The trio entered a small room where a treasure chest was being sat on by a creature Levi had never seen before. Of course, that wasn’t too surprising, there were many creatures Levi had never seen before. A cube with a crown and little tentacles dangling from the bottom was levitating over the chest. Levi thought it looked slightly like a certain fireball-shooting monster in Minecraft. The cube creature opened its eyes and looked up.

“Congratulations,” It spoke. “I am the dungeon crafter and you have completed my dungeon.”

“Nice,” Anna said.

“All you have to do is open this chest and claim your prizes.”

Anna and Piper started walking towards the chest, but Levi grabbed their arms.

“Hol up, let’s not be too brash,” he said.

“What, why Levi we’re done!” Anna said.

“Are we?” Levi asked. “Think about all the rooms we’ve done, they were all puzzle rooms, why would the last one be as simple as open the chest and go on your way?”

“You're too skeptical,” Anna said.

“Perhaps,” Levi countered. “Caution is good when we are so close to the end. What’s the catch,” Levi asked the dungeon crafter.

“You must answer these riddles, each of you, with no help from the other. If you are correct, then you may pass. If you are wrong, then you all die,” the way it ended that sentence was full of joy, that haunted Levi.

“Fine,” Levi said.

“You,” it pointed at Anna. “What can only be broken when you say its name?” Anna thought for a second then said.

“Silence.”

“Very good,” it complimented. “You,” pointing at Piper. Tall I am young, short I am old. While with life I glow, wind is my foe. What am I?”

Piper contemplated for a few heartbeats. “A candle.”

“Very good,” it said. Turning to Levi, “and you. What is always in front of you but cannot be seen?”

“The future,” Levi answered without hesitation. Runes appeared all throughout the room. They were of all different colors. The being in the middle disappeared—the chest along with it. The colorful rune display vaguely reminded Levi of a disco party with flashing-colored lights. He spotted the door to enter through and walked through it.

The final room they entered had three chests. Each chest had a symbol for each of their base classes. Levi went up to the one that was for summoners, and he opened it up.

Ice Stone Caverns: Progress Made

Room Four- Completed

Reward: Added to final treasure

Ice Stone Caverns: Progress Made

Room Five - Completed

Reward: Added to final treasure

Quest: Icey Dungeon

You have accepted to participate in the dungeon Ice Stone Caverns

Complete Dungeon to gain reward

Progress (5/5) rooms - Completed

Reward: 150 Silver Pieces, 1500 copper pieces

Reward: Dungeon Core Essence

Reward: Trap Spell Spell book

Reward: Ice Dust, Snow, Unmelting Ice dust

Reward: Wand of Rituals

Item: Dungeon Core Essence

Epic

The essence of a dungeon. These cubes have the power of dungeons within them.

Item: Wand of Rituals

Uncommon

A wand that allows the user to draw ritual circles. A slight upgrade from Wand of Summoning by reducing mana usage slightly.

“Dungeon core essence,” Levi said. “What is that?” Vapor appeared out of the Levi. She stood next to him, holding the essence in his hand.

“Dungeon crafters are quite possibly the most mysterious entity in this world. Creatures of the greater cosmos but love to play games. This essence can be used to unlock an ability to help clear out dungeons.” Vapor said.

“How do you know that?” Levi said.

“I am very old,” Vapor responded. “I have seen much.”

“Sounds like I will be talking to you a lot with my questions,” Levi said.

“I would be honored.”

“We got our spoils?” Levi asked.

“Yep,” the girls said. The party made their way out of the dungeon and were back where they first started.

“Our journey continues,” Anna said. The party continued to walk in the ice valley. With rather uneventful results. They spent their time talking to each other about their rewards from the dungeon. Anna explained how that was the first dungeon she had ever done, and she was mildly disappointed. Puzzle dungeons were known to be easier to complete and one that most people avoided.

The trio found a spot to rest just on the outskirts of the ice valley. They had one more day of journeying before they reached the city. Resting for the night, the team had set up camp. Anna liked the rhythm the trio had created. They were growing really well as friends. She reflected on how each of them complimented the blind spots they each had. Anna was intelligent but rigid. That rigidity helped keep them safe when it came to political or official business. Piper was also intelligent, but more so when it came to street smarts; she would be able to inform if there were problems with a town or a road they were traveling easily. She was more free-spirited and trusting, allowing that to help Anna be more trusting. She took from Anna how to follow rules a bit more. Levi was the odd one of them all. Being completely new to the world he was a work horse. What Levi didn’t know about the world he made up for it in his work ethic, the man was relentless when it came to training.

He brought that intensity, but he was also fun. He was goofy, and he would laugh and joke often. Not taking himself too seriously, he learned from the two girls, and they learned from him. They were an odd group, but they seemed to work well together.

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Anna wondered how her father would feel about this decision. She knew that it was her choice, but she felt his influence was heavy-handed in the decision-making process. She was nervous to go home. She wanted to be home and visit her family; she loved them. However, this time away showed her how much pressure her family had placed on her. She didn’t want that pressure to continue. Taking a deep breath, she looked and saw that Levi was looking at her with a soft smile.

What was it about Levi that had her feeling this way. It was strange. She didn’t find him the most attractive. His looks had improved since ranking up. He was a good-looking man, she had to admit, not the most attractive man, not the least attractive. He was average. Magic helped him get less average but still not her level of attractiveness she usually goes for. His attitude was not what she really sought after either. He was too unserious in certain regards and used natural talent to get him where he wanted to be. She preferred someone who would challenge her intellectually on the political aspects.

She was a woman of someone who was born and raised in a powerful house. Aristocracy was her bread and butter but was not Levi. She was okay with that. Levi was much more up to speed for Piper—definitely her type of man. Piper had always undersold herself. For as long as Anna had known Piper, which was a long time, she had never thought herself as someone who is attractive. Anna wanted Piper to see how gorgeous she actually was. Anna believed that Levi would help her see that in herself.

Anna’s exhaustion finally took over as she thought about her longest and dearest friend. She had a smile on her face; her life was great, and it was going to continue to be that way moving forward.

The next morning, the team resumed their journey. Levi and Vapor were talking about what to do with the dungeon essence. Piper and Anna were also engaging in their own conversations vaguely listening to the conversation of Levi and Vapor. Watching Vapor move was fascinating. As she didn’t have any legs, her cloak would simply move forward and drag along the ground.

“I could smash it up and use it as a familiar summoning material,” Levi said.

“That would only be good if you wanted a higher chance of a monster you saw in that dungeon,” Vapor responded. Anza added with a loud whirling sound. “Anza is correct,” Vapor responded. “We should be looking for a defense specialist familiar.”

“That makes sense,” Levi said. “There wasn’t any monsters in that dungeon.” A textbox appeared in Levi’s vision; it was Willow responding. “Sure,” Levi said. “Prioritizing getting an additional wisp should be a good idea, do we know-”

“Looks like your special friend has bonded well with his familiars?” Anna said.

“They all are quite fond of him as well,” Piper said. “Anza, I feel, is the most protective and the closest.”

“She does stay by his side quite often,” Anna said.

“I do appreciate the distance she gives us though. So what are you not telling me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Anna please, we’ve been friends forever, you don’t think I notice when you’re not telling me something.”

Anna sighed, “I am trying to decipher the feelings I have for Levi.” She said this nervously, expecting Piper to explode in anger. That didn’t happen, she giggled.

“Levi said that’s what you were experiencing,” Piper smiled. “I told him that was the sense I got as well. You’ve never had a non-romantic guy friend so it must be hard.”

“It’s not easy,” Anna said, rubbing her head. “He told you too, that’s impressive. He must really trust you.”

“I think he likes being honest,” Piper said. The pair stop their conversation and look back to the man who was once naked before them. They have come so far from that day. They were actually friends, and it made the world of a difference.

“We, whoa,” Levi said, pausing. In the distance, he could see a massive city. The city had a wall made of complete black onyx with white stone towers along the wall. There were multiple entry ports. The city had large streets with many different-sized buildings. This city was a mixture of modern and medieval, a stark difference from Arcross, which had been all medieval.

“Welcome to our home, Arvendon,” Piper whispered, slipping her arm into his.

“I don’t know what I was expecting but this place is huge!” Levi exclaimed.

“It is,” Anna said proudly. “Let’s go, we can get horses once we arrive at the stables right there.” She pointed to a large ranch that had many different animals, some familiar, some not. As they made their way down, Levi had noticed cows, pigs, and chickens. There was a chicken that was completely black that dropped black eggs and a chicken that was completely red that dropped red eggs. Piper had explained that they were gem chickens, their eggs contained certain gems, onyx, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and so on.

There were these creatures that had three heads: a lion's head, a goat's head, and a serpent living in the tail. The beast had wings. A Chimera, this creature looked familiar to Levi. He had seen them before in classes when he was younger. Anna explained they were guard beasts to protect the livestock from magical monsters that hunted normal livestock. Levi thought they were absolutely horrifying to look at in person and was not a fan.

Levi noticed that Anna's demeanor shifted as she talked to the ranch hand. She stood up straighter, and her voice got a little more proper and demanding. He stifled a smile at the fact that she could be more demanding. Anna had gotten the group three horses, but Levi refused and decided he would ride Anza. Anna looked nervously at Levi.

“Your familiars should probably stay hidden once we get to the city,” she said.

“I’m not ashamed to have them,” Levi said.

“Yes, but they are all, besides Vapor, evil,” Anna said.

“They’re not evil!” Levi protested. “I don’t care, but I know you have an image to keep up. So I’ll go ahead, and you tell me where to meet y’all.”

“We don’t need to split up,” Anna said. “Fine, can we compromise and only have Anza be out?”

“Sure,” Levi said softly. Willow and Vapor fused with Levi and disappeared. “Does your family have a ritual room?”

“Yes,” Anna said. “Why?”

“I want to perform a couple rituals; we all have an open ability, right?”

“Yep,” Piper said.

“Yes,” Anna responded.

“Good, I think we should all use the essence to get us an ability for dungeons. It could only help us and if the three of us have something different it’ll be a massive advantage.”

“That’s a good point,” Piper said. “Anna, should Levi go with you or me first?”

“It’s the fifth day of the week,” Anna said. “Our families will be sharing supper together. Our timing was perfect.”

Levi mounted Anza, and the trio all rode into town. The ride was pleasant. The weather wasn’t too hot, and the breeze from the mounts cooled them down. They strode through fields and farmlands. As they got closer to the main city, the roads became more developed. Anna had taken the lead and slowed her horse. There was another smaller stable where they dropped off the horses. Levi got off Anza, and she shrank to her preferred size.

“Lady Anna, Lady Piper, welcome home,” the guard said. “State your business, stranger,” he said, looking at Levi.

“Sir Henry, please,” Anna said. “He is clearly with us; he is our guest and I expect you and the guards to treat him as such.”

“He looks like no human I have seen before,” he grunted.

“Then you need to explore more than just our kingdom,” Anna said firmly.

“Right,” the guard said, embarrassed. He bowed, “Welcome home, M’Ladies. Sir.”

The trio entered through the gates.

“The city,” Anna explained. “Is split into multiple districts,” she pointed to their left. “Down this way is the merchant & trades district, that is where you can find all types of shops and stores to purchase whatever you need. That way,” she pointed ahead. “Is the guild district, there you’ll find guilds, the FA or Federation of Adventurers - they post contracts or dungeon notices, it’s also where you can form teams. Over there,” she pointed to their right. “Is the holy district, many religious type folks are there. Also the hospitals and recovery centers it’s where healers and clergy go for their specific guilds. There isn’t really a district for the houses, but they are all over the place in the city. Our compounds are across the towns.”

“What about food?” Levi asked. Piper giggled.

“There are carts and vendors all over,” she said.

“Our house chefs are quite good,” Anna said. “You shouldn’t waste your money.”

“I have so much,” Levi said. “Spending it on food is NEVER a waste.”

“Do what you please, but come on,” Anna said. Piper had, for the moment, detached herself from Levi. Her family was famous in the city, and they were all assassins. They were excellent at hiding their senses. She wasn’t sure how or when she wanted to tell her family about Levi, but being caught was not what she wanted.

“How is this city for you?” Piper asked.

“Pretty similar to cities back where I am from,” Levi said. “Except much easier to walk about in than before.”

“We,” Anna whispered. “Should also keep the fact that you’re an Otherworlder, under wraps.”

“Not that common, huh?” Levi asked.

“They aren’t uncommon it’s just that they have been known to have incredible abilities that people often want for themselves.”

“I see,” Levi nodded. “I’ll get enough attention as a summoner.” He had not been wearing his summoner robes since the stables; he had dawned his casual wear with his hooded cloak of chaos. He still hadn’t met another summoner besides his professors. He did want to check out the summoner guild here and see if there was a higher attendance. Levi wanted not to feel completely alone. He instinctively put his hand on Anza. The mimic looked at him and hummed. He nodded appreciatively; Anza was really his rock.

Levi could feel himself slipping from time to time. He had been going, going, going since he had arrived in this world, which was natural for someone who had experienced something traumatic. He was throwing himself into getting better and stronger. Now that he was better and stronger, rest and relaxation were being threatened by repressed feelings.

“Here we are,” Anna said. “Home.”