The sun was shining, the air was crisp. Krystal took in a deep breath and simply enjoyed the feeling of standing by the wagons in the early morning. It was time at last. Soon she would be on the road again, leading her caravan up the north road. To new cities and new trade opportunities. She could barely wait. Staying in Ogon to watch the dungeon introduce itself to the humans in a peaceful manner had been new and exciting but in the end, the thrill of travel still called to her, urging her to get back on the road.

Yes, the road was her home after all. Endless paths, paved roads near the big cities, barely visible trails through the lands claimed by nature. To walk through mountains and hills one day, then to ride next to the ocean the next. Travel offered sights and a sense of freedom that few other occupations could offer.

"Watch out!"

*BANG*

They also offered incompetent personnel who constantly felt the need to cause trouble.

"You FOOL! You brainless, fearless- fearless- DUMB person!"

"No no no, SEE! If we just strap the ropes THIS way then it will be much more flexible! The horses could turn much easier and-"

"It's falling! IT'S FALLING!"

Krystal took a deep breath. Then she spun around and glared at the sight of Jerry the engineer trying to avoid being trampled by the horse he had somehow managed to strap the harness upon up-side-down. Geffery shrieked as the wagon attached to the harness wobbled and then fell over. The laws of physics that would keep the usually well-balanced wagon firmly on the ground, overridden by Jerry's inventions. Krystal sighed as the horse reared and made the leather and rope straps securing it to the wagon snap. She watched, mildly impressed, how Geffery in a wild panic tried to grab the horse's reins, then got lifted from the ground and pulled along as the horse made a break for it.

A nearby villager rushed to help and after calling in some friends they eventually got the horse under control. Geffery was foaming at the mouth and unresponsive. Jerry was already eyeing another horse and its wagon with a glint in his eye.

Krystal inhaled. MAN, it was good to be back! Then she bellowed at Jerry to "Leave the wagons alone of you'll be pulling them instead of the horse!", successfully sending him scurrying off like a scared rat. Speaking of rat, there was a familiar man coming her way.

A pale fellow with brown hair and freckles. A face almost too plain. Hard to remember. What set him apart was the bright yellow eyes. They had a depth to them that was unsettling and made it seem like he was constantly scheming something.

Pohc smiled and waved at her as he approached.

"Good morning Miss Krystal! A lovely day isn't it?"

"Very. A perfect day for departure."

"We will miss you dearly. You have been a great help to us."

"Mh, it's been my pleasure. The goods you've provided us more than makes up for it."

Krystal threw a glance at the wagon stacked with dungeon goods. Mushrooms that glowed and numbed pain if eaten. Meat from deear and the shining shells of the glowshell turtles. Raw chunks of metal mined from deep within the cave system. These were all treasures that few would have gotten in such quantity. Dungeons were rare and dangerous after all. To trade with one like this would make any merchant weak in the knees from the mere possibilities it would bring. Krystal grinned widely. Pohc returned the grin.

"I will wish you the best of luck on your journey then. You and your friends are very welcome to visit Mageon should you be nearby in the future."

"Aye, thank you for the offer. Stay safe, Pohc."

He gave a polite nod then left with a wave. Krystal watched as he weaved through the crowd of people lecturing the now conscious Geffery on how he should not mistreat the horses. Pohc rounded a pile of crates not yet loaded up on a wagon. When he reappeared on the other side of the pile his appearance had changed. Blond long hair and the body of a woman. The doppelganger greeted some passing villagers then slipped down an alley. Krystal shivered. He was a creepy creature...

*CRACK*

"..."

Jerry blinked at her from bellow a wagon. Horse running free and spooked down another alley with the remains of its harness dragging across the ground. Krystal grinned at him. Jerry felt his life pass before his eyes as she strode towards him.

"You must not talk with the birds outside of the forest."

"You must not trust them. They are inbred scum living off of berries and bugs."

"They don't even peck at corpses! Such arrogant fools! To discard any food found is an outrage."

Noah nodded at the murder of crows droning on and on.

"You are trying to stall us aren't you?" Johna said and winked at them. The chatty birds had taken a strange liking to them during their stay at the dungeon.

"Why won't you reconsider?"

"Why won't you stay?"

"Why not remain here?"

Noah chuckled. The movement made the crows on his shoulders lose their balance a bit. They waved their wings about to regain it, flapping them in Noah's face. Johna couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

Noah spoke from within the mess of feathers,

"It's been a great time. Your dungeon is great and you are lovely hosts."

The birds puffed up their chests in pride and nodded at the praise. A red owl, much taller than the already huge birds spoke in a sing-song voice.

"So why must you leave? If you stay you could eventually become part of the dungeon? Wouldn't that be great!"

Johna's face fell a bit. Noah cleared his throat and answered the confused red bird.

"We prefer wandering about. Freedom is important to us."

"How needy!"

The birds said in unison. Noah chuckled.

"We have different needs you see. Imagine if the roles were reversed? If we were inviting you to stay in a small human house."

"Stifling!"

"Your houses are tiny!"

"We cannot fly freely in there!"

Noah nodded.

"See what I mean?"

the birds went silent for a moment as they thought this over. Johna grinned as the birds bobbed their heads in understanding.

"You are strange creatures, you."

"Very strange you are!"

"Wingless creatures have strange needs indeed!"

The wingless duo laughed. A crow lost its balance on Noah's back and tumbled to the floor. The other birds laughed at it as it rose and dusted itself off.

"But you will visit yes?"

"You will return now and then yes?"

"You would miss us otherwise yes?"

The duo nodded, "Yes yes we would. We promise."

The birds nodded, content.

"Then we wish you good travels!"

"We wish you lucky travels!"

"Exciting travels!"

"Peaceful travels!"

The birds started bickering about what sort of travels they were wishing them. They barely noticed Noah and Johna sneaking off while they yelled at each other. Some waved absentmindedly at them then yelled their own opinion at their kin. It was the sort of sight that made Sam and Mikvel think twice about approaching the group. Instead, they waited until Johna and Noah had gotten further away from the murder of crows.

The duo jumped in surprise when Sam descended from a hole in the ceiling, with Mikvel on his back. It was a good thing that the adventurers were already (almost) used to not being ambushed in the dungeon, otherwise, they might have attacked out of reflex. They did their best to look calm and cheerful, dismissing the violent outbreak that almost broke out. Sam and Mikvel looked a bit odd at the duo but just shrugged at it in the end.

The self-proclaimed crafters of the dungeon had finished making a crate. A crate much similar to the one the adventuring duo had used to keep Johna from going on a murder spree every time the full moon peeked out. The crafters went on and on about how splendid a work they'd done on the crate as they led them to their workshop.

Apparently, they'd reinforced the wood with spider silk and some metals the bee's had provided them. The crate was heavier than a wooden crate but "It barely even got scratched from getting tossed down a chasm!" the crafting duo exclaimed. "But the reinforcements did look a bit weird," Mikvel started, "So we clad it in a second layer of wood!" Sam continued. "It's just a bit heavier as a result." They both said at once.

The workshop cave opened up before them. Everything from stones, to tools, to monster-remains, and metal scraps lay littering the floors, walls, and ceiling of the 'workshop'. Everything tied in place by some strands of spider silk in case gravity decided it wanted the stuff back on the ground. In the middle of the cramped room lay a huge wooden crate, big enough to fit a very tall human.

Johna, the not so tall human, walked up to it with a complicated expression on his face. Mikvel and Sam droned on on how tricky it had been to keep the silk they'd used as adhesive along with the nails hidden under the second layer of wood. The nails were more for appearances if anything, they weren't strong enough to pierce the strange mix of metal, wood, and silk that made up the bulk of the crate.

Noah eyed the 5 different locks on the side. To say they were mismatched would be an understatement. Locks from doors, chests, one from a jam jar they'd somehow made work on the crate, a latch from an outhouse... All in all, the crate looked a bit suspicious and was "Heavy!" Johna exclaimed as he failed to lift one end of it from the ground. Noah frowned and grabbed the other end of the crate. With a heave and a face turning red, the crate slowly left the ground to Johna's great surprise. It would seem the big monk was indeed as strong as he looked and then some.

It took plenty of time, huffing, and the help of a nearby dryad, to finally get the crate all the way to the caravan. The other merchants eyed the crate with interest but were immediately shooed away by Krystal when they started asking questions.

Preparations continued until the caravan was ready to depart. The sun stood high in the sky when Krystal finally mounted her horse and signaled for her followers to start moving. The villagers waved their goodbyes at them as they left. The merry human chatter was over-voiced though. Rodents and birds filled the nearby rooftops and as the caravan passed they made as much cheerful noise as possible at them. Fanv and the other one-of-a-kind monsters kept to the ground but were just as noisy in their goodbyes.

The caravan members puffed out their chests in pride and left Ogon in high spirits. Maybe a dungeon full of powerful sentient monsters weren't so bad after all?