The Spider floor was one large open cavern.

“I hate this floor,” I heard May mumble under her breath.

We could see the matriarch and the other end of the cavern, but there were rock protrusions and webs, so an archer couldn’t just stay here and target it. It had been tried, apparently, and the Matriarch could send her spiders to you. That was considered a valid tactic to clear the floor if you didn’t have a scout but could deal with swarms of spiders. The spiders came out of stealth and to you. You can easily get buried in webs, though.

We would move around the cavern and deal with the spiders piecemeal. Once I recognised the different spiders and their hiding techniques, I could spot them easily enough. The only ones to watch out for were the ones that dropped from the ceiling.

One type of spider camouflaged and looked like a rock, while others hid in crevasses or created hidden traps in a web that looked like solid ground. My Spectral Vision (Heat) was the best way to find them. I was a bit annoyed that I couldn’t have Heat and See-thru on at the same time. I also trained my Observant Eye to spot them.

I stayed with the others, spotting the spiders. May maintained her light ball and used firebolts to burn the webs. The spiders needed more than a fire bolt to kill, so Jana, Fred, and I were kept busy.

I sheathed Lightreaver and used my knife from the ring, which was very effective. Jane was interested in buying it from me but knew she couldn’t afford it. May looked at it enviously as well.

Joe was kept busy cleansing the poison. I am sure he noticed he never needed to cleanse me, but he didn’t mention it.

There was no real danger here as long as you could spot the spiders and counteract the webs and poison.

The Matriarch was a little dangerous, but this is what Jane had May save her mana for. The Matriarch called fast, small spiders to attack, and May constantly had her rain of Fire going. They would be very annoying if I was here alone. I figured I would basically have to concentrate on taking down the Matriarch and just take the damage from the small ones and deal with them afterwards.

Burning Light would work, and I could possibly get some flammable alchemy liquid to splash around. I was not showing Burning Light to these people. In fact, I was keeping all my Spells quiet, including my images. The Images might also distract the small spiders.

The Matriarch soon fell to the five of us. The loot was only a little better. I got a robe the webs would not stick to. It didn’t have any other armour value.

I looked at the enchantment on the robe with Mana Sight, and I could possibly turn this into a ward, but I needed sticky webs, not non-stick webs. It could be a good academic exercise for the class. Wards are different to enchantments. Enchantments use a series of symbols to join together to make an effect, like joining letters to make a word. To make the enchantment into a ward, I have to examine the mana flow, densities, and types and replicate that in weaving the ward.

Enchanting was totally different. Enchanters looked for different symbols to learn and put them in different orders, but you needed the enchantment skills to power them and imbue them on different materials. At least, that was my simple understanding. There was probably more to it.

I got the feeling Jane and Joe were getting very hopeful about taking a shot at the final boss.

The Lizard Floor was a mixture of tunnels and caverns. The Lizards were cold-blooded, so they didn’t show up in my Spectral Vision (Heat). I relied on Spectral Vision (See-thru) and Observant Eye to spot them. The lizards were at a higher level and harder to kill. They were also faster, with a nasty bite, and their tongues could get you off balance. They all had a mild regeneration, so you couldn’t leave them wounded. They didn’t have poison, though.

We worked through and cleared the floor. The Boss was upright on two legs and looked more like a crocodile than a lizard. Its tail could sweep around, and it had a higher heal rate, so we had to concentrate the damage to beat out the healing. There were no swarms, though, so it was a straight fight. The boss was fast, but Jane kept it focussed on her. She had potential as a front-line fighter. They were obviously stretched in the fight and I had to do a couple of saves, but it wasn’t bad.

I thought I would have an easier time taking this boss down alone than with this group. Lop off a few limbs with Cutting Light and just keep cutting. The Matriarch would be the hardest boss for me as a solo fighter.

My reward from the lizard was a long bullwhip that gripped with a sticky substance, like their tongues. I am not sure what that would be useful for. I guess it could restrain things.

The team was happy, and I handed over all the loot, except for the boss loot, for the silver coin. This completed the conditions of the temporary contract, and we went our separate ways. They would spread the word that I was good to work with, and I would meet people and build a reputation as a good rogue/scout.

In a sense, I was farming the students rather than the Trial, but it was fine for a while. I lengthened my stay with my landlady and started doing a trial run a day. Student teams would seek me out. We didn’t always get to the final boss, and I let them suffer injuries for their stupidity, but I didn’t let anyone die.

My map was mapping the Trial floor which was different each time. Well, not each time; we had repeat floor layouts and different tweaks in the monsters. It was a good gig for a while, and I settled down. I would get bored eventually, but this was relaxing in the meantime. I was levelling my small blade techniques and getting kills for the Slayer class.

I also levelled my Harvest skill but didn’t have to deal with the loot. Sure, I had loot when we didn’t reach the boss on the final floor, and I used it to complete the quests in the Adventure Guild, but becoming a high-level Guild Adventurer was never high on my list of things to do. I was a thief, and stealing shit was more my line.

I found the Al’rashian Three Step technique quite useful. It was the footwork that kept me poised and ready.

The students came in a wide variety. Some were open to advice, and some were not. I let the ones that were not carry on, but those who wanted to learn, I advised as I could. I had Assessing Eyes, and I could tell he was a better water mage than a fire mage, but whether he would listen was up to him. She would be better with a blunt weapon, and he needs to get a spear, even though the spear is not so useful in this trial.

I helped a few rogues who were on a team and wanted to learn from me. This was my specialty area. I could give hints to the mages, but nobody knew I used to have the mage class, so my advice wasn’t so highly regarded.

I kept my relationship with the students friendly and professional, occasionally going for a celebratory drink with them. I became well-known to the students and built my reputation as an adventurer and a familiar figure in the town. It was a couple of months well spent. I even got an invite to join a senior group when their rogue was out of town.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

In my off time, I worked through the language books and searched the Guild Library. The library was small, but I found some gems. There was an introduction to Sapient Species, and there were a lot of them, from the Fairies to the various animal kin, the Fauns, Satyrs, Centaurs, Minotaurs, and Merpeople in the oceans. Then there were the cursed races like Orcs, Goblins etc. It did not claim to be a complete guide. Humans, Al’rashians, and Elves were just plain boring.

I found a herb book and learned Herbalist 1 from reading it. I also found a book on minerals and learned the Mining skill. I am guessing the Lore skill enabled this, and the Seeker Class could include searching for herbs and ores. I was not going to be a miner or herbalist, but I picked up some general tools to do this if needed. Lore levelled as I absorbed this information, and I paid an Elf to teach me Elvish to supplement the book.

I was in street clothes and sitting in a restaurant relaxing. I was starting to think my time in Slyhill was coming to an end. I had levelled my Spectral Slayer Class twice and Thief once. The trouble was my Seekers Intuition was nagging me that there was something here I was missing. Something enough to level the class, but I couldn’t figure it out.

I think it has something to do with the Trial. I have cleared it over forty times now, plus a number of partial delves. I am thinking that for the last time, I will solo it and then go, but I have no direction to go. I have tried Seeking my bond, but nothing concrete has yet come up. That is the problem with intuition.

I was looking at my map of the first floor of the trial. Because I have been in so many times, I overlaid the variations of the tunnels. There were some twisty variations to the floor. My seeker Intuition Levelled as I noticed that in all the variations, there were six places that were common in all the layers, not including the starting safe zone. Six.

I did the same to the tunnels on the third floor. Again, there are six common points. I sketched them from both floors using my Scribe skill, and they were the same distance from the starting zone on each level. They were the same six points at each level. The middle level is one large cavern. It varied in size and shape, but I am betting the same six points map there as well. I think it is definitely time for a solo run and time to investigate what I have discovered on my own.

“You are definitely not just a thief,” said a voice, drawing my attention back to the restaurant. A tall, elven lady stood there looking at me. It is very hard to judge the age of the elves, but she was not a student. Identify gave me warning tingles that this lady was dangerous. Good. There are very few of them in this town.

“I don’t believe we have met. Can I help you?”

“Why is someone with your power hanging around with students? Are you some kind of pervert?”

“I don’t think I am more perverted than most, but that is always up for interpretation. I am Marvin, by the way, but I am guessing you know that. You are…?”

“Professor Myantha. Why are you hanging around students?

“Has there been a complaint?” I asked.

“No, but you are giving them too good a deal. People don’t do that without ulterior motives. What are yours?”

“Why don’t you have a seat? It is not like I am going to spill all my secrets to you. However, I have enjoyed the last couple of months. It has been relaxing. I needed that.”

She did sit carefully. “Most people don’t consider Trials relaxing, even low-level ones like this one.”

“It depends on what you are relaxing from. What are you the professor of? At the Academy.”

“Trials, Theory and Practice. Why are you so calm? I come at you with serious accusations, and I know you are getting a threat signal from me.”

“I have been accused of worse and by worse.” I had done some of them as well. Basically, though, her threat level was way below Ranars. I didn’t say any of that.

“You are definitely a Rogue.”

“So what is it you really want?”

“I wanted to test you. You are too good and most good people have gotten bored and moved on by now,” Myantha said.

“Funnily enough, I was thinking it was getting near time to move on. Are you here to make me an offer?”

She looked at me in silence, then said, “Do you know a student called Grace?”

“I have done several runs with her team.”

“She said you told her to switch to blunt weapons, and when she did a week later, she got a specialised Class.”

“Good on her,” I said.

“Do you remember Mahola?”

“Specialised Mage Apprentice, I believe.”

“Yes, and she said you taught her a Mana Control technique, which has caused it to shoot up the levels. How do you know so much about Mana Control if you are just a Thief?”

“As you already pointed out, I am not just a Thief.”

“You told Hone he should become a thief rather than an assassin.”

“Thieves are good. I like being a Thief.”

“He said that you showed him how to spot the rock spiders and helped him practice, and as a result, he learned the Keensight Skill.”

“And? Is there a point to this?” I asked.

“Do you have the Trainer or Teacher Profession?”

“No, and I already told you I am not spilling all my secrets to you. What do you want?”

“Some of the staff wanted to sound you out about working for the academy,” she said.

“They might, but that is not what you want. The answer is no, by the way.”

“Why do you have an Al’rashian surname?”

“What. Do. You. Want?”

She paused, looking at me. She obviously came to a decision. “I want you to come with me to an academy-sponsored expedition to an Al’rashian ruin in the northeast. It is probably a month’s travel. Each way.”

“I thought you said you were the Professor of Trials, Theory and Practice, not the Professor of ancient Al’rashian ruins.”

“I teach more than one course.”

“Why is an Elf studying the ruins of their ancient enemies?” I asked.

“You are intelligent. That is good.”

“And I am not the only one who won’t spill all their secrets. Ok, I am interested. When is this expedition leaving?”

“About a month.”

“I have two prerequisites before I decide.” I had already decided, but she didn’t need to know that. “I need to read up about the place you are heading. I want to borrow your source material.”

She nodded, “And the second?”

“I want you and I to clear the Slyhill trial together. Just you and me.”

“What? Why? I know you have cleared it fifty or sixty times, and I have cleared it more than that. What is the point?”

“You are the Professor of Trials, Theory and Practice. Have you ever poked a Trial in its sensitive spots?” I asked.

“It is a Trial, they don’t… What do you know?”

“I don’t know anything, but I might have an idea about where to poke around a bit. Do you want to come and see?”

“Yes,” she said definitively and stood up. “In three days' time at dawn. I will make sure the trial is clear of other challengers until we are done.”

She obviously thought I was on to something, and I hadn’t told her anything yet. I thought I was, but I could be wrong. That could be embarrassing.

I stood as well and smiled at her, “It’s a date.”