"Okay! Proper introduction time!" Pelopi declared and began pointing one by one at everyone.

"Eliza."

"Ian."

"Syl."

Finally, she pointed to herself. "Pelopi."

I had no doubt they had probably immediately used [Identify] on me, but formally introducing ourselves still felt nice. Which was likely the point Pelopi was trying to make.

"So what can you tell us about yourself, Syl?" Ian asked.

I started briefly explaining some of my spells when Eliza held out her hand to stop me. "No, no. This is about you, not what you can do."

Perhaps they noticed my aversion and thus started with themselves to break the ice.

"So we grew up together in a small village," Ian said, pointing to himself and Eliza.

"Childhood friends and now a couple," Pelopi added, to which Eliza and Ian groaned.

"Dawnwood. Name aside, it was a real shithole. It pretty much only exists to send lumber and wood to the capital." Ian continued.

"That's where I'm from," Pelopi said.

I held out my hand to pause the story, an unresolved curiosity now on the tip of my tongue. "Why does everyone call it 'the capital'?"

"It's cause the name keeps changing!" Pelopi answered.

"Changing? That sounds terribly inconvenient for everyone." I replied with confusion.

"Right... Only our kingdom really does that." Eliza said, scratching her head. "Whoever is the current ruling noble family names it after themselves. It's sort of a tradition."

"It's currently the Keaburgs," Pelopi chipped in.

"Suddenly, Stantondale makes a lot more sense..." I muttered.

"Minor nobles who don't participate in the fight for the capital usually just settle down in a small town or city and rename it," Eliza explained.

"It's not so bad. At least we aren't ruled by a never-ending royal family like the Outeatus Kingdom." Ian pointed out.

I had to hide my surprise. I had no idea there even was another human kingdom.

"I used to be from a noble family," Pelopi said.

"You don't need to be that honest with me..." I said cautiously, mostly because I didn't want to be that open.

"Don't worry; she tells everyone about it," Eliza said, shaking her head. "We found her living in the forest like a feral child. We basically raised her ourselves and were forced to take her with us when we left to become adventurers."

"You act like this stray wouldn't have willingly followed us wherever we went," Ian chuckled.

"Yup!" Pelopi agreed. "So I ran away, lived in a forest, and was found by these two. They seemed nice, so I followed them, and the rest is history!"

"That's... Extremely abridged." Ian frowned, pinching his brow.

"Your turn." Pelopi declared, pointing to me.

I sighed before beginning. "I basically left the forest to explore the world."

"Where'd you start out?" Eliza asked curiously.

"Stantondale... There was an incident with goblins, and I was found by another adventuring team. I hung out with them, and they explained the guild to me and recruited me. I already enjoyed hunting monsters and getting stronger, so it seemed like the best idea."

"I can't say I recognize the name. Do you know what its main trade was?" Ian asked.

"Blue slime farming," I answered.

"Ah... One of the mana potion farms." Ian nodded.

"I feel sorry for the poor slimes..." Pelopi said softly.

My opinion of her instantly increased tenfold.

"Then I moved to Kaerlin and got promoted to Silver. I'm trying to get to Gold so I can visit the Dwarven Empire."

"So, kind of like a world tour?" Eliza asked.

"Well... We will see after the Dwarves. I've already explored a floating island." I answered.

All three of them were very impressed with that, and I was barraged by some minor questions about what I had seen and done on the island. Eliza and Pelopi were extremely excited to hear about unicorns until I described how murderous they were.

"I'd almost say anything after exploring a floating island would be a downgrade. I don't want to say you've peaked, but..." Ian commented.

"Some friends left for the capital, so maybe I'll go there," I answered.

"There's much more exciting places than that!" Pelopi scoffed.

"So you've already beaten the first floor of the dungeon. Do you have any advice? What can we expect?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh... you mean you don't know the dungeon's theme?" Eliza responded, genuinely surprised.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"No. It seems most people in my life tell me they don't want to 'ruin the surprise.'" I answered.

"I'm all for surprises, but this doesn't seem like an appropriate one," Eliza said curiously. "Imagine if the dungeon's theme was winter or ice, and you didn't prepare warm clothes and appropriate supplies."

"There is a chance I forgot to ask... I do tend to get... Distracted." I answered, being a little honest.

Pelopi giggled and nodded as if perfectly understanding my explanation. I wondered if I should be worried about our budding kindred spirit.

"Well, you're either lucky or unlucky, depending on how you look at it since this dungeon's theme is Mutation," Eliza answered.

"Mutation? Like monster evolutions?" I asked.

"Yes, exactly. Each floor has a different Mutation, and every monster on the floor will have that Mutation."

"So there's a big luck factor involved. Our first time, we thought we were very lucky; the first floor was nothing but Swarms," Ian explained with a big grin. "I basically got to set myself on fire and watch as they all died around me; it was pretty awesome!"

"Then we reached the mini-boss, who guards the second floor and combines the first and second-floor Mutation," Eliza said, looking quite upset. "And that was where our luck ran out... One glance at the guardian, and we ran."

"Really? That bad?" I asked curiously. I couldn't really think of anything I'd run away from unless maybe I saw Simon guarding the floor.

"Volatile... Meaning they explode when they die." Eliza answered.

"Oh... Oh!" I exclaimed as I realized what that meant. "Combined with Swarm, that feels like the worst possible combo."

"I don't know if you can get a more horrible combination. Well, at least for our party." Ian admitted.

"Quite different to the undead dungeon I did." I pointed out.

"That's why the guild likes it as a test. You don't know what you'll be up against since it changes daily. We could have picked a different dungeon, but beating this one not only ticks the box but also gives you a gold star," Eliza explained.

"I wonder if that's why Lisa sent me here. If I had this one on my record, it would have made my early promotion more acceptable."

"So. To answer your original question, unfortunately, we won't know what to expect until we enter tomorrow. So be prepared for anything," Ian shrugged.

"And with me on the team, you don't have to worry about food, at least!" Pelopi said cheerfully, producing more apples.

"Yeah. If you can stomach apples, we have food sorted. So just water."

"If you don't like apples, it might be a deal breaker for us working together," Eliza said sternly.

"I'm perfectly fine with apples," I answered under Eliza's intense gaze. "And I can provide fresh water since it is one of my affinities. I'm surprised Pelopi can't?"

As if to answer my question, Pelopi cast [Water Orb]. Instead of the pure and fresh appearance I was used to, it looked like brownish-greenish swamp water.

"Magic is hard..." Pelopi said with dismay.

"Do not drink that... You'll be in the toilet for days." Ian said with a look of horror.

"Somehow, even boiling it doesn't fix it... It's truly cursed." Eliza added with a shudder.

I cast the spell myself and held it for them to see. They stared at it with strange astonishment.

"I don't think I've seen water that clean-looking before." Ian pointed out.

"Supposedly, I have extremely high purity mana; at least, that's what the guild said."

"So Pelopi's is either impure or something else?" Eliza asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea... I thought purity only mattered for enchanting." I replied, then scratched my head as I tried to puzzle together something even remotely plausible. "If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's like her Earth and Nature mana are bleeding in?"

"I hope that doesn't mean Lightning is bleeding into your Water." Ian chuckled.

"Screw Lightning. She said one of her affinities was Corrosion." Eliza replied although I could tell she meant it as a joke with the tone and accompanying grin.

"See. This is why I ran away. The magic stuff is way too hard. I had four magic tutors, three of which would shout at me for getting it wrong." Pelopi said, swishing her tail. "Being a noble sucked. Who cares about some fancy extra name."

"Forgive me for asking, but aren't your parents worried about you?" I asked.

"No. They found me when I registered for the Adventurers Guild and promptly disowned me. Apparently, I brought shame into the family tradition. Good riddance," Pelopi growled.

"Oh. I'm sorry." I replied a little awkwardly.

"Anything you can tell us about elves?" Eliza asked curiously.

I hid my flinch behind a pondering scratch. I could make some educated guesses based on the emblem and traits I had read and some of the little bits about the elf war I had picked up on from others. I could've said nothing, but it might turn around and bite me if I kept dodging this question.

"I don't know how common knowledge this is, so forgive me if I'm repeating myself." I started, and now I had their undivided attention, which was a little uncomfortable. "But Elves generally follow a chosen path, such as mastery of the bow, magic, nature, and so forth."

Unfortunately, with my incomplete profile, I could only be vague. I'd only seen the [Elven Marksmanship] trait after all.

"The biggest being magic since our progenitor was a Master Magus, which is the path I'm also following. I have dabbled in archery and monster taming, though."

This was an extremely minor dabble, especially with the latter. I'd only grabbed the class and one skill. Nobody interrupted me, so I must have been doing well so far.

"Elves are also seen as guardians of nature and almost universally have an affinity with Nature magic. We're also deeply in tune with our bodies, and while a little on the frail side, we are highly dexterous and agile." I said, pulling inspiration from the [Nature Commune] and [Elven Reflexes] descriptions.

"I want to be a guardian of nature!" Pelopi said, causing Eliza to giggle.

"That was great. I only heard from my great uncle, who said the elves turned an entire forest into a living weapon. He used to joke that he became a lumberjack to take revenge against the trees." Ian said with a chuckle.

I nodded. "I've seen extremely impressive nature magic bringing trees and anything plant to life. Unfortunately, I don't have a Nature affinity." I said regretfully.

"I'd give you mine if I could. Other than growing apples, it's very uncooperative." Pelopi said with a frown.

"If you didn't have Nature affinity, you wouldn't be able to be a Druid, though." Eliza pointed out.

"Crap, I forgot about that! Sorry, Syl, I'll have to rescind my offer." Pelopi said, sticking out her tongue teasingly.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry, maybe I'll pick it up with my next ascension."

"Yeah, you seem to be on a roll with that. I don't think I've ever seen someone with such a high race level." Ian pointed out.

"It's all of you I don't understand," I replied. "Everyone I talk to seems to hate their race levels. But I suppose that maybe elves are blessed in that regard compared to humans?"

"Yeah... Other than some attribute boosters or resistances, I can't say I've ever seen anything worthwhile." Ian admitted.

"Speaking of levels, your class is advanced, right?" Eliza asked.

"Yes, and from what I've been told, it's extremely rare," I answered. "Judging by your levels, I'm assuming you're still intermediate?"

"Yes, although we've all qualified for a generic advanced class, we're waiting for a more specific or rarer one before we take the plunge into advanced classes," Eliza answered.

"I received similar advice," I replied with a nod. "I had the Assassin class unlocked for a long time but only took a level in it after I had already completed a few levels in Elementalist."

"So you are a super elf magical assassin!" Pelopi gasped.

"Maybe without the super unless I manage to get an Umbral affinity," I teased with a wink.

Eliza joined in with the teasing. "Yeah... I'd have to agree after seeing that Jet fellow disappear into his shadow."

'I wonder if there's a shadow or umbral slime? Maybe black? Unless that's Death affinity... Assuming there even is a black slime. I'm sure there's at least one for every color, right?'

We chatted for a bit longer, mostly while I followed them around as they restocked some supplies from the various vendors. Honestly, the whole dungeon business seemed extremely lucrative here, considering the large setup, despite being nowhere near a city or town. Perhaps it was due to the variety of an ever-changing dungeon? I wondered if there was any chance for me to get a new slime in the dungeon, and if so, I just hoped it didn't have some strange mutation that would make it unharvestable.

We eventually said our farewells in the early evening, even though I was offered a spot in their tent. I would enjoy my last night in my comfy bedtub before I was stuck in the dungeon for who knows how long.