I grabbed the collar of Javier’s shirt and yanked him back just in time to save him from being split in half by a guillotine that dropped from a slot in the ceiling. He was being dumb trying to impress me again.

I did have to reattach a few of his fingers though.

“You’ll be fine in a few minutes,” I assured the shaking teen. “Just breathe and remember what I told you when we first arrived at the dungeon.”

He nodded quickly, breathing in and out as he shook. “A-Always be aware of your s-surroundings.”

I nodded as the skin around his finger healed. While the kid was a bit reckless it wasn’t always a bad trait. He just needed to moderate himself. “That includes the ceiling. And you should lead with your weapon or something disposable.”

He nodded shakily.

“How are you doing Maria?” I asked, focusing her attention away from Javier’s wound and toward me.

“I’m ok, Mr. Paul.”

I nodded, Maria was a bit more mature than Javier but I had seen her face go white at the sight of the blood pumping from his fingers. It was easy to tell that neither one had been in mortal danger their entire lives if it wasn’t obvious from the low levels.

My guess was they had only leveled by defending their village from monster attacks. That would be fine for most people but I wanted my employees to understand the possible dangers out in the world. It’s why I didn’t get involved in the dungeon unless it was to save them from imminent death.

It seemed to be working. Both teens had already gained a level each, putting Maria at nine and Javier at eight. They were also more cautious now, which in my eyes was never a bad thing.

I healed the last of the damage to Javier’s fingers before we moved into the next chamber. The chamber sported four pillars in the center that held up a domed roof of a pavilion that tapered until it met the chamber roof far above. It also sported a dozen nasty spiked lizard creatures.

The creatures were slow but their camouflage made them blend into the walls and floor. If your perception wasn’t high enough you could miss them and assume the room was empty. Then they would surround you and attack all at once. The sharp spines could cut through the rock so not much could stop them from tearing you apart, short of magical protection.

I watched as Maria cast a spell that caused a purple mist to cover the floor in a large area. This elicited the shrieks of four lizards as they made their presence known and charged. Maria’s skillset was mainly debuffs and damage over time abilities. She also had a control ability which she tried to use on one of the lizards.

It froze in place for a second and turned to attack one of its friends. The other two lizards were stopped by a glowing white barrier that sprang up in their path, courtesy of Javier. It didn’t delay them long as it was only a flat plane but it was long enough for Maria to cast another spell. A crackling ball of violet energy spread out from her outstretched hands and impacted near one of the creatures.

The lizard squealed in pain as the energies slowly distorted its limbs until there were audible snaps as the bones gave out.

The last creature charged at Javier who let out a frightened squeak before trying to back away. I clamped my hand over his shoulder to halt him in place. “You're fine, you can handle one lizard.”

I could hear him swallow as he raised his hand and said a quick prayer. Golden light radiated out from him, blinding the creature and causing it to smoke slightly.

While the attack wasn’t enough to kill the lizard it did stun it momentarily, giving Maria time to throw her short spear at it. The effort was weak but it seemed to do the job as the creature fell over dead.

The final two had nearly torn each other apart and a quick bash from Javier’s cane ended the survivor. The room clearing went quickly after that. I also made a note to get these two some decent gear. It would be a bonus for their hard work.

The rest of the dungeon was rather uneventful, up until the boss room. The boss was a massive version of the spiked lizards but instead of hiding like its smaller kin, it nested in the center of the room. It was also bright red, signifying its affinity toward fire. Not that it needed the coloring to do this. Its body radiated heat waves that turned the room into a sauna.

The first time I had fought the creature I simply covered the room with ice using Eye of the Storm. It significantly weakened the beast. I was curious to see how my young employees would handle the task, seeing as they had no ice magic.

Javier gave me a worried glance before he began casting a spell. Maria joined him a second later with one of her own. I knew that the lizard wouldn’t wake until it was attacked, making this the perfect opportunity to use spells that required a longer casting time.

Javier’s spell went off and the temperature of the room seemed subdued. The spell didn’t directly attack the lizard but the creature stirred anyway, readying itself to defend its home. Before it readied itself, Maria’s spell erupted from her outstretched hands. Rings of purple and blue, that crackled with violet lightning, extended away from her, forming ever-smaller rings until it looked like one of those ring toss games. A beam of energy that looked like a bruise coalesced inside the rings and shot toward the lizard, striking it in the flank.

The lizard hissed in outrage, heat boiling from its open mouth. It aimed its open mouth toward the three of us and released a jet of superheated air, distorting our view.

I was ready to intervene but Javier was quick to throw up a magical shield. The shield vibrated as the air slammed against it but there was no real weight behind the attack. The shield didn’t stop all the heat of the attack from washing over us but along with his mitigation spell, it reduced the damage from skin melting hot to second degree burn hot.

Both of the teens screamed and flinched back as they were burned. It was more surprise than damage though. My Elemental Defense reduced the damage to a minor burn. It would heal within minutes on its own.

The boss was slow to approach as Maria’s spell had done a number on its hind leg. This gave Javier time to heal both of their wounds and for Maria to cast her chaotic orb spell. At least that’s what I liked to call it.

The temperature of the room skyrocketed as the beast let out an ear-piercing scream. Even I was forced to cover my ears. After the scream, its body started to glow as it charged us in an uneven loping gait.

I decided to step in as my employees were still reeling from the scream. I cast Frostwave followed by Disruption.

The beast reeled as the cold slammed into it but that only slowed it. Disruption tossed it to the side. It lay there bleeding as it tried to right itself, but its spikes were more detrimental than helpful in this instance. I healed Javier and Maria and they were able to pound the creature’s remaining health down.

Both leveled up from the level fourteen creature, bringing Maria to ten and Javier to nine. I congratulated them for surviving their first dungeon crawl and we left to get some much-needed food and rest.

***

The rest of the week was a repeat of the first day and by the end, I could tell the two were getting sick of fighting the same creatures over and over. It wasn’t much of a challenge after the second day. They knew the traps and all the weaknesses of the creatures, including the boss. Still, it wasn’t all in vain. Both had made it to level eleven by that point.

It would take another few weeks to get them to fifteen if I kept using this dungeon. We would have to change it up but that could come after. Right now they were preparing for a flight without me. They would back each other up on controls and recharging and I had hired six of the Marshall’s men for this trip.

The Marshall was happy to help, considering it gave his men a bird’s eye view of the area and showed them what they could expect when visiting the local villages if they came under the mutual defense pact that Martin had been working on. It was going much smoother since I launched my merchant service. Speaking of merchants. The barge was nearly full of merchants this time around. I needed to lay down some ground rules before the kids left.

I let out a sharp whistle, getting everyone's attention.

“Alright, now that I have all of your attention, a few rules. Some of you were on the first voyage and enjoyed the ability to trade without leaving the barge. That changes this time. We have too many merchants and not enough space for customers. So that means everyone will set up on the ground.”

There were some grumbles of disappointment but I continued on.

“That brings me to rule two.” I waved toward Javier and Maria, “these are the captains for this journey. For the sake of simplicity, their word is law… my law. If they feel you are causing issues and order you to depart, you will depart or you will never be allowed to trade through my service again. Are we clear?”

There were nods of assent. “Good. And last, there are six guards. They are here to protect you and the barge, not your inventory. If there is trouble and they order you back aboard, you best run. Now, I don’t expect much trouble from the villages but you never know. We will do our best to keep everyone safe. If you have a complaint please come see me after the journey is complete. I wish you all good fortune on this trip. Javier, Maria if you would, please lift off.”

The barge rose into the air. I walked over to the two captains and shook their hands. “You two got this, don’t worry.”

“Thank you for everything, Mr. Paul,” Maria replied and Javier nodded.

I waved them goodbye as I stepped off the barge and spread my wings. As soon as I left the shield snapped into place and the Barge turned toward its first destination.