Her hands trembled as she stroked her hand over the black ink that now adorned her skin. She stood in front of a large mirror on the bathroom, a towel in her right hand as she wordlessly lamented her own fate.

Ina’s face twitched as she could not help but have mixed feelings about the sight in front of her. She could feel the faint pulse of mana that was passing through the symbols and she was somewhat aware that they were the reason why she was even alive right now. She also knew that Theon had only acted in her best interest and although the location of the last tattoo made her feel irritated and bashful, Theon’s lack of interest in her body somewhat placated the anger that she felt.

Her body had been marked and she would lie if she claimed that she did not feel at least a little defiled. But at least she was alive.

The girl’s expression stifled, her still wet and red eyes once again turning misty as she thought about Micha who was not as fortunate to have to change to complain about some ink on his skin. For a moment she felt like sinking back into a fit of misery and crying, but then she suddenly slapped her cheeks with both hands and stared her reflection right in the eyes.

“I am alive. He is dead.”, she muttered, struggling to sound confident with her still hoarse voice.

“He…wouldn’t want to see me like this.”, she told herself. Then she grimaced.

“And he certainly wouldn’t want to smell me like this.”, a faint grin broke through her sad expression.

She walked over to the large pool of warm water that occupied most of the expansive bath and entered the water, slowly submerging herself up to her nose. Allowing the comforting warmth of the water to engulf her, soothed the disturbed girl and for a while she stayed like this, neither moving nor thinking about anything.

But once her thoughts had relaxed and her aching muscles had stopped hurting, she couldn’t help but look around the large room she was in. Curiosity welled up within her.

Who was this mage that had saved her? What was he doing in a forest populated by human-hating dryads and even more puzzling, so close to the border to the mage-hating communists? Where was she? And who had built this large hall?

She couldn’t know that she was hundreds of meters below the ground, hidden from the world in a remote corner of the forest only a few kilometers away from where she had almost died to the arrows of the dryads.

She also couldn’t know that until a week ago, there had neither been a pool in which she could bath, nor the bath or really anything that she was currently seeing. Even her chamber had only been created a few days after she had arrived in the dungeon.

But once again. She did not know that.

Instead she was staring at the large slabs of granite that made up the walls around her and the beautifully carved and arranged interior design that was completely made from spotless white marble. She wondered what kind of kingdom had once created this beauty and who Theon was that he could enjoy these sorts of luxuries on his own.

Once Ina got bored of wondering about questions, she couldn’t know the answers to, she got out of the bath and sat down on a bench to scrub herself down. While she wasn’t too dirty, there was quite a lot of dead skin that had to be scrubbed off and after she was done, her body had turned into a smooth piece of art similar to the small marble statues adorning the bath.

Taking a look into the mirror, she was astonished that not only were there no signs of the injuries she had sustained by the dryads, the numerous scars she had acquired on previous adventures were also gone. Her skin was silky smooth, clear and somewhat paler than before. Only the three tattoos could be considered as somewhat of a taint on her otherwise perfect body.

She just stared at herself for a while, unable to believe that it was in fact her own body that she was looking at. Then she heard a polite knock on the door and hurriedly covered herself with a towel she picked from the ground.

“Y-yes?”, she asked in an unsteady voice.

“Sorry to bother you, but I thought you might like to eat something?”, Theon’s voice came from the other side of the door. It seemed like he had realized that he had been a little too comfortable with being in the same space as a barely covered woman.

Ina could help but chuckle a little. This mage, as socially awkward and strange as he was, did seem to care.

“I will be out in a minute.”, she said smiling after which she heard him walk off.

.....

Sparks flew as a steel dagger soared through the air, creating a whistling sound before deflecting off a shield of shimmering white light that sprung up in front of the covering green creature that would have otherwise already found its end. With a single jump, Ina retreated to a safe distance while sheathing her dagger. A confident, triumphant smile played on her lips as she looked over to the poor goblin who was slowly raising itself from the ground, its legs still shaking from fear.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“You have recovered fine.”, Theon commented. Then he dispelled the magic shield that had saved the goblins life just now.

Ina looked over to him and nodded, a faint smile remaining on her lips as she walked over to the goblin who was now patting the dust off his simple clothes.

“Are you alright?”, she asked the small creature.

Ina was by no means tall, compared to the averagely sized Theon she was at least a head smaller, but this ugly looking fella was still only about half her size.

He raised his head with a crooked smile and his ugly, oversized nose wobbled a little.

“Y-yes lady… Me is fine….me is…very fine.”, he mumbled while once again pinning his gaze to the ground before his feet not daring to look her in the eyes. Even after a couple of days of serving as her training partner, this “volunteer” wasn’t comfortable around the strange woman his new master was keeping around.

Ina nodded.

“Then this was the last day that we train. You are free to return to your family”, she turned around and walked over to Theon, only dully registering that the goblin scurried out of the grand hall that she had come to call the throne room.

“I’ll go and wash up.”, she said to the mage who was leisurely sitting on his wooden throne and had watched her training fight against the goblin. He had been doing this for the past few days, ever since he had suddenly turned up with a tribe of goblins that were now working for the mysterious mage.

“Sure.”, he replied to the sweaty young woman.

She walked behind the large throne and through a door hidden in the wall. Behind this door, a long corridor with at least a dozen doors stretched out in front of her. These were their living quarters, the part of the dungeon that only the mage and her were allowed to enter.

A feeling of satisfaction rose in her which in turn made her blush a little. Why did she feel happy about this? Embarrassed and flustered she quickened her steps and rushed to her chamber to pick up a change of clothes.

But despite her chaotic emotional response she was smiling. It did feel good to feel special and while she did not know if the mage liked her simply because of a lack of non-green alternatives or because of her wonderful and pleasing personality, she still enjoyed having somebody to talk to.

She did not take long to clear herself and soon returned to the throne room. But why that time, Theon had already gone off to direct his clumsy subordinates in the construction of new spaces closer to the surface.

A wry smile appeared on Ina’s face and she left the throne room through the large wooden portal that led to a seemingly endless hallway illuminated with countless torches,

Entering the gallery, that led up to the entrance of the dungeon hidden in a small overgrown cave, she stumbled upon the new “guardians” of the dungeon. Small formless blobs of liquid that moved across the ground of the dungeon and looked for any scraps to consume.

The slimes came in many different colors, some green, some blue or even pink. Theon had created them through the use of magic. They were the simplest form of artificial life, far weaker than the famous golems that were widely used as guards by those who could afford them.

Slimes on the other hand…let’s say their combat powers were severely lacking. They made it up by being very hard to kill and having the convenient ability of duplication. Over time, these slimes would multiply and by consuming anything that was left on the ground, they would keep the dungeon nice and clean.

The girl wandered further towards the entrance of the dungeon and as she did, she could hear construction sounds echoing through the dimly lit tunnel. Soon, she saw a dozen Goblins carrying a small tree trunk towards an opening in the wall. On both sides of the gallery, they had created rooms and hallways connecting various spaces. A goblin was hammering, others were sawing wood or carrying large slabs of stone out of the expanding corridors.

Everyone was busy, including a certain mage who was surveying the entire operation with a look of satisfaction. He was periodically lifting his hand and casting some spells that helped the goblins in their work, but for the most part he seemed to just observe their work.

“So…. we are expanding?”, Ina asked. She had been here for a few days now and had witnessed Theon’s rapid jump to action, but up till now, she had hesitated to ask any questions. After all, she was just a guest, someone the mage had saved and she now owed him a debt of gratitude.

The magus turned to face her, and his face twitched a little.

“…we?”

Ina’s face flushed a little and she averted her eyes.

“…I…mean the dungeon….”, she pressed out.

He could not suppress his amusement and the twitching turned into a loud chuckle.

“Yes. WE are expanding.”, he replied with a teasing emphasis on the word we.

“By the way. What are your plans?”

She looked up and threw him a questioning look.

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Well… you are completely healed now. Nothing is holding you back anymore. So… what are your plans? Do you want to return to your homeland?”, a faint glimmer shone in Theon’s eyes.

“W..well…”, Ina muttered, her face changing into a thoughtful expression. For a while, she did not answer. Then she just shrugged her shoulders, a carefree grin appearing on her lips.

“With your permission, I would just like to stay and help you create this dungeon.”, she pursed her lips a little.

“After all, Micha is dead. And with that everything that tied me to home also died…”, her grin became a little sad but soon recovered.

“So… since you need subordinates. Will you accept me?”, her large grey eyes stared right into Theon’s. The mage’s expression changed turning weird as a strange smile curled on his lips. It only lasted for a moment though and he soon returned to his usual stoic calmness.

“Sure. Who would not like a charming servant like you?”

Now it was Ina’s turn to blush again and she grimaced.

“Who said anything about a servant?”, she cried out before pouting.

“Anyway, what is your plan from here on?”

Theon sighed deeply and looked over to the goblins who, while working tirelessly and giving their best, were struggling with their assignments.

“We…”, he started.

“Need some skilled subordinates.”