The sun had long since set. The group was working by the faint glow of light spells spread throughout the workspace. Layla and Amelia lay snoozing on the floor nearby.

Trillia had blown through a solid three million mana fueling the experiments. The end result, however, was promising. They had melded the high-grade fur from Paws into a set of masterwork armor. Providing the armor with a bonus against cold and temperature changes as well.

The biggest issue was the timing of things. Evidently, melding only worked when the alchemizing and enchanting were done at the exact same time. A step that was extremely easy for a single person who could just set all of their skills to go off and expire at once. Significantly more difficult when trying to use multiple skills from multiple people.

The only reason they found success was due to Arlyss borrowing the use of their skills and basically operating as a single entity.

Alfred and Marg said they'd get an hourglass and utilize that in their next attempts. For the purpose of timing things. Trillia was excited to learn and had even gained a level in [Alchemist] from all the experimenting. She was quickly realizing that classes like smithing and alchemists benefitted more from their out-of-combat purposes as far as experience went. She reminded herself to ask about that at some point.

Marg slid pillows under Layla and Amelia's heads and covered them up. Ialu had also decided to snuggle up to the two sleeping friends. Fred went to his room to sleep, and Malor returned to the little home he had found for himself. Trillia sat at the kitchen table with Arlyss, Alfred, and Marg. The deity's power was no longer focused on the area, which made having a conversation easier.

Alfred took a long drag of ale before looking at the deity. "How's your Ma' doin'?"

Arlyss glanced up from the book he was reading to look at the man. "Stressed. Sad. She blames herself for the fall of God's Watch. She blames herself for the cataclysm and the rifts as well. Apparently, my father wanted them to stay in his realm for our birth. My mother wanted to be in her home realm so that we were native to this realm. That matters a lot for immortals and deities. What realm we're actually born in, that is."

Alfred looked as though he regretted asking the question. Marg put a glass of warm cider in front of Trillia and Arlyss. Before grabbing herself some tea and taking a seat next to her husband. "Poor dear. She shouldn't blame herself. She just wanted to be home and comfortable for the birth of her children, any mother would."

Arlyss chuckled softly at that, drawing looks from everyone. "Sorry. It's just...she's ten times your age. You're a very kind woman, Marg. I think my mother would love speaking with you. Did you know that she owns a home out in the country, much like this one? It's difficult to communicate with some of the restrictions in place, but she finds her loopholes. She told me once that her dream was always to stay in this realm and raise us in a quiet little place. Teach us right from wrong and how to be mortal and love before our duty as immortals took over."

Arlyss looked from the group to the book in hand as his voice softened. "Instead, two of her children were ripped from her when she was forced back into this realm, and she missed out on our early childhoods. While her husband is unable to speak with her or his children. I fear that's the fate of all of us."

The group said nothing and merely let the young deity vent. "Darktone...it used to shock me how much sway that name alone held. Most immortals immediately bend the knee. Those that don't are still leery of a fight. Even mortals far and wide know Queen Alliyah Darktone. That sort of infamy comes with a lot of downsides. It comes with a lot of enemies that we never earned ourselves..."

Silence sat heavily on the group for a moment before Arlyss looked up at Trillia. "It is perhaps my greatest fear of forming pacts. The danger you are put in due to my family's reputation. I wonder if I'm doing the right thing, and while I dearly love and appreciate you all for opening up your home to me and listening..."

Marg spoke up to finish for him. "We aren't exactly your peers. I wish I could give you advice, dear. I'm afraid the problems that you face are far beyond me."

Alfred bobbed his head slightly as he stared into his ale. Trillia put on a smile and spoke happily. "At least you are surrounded by good and loyal people. People far smarter than I have often told me that having such a thing is important. How are Mariah and Riten doing?"

Arlyss took a deep breath and set the dark brooding thoughts to the back of his mind. "Riten is doing well. The order of justiciars that took him in as a toddler has been reformed in his name. It's led by several immortals and a host of mortals as well. Many of whom have chosen to form a pact with him. They are currently near D'Jamu, trying to find a solution to the Sage. As well as prepare the surrounding cities for greater monster attacks."

Arlyss took a sip from the cider and smiled down at the mug. "This is quite good, thank you." Marg offered a smile in return. "Mariah has an offer to ascend. We're currently debating if she should immediately take it. Because that should theoretically lift the seal against our father. I was surprised to hear that my mother, of all people, warned her against it."

That drew surprised looks from everyone. Arlyss continued. "Deities draw their powers and abilities through the titles they hold. I am a deity of knowledge and unity. I cannot, for instance, cure a plague with divine power. I could grant a cleric the knowledge on how to cure that plague, but the clerics themselves would still need to do the work. Riten is a deity of courage. Useful in battle and giving people the courage to keep going during dark times, but not useful in keeping a city running."

Trillia leaned forward as she spoke. "What did Mariah get offered?"

"Battle. Which is even less useful than courage. Evidently, she is the Captain of the Golden Gryphons."

As Trillia got ready to ask what that meant, Alfred spoke up. "Kadessa's infamous flying legion. Gryphons are huge creatures that are part lion and part eagle. Adults are usually fifteen feet long and ten feet tall. They can easily carry ogres in flight and not be slowed. The golden part comes from the armor they wear, much like Kadessa's fortress walls the stuff is so heavily enchanted that it glows gold."

Trillia was on the edge of her seat. Everything outside of the Shattered Plains seemed so fascinating to her. "Doesn't that make them a target in battles? Being all glowy and stuff?"

Arlyss laughed at that with a nod. "That's the point, apparently. Gryphons are fascinating creatures. Hundreds of pounds of enchanted armor, a rider wearing armor with weapons, and they can still outmaneuver everything but some dragons in the air. If they are without riders, they can even outmaneuver dragons. In any case, my sister rides into battle as their Captain. The curse of the dragon, for her, has made her skin nearly indestructible, and the keen mind of an immortal, even ones so young as ours, is still far superior for tactics compared to a mortal mind. She's been attacking nests and rogue dungeons for months, which has earned her the trust and worship of the warriors riding under her."

Marg wore a little smirk as she shook her head. "Your family does nothing by half-measures."

Alfred nodded in agreement and held up his mug as if to cheer it before taking a drink. Arlyss shrugged and offered a little nod himself. "The realm relies on us being competent. I have half a million people that look to me for answers. Riten has the same, and Mariah has three times that. I don't even want to think of the amount of people that my mother has relying on her at any given moment. The hope is that now that she has one title available, others will start coming more rapidly. Maybe in a couple of years, she will find a title that offers a wider array of abilities."

Trillia spoke as soon as he stopped speaking. "I'm surprised that your mother told her to wait. I figured she'd want to see her husband again after so many years."

"It's different for them. She's hundreds of years old already. No one really knows how old Father is. A few decades isn't a long time for them." Arlyss sighed and downed the rest of his cider before standing. "I'm going to let all of you rest. The hour grows late, and while I may not need sleep or rest. I am keenly aware that all of you do. If you need me for anything, call on me. Thank you for having me today."

Marg and Alfred said their goodbyes, as did Trillia before he left. Trillia stood, stretched, and yawned herself. "I should head back so I can get some sleep as well."

Marg stood and motioned to a rather comfortable-looking couch. "You could just sleep here. It's no imposition to us. Tomorrow, your group can have a hearty meal here before heading to the dungeon."

Trillia looked over at the couch. Amelia, Layla, and Ialu were already here. She shrugged and nodded, giving Marg and Alfred hugs good night before she went to sleep on their couch.

-=- The Next Day -=-

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Malor came by early in the day, and they all shared a big breakfast. They said their goodbyes to the group before heading out to the dungeon. Malor spoke up as they began the long walk. "I think we should go as hard as we can during the second-floor boss fight. Not only so that Trillia can learn to control her abilities but also because we need to clear it quickly. We need to push deeper if we're going to get any meaningful experience out of this."

Layla nodded. "I also think you shouldn't restore my mana, Trillia. Nor should I heal anyone unless someone falls below fifty percent."

That drew curious looks from everyone, Layla continued. "I've been reading some of Auntie Marg's books. If you fill my mana for me, I have a worse chance of getting skills related to mana regeneration. Likewise, if I keep all of you healed, your regeneration skills won't level or get better evolution choices."

Everyone glanced around and nodded. Trillia spoke up. "That seems like a good idea. I can fill mana in an emergency from empty to full. If someone is taking too much damage, Laya can also heal them from near empty to full."

Malor rubbed his chin. Amelia spoke up, tapping the shields. "Perhaps we should only use these against the boss. The others aren't much risk, but their breath weapon gives experience in resistances that will be needed the deeper we go."

"Maybe we should focus significantly less on defense and more on offense. It will push our resources lower to trigger better skill gains. It will also open us up to receiving more defense skills. In addition to us clearing stuff faster." Frederick added to Amelia's thoughts.

Trillia nodded in agreement with all of it. "I'm down! It will also let us see just how far we can push things before they get really bad. Which is gonna be important during other dungeons that we can't just walk out of."

The group spent the following two weeks doing just that. One day in the dungeon, one day out. Half the time, they cleared the boss fight, and the other half ended with the boss winning. Trillia was no longer being almost completely taken over by her skill, at least. It was still just as draining on her mental state as going into tenacity was.

It was the start of week three. The group sat, breathing heavily as the two hybrids were slain. For the first time, they cleared the fight with all of them standing and ready to proceed down to floor three.

Trillia stood and took a deep breath. Layla had been forced to heal the party several times and needed her mana refilled twice. The group still just wasn't working well enough together. Amelia made sure everyone was in good shape. The drops on repeat attempts were significantly worse, but it was still high-grade chitin and some crystals that were apparently used to store mana. Something the group could barter off since Trillia was a walking mana battery.

Fred led the way to floor three. A long winding staircase down. Small rivers of water ran along the sides from the ice floor above.

The stairs stopped ahead of them. Malor held his hand out, commanding the small orbs of light to move forward. The group stared as there were no walls in sight. Dark murky water sat before them in a seemingly endless ocean with only a small platform to stand on for the entrance of the floor.

The group's mood immediately plummeted. Nothing was ever easy with Red River.

Layla looked at the group with obvious fear in her eyes. "I don't do well with water."

The group nodded, knowing full well that was a story for another time. "I do know a few spells that let us see underwater better. And a spell for breathing underwater." Her voice grew quieter with each passing spell. "And one that makes it so it's easier to swim." Definitely a story for another time. Frederick began stripping off his armor as he stepped to the edge of the water. "Use them on me. I can scout ahead. I think I have the highest passive defenses out of everyone here, even outside of armor. Is that trident or orb of any use here, Malor?"

Malor nodded and held out the orb. "This thing produces a mist, but it has some sort of enchantment concerning water as well. I couldn't figure out what. The trident isn't slowed down in water. So you can use it while you're scouting. It will give you an effective weapon. If you run into any issues, retreat immediately, brother. We need to see what we're up against so we can prepare."

Frederick nodded as he stepped up to the minotaur and grabbed the trident, clapping the large man on the shoulder. "I'm no hero. Especially alone." Layla cast her spells on him, and he offered a little wave before jumping into the water. As soon as he was below the surface, he vanished completely. No light escaped, no sight of him at all.

It was two long hours that the group paced back and forth and waited. Trillia grumbled a bit. "Why don't we ever see other people down here?"

Layla shrugged at that. "Most dungeons have weird space magic going on. It lets them have multiple dungeons in the same space, but not, I guess? Kind of like a bag of holding but dungeon-sized. It's weird, I don't understand it."

Amelia and Malor both nodded at that. Trillia thought she remembered someone telling her something similar. "I know I said we didn't want to be spoiled to anything...but man, I wish we had prepared for this ahead of time."

The group sat down and waited for another hour before Fred finally emerged from the water and dragged himself onto the shelf. A dozen cuts and gashes on his arms said that it was no walk in the part. The trident was covered in rust-red blood. "Fuck's sake. There are currents everywhere down there. At least five hundred brawn is required to swim against any of it. There are some strange creatures that are half-fish, half-man that use tridents like this one that aren't enchanted. Net traps all over. The good thing is we won't need light down there. As soon as you're fully submerged, there are lights all over underneath."

Reaching into a pouch at his side, he produced some odd-looking scales and a bunch of different types of plants. "Figured our resident alchemist and enchanters could maybe figure something out with all of this. I didn't grab any of the tridents that dropped. Didn't want to risk being slowed down that much, if I'm being honest. We need to get a storage item for our loot. It weighs us down a lot. Maybe we can all chip in and barter for a small item or something."

Layla had walked over and began healing the worst of the wounds as Fred sat down and caught his breath. "That said, there's a shit load to explore down there. Lots of weird-looking gems. There are some rock nodes in the wall that I'm pretty sure are copper and tin. I think Red River took me seriously about the mining. Not sure why the fuck it decided to put them underwater, but well, they are there."

Trillia chuckled and looked over at him. "It's difficult, that's why. There's probably some insane skill for mining underwater that people can get. Who knows. My scan shows me that these long-looking plants can be used to make underwater breathing potions. Which means we can probably make something more permanent if we need to do so. I think Layla can cover us with a lot of it."

Layla nodded at that. "My spells only last for four hours. I suppose I should have warned you about that, but I didn't think you'd be gone so long."

Fred shook his head, holding up a hand. "They have timers on them in my status screen. I started returning at the two-hour mark. I just ran into a lot less enemies on the return trip. I think Red River was testing me, honestly. There's a lot to explore, though. I think this floor hides some real interesting stuff."

Malor was looking through the plants and grabbed one of the scales, holding it up to Fred's chest plate.

"Weave essence into essence, blend magic and metal! [Partial Enchant]!" The scale vanished, and Fred's chest plate took on a light blue hue. "Says it no longer provides a penalty in water. I guess that's one worry down. Fred gathered fifteen or so of these scales. It will take ten to enchant all of our armor with this if I do it right. That leaves five to experiment with and lets us prepare for the next trip."

Trillia nodded and lifted one of the scales herself. "I think I can brew everyone an emergency potion of water breathing. Use this scale to prolong its duration. Just in case we are separated and can't get back to Layla in time for a re-cast."

Amelia nodded. "Good idea. I'm going to be mostly useless on this level. My weapons are all large, slow, blunt weapons, and sound doesn't do so well underwater. Sorry, everyone."

The group shook their heads immediately. Trillia spoke up. "Red River is going to teach us that we all have our place. Sometimes, one of us will be more useful than the others. That's the nature of exploring a dungeon. We'll carry your slack this level, and I'm sure there will be plenty of times when you have to carry someone else's slack. That's our job as a party."

Malor smirked as he looked down at Trillia. "Well said. I agree. For now, let's backtrack out of here and prepare to conquer this damn floor as well."

As the group all agreed, a hole opened in the ceiling, and seven tridents and a bag of scales fell out of it. Gobbinz stuck his head out. "Father says these were the rest of your drops, young Frederick. I can lead you out if you'd like. Also! The underwater nodes are there specifically for your parents."

Fred gave the little goblin an odd look at that. Trillia was more and more surprised at how quickly everyone had learned the human tongue to communicate. "Father says that if they are masters of their trade, he is curious to see how they approach the problem. He'd like to teach others how to do that as well. He's in communication with another dungeon that's much, much deeper underground, and it touches the ocean floor. Apparently, there are literally tens of thousands of pounds of precious metal deep under the water."

Malor laughed at that and shook his head. "Yeah, guarded by fucking leviathans."

Gobbinz shrugged. "Leviathans never push back against dungeons. It's a standing truce that has been around longer than the Kadessian Empire has. Dungeons offer tribute, and Levithans accept that some dungeons will utilize the sea bed for stuff. People exploring the dungeon itself aren't attacked and sometimes even get to see leviathans up close. Well, as up close as one would ever want to see a leviathan."

That news seemed new to everyone. Once more, Trillia was fascinated with how much she didn't know about the world. Something struck her. "Wait! There's another dungeon down here?! Can we meet it? Is it friendly?"

Gobbinz laughed at her outburst of questions. "Father says that it's shy. I've been talking to a very friendly Merman about doing a meeting with Tormash and the others. The biggest drawback would be anyone getting to the dungeon. Well. That and it's way too high of a level for most people. Apparently, there are a lot of races that live deep, deep underground."

Trillia's eyes glimmered with excitement. "Like true dwarves?"

Gobbinz nodded. "That is apparently a large source of its mana. The True Dwarves delve to mine and slay the respawning creatures. Much like Red River, they don't kill the things that can't respawn. Accidents have obviously happened on both sides, but it's a strong alliance. The starting creatures in that dungeon are level two-fifty. I don't think your group would manage very well."

Trillia tried to think about a horde of level two-fifty creatures and shuddered. "Why are they so high-level?"

Gobbinz answered without hesitation. "It's closer to the [Primordials]. I've met a few true dwarves. I haven't seen a single one below level four hundred. I guess the deeper you go, the higher level everything is. Even sleeping [Primordials] raise the levels of everything significantly. So, as they wake up and get closer to the surface, stuff just goes bonkers. Enough chatting, let's head out."

The group nodded and followed the goblin out of the dungeon. After waving their goodbyes and arriving at the armor shop, they filled Alfred and Marg in on everything. Trillia excused herself early to go and talk to Tormash and Ba'Shoon about it as well. The group agreed to take a couple days to prepare for floor three.