Ferra leaned back in her chair resting her feet atop her marble desk. A translucent pearl rolled between her clawed fingers filled with Aether as she considered its beauty. Housed within it's tiny domain, a hurricane raged. Wind barreled against its clear walls struggling to escape and release its power upon the world. Partially reflective, her silver fur caused a blur across the surface as though the storm inside was encased in iron. She smiled.

A slamming fist against her office door caused her to sit up and stow the pearl in her desk. "Come."

The door opened to reveal one of her clan members, Yom. Unlike her, his fur was a simple brown, but like all of her classers, he had an iron breastplate embedded onto his chest. He opened the door quickly and then hesitated in front of her, wringing his little ferret paws. Ferra hated when monsters wasted her time, something all of her clan knew. The only reason he'd do so is because of bad news. She hated bad news even more.

"Out with it."

"Master Ferra, there was... an incident at the bordello today. One of the slimes was killed in a fight."

"What."

"W-we did manage to kill two of them! Only one of those leaf monsters from Myshk and a strange monster that looked like a ferret got away."

Ferra sighed, rubbing one claw across the burn mark that sat just above her chestplate. Her armor felt heavy today. "I am unhappy, Yom. Do you know why I'm unhappy?"

He winced and she could practically hear his teeth clatter as he responded. "Yes, Master."

"Tell me why I'm unhappy."

"B-because we're losing money."

"Close, but worse. We are losing income and restoring that income comes with a commensurate cost. Does the Illusor Clan have slimes?"

"N-no."

"Any guess to why that is?"

"They're expensive?"

She leaned forward across her desk and pinned him to the wall with her glare. "Very astute, Yom. Very astute. Now, you can either provide me the monsters responsible for my missing income or their responsibility becomes yours. Either way, I'll have a substitute until I can procure a replacement. You have three days. Do I make myself clear?"

****

Gi continued to follow the blue goblin through the maze of hives that were present on the lowest section of the mountain. Despite having just murdered a monster in the street, the goblin didn't seem in any hurry to get where he was going. Gi, on the other hand, felt anxious. His stomach growled as hunger started to gnaw at him and even Poe languished on his shoulder.

However, Gi also wasn't confident in disturbing the goblin either. Was demanding answers the kind of ruthlessness the Father would do? Or would the goblin fall closer to his own family? If it was the latter, Danna would expect compassion. Frankly more than anything, Gi was confused. Following Danna's precepts was causing him more headaches than he would have thought back in the Child Stage.

Without a clear answer, the knowledge that this goblin was two heads taller than him and had ripped a monster apart with his bare hands was enough to keep Gi silent. So instead, he studied his surroundings to try and ignore that hunger that had taken root in his belly.

Despite being on the lowest tier, the two of them continued to head downwards. Most of the hives had the traditional red cloth over the doorway, but a few were either undecorated or had some other color as a curtain. One thing he hadn't noticed originally when peering over the side was a giant bridge that appeared to lead nowhere as it ended in the sky. It was made of giant rock pillars with planks that were just as large layered across its top. Giant steel beams crisscrossed the entire structure with huge bolts stuck into the rock pillars.

The sheer scale of it left Gi staring in awe and it surprised him when they finally reached the bottom of the mountain and turned toward the base of the bridge. Its top still towered above them, but from the bottom, he could see that it ran out into a great lake that was nestled at the bottom of the mountain. Looking further up for the first time, he could see the mountain towering over him and from here the flying Fighting Drakes were little more than dots.

Igna was huge.

Once the two of them stepped into the shade of the bridge, Gi could see that this place was more than just the base of the giant bridge. Inside its underbelly, a couple dozen buildings were staggered about. Most of them were up against the steel crossed beams or around the concrete pillars but at least one was more ramshackle and jutted outside. The buildings appeared to be made from the same type of dark wood as the bridge's deck above except in miniature.

"This is Underbridge. There are a few empty buildings that you can claim closer to the water. I'd avoid the ones over the water, but your call. Grung's shop is the big one that looks like shit. If you've got some coin, he's probably got some meat of some kind for you. Oh and the name's Jalx."

He started to walk off, but Gi couldn't stop his own curiosity. "Why did you help me?"

"You're an aquatic, right?"

Gi remembered him asking the same question when he'd arrived at the fort. At the time, he'd said he was, but he supposed that wasn't true. "Beastial/Humanoid actually. I did have a [Swim Speed] trait though."

Jalx shrugged. "It's the same shit to them. You can't even get to the higher tiers without flying. What do you think those on the ground tiers think of those below them?"

"They don't like you just because you live down here?"

"They don't like us. Everyone wants someone to have it worse off than them. Unfortunately, shit can only roll so far downhill before it stops."

Without waiting for a reply, Jalx left, entering one of the buildings near the front. Gi watched him go, still trying to decide where to place the blue goblin. If it was an us vs them society, he'd definitely place him in the "us" category, but real life was more nuanced than that. How Gi and Danna herself defined Family was something important that Gi needed to figure out.

"Foooooood," Poe droned from his shoulder and the pang in Gi's own stomach agreed. It was strange that he'd never even noticed not getting hungry in the Child Stage.

The two of them wandered over to Grung's shop that Jalx had pointed out. On the way, they passed by the house that Jalx had entered. A smaller blue goblin with tiny laid back ears and sad eyes stared out from a paneless window. On seeing them look, the blue goblin gave them a shy smile of wickedly sharp teeth that looked to be made of black iron. Gi flinched backward upon seeing the child's metal maw and the small goblin hid. He couldn't decide if the young goblin was cute or terrifying.

He continued for a few more steps and arrived outside of Grung's shop. It looked like this one had been one of original buildings before it was modified with driftwood. The expansion continued outside of the Underbridge and onto the rocky coast proper, making it the largest building that he'd seen outside of the higher tiers.

Gi walked inside and a friendly bell dinged as the door opened. The building housed a small counter that had another red curtain barring off the way to the back. Unlike the hivelike buildings up above, all of the ones in the dock had true doors instead of curtains. Gi wondered why that was...

"COMING!" A large voice boomed from the back. "Is that you, Elizabeth?" A massive grey monster with a huge wide snout pushed its way sideways through the opening of the curtain. A chuckle died on his lips as he saw Gi and Poe. "NEW CUSTOMERS!"

"Are you Grung?" Gi said while Poe covered his head. He was fairly confident that the grey monster was a werehippo due to the overlarge buck teeth and enormous snout, but he doubted that asking the question was polite. What really stuck out to him was that Grung was covered in piercings and jewelry from ears to snout to rings and necklaces. Few of them were of any precious metal, but it was a sight to see.

"Aye! That's me! Welcome to Grung's Service Emporium! You need it cut or uncut and I'm your monster! Fishmonger, Butcher, or Doctor. I DO IT ALL!"

Poe uncovered his head. "Doctor?"

Grung rounded on Poe, getting uncomfortably close to Gi's face. "Oh, you need a doctor there, little guy? I don't often get to work on you insect types, but I can get you up and running no problem!"

"Boss, I'm scared!" Poe nuzzled his face into Gi's fur, hiding from the giant monster.

"No doctors needed," Gi said quickly. "We're just looking for some food? Jalx said you were the monster to see."

"I'M ALWAYS THE MONSTER TO SEE!" Grung roared out with a laugh. "But yes I have some food. HANG ON!"

After his random shouting, he stepped into the back and returned a few moments later wearing an apron. He flopped a giant fish that looked familiar for some reason onto the counter then carefully took off his rings and placed them on an iron bar that seemed to be made specifically to hold them on the counter. Then, he pulled out a giant cleaver.

"Dragon Pike sashimi for two. FOUR COPPERS! Deal?"

Gi pulled out four coppers and dropped them on the counter. If every meal was going to require that much, he and Poe were going to be in trouble soon, but they didn't have a ton of options for now.

Grung swept the coppers into his apron and then attacked the fish with his cleaver. Two chops removed the head and tail which were set delicately aside before two more slices removed the skin. In not even thirty seconds, Grung had completely removed the skin and bones leaving two long fillets. He chopped one in half and handed it to Gi.

"ORDER'S UP!"

Poe rolled onto his back, holding his fillet up with his legs as he dug into it with both his jaws working furiously to break it up. Gi bit off a chunk of his own meal and his eyes lit up. "It's so good!" It was somehow both light and fatty, but had a rich flavor similar to salmon... whatever that was. Gi had given up on trying to parse through the random bits of knowledge Danna had given him. He took another bite. While Grung hadn't done anything to supplement the taste, each cut had been completely perfect, ensuring the best texture.

"I aim to please. NOW GET OUT OF MY SHOP!"

Grung's yell sent Gi rushing out of the building and back into the main street, if it could be called that, of the Underbridge. Still munching on their Dragon Pike, the two of them wandered towards the buildings closer to the water that Jalx had pointed out.

"Let's find somewhere to stay for now and then we can figure the rest out."

As the two of them walked, one of the last buildings stuck out to him. Opening the door, he expected to see a fairly abandoned room of the same type of dark wood as the rest. What he saw instead was anything but empty.

It had a small little kitchen set up with a rusty iron stove and a little vase that held a single flower. A chair and table of a lighter wood were set against one wall and there was a strange platform made of ropes that hung above a pool of water where the floor seemed to stop and the lake began.

"What are you doing in my house?"

Gi spun to see what appeared at first glance to be a drowned human woman. Her blond hair lay about her shoulders in wet clumps and her attire was a studded leather jerkin that had a seemingly excessive amount of straps holding everything down. Strangely, she held a giant fish in one hand over her shoulder.

"I asked what are you doing in my house?" The woman said again, dropping her fish to the ground. Her voice was cold and sharp yet flat like the edge of a blade.

From her display of strength, Gi assumed this was another monster that could easily kill him. He hated his weakness. "Jalx mentioned the houses nearer the water were open?"

"Well not this one," she said, eyeing him. "That Sub is too nice by half. Can you breathe underwater?"

The unexpected question left him confused. "No? Oh wait..." He checked one of his skills he'd yet to try out.

Merfolk's Blessing: Improves Swim Speed further and allows for limited underwater breathing.

He didn't know what it meant by "limited" but he supposed he'd figure it out. So he said, "I breathe underwater a bit."

She stepped into her house and circled him, picking up his ruined arm. "You a jobbie?"

Gi blinked. "A what?"

"A jobbie. You only have a job. In the Adolescent Stage?"

"Oh... Yeah." Feeling so confused since he got here made him feel way too much like the dopey follower. He hated that too.

She beat her fist against his chest and the blow sent him stumbling backwards. Despite how lightly she'd done it, it still hurt. "What the hell was that for?" He asked, rubbing his chest.

"You got some kind of ranged magic then?"

"I..." Her demanding answers was throwing him off. "Why?"

"I need a monster to hunt Pike with me. They're ambush hunters, typically in four or fives, and it's difficult for me to kill them all cleanly before they reach me. It forces me to try and find the smaller groups."

He stepped back until his fur touched the frame of the open door. She wanted his help? The drowned looking human was kind of blunt and terrifying, but maybe this was an opportunity for him. According to Felix, he needed to farm Orbs and he needed to get some experience if he was ever going to be useful Danna. Also if he hunted the Pikes, maybe he could get enough money to feed himself and Poe as well so he could keep his golden nest egg until he knew what to spend it on.

"What's your name?" Gi asked and the woman smiled in a way that didn't reach her eyes. Her blue tinged teeth and dead eyes made her look like a horrifying doll.

"Elizabeth." She shoved him out of the door. "I'll see you at sunrise, jobbie."

Too much had happened since he'd spawned in Igna and Gi stumbled dully to the house just across from Elizabeth's. It looked nearly identical to hers except without the kitchen and flower. Yet, it did have a little shelf that folded down and the ropes that hung over the water. With barely a thought, he plopped Poe's book down on the shelf and then collapsed back onto the ropes which seemed to make some form of bed.

He felt tired, but unlike in the Child Stage, it wasn't just his mind that dragged, but his entire body did too. He could feel every bump and scrape from his fights today. His legs ached from his near constant running earlier. His mind flitted over the monsters he'd met since he'd been in the Infant stage. Despite what Felix had told him about how to get stronger, he still felt like something was missing. Something about Elizabeth felt more dangerous than Jalx even though Jalx was far stronger than him.

Could it really just be that she was further on her path? Or was something different about her like there had been about the Eldritch elites back in the Child Stage?

Gi's chest physically ached at how weak he was. The only thing he wanted with all of his heart was to be strong enough for Danna to be proud of him. It surprised him when he felt tears sting his eyes, but he let them fall just stifling his sobs so that Poe didn't hear as the little dragonfly read his book. He knew that he was better off than the lowest "jobbie" as Elizabeth called them, but the peak monsters even in his own stage seemed so far away. How could he reach those same heights?