It was still light out when Eli woke, and from the look of the sun in the sky, only a few hours had passed at most. Still, he felt rejuvenated, ready to go. The need for eight hours of sleep each night was but a memory.

Eli: I'm up. What's going on?

Amy: That was quick.

Eli: Yeah, apparently I don’t have to sleep much anymore.

Amy: I love sleep.

Cruella: Same. Sleep is badass. You should join me in the dungeon, Eli. All three of you Dying Lighters should.

Eli: Sure. Samantha? Simon?

He waited a moment, but got no reply. They were probably still sleeping. Eli conjured up some food for himself: a dried, fish-smelling thing that needed more seasoning, and a wizened apple—along with a wooden mug of water that disintegrated after he emptied it. Truly a meal fit for an adventurer.

Mr. Thomas’s office was empty. Eli stretched his arms over his head and yawned before warping down to the entrance. The place was bustling with activity, not just around the goblins, either. A bunch of Peddlers had set up shop as well. Eli recognized a few of them from marketing, finance, and public relations. Now, rather than making spreadsheets and presentations, all of them were hawking weapons, armor, and even potions.

Eli walked up to a peddler named Amelia.

"Where do you get the stuff to sell?" he asked. "Do you kill stuff in the dungeon?"

"No." Amelia shook her head. "I’m not going near that place. I started with some money when I picked the class, and I’ve just been buying and selling things. Each transaction gives me experience, and I’ve leveled up a bunch already. See?"

Amelia. Human. Level 4 Peddler.

"Sure. Well then, let me buy this," Eli said, pointing at a pair of boots. There was nothing special about them, no bonuses or extra protection. Just a pair of worn-looking leather booths he didn't even need. If making trades provided Amelia with experience, why not help?

Amelia grabbed the pair, her eyes lighting up as she looked them over and nodded to herself. "That’ll be 50 copper."

Eli checked his inventory and found he had plenty to spare. "Here’s 100," he said, handing the coins over. The second they dropped into Amelia’s palm, they disappeared into her inventory, and her eyes narrowed.

"Got no experience for that."

"No?" Eli asked.

"Don't think you're allowed to game the system in that way," she said, handing 50 copper back in a small leather bag. She nodded. "Ah, there we go. Now I got some experience."

"Gotcha," Eli said, laughing. "So, do you want to buy a pair of boots from me?" he asked, holding the same boots out.

"Best I can do is two coppers."

With that double transaction done and Amelia reaching level 5, Eli walked over to the goblins instead, recognizing one of them leaning against the wall.

"Artie? You're here selling things?"

"There you are," Artie said, pushing himself off the wall and coming up to Eli. "Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you. And no, I'm not here to trade."

"I dealt with the church. It's gone now. Then I had to sleep some. What’s up?"

Artie shifted. "Well, the council wants to know how we’re doing regarding Solomon. Are you getting closer to finding him or what? Our scouts keep coming back from the forest, maimed from traps, not having seen a thing. It’s chaos out there."

"I have my best people on it," Eli promised. "We’ll find him. Don’t worry."

"Who are your friends?" Eli asked, indicating the three goblin merchants.

"Well," Artie explained, "goblins like coin just as much as humans. More, maybe. We like to tinker with stuff, and buying material for parts is expensive. We generally make our money from trade since we’re small and don’t like fighting. Other than when we’re forced into it."

Eli gave him a look. "When you're forced into it?"

"Well, we kind of were. Thought we were, at least. You know? But now there’s peace, so we’re here to take your coin. Apparently, you get quite a bit from killing beasts and monsters. Strange to me, but hey, coin is coin."

"Are they selling anything good?" Eli asked.

"No. Just glass beads and baubles. Crap, really," Artie replied. "Humans love buying crap. Having money in your pocket apparently makes you itch to spend it."

"Some things don’t change, I guess.".

Artie followed Eli out the front doors. Eli was pleasantly surprised not to see Marsch and Daniel guarding the place. Two other fighters had the honors. Both of them looked incredibly bored.

Jim. Human. Level 4 Fighter (Mace fighter).

Keith. Human. Level 5 Fighter (Archer).

"Hey guys. Have you two been in the dungeon?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Yeah," one of the Jim said. "We’re itching to get back, too. Got three more hours of this mind-numbing boredom first, though. At least we'll get a couple of hours in the dungeon before it gets dark. It’s going to be great."

"What are the mobs like?" Eli asked.

"Well, there are these frog-type things," Jim said. "At the start of the cave, there’s a lot of them, but they’re low level. They don’t really attack back. All they do is just sort of jump around and flick their tongues in the air. Really easy to kill. A little further in, we have some lizardlings. They’re a little tougher, but quite a few have ventured in there. That’s where we’re going after this," he pointed to himself and the archer, Keith. "As long as we're fighting in groups, things are usually pretty okay, even with most of us spending all our money on buying health potions from the Peddlers."

"The apothecaries are in cahoots with them," Keith muttered.

"The apothecaries?" Eli asked. "I thought Zack was the only one."

"Nah. There are two of them on the fourth floor," Jim said. "All they do all day long is gather ingredients and crank out health potions. It’s a booming market, seems like it. The Peddlers get experience and a cut from selling them, so they’re happy. At least we get some health potions, even if we have to pay dearly for 'em."

Eli wished them luck, then continued outside, talking to Artie. "What the hell happened here? Everyone is suddenly so fine with going outside and doing things."

"It’s my doing, of course," Artie said. "I made an eloquent speech, rousing their sense of adventure."

"Really?"

"No. You people have no sense of grandeur. That Cruella woman pushed most of them out of the building and then cursed at them until they followed her to the dungeon. I do think the peace between you guys and us goblins has helped a lot. People aren’t feeling as… aren’t as afraid anymore, you know?"

"I guess," Eli said.

Eli: Cruella. You're the one who finally got people outside the building?

Cruella: There might have been some light threats of violence.

Amy: She did great.

Eli: Good job!

Cruella: I need these people to level up so I'll have some people to party with.

Eli: We're not going anywhere.

Cruella: We'll see.

Amy: I think HR and management leaving helped. People aren’t as tense.

Eli: That's a good thing. Hey Amy, I have some gear for you. A cloak that adds +10% pet handling, whatever that does.

Amy: Cool. It makes my pets more likely to listen to my orders.

Eli: They don't want to listen.

Amy: Some do. Most don't. Turns out, animals can be pretty stubborn.

Eli: I'll bring it over. Are you in the dungeon too?

Amy: No, I’m in the forest. Following some tracks I think might lead me to something I can use for a mount. Been a long while since I sat in a saddle.

Eli: Cruella, I'll be over by the dungeon soon. Just have to check on something here first.

Cruella: Be seeing you.

Eli stopped in his tracks, surprised at what he was seeing. The wooden wall outside was being rebuilt, along with a bunch of small houses and cottages. They were creating a small village, almost. For now, there were only five houses, but judging by the speed of the crafters putting it all together, things were changing fast.

He saw a pair of familiar faces over by a massive field and approached, waving. "Stu, Charlotte!"

Charlotte didn’t hear him, but he heard her shout, "Put your backs into it, fools!" A buff appeared by her health bar—a Barbarian shout speed buff to go with her farming skills. She was sweating all over, her muscles rippling and shining in the sunlight as she pulled on what looked like an old plow. Two men in their early twenties pushed on the plow from behind, both of them with their shirts off to match Charlotte. The three of them kept up a good pace.

Stu was leaning on a shovel stuck into the mud, observing the plowers as Eli approached. "Hey Stu, looks like you’re back to farming, huh?"

"Eli, good to see ya. I figure we hopefully won’t be attacked again anytime soon," he said, glancing down at Artie, standing around trying to look non-threatening. "We need food. People are getting hungry, but we should have that sorted soon, I think."

"Do you need some food, Stu? I can make you some."

"Make me some?" Stu asked.

Eli conjured him a meal of stale bread and a hard bit of dried meat. Stu hesitantly accepted them.

"Now that’s just cheating, isn’t it? I mean, you're not going to win any awards with this stuff, but still."

"If it works, it works," Eli replied with a grin.

He shared a quick greeting with Charlotte, but it was obvious she wanted to get back to work and was uncomfortable in his presence. Perhaps he reminded her of her failure as a fighter in their party. He wanted to explain to her that he didn't consider her one. Eli understood her reluctance to fight more than ever now, after having had a few close calls himself. It wasn't cowardly to want no part of that if she could improve in a different way. No one could tell her she wasn't courageous, and by the look of her level, she was doing alright.

Charlotte. Human. Barbarian (10) / Crafter (Farmer) (4).

Rather than being able to put his thoughts into words, he simply encouraged her farming. They said their goodbyes, and Eli promised to try their potatoes once they were done. He headed across the field of grass, setting his eyes on the forest and the dungeon beyond, guided by Arty.

He messaged Zack:

Eli: Hey, Zack. I have a stealth cloak for you, if you want it.

It took Zack a while to reply.

Zack: Thanks, we’re, uh, quite far away right now. I’ll let you know if we get closer, alright?

Eli: If?

Zack didn’t answer.

Wanting to try a few of his newer skills, Eli cast Agility on both himself and Arty, causing them both speed up. It took some getting used to, but soon, they were both speeding across the grassy field.

“This is great!” Arty said. “Oh, before I forget—could you return to the hospital later and heal people? Word’s gotten out, and now the place is teeming with goblins.”

“Of course,” Eli said.

“Another thing—you have quite a few people in your group,” Arty said, listing a bunch of names Eli didn’t recognize.

“Well, what about them?” Eli asked, almost tripping and falling over a small stick in the grass he'd missed due to their speed.

“They call themselves Tinkers. Strange name for your profession, but it is what it is. Anyway, they wanted to know if they could go back with me and us goblins. What our shapers do closely resembles the little machines and stuff they’re attempting to make, and some of them are kind of interesting, actually. But they’re not quite getting the hang of using mana in their constructions, so I figured—hey, if they want to come, let them come. They can learn from us, and we will learn from them." Arti hesitated a moment. "Come to think of it, a lot of our shapers have been leaving town in the last couple of months."

“Sounds like a good thing, then,” Eli said. “Wait, you were asking me for permission?”

“Of course,” Arty said. “You’re their king or whatever, right?”

“Not their king,” Eli said as they crossed into the forest.

Arti stopped. “Thought humans always have kings or queens, or whatever. I haven’t been able to locate anyone else in charge.”

“If they want to go, bring them along, for sure,” Eli said. “They’ll learn a lot of interesting things from you guys.”

“Great,” Arty said, though he took a step back as they neared the forest. “I don’t think I’ll go any further.”

“You’re not coming?” Eli asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” Arty said. “I don’t want to run into Solomon.”

“I doubt he’s nearby."

“Still, can’t be too sure. I’m thinking he’s a bad goblin. And that Amy woman said something about traps. I hate traps.”

“Fair enough,” Eli said. “Can you point me in the right direction?”

Arty pointed. “Should be nearby.”

“Thank you, Arty. See you later.”

It was time to get a good look at this new dungeon.