They harvested the core from the yeti with much disgust and left most of its charred corpse to be absorbed back into the dungeon. Rhen couldn’t see much use for bones that reeked like death… but maybe an apothecary could have use for whatever poison gland it’d used to make that nasty breath. If only Rhen could find one.

They made their way down the side of the mountain and looked behind them. The entrance was marked by a large waterfall, several hundred feet off the ground level. Rhen assumed it wouldn’t be too hard to get back to if they weren’t deep in tree coverage.

The sheer rock face caged them in from behind, disappearing up into the clouds. Somewhere far beyond was the anima ceiling, providing the light and minimal warmth for the chamber—though Rhen thought the temperature was quite reasonable right now. It must’ve been near or just below freezing.

Jakira pointed to one of the blue, towering crystal structures. It was maybe a few hundred feet from the base of the mountain exit. “Let’s head there and straight back.”

The trees grew thick almost immediately, blocking the view of the mountain behind them. It was almost claustrophobic in there. They stuck to the banks of the river as it twisted and turned through the forest, leading them directly to the crystal.

Rhen hadn’t neglected to notice that the entire journey to the crystal was uninhibited by monsters. He stopped them before the edge of the forest, still within the thick of its protection. They gathered up around him.

“I’m predicting a high probability of monster activity around this crystal, so stay alert, and watch each other’s backs.”

Tsu’me leaned around him and looked through the trees. “It looks clear to me.”

“Looks can be deceiving.” Aki warned.

Jakira nodded. “The primary monster in the rainforest chamber can stealth to near invisible levels in even low shade.”

The new delvers looked a little less confident than Rhen would’ve liked, but they were capable enough. They were only a few hundred feet out and down from the exit if things went totally sideways.

“If Jakira gives the word to run, we run. No need to be dying today.”

Jakira led the party, Rhen right behind her. He could use caress of darkness in the shade of the forest, but he noticed the crystal was out at the center of a half-frozen lake, not a tree in sight for coverage. The ice clustered around the crystal, making a small island structure that was connected by three thick ice bridges. The water flowed under and around them gently. There were tons of oddly smooth looking icy rocks clustered around the base of the structure. Rhen wondered if all the crystals in the chamber were making it cold.

They passed the edge of the forest and Jakira motioned for the party to stay back. She stepped onto the ice bridge, then took another step, and another. The bridge was about five feet wide, plenty of space for even two people abreast. She jumped up and down a few times to test the stability. When nothing happened, she turned back and motioned for everyone to join her.

Rhen kept a few feet between himself and Jakira at first. The ice bridge felt just as stable as concrete, and Rhen looked up, putting his focus on the crystal ahead. Something shifted among the rocks and Rhen slowed.

“Psst, movement,” Rhen whispered.

“Saw it,” Jakira whispered back.

She moved toward the area where he’d seen some flash of silver. He wasn’t sure what it was, it was so quick, but he was certain there was something alive hiding among the piles of rocks. They got to the edge of where the rock collection started, and Jakira looked for a good path in.

She stepped up onto the first boulder with a tentative wince. Nothing moved, nothing attacked her, so she continued in. They reached the spot to see only more rocks… rocks on rocks.

“Keep a wary eye,” Rhen warned, and they moved on toward the base of the crystal.

As they got closer, Rhen saw scuffs along the base of the crystal, and some areas where even large chunks had been removed. Something was definitely attacking or using the crystal for itself.

Jakira reached out and touched the face of the pure aqua crystal. Anima swirled inside it like a whirlwind and she backed away. The storm of pure energy built inside it, moving up to the sharp looking top. There was a crack-crack-thup and the top of the crystal blasted off, shooting a pillar of white into the sky.

The top of the crystal flipped end over end, and landed in the lake, just at the edge of the bridge they’d walked out on. That was close…

“Orrrrk!”

A call rang out and the whole party jumped.

“Orkorkorkork!”

The rocks underfoot shifted, turning silver and getting soft.

“Back to shore!” Jakira yelled.

The rocks were evolving all around them into fat, rounded creatures, with silvery fur and sharp looking flippers. They had short, whiskered snouts and big black eyes that didn’t seem to notice the delvers at all—unless they were stepped on. They were incredibly adorable, even more so than Jakira with Blubberific active.

But there wasn’t time to take in their cuteness. Rhen bounded over the morphing bodies, ushering everyone forward as the mob of creatures made absolute chaos.

“Ah!” Tsu’me screamed out and Rhen turned to see her tail pinned under a fat whiskered fluffer with huge tusks that shimmered like metal. She pulled away, her tail ripping free from her back end.

Rhen gasped in horror, but Tsu’me ran on, unconcerned with her missing appendage. Derk unholstered his axe and swung it into the creature’s skull. Tsu’me’s tail wiggled out from under the dead things and into the water. With a quick tremor blast jump, Rhen cleared the distance to get to them.

“Let’s go!” He pulled on Derk’s arm,

The bruiser turned, swinging his axe with a war cry. Rhen ducked and just barely missed being decapitated. “Watch it!”

“Sorry!” Derk cowered, ashamed.

The monster mob splashed into the water with millions of “Orkorkork” sounding off at once. They swarmed the downed crystal fragment, piling on top of it and slicing with their sharp flippers and dagger-like fangs. Blood sprayed everywhere, painting the water purple as the creatures slashed and bit indiscriminately at the chunk of ore.

When one creature sliced off enough, they gripped it in their short snout and escaped the carnage with their prize. Some of the monsters gave chase, slashing at the other to steal what it had earned in the frenzy. The bridge to land was completely blocked by the madness.

“Other way!” Rhen called to them, pointing to the bridge on the other side.

Rhen, Jakira, and Aki held up the rear as the others ran to the safety of the forest. They watched in horror as the monsters slaughtered each other for a bit of ore. In just over a minute, the entire chunk that had blown off the top was torn apart.

Deep within the towering crystal, something glowed, and the monster’s who’d earned a chunk glowed with it.

A node.

The glowing monsters grew in size, some of them earning new syntials on their sides, or sharp, dagger-fangs growing into their elongating mouths, all of them becoming more terrifying. They returned to the island and slashed at the encasing crystal ore for a few moments before the frenzy died off. The monster milled about for a bit, some diving back into the water to look for shards, or perhaps something to eat…

Aki walked to the edge and with a flourish of yellow, pulled a blob of water from the edge. Inside was a finger-sized sliver that looked like the larger crystal. He passed it to Rhen. “For examination later. I believe this may be the corraphine we are looking for.”

“Great,” Rhen grumbled. He really didn’t want to have to battle all these razor whiskers for some gems.

They watched a little while longer until the monsters returned to the base of the crystal and became still. As they fell asleep, they morphed back into their hard, rocky shape.

“Well, that was something I’ve never seen,” Tsu’me finally said.

“Your tail!” Rhen remembered in horror.

She chuckled. “Not the first time I’ve lost it. It’ll grow back in a few weeks.”

Derk held up a small monster core, then passed it to Rhen. “I was able to get that outta the one I split in half.”

Rhen accepted it. “Thank you, I should like to see what abilities it has encoded in it. How does thirty marks sound for it?”

Derk looked to Tsu’me, confused.

The Sephine wrinkled her scaled brow and hummed. “That sounds a little low, but since we’re just getting to know one another, it’ll do.”

Low…

Rhen smiled, not letting her comments get to him. “We try to keep a fair market price on everything we share with the delvers. We can weigh it when we return to the inn to get a better estimate.”

Tsu’me glanced that the core sitting in his palm, hardly the size of a marble. She shook her head. “No, thirty probably is fair, you’re right.”

“Good.” Rhen grinned, tucking the little orb into his pocket. “Well, I think that was just about enough adventure for one afternoon, Jak?”

She nodded. “Let’s keep to the river, look for a slow area to cross, and get back to the entrance.”

They made their way into the thick, dark of the pine trees and Rhen stealthed ahead with caress of night.

“I speak only to you,” Aki’s voice reached him, but it was quiet.

“What’s up, buddy?” Rhen whispered.

“I do not think Tsu’me is good for us.”

Rhen clicked his tongue. “That may be. She’s a little greedy, but I’ve been in her position. I’ve done less than honorable things before. She’ll come around when she gets to know us.”

“I am not so certain. She is actively trying to manipulate you.”

Rhen thought back to the day he tried to filch a core from Desedra. Confronted with Sen Desedra and a gaggle of his goons, he bald-faced lied and pouted like a simpering fool to get out of punishment. That wasn’t much different than what Tsu’me had done.

Rhen felt Aki’s exasperation wash over him. “You are trying to compare yourself to her through your actions, but you are not the same. Her greed runs deeper than our well-being, or any of her party members.”

Rhen slowed and looked back at the party. Derk was giving a loud retelling of how he split the little razor whisker in half, then almost cut of Rhen’s head. Jakira was keeping her club up, eyes roaming the forest, and Aki was projecting a field of de-aggroing warmth around those who were vulnerable to the cold. Tsu’me was within that shield, looking almost bored.

Maybe Aki was right… maybe he should just let them all go now before there were complications. He’d have to talk with Jakira first, make sure all three of them agreed, as the unspoken counselors of the dungeon.

They reached a quiet part of the river where Aki was able to hold back the water long enough for everyone to cross. They spotted another yeti on the hike back up the mountain, bringing it to an end a little better than the first one. Rhen claimed this core, too, and offered a share of its worth since they’d all contributed to killing the beast.

They waited on the beach for a few minutes for Aki and Jakira’s cephaloshifter cool-down timer to elapse, and then headed back to the other end. The jetski ride wasn’t as fun on the way back, and Rhen wondered if it was this bitter feeling in his heart about having to turn away hungry delvers. He didn’t want them to starve, and he really needed experienced help to make sure they could farm the ores and minerals they needed for Wyland’s designs.

If Jakira agreed, they would just have to find someone else…

It was too bad they came as a group. Rhen would love to teach Alex and Ulecks a few tricks, and Derk seemed to have a kind heart. But telling them if they wanted to stay Tsu’me had to go felt like a pretty fluffer move.

“So, how did we do on the test?” Tsu’me asked when they got back to the inn.

Rhen put on the proper dungeon owner attitude he’d been learning over the last few weeks and gave her a brief smile. “We’ll need to discuss together before deciding. For now, you can stay the night, access the mastery node for any abilities you may want to take from the dungeon, and enjoy Jakira’s wonderful cooking.”

Tsu’me hissed and looked to her party. “That’s a no if I’ve ever heard one.”

Alex and Ulecks drooped like wilting flowers, and Derk looked like he might cry.

“No, it means we must discuss,” Aki corrected her, a bit of heat in his tone.

She raised her hands in defeat. “Whatever you say. Where are we sleeping and where’s the mastery node?”

“The mastery node is up in the ante chamber at the entrance, and for sleeping arrangements, I’ll make some new rooms now,” Rhen said, trying to keep his temper under wraps. Aki was definitely right. Though Tsu’me’s abilities were impressive, there was too much snark and attitude for them to get through for it to be worth it—aside from the greedy manipulation.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll handle that. Jak, Aki, meet back here in twenty?”

“You got it,” Jakira said, casting a peeved glare at Tsu’me before heading into the kitchen.

“I will accompany you,” Aki said.

Rhen didn’t need a body-guard, but the Prelusk was quite particular about being alone. Perhaps he wanted Rhen’s company for his own well-being.

They went to Wyland’s first.

“It’s time for that much needed upgrade,” Rhen said as he strode into the over-stuffed workshop.

“What?” Wyland asked, his bushy brow knitted in confusion.

“Your workshop. The anima crystals you saved for the expansion?”

“Oh yes!” He jumped up from his chair and moved to a coffer hanging from one of the spidery-beetle creatures that harvested the anima crystals from the aquatic chamber. He activated the mech-creature, and it followed him. “Let’s go!”

They marched up the long tunnel to the control node chamber.

“All right, here’s what I’m thinkin’.” Wyland pulled a sheet of parchment from his back pocket and unfolded it. It was a top-down layout of a sizable workshop. He pulled out another one, which was a workshop with a small dividing wall. “This’ns for Barrek and Leslie.”

Rhen burned the images into his mind, and then placed one hand on the control node, and the other into the open bucket of raw anima crystals. “Give me layout control.”

His vision pulled out like he was falling away from his own eyes. He closed them to avoid the nauseating feeling of being sucked into the control node through the cebrum spell. When he opened them again, he was floating in the gray nothingness of the control center.

[Design Specifications Detected]

Would you like to import the two-dimensional specifications from source {Wyland’s Parchment}?

[Yes] | [No]

----

Rhen selected yes, making his life ten times easier. There was another dead-ended tunnel not too far from where they’d built the inn, and Rhen started the designs there. He ran wide tunnel from the workshops up to the control node room, and over to the inn, allowing for varied traffic flow.

The workshops themselves weren’t too complex, which was nice, but they had lots of counter space in strategic areas that would let several people in and out at once, and had many slots in a shelf configuration on the wall for storing completed projects.

Rhen finalized the workshops and accepted the changes. Heat swelled in his arm and he felt his body for a brief second. The anima crystals dematerialized and flowed through his body, into the node, one bit at a time. It’d have been faster if Rhen had more space in his anima well, but such was life. He probably needed a new syntial soon.

They helped Wyland, Leslie, and Barrek move into their new workshops, which was putting them well over the twenty-minute mark they had promised, but since the delving group was staying the night, it didn’t matter too much if they took a little extra time. Once everything was moved, Rhen went back to the node and transformed the two workshops into four more rooms.

By the time they’d finished everything, it was definitely time for dinner. Jakira made a small feast of seared fish, terrocken kebabs, roasted root vegetables, and several loaves of bread. Aki excused himself out to the river to find his own meal, and Rhen and Jakira crammed theirs down with haste to meet him out there.

They walked a ways into the forest to be sure they were out of earshot.

“Tsu’me’s gotta go,” Jak said first.

“I concur.”

Rhen blew out his held breath. “Yeah… But can we tell the party that? Hey guys, three of you did pretty good, but one of you is really sketchy,” he said in a mock boss-tone.

Jakira wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, not so much, huh?”

“No…” Aki agreed.

Rhen sighed. “Okay. We’ll say thanks but no thanks in the morning. We need more experienced delvers, and miners, and craftsman.”

The pressure, like a band around his head, returned. He hadn’t felt that in weeks…

“And we’re running out of time,” he whispered, pinching his nose-bridge.

Jakira put her hand on his shoulder. “We will figure this out. You’re not going to lose your dungeon to him, I promise.”

“We have not failed before. I believe we can avoid failure again.”

Rhen shook his head, smiling, but not really believing their words. “Thanks guys.”

They walked back into the dungeon together, Rhen’s head feeling like an over-inflated balloon. He fell into bed, worry after worry running through his mind until they chased him into sleep.