The next afternoon, The Lucky Bastard was perhaps as crowded as it had ever been. Multiple parties had been raring for another go at Worthy Dungeon once the Association inspection was complete, but had been held back by a rather unusual move by Alizz and her employees. The night before all of the major teams had been contacted, as well as all the independents that could be found, and told to gather for an announcement the next day. That was beyond strange - usually any major changes would be posted outside the Association office, while Challengers would have to inquire for a full report on any minor updates to the records. But gathering all of the teams for a meeting?

It was also a bit unusual to be having an official event inside an inn, but at least that had an obvious explanation - perhaps during the summertime Alizz would have just made a speech out in front of her offices, but it was the middle of winter. No one was particularly complaining about the locale in any case, given the season the building was still not quite crammed to capacity yet, and having every group around at once was causing a bit of a party atmosphere. Not that every team was particularly social. As Alizz scans the crowd, she spots a fury demon, a goblin, and a pair of kobolds keeping to themselves in one corner, although unsurprisingly the Domain's incubus Bard was working the crowd a bit. House Perlin and House Highbranch both had tables some distance apart, and while they seemed to be in reasonably good cheer, they were both keeping a close eye on each other at the same time.

The Valleyland soldiers meanwhile were getting on surprisingly well with the other groups around them. Well, perhaps not so surprisingly - many Challengers were from the Valleylands originally after all, and even if Association membership declared them as neutral in the political and martial conflicts of the continent, many of them clearly enjoyed getting to catch up with the recent travelers from their homeland. As she finishes looking over the room however, Alizz realizes she's stalling. Turning towards her second-in-command, the drider shakes her head. "I don't think I can do this, Kelsey."

The kobold shoots her a surprised look. "What, afraid of the crowd? It's a big one, sure, but never seen you get stage fright before, yeah?"

"It's not the crowd! I just...I can't associate myself with this, Kelsey. Even if we talked Xenia down from the godsdamn prostitutes - for now, gods know how long that will hold - this is just too ridiculous!"

Seeing the expression of shame on his boss's face, Kelsey decides to offer her a lifeline. "Want me to do it? Don't bother me none. I mean, hells, hope you don't mind but I plan to be one of the first customers myself."

The woman rolls her eyes, but nods. "Then you can be the one to write the report on it. But...yes, would you? I hardly even know how to explain it."

"You got it, boss." Hopping up onto a table reserved as an impromptu stage, Kelsey shouts out for the attention of the room. "Hey, ass-scratchers! Bet you're wondering what it is we're all here for, huh?"

There's quite a bit of agreement, and one gnoll shouts out. "Let me guess, the dungeon is handing out chests full of gold, and you're all retiring now, yes?"

Kelsey smirks. "That'd be good too, but in some ways, I bet a lot of you are gonna like this even better! ...Except for you, Marshburr, I bet you ain't gonna like this much."

A human, one of the primary managers of the inn, looks up with an expression of concern. "Wait, what? I ain't even been up there in months!"

"Yeah, but this is about the inn. I'm afraid you've got new competition in town!"

There's a lot of puzzled looks at that statement, but after a few moments it begins to slowly sink in for many of the Challengers present. The mousekin from the Valleylands, never one to be quiet with her thoughts, is the first to speak up. "You can't be saying what I think you're saying."

Kelsey nods. "I am. I know everyone here has at least heard about Worthy Dungeon's Floor Five. And I bet you at least half of the folks here have tried it, even if you ain't gonna admit it in polite company. Well, it's been remodeled! New layout, new sections, way higher capacity. And the first new section is a public inn." The noise level of the tavern immediately increases, and Kelsey begins to speak louder to continue his explanation. "It ain't gonna be like a normal inn, now! You want the good rooms, and the good shit on tap, you gotta clear floors! You leave shit behind, the place will eat it - ain't no lost-and-found in a dungeon! Gotta exit the place after you do a run, though you can check back in as you like! But there's rooms and basic amenities for anyone who wants to climb the mountain for em!"

One of the kobolds from the Domain's party shouts out a question. "Wait, you're saying we can rent out a room right there inside the dungeon? That - that's gotta be some sort of trap, right?"

The Association agent puts a hand over his heart. "On my honor as an inspector, we've confirmed that Floor Five is now a dungeon 'safe floor'. Now, that ain't an absolute law of the universe - dungeons can violate their safe floor rules if provoked to it. But as long as no damn fool goes and does that? There's no traps, and the monsters are - well. Let's just say the floor's new monsters are very friendly."

From the bar, an incubus speaks up. "Are you saying what I think you're saying, friend? We have all heard some...certain rumors." A few heads turn to stare at a Paladin and a Priestess sitting in one corner, one of whom begins to blush rather quickly.

Kelsey's grin grows toothy. "You're welcome to visit and find out for yourself. All I'll say is it's the dungeon favored by the Goddess Kahlia, and let you make your own conclusions. Except, there is one other main section of the floor y'all oughtta know about!" The kobold scans the crowd, and as they all stare at him intently, he decides to get a little coy. "...Well. All I'll say is, you gotta clear the first four floors to get access to it. More'n that, I don't wanna ruin the surprise. But I think you're gonna like it."

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As the audience begins to boo or shout more questions, Kelsey spares a glance for Alizz down at the table's side, and notices her covering her face with one palm. Reminded that he is an Association official making an official announcement, he decides to raise a hand to get the crowd's attention once more. "I do got one big warning for you lot, though! The main payment the dungeon wants is for people to try an' clear floors...or to spend time workin' to make Kahlia happy, I'll leave how to your imaginations! But if you ain't gonna be doing that, the place might try and barter a payment out of you. But here's the warning - dungeon 'anti-feeding' regs are still in force! So here's the rule! You pay for something, leave a tip, 'accidentally' leave some shit behind when you leave? Make sure it's reward-boosting shit only! Currency, food and drink of your own, potions, shit like that."

He scans the room once again, this time with no trace of a smile on his face, indicating just how serious he is. "We get reports of anyone giving the place weapons? Armor? Gods forbid, spell scrolls or animal sacrifices or shit like that? Expect Alizz and I to come down on you like a ton of bricks, you got it?"

There's no argument on that point - every Challenger present, or at least the ones above Initiate, knows that today's dungeon 'gifts' could end up killing their friend tomorrow. Seeing that everyone's taking the warning seriously, Kelsey decides to wrap up. "Good, looks like you've got it. Other than that? No major changes to report, dungeon's cleared its official inspection without issue. If you've been waiting for our say-so? Well...have fun."

As he hops off of the table and returns to Alizz's side, he notices many of the Challengers present are already stirring. In particular the two noble houses are staring daggers at each other and huddling for quick conversations, the Domain's agents are closely watching the Valleylanders as they begin to gather their things, and a certain Paladin is already dragging a Priestess to her feet. "Fuck, I forgot how competitive this fuckin' place was. It's gonna be getting dark in an hour or so, I figured they'd at least wait til tomorrow before hiking up there." The man snorts. "Is it just me, or does Xenia have no idea what's in store for her?"

Alizz can't entirely resist a slight smile. "Well in that case...at least then she'll get a taste of how I feel most of the time."

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Up at the entrance to Worthy Dungeon, preparations for something entirely different were underway. Popping out of the exit portal, Sincere makes his way towards the cleared space in front of Doorman while Lollyp and Zappy follow soon after him - Lollyp in possession of a bag heavy with magical materials. "Evening, Doorman. I hope you don't mind if we do a little magic in your workspace for a bit, but this is perhaps the ideal environment for our task - especially as the dungeon mana would be quite the interference if we were to try this indoors."

"I never mind a bit of company! But what is it you'll be doing today, Core Guardian Sincere?"

Zappy answers for him with an excited cheer. "I'm gonna get magnetized!"

"Oh! Congratulations! I think. What does that mean?"

Lollyp answers the question with a smirk on her face. "Zappy here's decided to take up a career as a pole dancer. Which is an amazing idea, unfortunately her lack of, like...a solid body kind of ruins the effect. Her 'dancing' around on one of the things just makes a strobe effect that blinds everyone watching her, plus, well...she ain't got any clothes to take off, which ruins the fun of it a lil."

Feeling like perhaps he's missing something with this description, Doorman probes further. "I...see? Essential part of the job description, is it? How does magnetizing her help, though?"

Sincere takes charge of the explanation as he begins drawing a ritual circle in the stone, turning on his lecturer voice. "Well, not long ago our elemental neighbors kindly gifted us with shards from a destroyed magnetic elemental. Not only did this confirm that such a being is possible, but it gave us magnetic sprites, which have been rather interesting to study. Details of magnetic elementals have always been sketchy, and many doubted they even existed, but supposedly they are beings made of a mix of energy and solid metal - levitating fragments for limbs and torso which are held together by electrical forces. Such a form would give Zappy here something much more concrete to attempt to dance - or strip - with, and upgrading an elemental into a more complex combination form should be far easier than trying to sidegrade her into something more solid. Especially as a lightning elemental, made of air and fire, which is as far from solid as you're likely to get."

As Zappy helps Lollyp with laying out an arrangement of mana crystals and oddly-shaped metal shards, Doorman continues his questions. "Why has a magnetic elemental been so hard to find, though? You're confident you can turn Zappy into one of these?"

Sincere nods. "What we're talking about here is a mixture of air, fire, and earth energies. Finding elementals who are naturally a mix of air and earth is quite rare, so typically this has been done by starting with lightning elementals and simply adding earth mana. However...in that case the result has always been meteor elementals."

Zappy looks up at that mention. "Which you said was...bad? It sounds cool!"

"Well, it's certainly visually impressive. At a critical point, you would rocket straight up into the air, then plummet back down to the ground in a great crash."

"That sounds sweet! Bad for dancing, but still!"

Lollyp aims her smirk in Zappy's direction. "I bet it is - for like thirty seconds. But there ain't ever been a meteor elemental who's survived the 'crash' stage of the process. Also bad for most other folks in the vicinity."

Doorman's eyes widen. "Oh my! So what are you doing differently today?"

Sincere chuckles. "I believe the key is balance. Before I add any earth mana to Zappy here, I shall first partially drain both her air and fire mana. This may be a bit uncomfortable, but won't quite need to go to the level of draining her down to her core. Then as I add earth mana, I will then return air and fire in equal measure, making sure never to breach the critical level that could cause a...launch. Once she's reached normal energy levels for an elemental, with the aid of the metal here to act as her physical body, I believe she should naturally evolve into a magnetic elemental from there."

Doorman sucks in a deep breath, before addressing a question to Zappy. "Are you sure you wish to go through with all this? I know being an assistant dungeon guardian hasn't always been the most exciting career, but you're still welcome to help me out here anytime you like, no matter the form of your body!"

Zappy stands up and turns towards the door, and although her flickering face isn't quite visible, Doorman is certain she's smiling. "Hey, if I'm gonna be hanging around more, maybe I still will help you out sometimes! But I'm so glad I came by yesterday, and you know why? I found out something about myself while I was trying out the poles downstairs!"

"Oh? And what's that?"

Zappy kneels down and, with some effort, picks up a metal shard which she begins to rub against her face. "I. Love. Metal."