I needed to talk to get out.

“I think I’d like a little privacy.” I nodded at Nyssa and silently prayed that she’d play along. “I think we might head into the Dungeon for a bit.”

Nyssa managed not to kill me on the spot, but I could see the blood vessel in her golden neck start pulsing. I was definitely going to hear about it once we were alone.

“Whoa!” Sipher clapped me on the back. “Someone’s getting bold!”

It wasn’t uncommon for Adventurers to use the Dungeon as their own personal retreat. If you beat a boss monster, you could stay in its room for thirty minutes undisturbed. If you really wanted a lot of privacy, then you just had to disable the boss and the room would never open.

“Some people like to celebrate differently.” I smiled as sweetly as I could at Nyssa. “And know what they want.”

There were cheers and catcalls as the two of us went to the Dungeon Gate. I set it to the second floor and walked in as soon as it opened.

“HAVE FUN!” Sipher slurred the words. In the few minutes that it took to get to the gate, he had found alcohol and drank enough to make him slur. I smiled and waxed as Nyssa followed me through and the gate closed.

I was already bracing for a slap.

I got punched.

“WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!” Fury was rolling off her so strongly that I could feel it. I knew that people with high Aura stats could project their feelings and hers were apparently high enough to do that. “I AM NOT SOME TOY OR DOG..!:

I triggered the gate to open to the first floor boss room and walked inside. I only had to wait a few seconds before her rant continued.

“DON’T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!”

I had my CB’s menu up and pulled out a lightstone to start the fight. The boss was a simple feline whose shoulders came up to my hips. It was armored in chitin, but otherwise wasn’t impressive. I activated Shadowstep and Cursed Attack as I pulled my sword out of my CB. I stabbed the boss between the shoulders and drove my sword into the ground. The place where my sword connected with the monster leaked an inky black substance, but there wasn’t any actual damage done to it. My cursed attack would stay active on the boss until I ran out of mana. It wasn’t a very mana draining side effect, so I had a while before the boss would vanish into smoke.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“DON’T YOU RUN AWAY WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU!” Nyssa stomped over to me. “WHAT DO YOU THINK..!”

“Shh! I’m calling Tres.”

Her rant died as the silver God appeared in front of me.

“Did you find it?”Tres looked over at my companion. “And you’ve got one of them with you…” He squinted. “Are you Trixie or Nyssa?”

“Nyssa.” She bowed her head. Tres wasn’t one of the Gods who demanded reverence, but it never hurt to show respect where it was worthy.

I gave him a little bow myself. “Not yet, which is why I’m taking this risk to report…”

“So you don’t have much time.” Tres motioned for us to stand up. “Then stop with that and look at me.”

“Actually…” I glanced over at Nyssa. “The longer we take, the better.”

The golden woman’s face was an even deeper gold.

Tres looked between the two of us and I saw his eyes linger on the Tier Zero rings we were still wearing. “Congratulations!” The blonde God laughed. “Serious or cover?”

“Cover!” The unison that we both delivered the answer earned an awkward silence.

After a few moments, Tres continued the conversation. “You called me for a reason. What’s going on and what do you need?”

“We’ve managed to meet up with Sipher. He claims to have a Tier Five item that can grant immortality, but we’ve yet to see it.” I swallowed. “He made a deal with Kire.”

“That’s… Not good.” Tres stroked his beard

“Kire is supposed to come here to see how it’s used and bus the captains to the fifty-first floor.” I looked over at Nyssa. “You know he’ll kill us if he finds out who we really are. What do we do? We can’t leave, but if we stay and Kire shows up…”

Tres snapped his fingers. “I know something that’ll delay him for at least a week.” He looked at me. “See if you can’t pressure Sipher into showing you the item early. If you can’t and he waits until Kire fixes the problem I’m about to dump in his lap, then get out of there.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at both of us. “Blow your covers if you have to, break your seals, but get out of there.”

I looked over at Nyssa. While that order was resonating in my heart, compelling me to carry it out, it wasn’t as strong for her. She could resist it if she really wanted to. Being bound to Tizon only gave Tres a little influence over his mother’s Tritons.

“I will convey your request to my father.” Nyssa bowed again.

Tres looked at me. “Is there anything else to report?”

I thought about how I was going to summarize everything that had happened. There was a lot to put in that report, but nothing pressing right now that he needed to know.

I shook my head. “No, that’s the pressing thing.”

“Immortality is enticing, but it’s worthless if you’re dead.” Tres stared at both of us. “Be careful.” Then he was gone.

The two of us stood in silence for almost five minutes, before I spoke.

“How long do you think we should stay here to make it believable?”