We were in the middle of nowhere in the easternmost side of the Kingdom of Eldoria.

Slurp.

“So…Dungeon Master 02…”

Don’t call me that. And stop sucking on that thing. I couldn't help but bark internally at the sight of Dungeon Master 20 standing in front of me, curiously overlooking what I was doing. He was slurping on a lollipop like a toddler would on a pacifier.

"I checked your skills," he said, removing the lollipop from his mouth to take a breath, "I never understood how any of your skills equate to you being able to do... this. Mind explaining to me?" As he spoke, he lifted my head from what I was doing and looked straight at him.

In his current incarnation, Dungeon Master 20 who had long, completely white hair, stared at me with black, somewhat faintly reddish eyes, giving him an outright albino-like appearance. At the same time, considering what it was I knew, I was certain that it was not albinism. He looked even younger than I, who would celebrate roughly sixteen years in this incarnation in about six months.

One might initially attribute the carefree expression on his face to youthful innocence. Yet, being acquainted with the true nature of the man, I couldn't shake the sense that his nonchalant demeanor resembled more that of a temperamentally unpredictable dog. Much like a canine capable of swiftly transitioning from playfulness to something far less benign, his outward calmness concealed an underlying volatility.

I looked at him and used my skill [Appraisal].

However, staring back at me he, aware of the attempt, smirked

Mph, credits where it’s due. At least he’s logical enough to have that skill always active. Familiar enough with the skill that passively blocked my attempt, I could tell he had the Anti-appraisal skill on, a skill matching level if not surpassed, my appraisal skill, likely by a few levels. This skill grants the wielder the power to repel any attempts at appraisal directed toward themselves."

Sighing I retracted my back from him and focused my attention back to what I was up to.

“Come on, you’re not going to answer my question? After you tried checking my stats.”

“You checked mine earlier, you said so yourself. So we’re even.”

“If I show you my skills will you tell me then? I’m really curious.”

“No. I’m not interested in any of your skills.” In truth I was but I wasn’t going to give him that pleasure.

"Come on, brother. I was only trying to start a discussion. We've been silent all the way through here, what has it been? Three entire days. I really want to talk. It's not every day that I get to work with a fellow Dungeon Master," he said, trying to break the prolonged silence.

I couldn't help but think, considering what you pulled off the last time you worked with another Dungeon Master, you can't expect anything other than that.

"It doesn't have to be about what makes you a good tracker, Dungeon Master, and Dungeon Tracker. I'm fine with any topic—"

At that moment, I cut him off, "Silence, I'm sensing something." I focused all my attention on the tiny artifact nestled in my hand. It resembled a polished metallic orb, no larger than a ripe apple. Its surface, a blend of smooth curves and fine etchings, caught the light, hinting at otherworldly craftsmanship—or at least one that doesn't seem to belong to the current era in Fiendfell.

The three cores, each radiating a different color, adorned its center. A soft blue glow pulsed from one, a deep red emanated from another, and a vibrant green flickered in the third. When a hidden switch was pressed, the artifact hummed to life, and a mesmerizing display of holographic symbols unfolded around it—symbols that only I, with my skill [Memory Matrix], was able to read and interpret. Dungeon Master 20 watched with an interested curiosity, thankfully in silence.

"There's a cluster, 73.9741 Nm away, southeast."

"A dungeon?" he surmised, having at least interpreted that from our three-day-long track.

"Yes, most likely a Dungeon," I said, "but the way it is clustered, it is more like a Dungeon that has been very recently cleared; it's clearly trying to cluster itself back."

"I see."

"There's something else," I said, "another cluster just a couple of Nm further."

"Another Dungeon?"

"No, this isn't a Dungeon. I think this might be... it."

In that moment, I exchanged a glance with Dungeon Master 20, and in that exchange, we felt we might have reached the end of this chase.

"Is it Dungeon Master 18?" he asked excitedly.

"There's a cluster. If it's not him, then it's somewhere he's spent a lot of time," I explained as I turned the apple-sized artifact off.

"Goddamn it, finally. A lead," he rejoiced as he did something, but then, as he finally came to realize something, he turned back to me, “I just noticed, you refer to Dungeon Master 18 as 'he,' he reincarnated as a 'girl,' you know.”

“I know.”

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That’s right; I was well aware that Dungeon Master 18 was a girl. However, I made a conscious effort not to refer to any Dungeon Masters who had reincarnated as girls as 'she.' Generally, the act of being reincarnated as a girl was not a choice within our control, except for perhaps one or two exceptions. In our past lives, we were all men, and naturally, we desired to maintain our gender when reincarnated to Fiendfell. Unfortunately, the authority we initially relied on for reincarnation did not consider our yearnings. In order to be considerate of everyone's feelings and to avoid putting myself in an embarrassing situation, as I had once done in the past, I ensured that I referred to every Dungeon Master who hadn't explicitly expressed comfort with their new gender as if they had reincarnated as a boy. To be frank, out of the two reasons, it was more of the latter than the former.

“Then why do you keep calling him 'him'? He’s fine with being referred to as a girl, as far as I’m aware.”

Dungeon Master 18 belonged to the category of those I didn’t know the stance of regarding what they’d become. The truth is I never really got much interaction with him; I only met him a total of three times—three opportunities during which I was not able to learn of his stances. Truth is, I really didn’t know much about him. I just knew that he, for a long time, had remained hidden in Dungeon Master 08’s shadow, acting as her second, helping her in whatever she’s usually up to.

“I’d rather confirm that from him personally,” I said.

“Eh, why be so considerate, it's just a name. You can call her whatever name you want. Pretty sure Dungeon Master 18 won’t mind. If she does, you’ll hear about it. Or is it because of that? Did something happen in the past with a Dungeon Master who reincarnated as a girl?”

Tsk.

A musclehead should just be what he is: a musclehead. Why’d you suddenly have deduction skills?

“Did I get it right?”

I didn’t even bother to answer. Instead, I turned around, waved my hand vertically, activating the skill that made it so that, aside from my tracking abilities, I’ve been chosen specially by Dungeon Master 07 for this mission. A rift tore where my finger passed, opening a portal that I immediately entered. “We’re leaving,” I declared.

“At least answer me, did I get it right? What happened? Who is it? Dungeon Master 08? Dungeon Master 14?” he asked, insistently following me into the rift that instantly closed as he made it through.

***

"Is this the place?" Dungeon Master 20 asked as he came out of the rift, which immediately closed behind him. I looked around and saw ourselves being surrounded by nothing else but trees.

"No," I replied genuinely.

"No? Then where are we?" He asked like an impatient kid.

"Somewhere within Florinewoods—the forest on the eastern side of Eldoria, I reckon, somewhere between the Dungeon where I felt the cluster and the one that I think might belong to Dungeon Master 18."

"Eh... why did you take us here instead of straight there?" He asked a little more curiously than complainingly.

"Something I've learned wielding, at times, [Teleportation] skill and, at others, [Teleportation Magic], across the ages is that these two skills are incredible tools, no doubt about it. I never warp into a place where there might be danger. It is a big rule I live by." No, I think this is just common sense, I internally thought to myself.

"I see, makes sense." Activating 'H/DC245,' the apple-sized artifact from which I read an update, I pointed in one direction, seemingly into the wood. "We're already very close to it."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" he declared excitedly while confidently striding into the direction I just pointed out.

Wanting to be done with that mission, I silently followed.

After walking for what felt like an eternity, so long that I contemplated violating my own big rule, I resisted the temptation and pressed on until we reached a corner where the trees thinned, allowing room for hope.

"Is this the end of the forest?" Dungeon Master 20 asked, exchanging a glance with me. Before any confirmation, he hurried himself up, clearly eager to escape the woods.

However, aware of the forest's vastness in the scale of the whole kingdom of Eldoria, I knew we hadn't exited the forest yet nor were we even anywhere close to. We were still in the middle of it.

Catching up to Dungeon Master 20, I saw him standing still at a point that could be mistaken for the end of the forest at first glance. However, a thorough look around quickly revealed otherwise.

The forest wasn't ending; there was a large hill-like plot of land devoid of trees, on top of which stood a wooden hou—no, a cabin was a more accurate description. The plot of land upon which the cabin stood was surrounded by a wooden fence that seemed out of place in the forest. Yet, the fence authoritatively outlined where the forest should stop and never grow past. His gaze fixed at the cabin up ahead with smoke coming out of the chimney, hinting at a human presence.

"Do you think she's here?" He asked half in a strange daze, before jumping over the white wooden fence, with seemingly not even a second thought.

Well, I guess there was no way to answer that question without seeing it with our own eyes. I was about to jump across the fence when I saw them manifesting themselves into the midair, lunging at Dungeon Master 20, two black shadows.

I wanted to call out to warn Dungeon Master 20, but before I could do so, I felt a blade-like impact, promptly followed by several loud thuds. The loud thuds were that of the two shadow creatures I just saw lunge at Dungeon Master 20, rolling across the space between him and me, crashing into the fence I was just about to climb across, prompting me to reflexively step back on the verge of teleporting myself away.

"That was..." I couldn't help but mutter, trying to process what just happened. In that moment, Dungeon Master 20, completely unfazed, turned around to look at the crashing shadow, "well, doesn't this answer my question?" he said, revealing a maniacal grin.

In that moment, instead of being creeped out by that display as I usually am to whatever he is up to, I followed his gaze to the cleanly bisected shadows. There on the ground, already in the process of liquifying themselves, were two shadow creatures, one resembling a tiger, another resembling a wolf, but that's about the extent of the comparison. The two were without a doubt monsters—shadow creatures, but not just any kind of shadow creatures.

"Was it hers?" I asked, in spite of being sure of to whom they belonged, seeking confirmation from the one who was the most familiar with Dungeon Master 18.

"Shadow creatures... As a child, I've been mauled by those kinds of creatures at her order plenty of times to recognize them, no doubt about it. Those two were hers. Dungeon Master 18's." I see, I said, casting yet another glance at the now completely liquified creatures. Dungeon Master 20 looked back at me and said, with an expression that finally had me concerned, "what will you do? We've kind of already found Dungeon Master 18, I think this might get a little violent from here on out," he said pointing at the cabin up ahead, "it would be safer if you return to Dungeon Master 07's side to inform him of what you've found. You can leave everything up to me from here on out. I can take it."

So you want me to leave now, huh? I guess that made sense. We were attacked by two of her shadow creatures; this should be considered a good enough reason for me to bail out of this. I was confident in my teleporting abilities to get me out of trouble, but the last place I wanted to find myself stuck in between was this dude and Dungeon Master 18, who is said to be his equal. And yet, I had the feeling that it would be a mistake to leave everything to him, as he just said.

"No, later. After I've confirmed seeing Dungeon Master 07, only then will I leave," I declared.

He looked at me somewhat disappointed by my answer then said, "I see, then stay close to me then.”

I don't know if that's supposed to sound reassuring or not, but it was not. Nonetheless, I stood close as we advanced toward the lone cabin at the top of the hill.