Gene waited impatiently for the rest of Silvayn to awaken. He was like a kid on vacation, up before his parents, and ready to get to the fun. He spent the hours after Winnie fell asleep truly thinking of the possibilities this world could yield. He knew it was too early to fantasize about what life could be like for them after the fall of the Dark Lord but he couldn't resist the urge. For the first time since he’d landed in this war zone, he was thinking ahead and not just focused on the mission at hand.

  The others began to stir when dawn broke and the Cosmic Caravan issued its warning of impending collapse into starlight. Groggily, they disembarked and began to put together their camp for breakfast. Each of them watched Gene with interest.

  “Hey, hi, good morning,” said Gene, hurriedly to Kyra, making her squint in confusion.

  She lit a fire, keeping eye contact with him. Kyrie and Amara giggled as they laid out sitting mats and watched the exchange.

  Gene waited until they were all around the fire and had breakfast in hand before he stood and said, “Sooo, I spoke to Winnie last night about a rather interesting topic…Dungeons.”

  They all groaned when the word left his lips and Eonis cut Winnie a hard stare and asked, “Really, Winnie?”

  She held her hands up, defensively and said, “Don’t look at me. I simply provided the information.”

  “Information that is extremely important considering our current predicament,” said Gene. He gestured wildly as he said, “Look, I think it would be prudent if we took the initiative and tackled a dungeon since we have one nearby. It’ll give Winnie a chance to get some relics to increase her pact rank and to snag Amara some levels.”

  Gene smiled, thinking they would relent after his explanation but everyone except for Amara just stared at him.

  The young girl looked from person to person before asking, “What’s wrong with dungeons?”

  Everyone except Gene and Amara let out a pained sigh.

  “Well, for starters, they’re notoriously difficult to complete,” said Kyrie, pausing to take a sip of his coffee-like beverage before saying, “Parties get lost in those things for years at a time but within their bounds, time flows differently so it’s hard to gauge just how long their torment lasts.”

  “There are even some dungeons where you can’t die but you’ll wish you did,” said Kyra, following up Kyrie’s statement. She shuddered as she said, “I’ve heard the tale of a Cleric of Biris who fell from grace and became an Apostate because the Dungeon Master drove them to steal language from their god. To traverse a dungeon is to court madness.”

  “They make you do math!” exclaimed Eonis, throwing his hands up to spook Amara.

  Her eyes went wide and Amara frowned.

  She looked back at Gene with a pained look and asked, “Do we have to?”

  Gene laughed heartily, a prideful look on his face as he said, “Back in my world, I used to do this kind of thing for fun and while drunk. There’s not a Dungeon Master alive who’s been able to stump me with a puzzle. I’ll have you all know that I was a Talented and Gifted kid…..which means nothing to you but it’s a good thing.”

  No one was stirred to action by his statement.

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  Winnie gave a pained smile and said, “Gene, I appreciate you trying, but I don’t think you understand the danger.”

  He waved away her worries and shook his head before saying, “We’ve faced the Dark Lord and his forces and walked away the victors. I understand if these places are dangerous but I believe if we work together, we can conquer any foe. Besides…don’t you want to stress test your new levels? It’s been easy street so far and we need to know what we can do against a real challenge.”

  They all sat in silence, eating their breakfast and looking at one another. Kyrie was the first to relent.

  “Ugh! Fine,” said Kyrie, looking to the sky for divine intervention. When it didn’t come, he looked to the others and said, “Come on and relent. If it gets too hard, he can always pull out some ridiculous power to save the day.”

  They all groaned, accepting their fate, and Gene ran over to kiss Kyrie on the forehead. The rest of their day was spent with a minor detour to rack up more experience for Amara. She had reached level 5 and proved herself capable in conflicts with stronger foes.

  With Gene’s help, she worked on more practical applications of her abilities. The more she experimented, the more they realized the upper limits of her force’s toughness relied on her mana capacity.

  In a clearing, Amara faced off with Kyra and Eonis in a sparring match. Gene watched from the sidelines as the young girl put on a fierce expression that made the adults all smirk. The Priestess and the Floraspeaker stood on either side of her. Kyra raised her staff, ready to strike, while Eonis crouched down low with his hands on the ground.

  “Now, remember, we’re going to take turns attacking and healing if needed,” said Eonis with a proud grin on his face.

  Since stepping into his subclass, Eonis had gained the ability to not only communicate with plants but also how to shape them and produce either poisonous or healing effects. If not for the additional healing power, Gene would’ve thought their training too aggressive but Amara had spoken up for herself long ago. She wanted to be a true member of Silvayn.

  Determination showed in her face when she nodded curtly and took a step back. Eonis struck first. His hands pulsed on the ground and vines erupted out of the dirt, sailing through the air towards her. Amara took off sprinting away, both hands raised as she concentrated and channeled her magic into spears of energy in her palms.

  When the first vine reached out to ensnare her, she flexed her fingers on her left hand. A ball of force expanded into a flat shield that the vines crashed into in rapid succession. She smiled but the attack wasn’t done. The ground beneath her feet rattled and she noticed just before she put her foot down. Another vine shot straight up to grab her incoming foot but the flex of her right hand formed a stepping stone of energy beneath her foot.

  She took quick steps into the air, forming footholds as she concentrated. Her focus on Eonis still, she was caught off guard when Amara charged with her staff raised high.

  Crack! A loud sound rang out as one of Amara’s force constructs exploded on impact. She winced as her mana dipped suddenly and lost her focus for a moment, missing her next step and falling to the ground. Gene jumped up from his resting position but Eonis motioned for him to stop.

  Amara rolled to her feet and returned Kyra’s attack by launching energy bubbles at her at high speed. The kinetic spheres zipped through the air and Kyra swung her staff elegantly to parry and deflect each sphere. Amara flexed her left hand as the last sphere was deflected and from its new trajectory, it jerked through the air and smacked Kyra in the foot, knocking her off balance.

  Gene cheered and both adults shushed him. They moved around Amara in a slow circle, her focus snapping between them with each step. Eonis waved his hands and a scatter of flowers appeared at her feet. They suddenly sprayed a fog of sleep pollen in the air but as the cloud dissipated, Amara proved herself a fierce foe, having formed a bubble around herself to prevent breathing it in.

  She threw her hands outward and the bubble expanded rapidly, forcing both adults back to avoid the impact. Kyra spun on her heel and raised her staff, calling down a column of holy flame and light to shatter the bubble. Wide-eyed, Amara reacted on instance, slamming her hands together, and forming a new type of barrier. The holy power slammed into the new barrier and to everyone’s shock, it glowed brighter before bouncing off it and flying through the air towards Gene.

  “Oh shit!” shouted Gene as he jumped out of the way.

  The flames blew through the trees behind him, burning away a section of the forest and increasing the size of the clearing. As the flames dissipated, they all stared, dumbstruck at what had just happened.

  Gene looked up from the ground and gave a small clap before saying, “Well…I can think of a few practical applications for that.”