Zoe arrived just outside Korna’s gate less than a minute later, the same one that she entered along with the Flester refugees several years prior. The city looked just as she remembered it, open and welcoming, though there was a subtle hint of some wrongness to her memories. Leftovers from the attempted invasion, she supposed.

It felt odd at times, walking through the streets of Korna. As though she should see the familiar fashion trend that had taken over the city in her last visit — soldiers she knew, now. But she didn’t. Instead, she saw the normal Korna fashion, as incredulous as it tended to be. Colourful, wispy fabrics dangling from people’s forms and the odd culture shock as she saw far more nudity or near nudity than she was used to again.

Getting used to that would take a while. Zoe still never thought herself much of a prude, if people wanted to walk around without being covered in a layer of fabric — or being entirely covered except for where she’d expect, then she liked to think she was okay with that in theory.

In practice, she found it rather shocking to see people’s bodies on full display like that, in such a casual way. It made her wonder what the people in Korna did find enticing again, specific clothes? Lingerie that they tended to enjoy? What would it be like to grow up in a culture where a person’s flesh was without stigma?

If she spent a few decades in Korna, would she find herself falling into that same culture? Would it be reversible? Would she want to reverse it?

Zoe shrugged as she wandered through the streets towards where she remembered Lila’s home being, and knocked on the door.

Lila opened it a few minutes later, with bits of gray speckled through her head and wrinkles on her face. “Hello?"

“Hey, I’m Zoe?" Zoe asked.

“Oh.” Lila paused for a moment. “Oh! Zoe! Yes I remember you now. How are you? Come in, come in.” She walked in and gestured for Zoe to follow.

Zoe walked in and sat down in the living room on a comfortable couch made from some red fabric and filled with some large, albeit quite soft spheres of some kind.

“What brings you here?” Lila asked as she sat down on a wooden rocking chair with a similar looking red cushion on the seat.

“Oh I was wondering if Eliza was around.” Zoe asked.

Lila nodded. “She’s off somewhere right now. I can send her a message if you like? I think she should be back later today or maybe tomorrow. She tends to come by more and more lately.”

“That would be great, if you could.” Zoe said.

Lila smiled and summoned a piece of paper along with a pen, and placed them on the table in front of Zoe to write on.

Hey Eliza, it’s Zoe. I’m the immortal girl you met a while ago, I’m not sure if you remember me. I get distracted quite easily and tend to forget about things. Maybe that’s just a part of growing old as an immortal. Y’know I always read these stories of immortals who wouldn’t even realize how much time had passed and thought it was silly.

How would you now know that a year, or two years has passed since you last spoke with your grandchildren, or friends, or whoever. But now I’m here, and it’s happening to me, and I dunno. It’s weird. I feel like I need to sit down and make a checklist of things to do so I don’t forget things.

Anyway I’m rambling. I’m here in Korna and I have a few things I’d love to bounce off of you if you’re up for having a chat at some point.

Zoe looked up at Lila. “Could you send a message to me when Eliza comes back?”

“Of course.” Lila said.

“Okay, thanks.” Zoe said and turned her attention back to the note.

Get Lila to send a message when you’re in town. No rush. I’m rather quick now, so I should be knocking at her door in a few minutes. Hope you’re still doing well, see you in a while.

Zoe folded up the paper and handed it to Lila who cast her skill. Mana surged around her and ripped the paper away, sending small ripples through space that Zoe hadn’t been able to notice last time.

“Interesting skill. How’d you get it?" Zoe asked.

“Oh, Ash and I started out as a courier when we were younger. They were supposed to be the protection, and I was the logistics, so to speak. I don’t think that it was the best thing we could have done, but I enjoy some of the skills I got from then still.” Lila answered with a serene looking smile on her face.

Zoe almost jumped out of her seat when she noticed some violent fluctuations in her Cosmic Vision before Eliza popped into Lila’s living room a moment later.

“Hey!" Eliza said.

“What the hell was that?” Zoe asked.

“What?" Eliza asked.

“Hello, Eliza.” Lila said.

“Hi, Lila.” Eliza smiled at Lila then looked back at Zoe and shrugged. “What?"

“Whatever you used to teleport here? That was terrifying.” Zoe said.

Eliza laughed. “It’s a new skill I got. Just lets me teleport back here, but it’s convenient enough.” She walked over and sat down on the couch next to Zoe.

“How far did that let you go?” Zoe asked.

“I was at the capital. Was about to head back home the long way when I got your message, and every meeting with you having something new is a good one.” Eliza grinned. “What’ve you got this time?”

“Uh, it’s not really safe here.” Zoe said.

“Lila? Wanna come?” Eliza asked.

“Sure, I wasn’t doing anything today anyway.” Lila smiled.

“Alright, lets get going. Somewhere out in the wilderness then?" Eliza asked.

Zoe smiled. “I’ve got a hole in the wall back in Foizo we can use.”

“Foizo’s a bit far there, I can teleport back but I can’t get out very quick. Is it that important?" Eliza asked.

“I can take us there, won’t be long.” Zoe said. “Can you two see in the dark alright? I don’t really have any lights in my hole.”

Lila shook her head. “No, but I have some lanterns we can use.”

“Flames?" Zoe asked.

Lila nodded.

“Mmm, might not be the best. We’ll see. Lets get going, anyway. I’m dying to share some stuff I’ve found with you.” Zoe said.

“Alright, take us away then.” Eliza said.

Zoe held out her hand and after a series of annoying nods, the two women grabbed onto her arm letting Zoe Cosmic Step them out of Korna and on their way towards Foizo. The trip back was a bit longer since her mana was split between the three of them, but she chuckled at the thought of a few minutes to Foizo being a longer journey.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Eliza laughed when they landed just outside the stone door to Zoe and Emma’s home. “I think I remember traumatizing you with a flight back from Ash and Lila’s farm a few decades ago.”

Zoe chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve come a long way since then. I’m not level eight anymore.”

“No, no you’re not.” Eliza said.

“Alright, I’ll let Emma know that we have some visitors and then bring you two in to my little enchanting room.” Zoe said.

Eliza and Lila both nodded and watched as Zoe held up her enchanted gem to shunt the stone wall off to the side. A process she hadn’t needed to do in years thanks to her powerful teleporting abilities. Maybe they’d just get a proper door on the place someday instead, disguising the door as a normal mountainside made little sense when there was a growing garden just off to the side and windows with sleeping cats laying on the windowsills.

“Hey Emma!” Zoe called out as she walked down the hallway.

“Zoe?” Emma called back in a confused voice. “You’re walking?"

“Yeah.” Zoe turned into the kitchen. “Thought it’d be fun.”

“Was it?” Emma asked.

Zoe shrugged. “Eh.”

Emma chuckled. “Good opportunity to work on your carpentry skills a bit then. Make it an exciting walk worth taking, someday.”

“Maybe, that’s not a bad idea. Too many things to do, I’ll never be able to get to them all.” Zoe said.

“You finish up in Korna already?” Emma asked.

“No, no. I brought Eliza and Lila back. They’re just standing out front, I wanted to let you know. Y’know, in case you were…” Zoe did air quotes with her fingers. “Indecent.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, bring them in. It’ll be nice to see them again. I’m not sure I ever met Lila actually. Maybe once? I can’t honestly remember.”

“Yeah I’m not sure. I know you’ve met Eliza before, but I’m not sure if you’ve met Lila.” Zoe said. “Anyway, I’ll go get them. We’re gonna be in the back room talking about the Frost I’ve got for a bit, if you wanted to come join us at some point.”

“Maybe. Once the soup is done. Actually.” Emma summoned a spoon and scooped up some of the soup, handing the spoon to Zoe. “Taste it.”

Zoe sipped the soup from the spoon and rolled it around in her mouth. The aroma coming from the pot was incredible, but the actual soup itself tasted a little bland and watery. “Needs some salt. And mushrooms might be good if you have any.”

Emma nodded. “Alright, thanks.”

“No problem.” Zoe teleported back out in front and grabbed the two women who were waiting, then teleported them into the dark enchanting room. It was still rather chilly from her last experiment, and Zoe grimaced thinking of how Lila and Eliza would handle it.

Eliza looked around the room while Lila summoned some covered metal lanterns and placed them around the room, casting a flickering light over the rather depressing looking room with nothing but a simple table set in the centre of it. Zoe almost thought it looked like an old timey interrogation set from some mafia movie with the dim lighting.

“Cold.” Eliza said.

“Yeah. I found this.” Zoe summoned the Frost and placed it on the table. “Any idea what it is?"

“Hmm, I think I have heard of a few of these before, but never a Frost. Haven’t actually seen one myself at all, either. Where’d you find this?" Eliza asked.

“You remember the cold cave near here?” Zoe asked. “You came and visited me once and we went exploring in it for a bit.”

Eliza nodded. “Yeah, chilly place. This was there?"

“Yeah.” Zoe said.

“Fascinating.” Eliza rubbed her chin as she walked around it, looking at it from every angle. She reached out and touched it, letting the frost crawl up her finger before she yanked it away and flicked the ice off of her.

“I enchanted it with my Frost skill and it got really, really cold.” Zoe said.

“Huh.” Eliza hummed.

“Is it perhaps just a better gem?” Lila suggested.

“It could be.” Eliza said. “It could be.”

“Or?" Zoe asked.

“An egg?” Eliza suggested.

“An egg?” Zoe asked.

“Not for a creature, mind you. It’s quite mana dense, though. Not exceptionally so, but notably so. It could be just a better gem that enhances cold enchantments. That’s perhaps even the most likely scenario, I would imagine.” Eliza said.

“It’s a little bit much, though. I think it’d freeze all of Foizo if I enchanted it with Frost and just let it be for a few years.” Zoe said.

“Yes, that’s a bit of an excessive effect, even if it does enhance cold effects. Which makes me believe that it may have another effect in the system.” Eliza said.

“An egg, for the system?" Zoe asked.

“Yes, why not? A dungeon egg. Maybe we stumbled into a dungeon during its formation, and you stole away its core before it could properly form.” Eliza suggested.

“Flester’s Might became a dungeon, and I don’t recall anybody finding anything like this there, though.” Zoe said.

“Did people explore Flester before it became a dungeon? Delve down into the library, crawl through all of the branches? Search through every remaining basement and ruined building?" Eliza asked.

“I think so. I know a few people who were going around in there before, looting it for all it was worth. I went down into the library a few times even to get books. That’s where I got most of the books in my library from, actually.” Zoe said.

“Hmm. Well, maybe it’s not a dungeon egg then. Still, the thought makes me wonder how dungeons are formed. Maybe I’ll spend a bit in this Flester’s Might. A shame I wasn’t here when it happened, though. Were you?" Eliza asked.

“I was, yeah. Pretty incredible sight. Got a feat out of it, too.” Zoe said.

“Yeah I heard of that. Fascinating.” Eliza said. “Well anyway, what I’ve heard of these is that they are exceptionally useful as enchantments. I think Lila’s right, they’re likely just more potent gems. If you have any cold enchantments you need for something, then there’s probably nothing you could find that would be better than this.”

“Worth much?" Zoe asked.

“Oh, I’m sure. A few thousand gold, perhaps?" Eliza shrugged. ”Not sure.“

“Eh. I don’t know what to do with the money I already have anyway. Guess I’ll just save it for when I can think of something useful then. Thanks.” Zoe said.

Eliza shrugged. “Was neat to see, anyway. Never gotten to touch one myself.”

“How far have you been, in your adventures?” Zoe asked.

“Oh, I get around. Why?" Eliza asked.

“You ever been down in the valleys?" Zoe asked.

“I’ve seen a few valleys, yeah. Rarely anything nice in them though.” Eliza said.

“No, the big valleys. Where the darkness rules the night?" Zoe asked.

“Ah, those. I’ve heard of them but never been myself. Too dangerous, to my understanding. Would love to go one day though.” Eliza said.

“I was in one recently. Dangerous is pretty accurate, but if you’re careful then they’re not too bad I don’t think. I’d like to avoid them for a while, but do you know why they get so dark? What causes the shadows to come to life? It’s a weird place.” Zoe asked.

Eliza shook her head. “I know they exist, but that’s about it. I’m not sure they’re related to the system, so I’ve never felt the need to go risk getting lost in one.”

Zoe nodded. “You ever been to the Springs of Gir? They have some weird tunnels beneath the springs that I’m not sure the purpose of, and they were quite adamant that I don’t explore them.”

Eliza grinned. “Oh do they now?”

“Oh dear.” Lila said, with a hint of a smile creeping up at the edges of her lips.