had a chance to eat all day.”

He followed Nate back to the kitchen, where Nina and Niall greeted him with a smile. They had heard the exchange at the door and had already pulled out another place setting for the man.

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“Guild Master, what brings you by tonight?” Niall asked as they dug into the food.

It was never a good thing to be presumptuous with someone more powerful than yourself. In the Guild Master’s case, his cultivation level and position of power were higher than either Niall’s or Nina’s. He was someone who could do almost anything to them if he wanted and get away with it.

Just because he acted civil and nice to them didn’t mean a beast wasn’t lurking beneath the surface. They didn’t know the man well enough to judge him yet.

“I came by to do another healing session on Nate’s core and meridians. The guild is expecting things to get busy once news of what the structure is comes back. More cultivators from other cities will come over to explore it and keep us busy.

“Once that happens, I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to come over. So, I’d like to get enough done while I can that his body can start healing them on its own. Right now, they’re so bad it can’t even do that.”

“The guild doesn’t honestly think anyone from the expedition is going to come back, do they?” Nate asked softly, looking down at his plate. “It’ll be hard to properly report anything if that happens.”

The table went silent.

“I’m sure your parents have discussed how the team that went out was constructed?”

He nodded.

“Well,” George swirled his water glass. “It’s a good thing they didn’t go with them. The latest report from an hour ago already has the team facing massive losses just getting through the dimensional zone. So, no, I don’t expect them to come back.

“I think they underestimated how difficult it would be to reach the structure and stupidly saw this as an opportunity to eliminate some people. Even if they do reach it, they won’t have enough people to make it back through the zone. This expedition will result in a total party wipe. There is no doubt in my mind. Regardless, unless something goes wrong, we’ll still get the information we need.”

Nate thought about that for a second. “I’m not sure if I should say that’s a lucky break for my parents, or something more respectful for all those who are dying because they pissed off the wrong people. I must say, I feel a certain kinship with them at this point.” He smiled wryly as George burst out laughing.

“Worry about yourself first, boy. No one outside your family is going to do it if you don’t. Some of the people that were forced to join the expedition truly deserved what they are getting. Others indeed did merely annoy the wrong idiot, and those you should pity. However, you don’t have the power to do anything more than that.”

“Does anyone have the power to go up against the major clans in each city?” Niall asked, more than a little bitterly. He sighed and picked up his empty plate. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It was inappropriate for the dinner table.”

The guild master chuckled at that. “I like that, such honesty. You say that it was inappropriate for the dinner table, but not to say period. Good, you should keep that up. In answer to your question, there are a few who can stand up to the clans. Usually bigger clans that occupy multiple cities.

“Then there are the powerful cultivators that belong to no family. Unfortunately, they are usually worse. By the time they have obtained their power, they have suffered at the hands of the clans. They want nothing but revenge and to experience their own taste of what it’s like to order others around.”

“I can’t believe the government just puts up with this. I mean, I know everything has fractured and splintered since the zones appeared, but ostensibly we’re still part of a unified nation.” Nate protested. He couldn’t help but remember his old world at moments like this.

The adults at the table started laughing.

“Oh, Nathan, my sweet, ignorant child. Nations and countries exist in name only now. Officially, we all still belong to the same one but at the same time… It’s a matter of logistics. Think about how hard it is to get supplies from cities far away. Air transport is a thing of the past with all the flying monsters, and no cultivator strong enough to fly would become a simple courier. Which means everything has to go overland, which is slower and even more risky as a result.

“Point is, that’s just supplies. For a country to remain together, it has to be able to provide support in times of need. That is no longer possible. Our ‘Country’, if you will, is the nearby cities that we are allied with. It’s the same for them.” Nina explained to her son in an easy-to-understand manner.

He groaned and thumped his head against the table. The world really had changed more than he realized. How had that not come up in any of his internet searches? Then again, why would it? Unless it was an official declaration of dissolution, it wouldn’t have appeared when he was looking for differences.

Not to mention, back then, he hadn’t exactly known enough to look for something quite like this.

“Well, you learn something new every day. I guess my old school wasn’t as good as they thought they were.” He muttered, pushing all the blame for his ignorance onto the school that had let him get injured.

George shrugged. “Who can say if it was really their fault? Even though the dimensional zones have been here for so long, there are a lot of people who like to pretend that everything is fine. I’m sure there is some nameless bureaucrat either in office right now, or who recently left that is likely to blame. His new school will be much better for him.”

“Speaking of my new school, I’m classmates with someone you apparently know, Angelica Chrighton. She approached me today and wanted to say hello.”

“Ah, I should have guessed something like that would happen. I spoke with her father last night after our session. He must have mentioned you to her as a result. You should get to know her. She’s a lovely girl, and her family is… expansive.” He grinned.

Nate narrowed his eyes. “You set them up. You wanted them to reach out to me!”

The guild master had a twinkle in his eyes as he winked at them. “Consider it me having some fun at a friend’s expense. Did she make you an offer, or want you to do anything?”

“She did.” Nate folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Not sure if I should tell you what it was now.” He muttered half-heartedly.

Niall and Nina proceeded to clean the table around them while he told the healer about Angelica’s offer.

“And you refused that?”

“Like I told her, I didn’t want things to get messy by doing something like that behind your back. Even if you never healed me any more than you did yesterday, I owe you for that. You were willing to meet and talk with us like normal people. With just those two things, you have more of my respect than anyone else in power that I have met or heard of.”

“I appreciate that, but for the record, I don’t mind if you make a deal with her. Getting that medication would be incredibly helpful. The damage done to your core and meridians will take quite a few sessions to heal without it. I can’t get it on my own, but they can. Just make sure she gets a high-quality one.” He finished with a grin.

“You are nothing like I expected a guild master to be.”

“I’m one of a kind, for sure.”