Nero and Glom went early to watch the novices delve. They lined up and entered the Dungeon orderly. The knights and a few soldiers were inside the stone wall, watching them delve. They would get their conscripts at dusk when they exit. If they did. There was no love spared between the Lyceum scholars and the soldiers. Nero focused his gaze on the portal to distract himself. The Dungeon popped back to white due to two deaths the day before. But all in all, this batch of novices fared much better than Nero's. They had twenty-four activations and only eight deaths in the first six days of delving. Most of them those that signed to get the military's offer of green Class and Skills right off the bat. They took too many risks, drunk in their sudden burst of power. Much better than Nero's village, with eight survivors out of twenty-six. It led to a fair amount of unfair bragging.

He filtered out the baseless bullying on how one village was better than the other. It helped neither party to dip into that argument. The Adventurers of Hom had to delve a yellow-grade version of the Goblin's Den, they were delving in a gray-to-white one with the added boost of the military cards. Skill and power could only lead you so far. Obviously, if you had five hundred in every Attribute, you would have the power to trample over a lot of things but you'd still be limited by how you used that power.

The eanlings entered last, as usual. They didn't speak to each other, pretending to be strangers. Once all of them were inside, Glom left to pack his things. His work here was done and he would not be back for two months, at least. Nero stayed behind.

"What are you doing here, boy? Shouldn't you go with your master?" A knight asked, oozing suspicion.

"No. I'm waiting for you to vacate the premises so I can keep working on the fortifications," Nero replied nonchalantly.

"We are going to watch the portal to prevent any foul play," The knight, some kind of scale-kin by the leathery skin showing through the armor and the shape of the helmet, elongated at the front, said.

"Suit yourself. I can't infuse Essence into the rock with you here. Your absorption rate is too high," Nero shrugged. "I'm sure the military will pay for a proper Earth mage to come here and shore up the walls. With my skill level, I need to have no interference around."

His blatant lie wasn't accepted well by the knight. The armored man hissed. "Aren't you level zero?"

"So?" Nero shrugged without either denying or confirming. "I can use Classes and Skills that don't require a level above mine, just like anyone else."

The knight didn't answer. Nero knew that if he entered the dungeon after they left, there was no reason they couldn't send someone to check. While he thought about what to do, Amaryllis flew over the walls.

"So, there you are, level zero!" She beamed. "Haven't all the novices entered? What are you waiting for here?"

She was still around? Nero hadn't seen the pixie in days but then again the same argument could be raised against him. That gave Nero an idea.

"Hey, guild master, could you tell my parents I'm delving today? I'll be back at dusk.

"You can't delve," the scale-kin knight threatened. "You won't'--"

"Why can't he?" Amaryllis flared anger, a deep purple-red covering her wings. "This is a Guild Dungeon and he is a member in good standing. So, tell me, little one, why can't he?"

It definitely wasn't out of respect that the knight backed off. Perhaps it was fear of angering the guild master. Most probably was all the hazing they suffered at the fairy's hand all week. But they gave up all the same.

Nero thought about slipping inside but it wasn't proper. "I'm going in. Bye gentlemen!" And he entered.

Entering "The Goblin's Den" - Rank-I Dungeon

Knazer waved and whispered. ""There you are, Nero! Did the knights give you trouble?"

"Yes, they did, but Amaryllis kept them busy. Ready to get out of here?"

"Sure," Fotia said with a sigh. "But how--"

"Shh! Someone is coming." Nero raised a finger to his lip. He used [Invisibility] and walked to the mouth of a tunnel. A pair of cat-kin was approaching.

"Hey, who do we have here!" One of them, with black fur, mocked, a sword in his hand, and a tail flicking behind him. "The scared sheep!"

"Back off, Smudge. We're not interested in trouble," Knazer said.

"Oh, no? Joining the knights aren't we?" He jumped sideways as he cleared the tunnel and moved carefully to circle them. "Well, if you aren't interested in trouble, I am. Hey, little Fotia, how about you bleat for me?"

The other Adventurer with Smudge was drawing a bow. Nero moved behind him and aimed his gun at the archer's head.

"Stay away from my sister, scumbag," Knazer threatened and drew a sword.

Fotia also drew a shortsword. "We are not afraid of you, Smudge," She said. We are not supposed to fight."

The cat-kin was manic. Their refusal to feel afraid triggered something in him. He moved around, his eyes locked on the eanling twins. "You get to live the good life while we will be on the frontlines. Good gear, good pay, good Skills. Not on my watch!"

Smudge pounced on the twins, aiming at disabling Knazer. The archer shot an arrow and hit his left arm. While the Arbitrium did protect the limb, it was only against dismemberment. The cat-kin yowled as Knazer's sword cut his wrist as he deflected Smudge's attack and riposted. He tried to dodge Fotia's attack but couldn't avoid it entirely even with his feline agility. Fotia cut the side of his stomach, drawing blood but not damaging any organs.

The archer shot Knazer again. Dodging the arrow opened his guard and Smudge took advantage of that, cutting the eanling's face and staining his cheek wool red.

Enraged, Fotia charged and rammed Smudge, blindsiding him and stabbing her shortsword through his thigh. The cat-kin lost his breath and fell on his back, dislodging the weapon. Nero remarked the rumors were a lie. Smudge still tried to attack Fotia but she blocked the blow with her curled horn. He kicked her off of him and tried to get back on his feet.

Screaming, Knazer stabbed Smudge's shoulder, scraping the blade over the collarbone and cutting the tendons. The cat-kin lost strength in his arm and wailed in pain.

Sensing defeat, the archer tried to run instead of shooting again. He bumped into Nero's gun barrel.

"Going somewhere?" Nero asked, canceling his [Invisibility].

"Wait, I didn't--"

*BLAM*

Fotia shrieked at the loud sound of the gun going off. It echoed down the tunnels.

"Potion," Knazer said.

Fotia calmed herself down and summoned a potion for her brother. Knazer removed the arrows and drank the elixir.

Nero drew his sword and turned it on. Hearing the buzzing weapon, Fotia had to ask.

"Nero, what are you going to do?"

"Loot my kill. You guys should do the same. I doubt they have anything worth in their bandoliers, but make sure you took everything."

"I'm still alive, mother--"

Knazer cut Smudge's throat. Fotia flinched, moved to a corner of the room, turned around, and vomited. Nero's Arbitrium lit up. He'd gained a point of Charisma.

After the two young eanlings looted their kills, Nero burned the bodies in a tunnel, cleaned the room with fire, and Fotia calmed down, they sat to talk.

"The first rule of a Dungeon, always keep your life-saving cards slotted. A potion, an antidote, the [Egress] if you have one and still want to hunt. I suggest ladies first, but it is up to each party. The second rule of a Dungeon, avoid other delvers. Polite Adventurers avoid contact with others. The third rule of a Dungeon, assholes die, no question asked. Those that disrespect the second rule deserve not to live."

"It's not what we thought to be, this Dungeon and Adventuring thing," Knazer mumbled.

"Not anything like what we read in books, at least," Fotia added.

"Honestly, as Dungeons go, the Goblin's Den is quite shitty," Nero joked. "Are you guys ready to get out of here? Probably take a bath?"

They looked at him as if he was a crazy man rambling about the end of the world.

"No? Well, I'm going to stretch for a while on my private beach. You have five minutes to decide," Nero said.

He stood up walked three steps, opened a portal to the shelter, and walked through it. The light from the shelter shone in the gloomy dungeon as if it was a door to the outside. The twins followed right after him. Nero closed the portal.

"Welcome to my shelter," Nero said. "Your home until we can get you somewhere the knights can't reach you."

The badgers came and checked the newcomers.

"What is this place?" Knazer asked.

"Are we underwater? Where are we?" Fotia wondered, dreamy.

He opened his arms wide. "This is my shelter. I'd rather not explain more than this now. You can have a bath in the house-tree. The critters here are all non-combat pets, and Daisy over there is a sweetheart," he pointed at the towering shambler that was content in staying still, soaking the sunlight filtering through the waves above.

Nero loaned towels and clothes to the eanlings. They gathered in the grass right before the sand where Steve liked to stay buried.

"The knights out there were suspicious you'd desert," Nero warned. "I bet they will be there when we exit."

"We said goodbye to our parents," Knazer said. "Living here won't be so bad."

"Can we really stay here forever?" Fotia asked.

"Maybe not. This whole place vanishes if I die or fail to pay the upkeep at midnight," Nero answered. "If that happens, you'll be dumped outside wherever I was. Look, I'll go outside and hunt for a while. It is better if you guys stay here. Later tonight, I'll bring the rest of the crew to meet you. My co-conspirators."

He stood up, brushed his armor and vest. "Oh, and help yourselves to anything in the house. Food, tea, anything. Just don't let the badgers in my workshop. There's a sign at the door."

They stood up too. Smiling, Fotia tried to awkwardly hug him. She kinda flailed with her arms and then settled them across her lap. Nero reached out to shake Knazer's hand. Then he offered the girl his hand too.

"See you soon," He said, opening a portal at the archway.

"Thank you, Nero," Fotia waved.

Nero went out and closed the gate behind him. He drew his blade and ran down a tunnel. He had until dusk to hunt and he would not do that. Today he'd lose a few hours.

At dusk, the novice Adventurers got out one by one, in the order they used the [Egress] card. Nero was the first one out. Altia, Amaryllis, and Glom were there, along with the knights and soldiers, eager to take their recruits away.

"Nero! Why did you have to delve!" Altia scolded him.

"Blame the guild master," He shrugged. "Can we go home? I'm tired."

He grabbed Altia's arm and walked out of the stone wall. There was no gate but the wall was made in a spiral, with an overlap between the two ends. One needed to walk five yards between the two arms of the foot-thick spiral wall, to get out. They went home and Nero was quickly brought into Crystal's posh room, where everyone was gathered to conduct a trial. Or something like that, Nero thought.

"So, my dear son, do you have anything you want to tell us?" Rhynne said with the 'you're in trouble' tone every mother automatically learned when the baby was born.

"Saving some friends from slavery, mom," Nero answered with a straight face. "I bet Altia or Crystal already told you what I did, so I'll skip all the blame tossing game. I'm opening a portal, you are invited to meet my guests."

He led everyone inside and closed the entrance after himself. The twins were stargazing on the grass. Once they noticed the newcomers, they quickly got back on their feet and straightened themselves.

"Oh, welcome?" Knazer tried. "To Nero's..."

"Shelter," Fotia completed. She smiled and bowed deeply. Knazer behind her lowered his head.

Fotia was wearing a one-piece linen dress with string straps from Altia's wardrobe, and Knazer some pants and shirt Nero gave him.

"Look, we decided to work with you! Please don't take us away!" Fotia begged.

"We will shear our wool for you. This way we can earn our keep," Knazer added.

"Wow, wow. Hold it," Nero said. "We won't demand anything from you."

"But we need to shear anyway," Fotia said. "It is no burden on us."

"Yes, our wool is rather thick now. We need to shear," Knazer added.

Altia held Nero's arm. "We can surely work out something, and we are pleased to see you want to earn your keep, as you say. Don't worry."

"Yes, you get a spinning wheel and a loom, and we..."

Fotia mumbled, obviously fumbling her rehearsed lines. They looked extremely nervous, stealing glances at Glom and Amaryllis, the people they recognized as having some authority.

"At ease," Byron said. "We are not here to judge or get you back. We just want to talk."

"Yes!" Amaryllis flew and landed on Fotia's shoulder wool. "So soft!" She squealed. "Oh, dear. Don't worry. Come midnight, the Knights will consider you dead. And Nero's shelter, just like a Dungeon, is not considered part of the Kingdom's territory. You are safe here."

"Yes," Glom added. "We have no love for the kingdom's institutions. But now you'll have to stay here, hidden until we can take you off-country safely."

"We don't mind living here," Fotia said. "Being prisoners in this paradise is better than the alternative."

Nero clapped his hands, drawing attention to himself. "Well, let's make the formal introductions, shall we?"

They introduced everyone. Crystal's background wasn't discussed but it was obvious she was someone cut from a different kind of stone than the rough minnids. After everyone knew each other, Nero proposed a feast.

"Let's eat and celebrate. I have just the card for that!" He boasted and took the card to show he wasn't all wind. "[Under-Miner Clam Chowder], yellow-grade for the delight of your taste buds."

It caught everyone's attention. High-grade food cards were expensive. Nero only had an idea since he didn't see the bill for that dinner in Honeywitch so long ago, but he knew it was a good treat. Everyone gathered to see the card. Until Crystal plucked it from his hand.

"Nero, where did you get this?" She asked.

"The goblin dropped it. What's the matter? "

Crystal waved the card, pointed at it. She was clearly flustered that he didn't understand the card's importance.

"This is a lost recipe from the age when goblins were people," She said. "This card can be the key to revive a piece of history."

Nero looked around. His mother, the guildmaster, and Glom were agreeing with his sister's judgment.

"Okay. So we are not eating that today."

"We are not eating that ever," Amaryllis said. "There are some chefs that have Skills to capture a recipe from the food they eat. We need to get this card to them. With ten servings, they can try multiple times."

"The card is valuable, I get that. And Crystal recognized it straight away. Say, can we send it to your former parents as tribute so they leave us alone?"

"Gah," Fotia gasped and dropped to her knee. "Your Highness!" She rose her head and pulled her twin brother down as well.

"Stand up, please. I renounced my titles. I'm Crystal, Nero's sister."

"Is that what you want to do with the card, Nero?" Amaryllis asked. "Indeed Coriander will be interested in it. I can arrange it for you if you want."

"Oh, great. Thanks, guild master."

"Gah," Fotia went weak on the legs. Altia and Knazer held her. The eanling girl stared at the pixie with admiration. "When Nero said Amaryllis, I thought that it couldn't be you. You're the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild in the continent!"

Amaryllis giggled and dove on Fotia's wool again, drawing a giggle from the ticklish eanling. "And you are the fluffiest girl I've ever seen. Pleased to bleat you. Oh, sorry."