"I trust you can continue managing Dramos without us while we secure the area's mana wellspring." Carlos was sitting comfortably in one of Mayor Stelras's visitor chairs, with Amber in the other. This was still the mayor's office, after all, and Carlos had no intention of taking it over as his own office. People would expect something far grander for a high lord's office, and Carlos planned to set it up in a completely different location, besides. He also wanted it to have a suitable place for Amber as co-leader of their house alongside him, unlike the mayor's single desk.

Stelras nodded confidently from his desk. "Of course, Lord Carlos. The recent kidnapping incident aside, you haven't shaken things up much around here yet. I've managed this city for decades; a little longer should make no difference. How long do you expect it to take?"

"I don't actually know. Lorvan?"

The royal guard at Carlos's side inclined his head. "For you to absorb enough ambient mana-"

"'Aether', please. The distinct academic terms were made for good reason." Carlos accompanied his interruption with a stern glance at Lorvan.

"Yes, my lord." Lorvan cleared his throat lightly and began again. "For you to absorb enough aether to gain the raw power necessary to defeat the wellspring's guardian, and subsequently to gain sufficient proficiency in wielding that power, will take at least a full month, and possibly multiple months. That is accounting for your ability to absorb actively while sleeping, and also having a cooperative dungeon to multiply your absorption rate. For most nobles, it would definitely be multiple months."

Carlos cocked his head and did some quick mental calculations. Our efforts to mimic dungeon pre-processing of aether just about tripled our safe absorption rate, and Purple as an actual dungeon can probably do it better. That merged superstructure takes 10 times as much to level it up, though, and it doesn't absorb any faster, and if we pack even more structures into it, it will need even more aether to advance. At a rough estimate, those factors combined work out to a net result of one-third the level advancement rate we had before. It took about 10 hours of active absorption before for each density compression, or levelup as I've started calling it, so 30 hours per level. Wellsprings are above even Lorvan's level, so we have at least 30 or so levels to go… He nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

He focused back on Stelras again. "Let's say two months for planning purposes, and we'll see how it goes. We've already made arrangements with our adventurer employees and the rest to depart tomorrow morning. Keep us updated on any news about the Crown's investigations into our kidnapping. And that leaves just one other matter we want you to handle. Amber?"

Amber shifted uncomfortably in her chair and cleared her throat. "Right. So, we've already told you about Lord Merchant Darmelkon's request. We want you to negotiate with him for us. We believe you have a better understanding of the value of all the things we could ask him for than we do." She hesitated, then finally slumped a little and shyly looked down at her fidgeting hands.

Carlos gave her a sympathetic look, then leaned forward and continued for her. "We owe him a favor, and he's calling it in. The favor is that we're even willing to consider his request at all. Be firm about that. If he tries to insist on getting more for his favor, wish him luck with trying to find any other noble willing to cut a deal like this with him."

Stelras smirked. "I doubt he'll take issue with that. He knows damn well how touchy nobles are about sharing their secrets."

Carlos nodded. "Right. Secondly, before you even get started on negotiating payment for helping his son, we want restitution for the years of bullying Amber suffered from Kindar. Restitution appropriate for our new station as high nobles. If Darmelkon balks at that, or if he tries to excuse Kindar's behavior as reasonable or acceptable in any way, the deal is off. Don't warn him. If he doesn't respect us, or at least our rank, enough to accept immediately and without argument the need to make up for Kindar's past bullying, then we will not engage with him. And again: no warning. Don't tell him in advance how important this is. Just cut him off and tell him he wasted his favor by refusing to rectify his son's reprehensible behavior." Carlos paused and looked at Amber, then reached over and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Amber sniffled and nodded. Her voice trembled weakly when she spoke. "Yeah." She took a deep breath and sniffled again. "I'm okay. I just… never thought I'd get vindication like this." She got out a handkerchief, wiped off a couple tears, and blew her nose, then folded and tucked it away. She sat up and squared her shoulders. "Right. So, the favor got us to the negotiation table. To keep us there, Darmelkon must concede instantly about restitution, and that he will give it unconditionally. If he does, then negotiate an appropriate price for helping Kindar become a noble. You can tell him that we're confident enough about our ability to successfully do it that we're willing to stake the restitution on it, in addition to any advance payment you negotiate. From there, get the best terms you can for us. Whether he pays in money, items, other things, or a combination, we'll want to gain something important from the deal that we can't easily get for ourselves without him. You probably have better context for assessing that than we do."

Stelras nodded gravely. "Understood. If he so much as utters a single comment about how… let's say 'ordinary' Kindar's behavior toward you was, he's out. Any other terms or guidelines for this?"

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Carlos raised his hand in front of himself. "Just one. If the deal is concluded and Kindar gets here soon enough, we might let him tag along on our trip to the wellspring, if doing so won't slow us down too much. Details and logistics of that will have to be determined. Oh, and whatever terms you negotiate are subject to our approval, of course."

"Naturally." Stelras smiled. "Well, if that's everything, I'll get started on drafting a letter and all the other business waiting for my attention, and you can go get ready for your departure tomorrow."

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The next day, Carlos exulted in experiencing open-air flight for the second time. It was much more comfortable than the first time, thanks to being planned in advance instead of improvised on the spot. The contraption of chairs bolted to metal rods and an enormous wind sail that Esmorana used to carry her party aloft had been expanded with a second row, giving it eight seats. Carlos himself rode in the center left of the front row, with Amber on his right. The wind blew his hair wildly as they flew, and the ground sped past below them, the trees and occasional clearings little more than blurs.

Trinlen and Ressara sat behind them in the center seats of the back row, with Esmorana and her party members taking the outside seats. Esmorana could have flown herself separately with ease, but the two royal guards had revealed that they could fly independently and elected to act as flying escorts, so the seat was available. Purple, as a crystal prism only 1.5 inches long, rode in Carlos's pocket.

After a remarkably brief flight, they touched down in a patch of wildflowers and hiked a few minutes through near-trackless forest to an opening in the ground nestled beneath a copse of trees. Carlos immediately recognized the steady flow of aether into it. "So this is the other dungeon near Dramos? Level 12, I think you said, though it's in a Level 9 area?"

Lorvan nodded. "Yes. Considerably more distant than the first dungeon we escorted you to, and higher level, but it is delved far more often and more successfully. This one doesn't use swarms. Nothing here should stand any chance of getting past us, but as we discussed we will use our protective force bubbles to make absolutely certain of it. Set down Purple, and I'll take care of that momentarily."

Carlos and Amber nodded in agreement, and Carlos took Purple out of his pocket and placed the crystal a few inches above the ground, where Purple proceeded to hover when Carlos released his hand. Bringing a dungeon core into another dungeon might anger the dungeon, and we don't want that. "Everyone still happy with the split of who stays behind to guard?"

Sconter just waved at them from where he was already standing by the extra force bubble that Ordens put up around Purple. Noralt slung her giant hammer over her right shoulder and walked over to join him. "Nothing interesting for me in this dungeon anyway. If you ever find a dungeon themed around steel or smithing, let me know."

Carlos chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. Wait, do all dungeons have themes? And why? A natural instinct, the dungeon being better at theme-related things, the dungeon just sticking with what it knows, or what?"

Esmorana raised an eyebrow and glanced meaningfully at the friendly purple dungeon core that was floating just a few feet over from them. "Why are you asking us that question? If anything, I'd expect you to be the one best positioned to answer it!"

"Huh. Good point." Carlos sent a quick telepathic admonition to everyone present except the royal guards. [We're trying to keep Purple's sapience secret from the royal guards, remember? And at least the details of the telepathy, too.] He turned back to Lorvan. "Let's get on with it. Lead us in, Colonel."

"Yes, sir." Lorvan nodded in acknowledge and turned to face Trinlen and Ressara. "You two. Both of you have lower level than this dungeon and will therefore be able to pull in and absorb the ambi- ahem, the aether that you will feel around you in this dungeon. Refrain from doing so, because it would greatly anger the dungeon."

Trinlen gave a jaunty salute. "You got it, sub-boss!"

Carlos gave him a quelling glare. "I have potentially important plans for this that depend on the dungeon not being too pissed off, Trinlen."

Trinlen sighed. "I'll behave, don't worry." He rolled his eyes. "Is my reputation really that bad?"

"You were literally introduced to me as 'a troublemaker.' So yeah, kind of yes."

Trinlen paused a moment, then shrugged. "Eh, fair point."

Lorvan gazed sternly at him for another second, then glanced at Ressara and turned to walk into the underground dirt tunnel. Carlos and Amber followed right behind, surrounded by transparent bubbles of force, with Trinlen and Ressara next. Haftel and Esmorana brought up the rear.

Carlos looked around constantly as they walked, wanting to not miss anything. The air felt damp, and the walls of the passageway were filled with innumerable roots, ranging from knotty wooden bundles thicker than Carlos's arm down to hair-fine tendrils thoroughly enmeshed in the hard-packed dirt. Wait, how am I seeing all of this? Lorvan hasn't made his armor glow, no one else has a light source either, and the entrance is too far back. He narrowed his eyes and searched for where the dim light was coming from. Finding it took only a few seconds. Oh, there's glowing moss everywhere. Why is there glowing moss?

He considered that question and decided that some details were beyond what he could reasonably deduce. "This glowing moss is harmless, right? It seems like an intentional light source. Does this dungeon want delvers, or something?"

"It does." Lorvan continued facing forward as he spoke over his shoulder. "If managed well, delvers can benefit a dungeon."

Carlos raised an eyebrow. "Huh. How does that work? Of the other dungeons I've seen, one was constantly drained to its last dregs by more delvers demanding things than it could handle, and the other was a terrifying killing machine known for slaughtering everyone who dared challenge it at an appropriate level."

"Killing everyone who dares enter is one way for a dungeon to gain more than it loses, but few dungeons can pull that off. I do not know the mechanics of how it works, but for a dungeon the key is to be sufficiently challenging." Lorvan glanced back at Carlos. "Dungeons that are too easy to defeat will, as you saw, be perpetually drained. They get weaker and even easier to beat, and that continues in a vicious cycle until the dungeon fails. Dungeons where delvers still win, but must put forth great effort to earn their rewards, however, tend to grow."

Lorvan stepped up to a thick curtain of moss-covered roots hanging down directly across the tunnel, blocking vision of what lay ahead beyond it. "Now, be alert. We have passed through the entrance. Beyond this veil is the dungeon proper, where its challenges and dangers begin."

He lifted the curtain, and Carlos stared in amazement at the vista beyond it.