I hadn’t expected that getting an audience with the Dungeon Master would be a quick endeavor, and I had been proven right almost immediately. Only those with clearances higher than mine could come and go at whatever secret location they had him in, but given my position and the nature of my relationship with the Dungeonborn, my team and I were put on the list.

  Until then, there were only two things to do. First, we hired more workers for the Bottom’s UP so that it could be run without Tabitha there to supervise. Adika, the Gnomish manager, enjoyed her new temporary position as well as the temporary salary increase that came with it. She had been with us for years now, and we knew she could be trusted to run the tavern.

  Second, those of us who were employed by the Department of Dungeons took leave. That was something I expected Brackenhorst to fight me on, but it had actually been approved rather quickly with the caveat that my team and I were on call for New Frausta specifically. Given that one was paid and the other wasn’t, I very quickly agreed to his demand. So far, it hadn’t come up.

  Which was good, because time was running out before the expedition started. There had been a huge amount of movement between countries. People from all walks of life were heading south to Port St. Grandus, our launching point, in droves. There were plenty of soldiers, adventurers, and clergy from different churches, but that wasn’t all.

  A war effort like this required a lot of people to run logistics, make shelters, fix gear, and provide food. If we wanted this to succeed, then we needed to work together. The leadership was doing their best to make sure that nations with bad blood between them, who at least recognized the necessity of this expedition, were nowhere near each other from the moment the boats launched all the way to the front lines.

  Not only that, but there had been a few dungeon owners that were tempted by the call of a new place to set down roots. Any who survived would become legends in their own rights, the first scourges of the Southern Continent after CC was taken care of. There weren’t many compared to what other organizations had fielded, but they were strong. Only those of a certain level of power were allowed to come, and all had been heavily vetted to make sure they hadn’t been influenced by the enemy.

  Count Falsavar had thrown his hat in the ring after his latest wildly successful dungeon. The storyline he had been going for was a little cliche, but all of the fretting he had gone through seemed to have been for nothing. He had been a solid acquisition for us.

  Another addition that had caught my eye was Oristrella. I was a little surprised to see that she was willing to leave her home behind, but that feeling hadn’t lasted long. After all, Dragons were fiercely protective and the Dungeon Master, her paramour, had undoubtedly told her all kinds of stories about how CC was after him. It was still up in the air on whether or not he would be making an appearance, however.

  Dalsarel had been able to convince her mother, the Matriarch Akshashka, to come with a small contingent of her soldiers. That had taken a lot of effort on her part, as a treaty needed to be brokered with Athir that they wouldn’t dismantle the Dark Elf Quarry while their leader was missing. It was, honestly, a miracle. She was actually coming to New Frausta to act as our ride.

  With her help, my team and I would be teleported in a day or two in advance. It gave Tabs and I time to spend with our daughters, whom the Matriarch insisted she meet as part of the deal of taking us, as well as prepare for the fights to come. Not being a part of the larger force meant that we needed to be self-sufficient, so we needed to be as strong as possible. At Dalsarel’s urging, it was a small price to pay.

  Which was also one of the reasons I had made the decision to go see the Dungeon Master despite every fiber of my being hating it. I understood that it was necessary, however, due to the magnitude of danger we would be walking into.

  My thoughts returned to the present as I finished my lap around the city walls and started stretching. Normally I would be at the finish line alone, but today was different. Dalsarel had been able to keep up with me just fine. Her long legs and pristine physical condition meant that she was only winded by the time we stopped. Regardless, I raised my hand and offered it to her. She accepted it without hesitation.

  My hand glowed with a golden light that transferred over to her. The Dark Elf straightened as her breathing calmed, her fatigue and soreness melting as I healed them away with divine power. There had been plenty of studies done on the effects of curative magic after exercising, and the results had been fairly interesting.

  Alchemical healing was restorative, returning the body to a previous state and undoing any gains a person may have made. This was terrible news for the merchants that peddled them, but cheap healing was always needed. Divine sources, however, were curative. Abilities like my Lay On Hands fixed people up in their new state, which made it perfect for after an intense workout.

  “Thank you. I think I’ll go for one more lap,” Dalsarel said.

  “We’ll likely head back after this, so we’ll meet you back at the tavern,” I replied.

  With a nod and a quick stretch, Dalsarel resumed her run. She was always willing to go above and beyond, which I appreciated. The Dark Elf especially liked to do it when it meant showing up Ferrisdae, who was still out there somewhere. I appreciated that less, but a rivalry was good for the both of them.

  Tabitha was the next to arrive at the finish line. Red-faced and sweaty, she was still in better form than I expected a tavern owner to be in. The last few months of going out and taking out dungeons had been good for her. She wasn’t in her prime, but I could tell she was going to be an asset to the party.

  “How can you run so far and still be perfectly composed,” she complained, her face planting itself into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, ignoring her sweat, and transferred energy with that same golden glow. My wife immediately relaxed and returned the hug. Her breathing hadn’t stabilized yet, but it would as she cooled down. “Thanks, love.”

  “You’re welcome,” I replied before gently extricating my body from her arms. She stood up straight now that I was no longer supporting her. “You know the drill. Stretch to cool down and hydrate yourself.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Nodding, Tabitha moved towards the wall to wind down from the exercise. The city wasn’t small by anyone’s definition of the word and she had made stellar time. Part of me was dreading what the Dungeon Master might do in order to “help” her, but another part of me was excited to see her return to her prime or even surpass it.

  As I was daydreaming about my wife’s full power, truly something worth spending my attention on, Ferrisdae rounded the corner. Out of all of us, she was by far the least physically capable. The fact that she was still doing her best to keep up was admirable, and her drive was one of her best qualities.

  The Forest Elf came to a stop in front of me and doubled over. She was red-faced and panting heavily. Her eyes roamed our spot, which was off the beaten path though the gate was still in sight, and shook her head. “Dals… already… went…”

  “Hold on,” I told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. A pulse of divine power went through me and into her, and she took a breath. Ferrisdae grimaced when she stood up straight, and I tapped her arm to send another surge of healing her way. “Went a bit harder than usual today.”

  “I gotta catch up with you three. And Cojisto and Moose when they get back,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Dals went ahead? Or is she doing another lap again?”

  “Another lap,” I answered, though I frowned when Moose and Cojisto were mentioned.

  After their run in with Ulrich, they had completely disappeared. The last time I had heard of them contacting Ferrisdae was the night of the attack where he promised to come back eventually. I could have used my connections to see if they were reporting to any particular Adventurer’s Consortium location, but hadn’t. He was a grown man with an animal chaperone; he’d probably be fine.

  “Don’t you start thinking that you can do another lap,” I warned the Forest Elf when a strange gleam entered her eye. She had the audacity to pout at me. I scowled. “We’re done for the day, and you should pack up, too. Do some cool down stretches with Tabitha and get some water.”

  “Fine,” Ferrisdae grumbled, doing as I had instructed.

  She fell in with Tabitha and watched her for a moment before mimicking her. That was a strange thing to see at first, but when I brought it up she admitted that she hadn’t really paid a lot of attention to her family when they exercised. Since the Forest Elf was naturally slim, she thought she could get away with it.

  To be fair, it had worked so far. And it wasn’t like Ferrisdae wasn’t fit, she just wasn’t meeting my criteria specifically.

  “I thought the Department of Dungeons had a minimum physical requirement for all their inspectors,” Tabitha teased, looking innocently at my junior.

  “It does, but Badger here seems to think they’re not good enough for his special little party,” she complained.

  “Please, you breezed through those because the standard isn’t that great and you’re a relatively active young person,” I scoffed, making sure she could see me roll my eyes. “You’re going to be thankful when we’re running through the Southern Continental Dungeon and you’re not winded after ten minutes of sprinting.”

  “I’m not that bad,” she protested. “It’s hard for anyone to run around an entire city, and this one’s huge!”

  “And the continent we’ll be going to is far larger,” I rebuked.

  “We’re not going to be sprinting across the continent, Badger. Not even you can do that,” Ferrisdae said, sticking her tongue out at me.

  “You’re right, but the more work we put in now the less painful it’ll be later. I’m not letting you quit on me, even if you beg me to.”

  “Badger, don’t make Ferry beg,” Tabs said.

  “I’m not going to beg!” she shouted before laughing. “Sheesh. Keep this up, and I’m going to think you care about my wellbeing or something. Oh, but no, that can’t be it because you’re trying to torture me with exercise. Did you know that I joined Cojisto for one morning before quitting because of how hardcore into it he was? One. He’d love this.”

  “Yeah, if he had stuck around, he and Moose might actually be here training with us,” I replied, perhaps with a little more acid in my voice than I intended. Both Tabs and Ferrisdae gave me a strange look, but I just shook my head. “He’d still be doing laps with Dalsarel, I bet.”

  Ferrisdae frowned. “You can’t go saying things like that after telling me I can’t go for another lap, Badger.”

  “Would, did, likely will again,” I said with a shrug. “If you want to go for another lap, go ahead. You’ve cooled down. But, like I said, I won’t be waiting out here. You’ll have to make it all the way back to the Bottom’s Up on your own.”

  The Forest Elf stared at me for a moment before turning to my wife. “I think I’ll turn in early, Tabitha,” she said, her voice chilly. “Thank you for running with me most of the way while those two meatheads forged ahead.”

  “Don’t forget, I’m something of a meathead too,” Tabs replied with a lopsided smile. “But it was good running with you. Head on back.”

  Ferrisdae nodded, gave me a frosty glance, and started heading to the gate.

  I arched an eyebrow and crossed my arms. “What was that all about?”

  “She misses Cojisto,” Tabs answered, moving in to lean against me as we watched Ferrisdae leave. “She thinks you’re teasing her, and not in a fun way. Then you go and say he’d be spending time with Dals running laps. I think you’ve forgotten that, under all those years and all that power, she is still a teenager.”

  “Teenager or not, it’s only been three months. That’s nothing to an Elf,” I said. “He could be gone for a year and it’d be like he was missing for a week to her.

  Tabitha nodded. “Yes, but they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

  I gave her a look. My wife, in all her infinite wisdom, still thought that Ferrisdae was sweet on Cojisto. The first time she had brought it up, back when I had gotten out of my quarantine, I hadn’t believed her. I still didn’t, to be honest, but she was adamant that there was something there.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I sighed, looking up at the walls surrounding the city. “Danella should be arriving tonight, right?”

  My wife gave me a thin smile at the change in topic, but looped her arm in mine and started walking with me towards the gate. “Yes, and Gro should be here around the same time since I told him to be here three days ago.”

  “He always had been a wanderer,” I grumbled. Three days was three days, but we always had to expect him to be late.

  “He has,” Tabitha agreed. “I’m betting that Danella picks him up on the way. I warned her that I called him in, so she’ll be on the lookout for an Orc suffering from wanderlust.”

  “Oh, you’re betting, are you?”

  “I am. Either he comes in with Danella, and I win, or he doesn’t and you do. Same wager as usual?” she asked in return, giving me one of her winning smiles.

  I snorted, but nodded. “It’s a bet. I’m looking forward to it.”