They reached the guild quickly and walked inside. The siblings were still giddy but they were starting to fade into tiredness from being up all night. Akil could theoretically cut out their need for sleep but that would facilitate dependance on him that he didn’t want to do. Besides, as he could personally attest lately, sleep was necessary to recharge mentally.

They walked into the guild and they turned in all the different missions much to the awe of the other patrons. Even Marisha had a raised eyebrow as the different monster parts were taken out. They made a huge chunk of change from missions and selling the monster parts, there were some jealous gazes but no one had the gall to do anything to what had become the de facto strongest party in Graycott. They left the guild shortly after and headed to a secluded area to transfer to Akil’s office on Jamiea.

“Great work today as always you two. Get some rest, I have some big plans for the party when you wake up.” (Akil)

Tristan wasted no time leaving the room, meanwhile Selena looked at Akil expectantly. Akil walked over and embraced her, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

“Not tonight my starshine, I have to work on planning for the town of Graycott based on the information we got from the lord.” (Akil)

She puffed her cheeks out to show her displeasure but she nodded her head in acquiescence.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” (Selena)

“Don’t worry about it, just get some rest, it will mostly be tedious things like small tweaks to taxes and laws.” (Akil)

She stood on her tippy toes and gave him a peck on the lips before turning around to leave. Akil poured himself a glass of a strong spiced rum over ice to prepare himself for a long night. He took out the tax code and list of laws passed to him from Lord Oberyn and started pouring over him. He had to make sure that any changes he made were done with finesse, it would be very suspicious if Lord Oberyn put down a lot of out of character changes. He went through each law and annotated any changes to be made and added a timeline for these changes. The biggest things involved were for slavery, currently although it was illegal it was obviously not strictly enforced, it was well known that nobles were skirting the rules and using slaves. He would slowly increase the punishment for both slave ownership and all levels of the slavetrade. Then he would add rewards to those who exposed any slavers. He planned on having Lord Oberyn arrest a high profile noble to show that the new laws had teeth but this would only be after a few months of changes.

The lion's share of changes he made were to the tax law, luckily taxes changed pretty often so as long as he did it in small increments the changes shouldn’t stand out too much. He tweaked the taxes for merchants, decreasing it for any raw materials entering the city while increasing it for any finished goods entering the city then he did the reverse for goods leaving the city. At the same time he introduced some tax breaks to any artisans to goods they produced. That should stimulate some growth of industry within the city. Besides that he spent time optimizing the taxes to promote an influx of new artisans and engineers while also maximizing the social mobility of those currently within the walls. It was generally pretty hard to fully grasp the far reaching economic consequences of taxes but Akil's vast intellect could not be measured by human imagination. Even compared to the genius of an ancient dragon the difference was more than twice as great as comparing that dragon to a regular lizard. There was a reason he was the chosen champion of the god of magic and knowledge. Akil had read the codex of the infinite planes and not only did he keep his sanity he managed to learn its deepest secrets.

By the time all his policies were implemented the GDP of Graycott would increase by at least 10%. By the time Akil finished working on the policies, it was 8 hours later. He sat back and finished the remains of his rum, it was a boring process but he was glad he did it. This kind of bureaucracy is why he generally steered away from leadership positions most of his life but they always seemed to make their way to him.

He went into his room, Selena was laying on his bed sleeping soundly. She had been staying in his room every time it was time to sleep since they had told Tristan about their relationship. He stared at her fondly for a few moments before walking over and shaking her gently. She groaned at him and protested being woken up but he didn’t relent. After a minute or so of this back and forth he finally managed to get her up. She prepared herself for the day while Akil cooked breakfast which had become their morning routine. They met with Tristan in Akil’s office a little later.

“You know, I have never seen my sister on time so much, you must be a brave man to wake her up every day. All she did when I tried to wake her up was bite my head off.” (Tristan)

“Shut up Tristan, no one asked you anything.” (Selena)

Akil smiled at the two siblings bickering, it was very endearing.

“Anyway, I think it's time for us to leave Graycott. I want to head to the new dungeon near Cardended so we can clear it, that should give us a large boost to our reputation.” (Akil)

The two stood at attention and nodded. A look of apprehension crossed Tristan's face. The last time he was in a dungeon was when he was struck ill so it was unsurprising that he would be nervous. Akil looked forward to seeing him face his fears, it would be a good experience for him. He transferred them all back to Graycott near the hunter’s guild. They went back to the guild and told Marisha that they were going to the dungeon near Cardended. Marisha responded in an unsurprising way.

“What do I care, I’m not your mother.” (Marisha)

They said their goodbyes to some of the hunters before making their way out of the city. Akil could have teleported them directly to Cardended but they were in no rush and Akil wanted to take in the sights of the new world.

They spent the next two and a half days walking towards the new city, occasionally fighting off a minor monster or unlucky bandit during the day and returning to Jamiea at nights for training and sleeping. As they got close to the city the vast ocean appeared on the horizon. Ships dotted all over traveling towards and away from the port city. The trio traveled up to the city that was at least 2 times the size of Graycott and waited for entry at the gate.

After a few hours of waiting they eventually were able to show their hunters identification cards and gain entry to the city without any incident. They were directed to the city's hunters guild which was on the far side in the harbor district. They traveled through a bustling market selling fresh fish and a variety of trade goods. Eventually they reached the Hunter’s guild nestled deep within the harbor district, surrounded by rowdy taverns and freight companies. The party entered and were greeted with the usual sight of adventures eating and conversing. Many looked more seaworthy than their peers in Graycott, with windtorn faces and rough calloused hands.

They walked up to the counter that was manned by a tall, spindly man with glasses.

“How may I be of assistance?” (Receptionist)

“We’re looking for a permit to enter the new dungeon on the outskirts of town.” (Akil)

“Ah yes of course, you must be of rank silver or above to go into the upper floors and gold or above to enter past the 5th floor. Anything above floor 9 is unexplored and should be entered at your own risk.” (Receptionist)

They handed him their hunter ID and he filled out an entry card for their party.

“Please exercise caution when entering the dungeon, and good luck!” (Receptionist)

“Is there any guide for the floors that have already been discovered?” (Akil)

“Of course, for the low price of 10 gold you can have a completed copy.”(Receptionist)

They paid 10 gold and took the guide from the receptionist. They thanked him and turned to leave but were blocked by a group of ruffians led by a large shirtless man with scars all over his chest. He stood up in front of Akil but he ended up still having to look up slightly to be matched with Akil. He looked from Akil over to Selena and put a perverted smile on his face. Akil sighed inwardly, it was unbelievable that this kind of thing still happened.

“Hey there pretty lady, why don’t you ditch these two pathe-” (Ruffian Leader)

Akil interrupted him with a rough hand on his shoulder.

“Can we please skip the part where you objectify my partner and skip right to the part where I put you in your place. ” (Akil)

The ruffian sneered at Akil, he put his hand on top of Akil’s hand and attempted to tear it off by force. His hand remained completely unmoved, the look on the ruffians turned from confidence to confusion to worry as he attempted to remove himself from Akil’s grasp.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“It’s not too late to apologize.” (Akil)

He nodded his head through clenched teeth as Akil increased his grip strength.

“Ma’am I made a mistake, could ya find it in your heart to forgive me?” (Ruffian Leader)

The rest of the ruffians looked towards their leader then towards each other in surprise, they had never seen him cower like this.

“Boss??” (Ruffian 2)

The leader looked towards

“Shut up ya idiot!” (Ruffian Leader)

Selena giggled at the exchange, this was very common in the world of hunters and it was nice to see them get it thrown in their faces.

Akil released his grip on the ruffian, relief immediately washed over his face. He scurried away with his gang as quick as he had come. Akil let out a disappointed tut and continued on his way. It was a shame that things like this were common in every world he has ever been on, mortals not be the same but they definitely rhymed. The rest of the guild had quieted down during the confrontation and there were some impressed whispers around them. Apparently this was a common occurrence around here. The trio managed to walk out of the guild accosted, they walked towards the southern gate instead of the western gate they arrived at.

They left the city as easily as they arrived and made their way directly to the dungeon that was a few hours away. They arrived at a large, perfectly shaped cave entrance, there were a large number of adventures going in and out of it. The guards were stopping the adventures that were going in and even turning back some that had yet to get their permits. The trio walked straight up to a guard and showed their permit who waved them in. The cave led to a set of stairs that seemed to be hewn from the stone itself.

“According to the guide the first 5 floors should only have a variety of goblins with a goblin chieftain as the boss at the end of the 5th floor. I will just be watching you two clear these floors, I want you to try to kill these goblins without summoning anything. Also we will be staying in this dungeon the entire time, we will not be transferring away.” (Akil)

Both of the siblings nodded in agreement. They prepared themselves for fighting, casting some long lasting defensive spells on themselves. They traversed into the dungeon, Akil could sense the magic in the air when they were in the cave above but once they were in the dungeon his magic detection was going off constantly. The walls themselves were veined in magic and a thick layer of magic particles were floating in the air itself. He could feel a light pulse that seemed to originate from somewhere deep inside the dungeon. Dungeons were a new phenomenon for him, they were not something that existed in this previous world, at least not naturally occurring ones. He was excited to study them and reveal their secrets as they were obviously intrinsically tied to the magic of this world.

The monsters in the dungeon regenerated periodically and when they were killed they dissipated into a mist-like substance. Even weirder is that they dropped the currency of this world when killed and the occasional magic item. This was why artificers were so rare in this world, as most magic items came from clearing dungeons. When a dungeon was cleared fully and its core was removed the dungeon would collapse. If that were all then it would almost be worth not clearing a dungeon and just farming it for currency and magic items but as long as a dungeon existed there was a constant chance that a monster swarm would be created.

While the siblings fought the goblins Akil spent his time studying the structure of the dungeon. First he studied the currency that the goblins dropped. There were no markings on them, they were just perfectly weighted polished pieces of their respective metals. The goblins themselves were exactly the same as a regular goblin that could be found outside the dungeon with the same level of intelligence. Akil could see that their bodies were made up of concentrated magic, in a way it reminded him of his own body that had become more magic that biology after being blessed by the god of knowledge and magic. When they died the magic that was constituting their bodies just returned to the air. It seemed like there was a constant amount of magic in the dungeon that was available to form the monsters. He wondered where the excess magic came from whenever there was a monster swarm.

The siblings fought well against the different types of goblins. The first two floors only had basic ones that were just unarmored and armed with a simple club but starting from the third floor onward they started encountering goblins armed with different mixes of ranged and melee weapons as well as rudimentary armor. After the fourth floor they started to encounter the occasional goblin mage.

Even with the siblings' fast pace the floors still took awhile to clear, they had been there for almost the entire afternoon and night was about to fall based on Akil’s internal clock. They finally reached the end of the fifth floor and stood in front of the boss's room. The siblings cast some shorter duration defensive spells to ready themselves for the upcoming battle. They greatly overleveled the boss but if they didn’t treat it seriously there was always the chance of getting caught off guard. After a few minutes of prep the siblings were finally ready to face the first boss. This wasn’t their first encounter with a dungeon boss, they had been in quite a few dungeons even before they went to the one where Tristian got ill.

The bosses room had been cleared recently so they had to wait a few minutes before the boss reconstituted. The door would not open until the boss was there so even if they were to try they wouldn’t have been able to proceed. Akil wondered what would happen if he forced himself into the room but he saved that test for a later date. Despite all the hunters they saw at the dungeon entrance they had seen surprisingly few people deep in the dungeon. The floors themselves were very large so it was possible for dozens of people to be on the same floor and never see each other. Eventually they heard the door click which signaled that the boss was ready to be faced.

They pushed forward into the boss's room. They were greeted with a large arena with goblins in the stands and a large goblin sitting in a makeshift throne sitting above everyone. The goblins were rambunctiously cheering and chattering. They had known about this boss fight from the guidebook they had purchased, there would be multiple waves of goblin enemies before the chieftain finally came down to fight them himself. Akil stood back near the entrance and let the two siblings take center stage by themselves.

The chieftain waved his hand and the first wave of goblins came charging in. It consisted of a large amount of basic goblins with nothing but loin clothes and clubs all rushing at once. Selena and Tristan began casting a spell as soon as the goblins began charging.

[Wall of Fire], [Flame Strike]

Selena waved her staff and a circle of flames burning some of the goblins and surrounding rest in a tight circle which was immediately followed up by a strike of divine flames that incinerated the remaining goblins immediately.

The goblin spectators loudly voiced their displeasure with the outcome, the Chieftain stood up and signaled the next wave to come attack.

The next wave consisted of more heavily armored goblins in a mix of ranged and melee combatants. They came into the arena awkwardly because the circle of flames was still burning on their side. They formed into two lines of a frontal assault and a ranged attacker. Before they could launch their combined assault both of the siblings finished their spells.

[Electrical Arc], [Holy Ice]

An electrical arc zapped through the front line created from the two goblins on each end, they fried completely and fell over. Meanwhile a wall of icy javelins appeared in the sky above the archers that swiftly impaled each member of the backline.

The arena was in a complete uproar, the chieftain raised his hand and a silence quickly fell. The chieftain said some words in the goblin language followed by picking up an extremely large club that sat next to him. He hefted himself over the wall on his viewing platform and jumped down onto the battlefield. The sound of the goblins' cheers became deafening.

The chieftain looked at them menacingly while wielding a greatclub that was larger than most men while he stood at almost over 8 ft tall himself (~2.5 meters), it was hard to believe that the small race of goblins could ever create someone as big as this creature. A hot steam shot out of its nose as it launched itself into a raging charge, screaming the whole way. The siblings barely got off their spells before he reached them.

[Lightning Strike], [Hold Person]

The lightning struck its strong hide, not even leaving a scorch mark. It was completely unfazed and it stuttered for a single step as it completely resisted the holding spell. The siblings barely had any time to react after they realized that their spells were ineffective before the chieftain had bared into them. It swung its club like a bat and swatted Tristan to the side, he flew through the air before getting embedded into the wall. Luckily his skin was strengthened as hard as stone from his defensive spell Stoneskin so the damage was minor but he was still stunned for a moment from the impact.

Meanwhile the chieftain raised its club high into the air and brought it down on a panicked Selena. She dove to the side just barely escaping the club as dirt and rocks exploded from the impact area. She rolled into a standing position and quickly began casting another spell.

[Black Tentacles]

A black mass of tentacles appeared on the ground beneath the chieftain, they began lashing and restraining him as he viciously tore at them. It granted them a brief respite as Tristan pulled himself from the wall, the siblings communicated something to each other telepathically and quickly came up with a plan. They seem to come to an understanding just as the chieftain tore himself out of the mass and stood in front of them again. He started to viciously charge at them again, this time even faster than the last.

It seemed as if the siblings weren’t going to complete their spells in time as the chieftain barreled towards them, gaining speed and inertia each moment but right before he was in swinging distance their incantations stopped.

[Earth Spike], [Poison Coating]

A thick earthen spike shot out from the ground in between the combatants and it was coated in a thick greenish sheen of poison. The chieftain realized too late that he was on a collision course with the spike and attempted to stop but his enormous mass made it impossible, his momentum carried him into the spike where he impaled himself right through the stomach. The chieftain stood their panting for a few moments with hatred in his eyes towards the siblings as the poison worked its way through his veins. He said something in goblin before coughing up a large amount of blood and phlegm, before closing his eyes in death. The room was completely silent, the goblin spectators were speechless. The goblin chieftain eventually dissipated back into a magical mist, leaving behind a large amount of currency and a few magic items. The goblins in the stands also dissipated into magic, leaving the trio alone in the large coliseum.

Akil had some doubts about that fight, according to the guidebook this fight should have been able to be cleared by a party of silver ranked adventures but he knew his apprentice's strengths and there was no way they would have had that much trouble for something at that level. There seemed to be something strange going on with the dungeon but he kept that to himself for now. He walked over and congratulated the siblings for a job well done and had them collect the magic items.