**[The Next Day]**

Rita had slept fitfully and laid in bed longer than normal. All night dreams of monsters and being eaten haunted her. She regretted never having taken a lesson with a weapons instructor, but with her bad luck, Julia had thought it was too dangerous. “I wonder if Julia regrets not having me take one as much as I do?” Rita hadn’t seen her long-time attendant since arriving at the stage last evening and craved the comfort only she could give. After the announcer had finished, both she and Ivan were rushed home by their coachman without a chance for them to talk to anyone. She had stayed up expecting her father to come talk with her, but he must have decided to wait with the Duke rather than comfort his child. She wished his actions were surprising. News of the draft would have reached everyone on staff, so she dreaded facing their stares this morning. “I won't have to for long,” she muttered grimly.

She looked around her room at all of her knickknacks, pretty blankets, and stuffed toys, lamenting the swift death of her childhood. She could only stay here one more night before she would be expected to join the others to travel to the border. All of the draftees would normally have to check into the barracks by this evening, but with her father’s status and the keep’s proximity to the barracks, she assumed they would let her stay comfortable here for one more night. “Maybe I should ask to have my teammates join me here? Would they let me?” They might if she played her cards right. Her father had yet to come to talk with her and likely hadn’t remembered to prep the staff on what to do. If she asked the commander during his lunch this afternoon and used all her charms, he might take enough pity on her to bend the rules. Checking the ornate clock on her bedside table, she saw that she had stayed in bed longer than she had realized; it was already nearing the end of the morning. Giving her bed one last melancholy glance, Rita began to dress herself for battle. A battle that, in this case, happened at a dinner table and required a floofy dress and as many ringlets as possible.

**[Horace]**

Horace sat on a bunk, swinging his legs back and forth above his teammate Aiden’s prone form. He had checked in last night. His goodbyes already said, and his small bag packed. He used his time wisely, spending the morning getting pointers from the soldiers stationed here while trying to ignore the strange child watching him. The boy's steely blue eyes and cleft chin reminded him of the Lord, who welcomed them the previous day, so he could only guess it was Rita's brother. It was unnerving the way he watched, and the soldiers there also seemed confused at the young nobleman's disinclination to join in on the sparring. The soldiers were given a bonus to aid the draftees in any last-minute practice to increase their odds, so the older boys and grizzled veterans happily beat him up for a few hours in the name of improvement, waiting after each bout for the boy to join in, but he never did much to Horace's relief. The enthusiastic assault was highly effective, and he grinned a gap-toothed smile at his skill sheet, noting the level raises in both knives and unarmed combat. Usually, it would not rise after just a few hours, yet his rigorous training and the new ways of using the techniques allowed for quick growth.

Skills:

Animal Husbandry: Lvl 6

(bonus: “beastly bearing”: beasts of burden will be kinder dispositioned in your presence and have increased energy)

Axes: Lvl 4

Farming: Lvl 3

Knives: Lvl 3

Load Bearer: Lvl 2

Unarmed Combat: Lvl 2

Aiden had arrived about an hour previous and had given nothing other than a sober “Hey,” and gesturing to himself with the most primitive of introductions, “Aiden.” Then the blond boy had collapsed into the bed and failed to move since. "A little dramatic if you ask me," Horace thought as he celebrated. Nothing could kill the good mood he was in. This Aiden kid might be worthless now, but terror could change him into something useful. "If not, we can just ditch him or use him as a distraction." Cruel thoughts, yet realistic if he wanted to survive. He would do or be whatever was needed to live, and he was under no illusion that the others would think any different. He would try to keep Rita alive to preserve the group's ability to cause magical damage, but if Aiden were dead weight, he would just be plain dead.

He would have preferred to use this time to strategize and plan with his team like many of the other groups were doing, but he settled for thinking by himself and deciding his goals for the next few days. “First thing we will need is shelter. Dungeons are all different in layout and mannerisms, but all of them have monsters to protect against. If one of us can get the engineer, construction, or hunting skill, we can make traps and fortifications to keep from being mobbed. Pretty boy down there doesn't look that smart so that that job would be up to Rita or me.” Horace knew nobles received advanced education, and Rita’s face reminded him of his childhood teacher, so he didn’t even consider she might not be intellectually inclined. On the other hand, Aiden looked like every girl's dream with blue eyes and curly blond hair. Experience had taught him that pretty people did not have to be smart, so he doubted Aiden’s potential for anything useful in an isolated dungeon. "Now, if the dungeons were sentient, then it would be a different story." The boy gave a loud snort at the thought, "Dungeons are as likely to be people as I am to be pretty. Aiden over here is in for quite the shock."

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Clanging noises from down the barracks caught his attention. He turned towards the sound and saw a bearded man with muscular shoulders strut down the narrow hall between bunks. His armor clicked and clanged with each step, grating the ears of those close to him. Horace struggled to keep his expression neutral, especially when the man’s escort, a small young man, led him straight to their bunk. “Draftees Aiden and Horace, your presence has been requested at the keep. Bring your belongings.” Executing a perfect pinpoint turn, the armored man marched back to the door before they had time to process his words. Horace grabbed his bag and jumped after him, remembering at the last second his teammate. Aiden still hadn’t moved, so to save time, he just pulled the taller boy’s arm over his shoulder and pulled him off the bed. He only had to drag him a few feet before Aiden started helping the movement, quickly able to walk on his own. They ran after the man and made it to the keep’s gate before it was shut behind them.

**[Aiden]**

The feeling of rough hands on his arm roused him from his nap. He felt himself being dragged upwards and away from his warm resting place. At first, he just let it happen, not wanting to break the fragile peace the nap had granted him. Alas, life is not so easy, and he got his feet under him to walk independently. A bruised and grinning boy walked beside him. He looked familiar, yet Aiden could not remember why. The boy gestured to him, “Hurry up!” then took off. Aiden momentarily considered staying put, yet some force convinced his legs into a quick jog before his mind had decided what to do.

Rounding the corner of the barracks, Aiden could see a steel-plated soldier nearing a set of wrought-iron gates attached to the thick stone walls of the keep. The boy who had grabbed him was about twenty feet ahead and sprinting towards the man. Sensing an aura of urgency, he started to run as well. Aiden did not know what to expect after crossing into the keep’s courtyard, but it wasn’t the guards' silence and dismissive looks. The other boy had made it seem like the chance of a lifetime to get here, yet no one seemed to care. Opening his mouth to question what was happening, Aiden quickly shut it when the boy shook his head, and they both continued into the keep itself. The same armored man from the gate waited for them inside, and a young girl in a gravity-defying dress and bouncing brown curls approached.

“Commander Mavin, how gracious and noble of you to take pity on a poor lady such as myself. I don’t know what I would do without you. I can hardly imagine myself in a barracks.” The girl gestured to her dress that contained enough ruffles to give it a peculiar likeness to a cloud, “A very pink cloud,” he thought, before giving a weary sigh. The commander chucked and gave the young lady a look Aiden found particularly sleazy.

He stared long enough to make everyone uncomfortable before responding, “It is my absolute pleasure to aid you, my darling. The thought of such a vibrant flower-like yourself being wasted on a dungeon sickens me. If I could have sent my own son in your stead, I would in a heartbeat. I regretfully must return to my duties, but I leave you with my utmost regard.” The man then proceeded to kiss her hand for more than the socially acceptable moment and walked swiftly and stiffly out of the room.

The girl paused for a moment before gagging and fanning herself, “That vile man, if there was any other way, but a girl must do what is necessary.” She brought her eyes to them and spoke far less haughtily than before, “Aiden and Horace? I’m Rita, had to pull out all the stops to get you guys in here, so you better make it worth it.” She raised an eyebrow, rolled her eyes, and flounced out of the room. They followed, unsure of what to do in this situation, their eyes watching the dress bounce as she walked. The mesmerizing movement catching their full attention. Soon the girl stopped at the door and directed them to enter. The room inside was mostly white, with small patches of pastel colors on pillows and doilies scattered throughout. It looked like a room version of her dress and not in a good way.

The girl rushed off to a partition in the wall near the left-hand corner and vanished from view. Her voice, however, clearly rang through with practiced ease. “There are snacks on the table and cots in the corner. Make yourselves comfortable. Once I get this atrocity off me, I’ll join you.” Aiden blushed at the imagery her words invoked, and from the way Horace jerked when she spoke, he knew the other boy understood as well.

They both grabbed some of the waiting sandwiches and settled themselves on a pair of disturbingly comfortable cots. Rita emerged from the partition a new girl. Her hair was pulled back, face scrubbed, and currently wearing what was probably her riding outfit if Aiden had to guess. He decided to speak for the first time in hours, a new record for the typically chatty young man, “Why are we here? Shouldn’t you have met us in the barracks like everyone else?”

The girl moved to answer, but a nearly silent mumble from Horace came out first. “Because she isn’t like everybody else. You should be happy we benefit from it.” Realizing they were staring, Aiden saw Horace gulp and look at his feet.

“He’s right. We should take advantage of whatever we can to make it through this,” Rita said while looking him straight in the eye. “I propose we share our capabilities and make up a plan. When my father arrives, we can use it to gain his help.” The boys both nodded, and a plan was decided upon. Rita would steal some of her father’s books to try and gain a strategy related class or something related to engineering over their journey to the border, Horace would get his skills up with a focus on acquiring a battle sense skill whose existence Rita had informed them of, and Aiden was going to learn some first aid abilities from another pilfered book along with help from the soldiers. None of them expected all of these to happen in the week or two they had left, but each and every skill gained would exponentially increase their chances.