My fist clenched around Scout's Oath's shaft. My first impulse was to demand the name and then...

"Don't do anything stupid," Alice warned. "I'll restrain you if I have to."

Another reminder that my stupid plan to skip town because of her meddling required her permission. Me trying to outrun Alice was like a toddler trying to outrun someone with the Athlete Class. I forced myself to face her. "Who?"

Alice tutted. "That's not how the game is played. Your turn." I crossed my arms and stared at her. Alice's ears twitched with irritation. The silence stretched. Then, she caved.

"Promise me you won't go after her," Alice said.

"I'm level zero," I shouted back. "Whoever this woman is, she killed my father. I'm not as stupid as you believe me! Who is she?"

"The Time Witch. Liliane Fade."

My vision swam. I lost my balance and almost fell down. Liliane Fade. The Legendary Time Witch. And not as in legendary. Her Class rarity had to be at least that high. Classes had seven rarities. Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, Legendary, Mythic, and Unique. The former six were in ascending order of power, but Unique classes could be better or worse than any. Few people around these lands hadn't heard about the Fade family of witches. Heroes to a few, villains in a broader comprehension, but inscrutable and dangerous. Their bounties were astronomical but few dared go against them. Liliane's level was anyone's guess but it surely was way past the three digits threshold.

The overwhelming sadness and grief returned and it was as if I had learned of my father's demise once more. This time, however, I had a name. It didn't make sense.

"Why would she go after my father?"

Alice bit her lower lip and looked away. The same guilt I saw in her face several times during this conversation reappeared with redoubled intensity. It didn't make sense. What had my father done to deserve the wrath of such villainess? Or...

"Why would my father go after such a dangerous person?"

Eyes closed, face scrunched in pain, Alice mumbled as she wept. "Because we learned that Liliane Fade was pregnant. We believed she would be weakened, or too afraid to fight with a round belly. A party of elite among most Guild branches was assembled and sent after the Time Witch. None of them with levels lower than a hundred-fifty. Your father volunteered to go. None returned alive. But their bodies were returned to us in a delivery box, along with all their equipment and a note from Liliane Fade."

Bloody hell. She not only slaughtered the best the Guild had to offer but sent the bodies back without looting them. My extremities felt like freezing. I was so shocked I couldn't even think. But a question formed in my lips. "What did the note say?"

Alice's laugh was dark like nothing I'd ever seen in my sixteen years. When she spoke, it was like someone was raking knives over granite. "Threaten my daughter's life again, and I will destroy your little Guild and kill everyone affiliated with it." Alice sucked in a sharp breath. "The Guild leadership decided to suspend all bounties on Liliane Fade for the time being. You are forbidden from seeking vengeance if—"

I snorted and laughed. Then, with a deep sigh, one thing came to mind. "Wait, she doesn't want people threatening her daughter's life? How can she know it's a girl if she's still pregnant?"

"Others had wondered about that too. We determined that Liliane Fade 's class allows her or she has other means to see the future. Given what we know of her Class and title, it's the former."

I wondered how people knew that Time Witch was Liliane's Class but didn't ask. "No, I won't seek vengeance." Learning the truth behind my father's death drained what energy I had left. My rushed escape felt childish and an overreaction right now.

"Good. So, what are you going to do now, George?"

I let a yawn escape my mouth. "I think I'm going home."

"Will I see you at work tomorrow?"

"Sure, why not?"

I was too tired, physically and emotionally, to resist. All I wanted was to put this day behind me and sleep.

*

*

I slumped on my bed without doffing my armor or my gear. My eyes felt heavy, my face was moist for some reason, and my mind was spinning a thousand kilometers per hour. The questions it brought to fore were one. Why would my father do such a thing? The answer came as clear as spring water and drew a snort out of me.

Because the Guild asked. A man with a sense of duty like my father would gladly take on a suicidal mission to eradicate a villain such as Liliane Fade.

I knew little about the woman, most of it from folklore and old wives' tales. Witches were overall bad, with a few good apples notwithstanding. As far as Class morality went, they weren't as bad as others but still... illegal. Like Blood Mage, for example. They could cure diseases that no Priest ever would, but they could also murder dozens to fuel their wicked rituals.

In the end, the Guild was responsible for my father's death. Because they put him on the path of collision with Liliane Fade. Send a toddler to fight a dragon, then get angry at the result. Not a very productive way to spend one's time.

Alice didn't tell me everything. She glossed over her participation in all this but I think I had enough. My heart had no doubt my father went to fight Liliane Fade fully aware of what could happen and why he was doing that. He wasn't easy to full or mislead. Also, it was kind of a shitty move from the guild to organize a death squad to kill a pregnant woman.

Tired and psychologically exhausted, I went to sleep. The next day, I only woke up a few minutes before noon.

It was easy to tell the time of the day by looking at the planetary ring. One just needed to read the shadow cast by the planet upon the rings as it spun around itself. Some people who needed precise time used gnomish clocks but most could tell the time with enough accuracy just by looking at the sky. Right now, it was fully lit.

The roof of my mouth was dry and leathery. Since I had all my gear with me, I fixed that issue by taking a few sips from my waterskin.

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I was late for work but nobody should raise an issue with that. My work hours had just shifted from the morning to the late night since I spent all that time in a meeting with my boss.

I removed the bowstaff from the quiver and focused my mind into Scout's Oath. The runes flared in a familiar pattern; one I've seen ever since I could remember. A Scout had to scout; else the city would fall to evil.

Fixing a few things that were displaced by my sleep, I went across the street to the Guild Hall.

*

*

Upon entering, I noticed that the four slips for the Al-Mi'raj warrens were gone from the board. I didn't receive any notifications so the Adventurers who took them must be doing other quests or just taking their time.

The Adventurers drowning their sorrows at the tavern side greeted me as I made my way to the booths. I went to the other side and greeted the receptionists that weren't busy at the moment. The others just exchanged a glance or, in one particular case, a sultry wink.

Blushing, I climbed the stairs and calmed my hormones before knocking on Alice's office door.

"Come in, George," the melodic and familiar elven voice called from the other side. I entered. "Did you sleep well?"

"No, my boss kept me up all night," I replied with a deadpan expression.

"Ready to go scout threats on your own?" She asked. I nodded. "Good, because you won't do that today. Did our overeager youth kill the al-Mi'raj?"

"Did they bring the horns already? I have no idea." Alice smirked. I tried to keep my poker face. "What am I supposed to do today?"

"Level up. At the Dungeon."

My facade broke. Dungeons were artificial constructs where monsters, resources, traps, and tunnels were constantly replenished. They were great sources of experience, power, and crafting materials but were also a huge pain in the butt. Because a Dungeon's main purpose was to literally eat people. The monsters and treasure were lures to entice people to enter it. A gamble. If they came out, the delvers (people who entered Dungeons) won. If they didn't the Dungeon got one more snack.

"Are you going to abuse your position to make me skip the line?" I asked.

Despite the danger, the lure of power and wealth was too much. More people than could safely fit inside the Dungeon wanted to enter, forcing the local authorities to set an entrance quota, barring most from the opportunity. It was a first-come-first-served quota but still.

"No, the Guild has a few delving slots reserved every day. It's no abuse or nepotism to use one of them to train a new recruit," Alice reply was firm and no-nonsense. "In fact, I'll escort you."

She stood up, wearing the same enchanted jewelry as ever but I noticed hard plates underneath her dress. Form-fitting armor, probably also enchanted to the nines.

"If that's my task for today, then I'll go," I replied, wincing inside at the cheesy line. No, it wasn't how the form-fitting armor was too form-fitting, damn it.

"Good," Alice smiled, then led me out of her office. "Let's visit the armory, you should take at least four sheaves of arrows with you."

We got the tightly packed bundles of ammunition and a specialized backpack to hold them and went to the Dungeon.

*

*

The streets were busy. Scents of food from several restaurants, taverns, and street vendors dominated the air. Merchants and other solicitors peddling their wares shouted over the din of the crowd. Nothing of note until we reached Temple Row, the street where all the city's main religious headquarters was located.

The Dragon Priests, with their distinctive scaled robes called for the faithful to worship She Who Holds the Planet Afloat. A goddess who chose exile in an ice coffin deep underneath the planet's vast oceans. Then the Golem Fathers, in their colorful and angular metallic armor. One of them even piloted a five-meter-tall boxy golem with a huge metallic claw, shouting "Faith is eternal!" with a mechanical voice. These were in front of their temples and were part of the scenery, ignored by most of the secular masses.

But something drew my attention, something new. A distinct and humble group, dressed in traveler robes, proselytized something that, at least for me, was novel.

"The end is near! Our Lord Jesus Christ will come soon to take us to the Garden of Eden!" One particular vocal Preacher abused his Loud Voice perk. "In the forgotten world of Earth, where we all shall be born anew!"

Alice grunted at the Preacher's words. When I glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, she explained, "I've heard these doomsayers preach that the 'end is near', for six centuries already" she mocked. "You'd think that if this savior was to come, he'd already be here by now."

"Have they visited our city before? Don't they know it's impossible to leave this planet? Not even the Goddess' Star Knights who survive the fall from the sky say it's possible. And where among the stars is this Earth? Who names a planet after dirty?"

"Earth is real," Alice said, to my shock. "And it was the planet where humanity began. At least they got it right," she confessed with a sigh. "But they believe that their God can move people to the other side of the galaxy. But Earth was destroyed more than two hundred thousand years ago."

"Really? Who can destroy a planet?"

Alice snorted, then pointed at the sky, right between the two Suns. The Goddess' Ring shone between them. I whistled. It made sense that the Gods could destroy worlds.

We reached a major intersection and waited for our turn to cross the street. A deluge of bicycles sped past us, some with people, others with cargo. The apparent chaos was ruled by the traffic guard, standing on an elevated dais in the middle of the intersection, waving their arms in codified patterns. In the middle, two lanes for draft animal carriages moved slower than the bicycles. Mostly horses but other exotic animals such as birds, lizards, and insects were also used.

Along with most people in the crowd, I pinched my nose as one of the giant Ocypus beetles used to pull wagons decided to relieve their scent glands. The four-meter-long black bugs were cheap to feed and care, reliable, and with more stamina than a horse at the expense of speed. Alice was unfazed but I was sure she cheated with an Air spell to keep the stench from reaching her nostrils.

The guard blew their whistles and stopped traffic. We finally crossed into the Dungeon plaza.

*

*

A small fortress, complete with guard towers and portcullises greeted us. The guards in the towers watched the inside, however. The fortifications weren't meant to keep people from going inside but to keep monsters from coming outside. Outside the main gate, a line of delver parties waited for their turn to get inside. Some of them were Guild members and greeted Alice in vain hopes she would pluck them out of the line. Just for being next to the gorgeous elf, I got more than a handful of envious glares.

We approached some heavily armored knights manning the gate. They saluted Alice when they noticed the distinctive elf. "Guild Master!"

"At ease, gentlemen," She snapped back like a military commander. For someone as ancient as her, she might've even been one in her youth. Not that Alice had a wrinkle on her face. She looked as youthful as the first time I laid eyes on her, a decade and half ago. "This is George, the newest Guild employee. He's still a bit wet behind her ears so I decided to take him for some training and leveling in the Dungeon. Please register our entry under the Guild quota."

"Sure, ma'am. He still needs to sign the admission contract if it's his first time."

"We are aware. Please lead the way."

We were taken into the inside-out fortress under the protest of some delvers. Nobody can please everyone at the same time. Inside, we were led to an office where a rotund Clerk studied a grimoire. Clerks could use some Wizard spells and also had minor divine powers regarding documents. The man snapped the book shut once he noticed us.

"Here for the admission contract?" He asked. "Good. Here, read this and sign at the bottom. Do you have your MP resource unlocked?" He asked as he decided which pen to hand over. When I replied affirmatively, he gave me the magical one.

I started to read the contract. It had some restrictions on what I could do inside the Dungeon. No attacking other delvers without threat of serious bodily harm. No hunting down the Dungeon Core. No extraction of the Dungeon Core. No provocations or inflammation of the Dungeon Core. No breaking of the Dungeon Core. Should me or my party defeat the last boss, we should immediately egress from the Dungeon. Failure to do any of these carried penalties ranging from imprisonment for ten years, in the case of murder inside the Dungeon, or immediate execution in all the others.

The City really didn't want people to break the Dungeon. It made sense, since it was a gold mine, in both literal and figurative terms. Some crazy people tried to break a Dungeon Core at any costs. Doing so would award the perpetrator a second main Class, doubling the number of Attribute points and other things like Perks per level.

Dissuading them from doing so was hard. Not even these magical contracts and the threat of death could stop them. The crazy bastards hell-bent on breaking Dungeons were called Dungeon Devotees, and quite a few tales of suffering and hardship were woven around them. I had no such intentions. Maybe if I found an unclaimed newborn Dungeon in the wild, but even then, I would consider the implications.

Contract signed, Alice and I were ushered into the dark depths of the Dungeon.