Captain Lentyon sighed and waited for his confused tracker to confirm their bearings. They wandered through the enemy countryside randomly, searching for their missing princess. But their tracker and navigator was having problems locating her.

"I'm telling you, captain," Trenton, the aforementioned tracker, grimaced as he held princess Serena's porcelain doll. "The direction keeps changing. Toward home, toward the capital most of the time the last few days, but now it is pointing that way. I have no idea why."

"Teleportation," Leeth joked. "They are moving the princess around to throw us off-track."

"They wouldn't use trains if they had the power to teleport a prisoner to and from," Trenton protested, angry.

Their mood was sour. Even more, after they attacked the village where apparently Bast was hiding the princess. The villagers they found lied, saying everyone just took off and abandoned the village. Trenton found tracks of travel between nearby villages but no signs of carts, wagons, or beasts of burden leaving toward the road or the forest or anywhere

It was as if they'd vanished into thin air. After that, their track grew colder and colder. A few brief flashes pointing at awkward directions, most of the time nothing. Lentyon was inclined to agree with Trenton. It was as if his Skill was telling the tracker that the princess was not in their world anymore. Gone.

"Maybe inside a Dungeon. Lentyon said. "They did hide her in a Dungeon, didn't they? Where is the map of the Dungeons?"

"Here, captain," Brennan took the map from his dimensional pouch.

Lentyon looked over the Dungeons in the last direction the princess was spotted. Even when accounting for a margin of error, there were seventeen possible Dungeons in that direction and in the range of Trenton's Skill.

"Why this cat-ridden forsaken country has to have this many Dungeons?" Lentyon cursed.

"I suggest we move closer to the capital. It is from there we got her position most of the time. If the damn lions have her, they must be there," Leeth suggested. "I think these false sightings are decoys. There are ways to fool even Trenton's tracking."

Lentyon pondered. They couldn't fail to rescue their princess. He couldn't fathom what kind of torment she was going through right now. "To the capital then," He decided.

----------------------------------------

"I'm bored, Nero," Crystal said. "I am in a rank-V Dungeon. I shouldn't be bored. Fighting for my life, yes. Bored? No."

"Look, if we rush this, we're going to die," Nero said, pointing at the goblin army in the swamp besieging their position. "But once I finish this, we're going to clear this Dungeon easily."

"He's always that way, Crystal," Rodther said. "He takes a week to prepare the stage, and then farms like crazy."

"Yeah, like when he burned the spider Dungeon," Altia added.

The theme of this Dungeon was breaking a siege. They were in a square fort which was the safe zone, with literally thousands of goblins camped outside. The plains outside weren't plains all the time. Immortalized by the Dungeon, the "Battlefields of Yrkandia" had nothing of "Glorious". Fetid, slimy, green, disgusting. But whatever crazed person trapped the goblin general in this Dungeon, must've thought that the battle against these odds was indeed glorious.

Their fort was more a watchtower with sturdy walls than anything. Forty-by-forty feet and fifty feet tall, with fifteen feet from the keep to the wall. The walls were made of stone but they weren't about three feet thick and only twenty feet tall. The gate was closed by a drawbridge and a moat ten feet deep and twenty feet wide surrounded the keep. Behind the keep the Dungeon ended, an illusionary wall showing more marsh behind them.

Four hours after they entered, they didn't shot a single goblin. The goblins were packed in groups of four hundred soldiers, led by some strong sergeants and a lieutenant. These greenskin leaders were larger and tougher than the others. Mini-bosses in their own right. The moment they hit a single goblin, the whole battalion would come, and by the way, they were positioned, they would stir several others into action.

Beyond the carpet of greenskins camped in the marshlands, a tent city awaited them, partially shrouded by the smoke from dozens of campfires. They needed to clear the swamp if they wanted to attack the camp and get to the goblin general.

Nero's plan was simple. Get a portal high up in the sky where the goblins couldn't reach them, shoot from there. The problem was that he needed to physically go high up in the sky to affix said portal, and if he could go up, the goblins could as well. His solution was to create temporary scaffolding to lift him and then remove said scaffolding.

That was what he was doing for the last few hours, demolishing the keep for the stone that he was using to create a thin pillar that would take him above the keep. And he kept manipulating the stone.

"Why are we even here?" Knazer asked.

"To train and get Accolades. These goblins must be above our level even with all the delving you did while I was out," Nero answered. "Now keep playing hide and seek and doing whatever you want to get Attribute strain. Nobody can level."

"Yes, slave driver," Moira whined and dragged all of Nero's employees downstairs. "C'mon, the boss said to exercise, we exercise."

"You can try Charisma by socializing too," Nero looked over his shoulder and winked before focusing on shaping the stone.

"Oh, please no," Fotia complained. I'll be the odd one out. "Hide and seek it is."

"Bo-ring," Crystal chimed and sat on the roof, watching Nero move the stone into steps.

Altia sat next to Crystal, and after a minute, jerked upright with a bright smile. "Nero!" She dove into his arm and pulled him, breaking concentration on the stone shape spell. "Make me a garden shelter."

"Excuse me?"

"A garden shelter. With lots and lots of the herbs for my potions. This is a rank-V dungeon, the herbs will be super potent. I'll take Crystal and everyone else inside to gather herbs."

Nero thought for a brief moment before agreeing. He switched builds, created the shelter, switched again, and set a keyed portal at the bottom of the keep into the garden shelter. He paid for a week of upkeep and Altia went inside with everyone to gather herbs and make potions.

Now he had some time to prepare. In Nero's mind, there was no reason he shouldn't do what he was doing. The purpose of killing monsters was to harvest drops and lower the Essence levels to prevent an overflow. Anything else was just fluff. Clashing steel against steel, if it could be avoided, was stupid.

Hours later, the gatherers returned and the two couples that formed went to find an isolated corner each to spend time together. Charisma training, Nero chuckled. Fotia stood next to him, swaying from the balls of her feet to the heels. Nero was almost at the height he wanted, the work slowing down because he had to go back and forth to move stone a larger distance each time.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Can I help the lady with anything?" Nero asked her.

The eanling girl came closer and held his arm with a woolen hand. "What do you think of brother with that nereid?"

Nero shook his head. "I don't know. They're grownups and from what I know, nereids have that instinct to seek out men," He answered with a low voice, remembering how Moira almost threw herself at him.

"I don't want my brother to get hurt, Nero. He's getting too involved. I don't know Hefalina's intentions."

Nero took a deep breath. "Fotia, I'm glad you decided to open up with me. But I must ask, why did you ask me?"

"I talked with Altia and Crystal. They told me to talk to you."

Nero had one moment of insight. "Are the people in the shelter giving them a hard time?"

Fotia nodded. "Nereids are the enemy. They destroyed the village, that's what they say. And now they're calling brother 'fish-lover'."

Nero's face contorted. He felt his indignation become anger and boil up. "They are calling the nereids WHAT?"

"Eek!" Fotia squealed in fear. Nero softened his face immediately and held her hand. She flinched and bleated.

"Don't worry. I'm not angry at you," he said with a smile.

She retrieved her hand, trembling. "I know. I'm sorry for my improper behavior. I need to sit for a while. Sorry!"

Fotia tried to run away but Nero held her shoulder. "Is something wrong?" She shook her head without turning around. Nero released her and she ran downstairs, leaving the young minnid puzzled. Nero waited for a while, collecting his thoughts and giving Fotia time to go where she had to. He didn't want to follow her in case she needed space. Nero went downstairs and through the portal where he met Crystal and Altia, the two talking while Altia brewed potions.

"Brother!" Crystal stood and approached to hug him. "Is everything ready?"

"Almost. I need to talk about something. How are you doing?" He grinned, holding her back over the ribs. Crystal leaned her head on his shoulder, smiling. The siblings walked to the table in the middle of the grass field where Altia was setting some tubes linking flasks over a burner wrapped by a running water line.

"I'm not bored anymore. Watching sister brew potions is more fun than I thought.

Nero nodded. "How's the brew going, Altia?"

"Better. The plants in this shelter are as good as the ones in Rafflesia, at least. The Essence infusion really helps." She finished one important step in the distillation she was running and turned around to point at a bamboo rack. "I'm drying most of the herbs so I can take them out of the shelter. I need to babysit them to infuse them with my mana. Do you need anything?"

"Fotia brought an unpleasant issue to my attention..." Nero trailed off intentionally to see if one of them would say something.

"Fotia did?" Altia said without taking her eyes off the process she was overseeing.

"Some problem with the villagers in the shelter and..." He met Crystal's eyes. "Our new female recruits."

Crystal shook her head. "You can say it out loud. It's racism," She frowned. "That's why they need a strong leader. One that will set the rules. Right now they are too loose. Peasants need a strong rule. Guidance."

"Peasants, eh?" Nero smirked. "Do I need strong guidance?"

She let go of him, took a step ahead, and turned around. Crystal was nervous, measuring her words and reading his facial expression as she explained herself. "You two were never peasants. I mean, farmers, stablehands, servants. You come from a family of high-ranked adventurers, Altia is a wealthy merchant's daughter."

Altia snorted. "Wealthy. Thank you for your kind words," she snickered.

"Second wealthiest in the region," Crystal pointed out.

"Fair."

Nero decided it was an adequate moment to step in and stop their bickering. "Would you go check on Fotia, sister? She was freaking out when she came to talk to me."

"I could do that," Crystal winked and left through the portal.

Altia watched the nereid leave the garden shelter then gave Nero the stink-eye. "You have no idea, do you?"

"Not a chance if you don't tell me," Nero said with a straight face. He knew he wouldn't and just like his father he thought the world was easier without bothering with these complex issues.

Altia giggled and blew him a kiss. "And that's why I love you."

He grinned back. "Anytime, my dear. Was that supposed to foam?"

"Hells, no!"

He let out a peal of laughter while Altia adjusted the heat and the water circulation to retake control of the distillation. Once she normalized everything and sighed in relief, he became the target for her stress. Nero endured Altia's outburst with a tender smile.

"I thought kicking out the villagers that were causing trouble would put the others in line," He remarked.

Altia shook her head without peeling her eyes from the mixture. "People need their gossip. It's always like that. Newcomers and those in small numbers are always picked on."

"Do you think I should rule over them?"

Altia raised a stretched hand to make him wait, turned off the boiling herbal mixture, and discarded the stems and leaves in a barrel.

"No. I think we need to find a permanent place to settle soon. Maybe prioritize it after we finish this delve."

"Right. It is better anyway. They would be in trouble in the shelter anyway. It's temporary and--"

"Don't jinx it!" She cut him off.

Crystal came through the portal with a contrite Fotia by her side. "I'm bored, Nero!" The former princess complained.

----------------------------------------

Ahadi Alexander, the third prince of Bast was reading in a quiet corner at the palace library when a commotion at the front door drew his attention. He heard his brother's voice and went to investigate. Aslanbek was roaring at the librarian.

"I want answers, not more questions!"

The slender rodeian's skin was glistening with mucus, a well-known stress reaction in their species. He whimpered, too scared to speak.

"Say something, you damn lizard!"

Rodeians weren't lizards. They were beast-folk resembling four-limbed river amphibians. Ahadi forced his memory for a while and remembered. Newts, that's the name of their animal counterparts.

He shook his head slightly at his cognitive blunder. It was too easy to get swept up by his race's major drawback, their hubris. Leonals naturally viewed everyone as beneath them. Safe for some races with great gifts that were automatically viewed with enmity. Things were not that simple, though. As people capable of thought and reason, they could very well contain these impulses but they were always there, tugging at the corners of that prison called civilization.

Some were worse at it, like Tyre and Aslanbek. Regardless, they were Royalty and should be better than that. Ahadi hurried his steps and soon he was next to his brother.

"Good afternoon, crown prince brother,"

Ahadi greeted his sibling, almost a foot taller than him. Not that Ahadi was short. Aslanbek was too tall. Aslanbek released the librarian who shot the bookish prince a glance of gratitude before submissively lowering his head in hopes he'd be forgotten.

"Little brother! What are you doing here? Studying again? You should go out and train, spar with the knights! Grow some muscle!"

He almost wanted to shout at Aslanbek that it didn't work like that but the words would fall on deaf ears and they weren't alone. Ahadi trusted the librarian to keep his mouth shut, but it was still improper to criticize another of the Royal family in the presence of others.

"What brings you of all people here, brother?"

Aslanbek pointed an accusatory finger at the librarian. "I asked this useless vermin for some information, he came up with empty hands."

"And what was it? Maybe I can help," Ahadi offered, divesting the attention away from the librarian again.

"The Adventurer that was the last person alive to see brother. I need information on him!"

Even after their father told them to stop looking into the subject, Aslanbek was still pushing it. Ahadi wanted to know what happened to Tyre as well. Why did the guild send an unknown Dungeon monster's body in place of their brothers'?

"You should look at the missing quartermaster instead, brother. Had he been found?"

Aslanbek nodded. "Yes. The bastard is dead right where he should be, that damned castle Tyre bought from the cursed pixie. But we need to retake Honeywitch before we can mount an expedition to go there. Too many monsters and our army is stretched thin."

Ahadi nodded, then looked at his brother with feigned admiration. "You should gather your knights and march on Honeywitch, brother. I'm sure the rebels would give up once they saw you. They have no fifth-tier combatants beside the traitor count's cousin. That would bring you great glory."

The further Aslanbek stood from court politics, the better for the kingdom. Ahadi loved his brothers, but a cold calculating side of his saw them exactly how most nobles did. They were a nuisance. Some dissident voices were already spreading the word that Aslanbek was unfit to be the next King. With their father's dwindling health, that was a growing concern.

As expected, Aslanbek bit the bait. "Maybe I should. I'll task you with the research on this slippery Adventurer, brother. You seem to have an affinity for this kind of creature," He shot a glance of disgust at the librarian and pushed a binder with papers and documents on Ahadi's paws.

At the same time, a guard came running into the library. "Your Royal Highness! The invading knights from Coriander have been located. They are coming to the capital."

Aslanbek grinned and turned around, the smell of glory and gore enticing him. "Prepare my knights. We are riding to meet them before they can damage the city!"

The crown prince left. Ahadi looked at the librarian.

"I thank you for your kindness, your Highness," The rodeian croaked.

"Then help me read and organize this mess of research my brother compiled," Ahadi ordered with a gentle tone. "I'm interested in this elusive Adventurer as well."