Less than 24 hours after his arrival back in Orad, Eric once more finds himself in front of the mountain he last saw Katrina enter and her belongings disappear into.

This time however he finds himself in the presence of a company of well-armed men who are ready to fight for the employer that pays their salary. More mercenary than knight as they are in the personal employ of Eric's father, Dungeon Categoriser, Elric Highgrove. Each one has been outfitted by the Expert himself to maximise their potential and improve their combat efficiency.

The man in question stood on the cusp of the dungeon. The sun rays serve to lighten the mysterious mountain's outside features as he mulls over his thoughts. From last night's rest, to this morning's journey, one in particular stood out the most as an instant solution.

Killing Katrina Kartova here is better than taking her to Ishda to stand trial. She may 'possibly' get away with her crime due to the title she possesses and the extenuating circumstances the village chief had told him yesterday. Not to mention that Lord Aldur seems to have a soft spot for her.

This was the conclusion he had arrived at before returning to the men setting up a quick and simple camp in the clearing.

"No one is to enter this dungeon. Guard the entrance until I return," He informs them before looking towards his son.

"You are to stay here with them. They will protect you if there are any monsters roaming or returning here. I will see to Katrina Kartova," he gestures back towards the mountain with a smile.

Not wanting to stay with the knights, who aren't around for loyalty, he was about to plead his case as to why he should be allowed to enter with his father. However, he decided to give up before even starting. Elric Highgrove was not one with an easily changeable point of view and any efforts that Eric might make would all be vain.

With selfish thoughts running through his mind, as he was the one who saw Katrina leave in the first place, he watched his father enter the mountain believing in his powers over the dungeon. He would make short work of this, as he stated on the way here, and they would be home in time for supper.

Little did the Expert know that the monsters roaming outside the mountain were far from wild and in no way could he have perceived how this Dungeon Core would act upon his arrival.

Within moments I feel what Me was talking about.

A different, more assertive presence has entered me. It's The Expert and he wasn't even polite about it.

No hello.

No first date.

He just came right up in me without a care in the world.

Are you quite finished?

I'm nervous. I think my Core might even be sweating.

Your Core does not sweat. If anything it is more likely to be damaged again.

Don't say that!

Where's Barry? Is he ploughing? He's ploughing, right? Tell me he's ploughing, Me!

Barry has been going nonstop since you started your meditation and thank you.

What for?

Your panicking has alleviated my own worrying.

Who's panicking? I'm not panicking. Are you panicking, Me?

Abi! Calm down.

OK. Alright.

I'm calm. I'm calm.

Who am I kidding? I'm not calm, Me. I'm freaking the hell out.

Yes, I can clearly tell. The Categoriser is waiting inside the entrance and Katrina is inside Ali's house hiding from him. Hana had informed everyone of his arrival. She described his attire and the apprentice confirmed his identity.

Why is she hiding?

I do not know and cannot ask her to find out.

Yeah, but you could have got Ali to ask her, right?

I... Er, did not think to in my moment of fluster. It has been less than 5 minutes since he appeared outside and the monsters are already prepared to welcome him just how you would want them to.

Hehe, at least you're sort of getting around the feelings barrier. My little army is pretty efficient, don't you think?

Quite, you have also settled down now. More so than before at least.

Yeah, the mystery of the hiding apprentice has me intrigued.

Is the Categoriser a secret bad guy? A behind the scenes villain? Or is it that she might just be nervous about what the people she know think of her now because of what happened to her. I might have felt those emotions, if I didn't feel like I was slowly losing my humanity through lack of physical contact.

Musing over the thoughts in my head I manifest myself into the Rule Room whilst summoning Dropper, I know that she and Light are home as I can see the system's notifications waiting for me to acknowledge them. The one sitting on top of the large pile is about the return of my big hitters and I have to stop reading when I see the amount of XP they have acquired this time.

I was right!

They really must think that they've got to outdo themselves every time they go out.

I really hope I survive this so that I can grow with what they've managed to bag this time.

In less than a minute Dropper is at my side, beaming a huge smile at me as she is covered in the same soft blue glow as last time, indicating that she's ready for an upgrade.

No way.

I'd love to ask how and hear her story but we don't have time for that right now. "Well done, Dropper. Once again, you and Light are literally the shining examples of my dungeon," all I can do is recognise their achievements and move forward to meet Mr Doom.

Entering my own entrance, which isn't an unfamiliar event, we're here to greet The Dungeon Categoriser.

As we approach he is trying his best to contain his facial expressions at the beautiful Dropper and the invisible me I'd like to imagine.

"Who are you and why are you in an uncategorised dungeon?" He asks whilst trying to hide his arousal over the stunning specimen of a woman standing before him.

"My name is Dropper and I am here to speak for my Master," she replies un-prompted.

"Your master?" he asks, looking a little puzzled.

Realising she should have kept her mouth shut, she turns to me and kneels, "I'm sorry master," she declares.

"Master!" He is now more shocked than confused and has realised who the beauty in front of him was referring to as she kneels before thin air.

Well, I suppose the snake is already out of the trousers now so she may as well confirm it.

"Yes, I was created by my Master, Dungeon Core Abi and I speak for her as I stand before you." Making a fist and placing it over her chest, reminiscent of Noir, it's as if she is saluting my dungeon.

I'm not gonna stop her though. It's kind of embarrassing but makes me feel cool and appreciated at the same time.

With my introduction over and his shock slowly being replaced with the usual erogenous male thought process, he reciprocates the greeting.

"Hello, Dungeon Core Abi. I am Dungeon Categoriser, Elric Highgrove, and I check the threat levels of beings like yourself for the Ishda Territory." Smiling seductively and briefly raising his eyebrows at the softly glowing woman, he introduces himself with his usually well known title. Unfortunately, this earns himself no awe or recognition from the stunner listening to him.

"What would your name be again, my beautiful angel who is here to receive me? Sadly my memory is not what it once was," he stands seemingly waiting for a response but I'm lost for words. Nice ones anyway. Apparently, so is Dropper.

What the hell?

Does this guy think he's Canasoda or what?

I don't know who that is.

Was he expecting to woo her with his words?

It really looked like he was hitting on my Vag just then but I can't let myself get frustrated over that. If he doesn't approve of me, that means we'll be enemies and after some of the magic that Katrina mentioned to me last night, my earlier freak out may have been justified.

My Vagabond stares blankly at the man devilishly eyeing her. She's waiting for me to give her the words that may potentially keep us alive to see another day in this weird ass world we call home.

I strictly warn Drop to repeat every word I'm about to say without pouting, whingeing, complaining or saying no. I might be being a little harsh but this has to go to plan. I mention the upgrade again and she smiles in delight at the advancement she's already prepared for.

The stupid Categoriser smiles back as if the smile was meant for him.

Fool.

Putting on my best acting voice, which I perfected during the multiple years of my time as a human, I give Dropper the words that are guaranteed to change my second life somehow.

"Welcome, Expert. It is a pleasure to have you here in us." She pronunciates perfectly whilst the man's eyes widen and his smile increases.

"Yes, quite." He coughs a few times trying to drag his head from the gutter before composing himself like his job dictates he should. "I am here to gauge the strength of your monsters and to see if you pose a threat to the surrounding lands. Do you consent to this examination?" He asks formally, momentarily losing his obsessively perverted nature towards Dropper.

Shit!

Why? Every damn time.

The feeling of foolishness this time is like a tidal wave. It almost feels the same as when Kal caught me in the Core Room. No escape, except this time I have a whole dungeon and yet I'm still trapped.

He isn't just going to stroll around my village like I want him to is he? Yet I can't say no now can I? If I do we might end up fighting right here. Could Dropper win without her partner? Without the element of surprise and against an opponent like this?

Shit!

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shitty. Shit. Shit!

Calm down, Abi.

OK, OK. Deep imaginary breaths. In and out. In and out.

Huh?

That kind of worked.

"Yes, I am not that deep yet so it shouldn't take too long," I finally manage to get something out through my interpreter, even though I don't want to go through with this anymore.

Why the hell can't I will the monsters outside my dungeon!?

Would it even matter?

He's already here.

"Thank you for accepting. Let's get straight to it then. I would like to be home by nightfall if possible and I have... other business to take care of." Elric wastes no time stepping forward towards his would be escort signalling his own start to the tour. Showing no signs of fear at the idea of being inside me unprotected, he exudes confidence with each step.

Trying to keep his eyes forward, Elric fails as he cannot hide the quick glances that he keeps taking towards Dropper's assets. The arousal from earlier still seems to be there, even if he is trying to keep it hidden.

I'll just have to use my best words to convince him that I'm worth keeping around.

Not letting a good opportunity go to waste, I ask about the surrounding locations of my area and any villages that may be within distance of me.

"To be honest, there are no towns, villages or even settlements in your immediate vicinity. So technically, there is no one for you to pose a threat to," he explains while continuing to eye up Dropper as we head towards my Rule Room. "As long as you don't possess any monsters that are classified under the destruction threat level then this will go fine."

That's no help to me.

I need to try and hide Colin and Barry somehow but I don't know where. My Mythril Golem is in his own cave system and there's a slight chance I can pass him off as not being one of my monsters but if the Categoriser attacks him, I won't stand for that.

What are the chances that I would get away with Colin being mistaken for a regular chest, Me?

Not favourable. The Categoriser can perform a spell that will show him what 'is' and 'is not' a monster in the dungeon he's in.

Ah, yeah. Katrina even said that as well and I forgot about it. What were his other spells?

Potent Paralysis, Identification and what was the other one?

Dungeon Rage.

Yeah, that one.

That does not sound good for me in any way.

We entered the rule room in front of The Expert, he seemed to have slowed down for a moment to glance at something behind or someone's behind.

He stares at the large stone slabs as he enters and actually reads the small list of rules on the first monolith. "I suppose it is quite praiseworthy for a dungeon to engage in this type of behaviour. It is not as strange as the fact that your monster looks entirely human though, why is that?" He poses a question that I don't want to answer but know that I have to say something to keep him happy.

"I have had the ability since I was created. I'm not quite sure why but it will aid me in helping out humans," I reply, leaving out details about me and my old class until I get a better feel for the perverted Expert. His face doesn't give anything away and is expressionless all the time that he isn't taking now open glances at Dropper.

Quickly moving on, we head down the next tunnel towards Mira and Hana's Guard House. If only I could have leveled it up again, it would look so much better being the first building anyone enters when getting this far.

Come on beauties, you can do this.