Tyla didn’t gain a level until the fifth floor. That floor was still choked with strangleweed and blisterbloom blossoms, but more monsters were added to the mix. Marluks were one such creature. It was a larger hunched quadruped with thick, chitinous plates covering its body like overlapping armour.

  Tyla took it out with a shot through the creature’s eye. It was an easier shot than it sounded—the eye was large and glowing.

  “Not that it matters, but the eyes are the most valuable part,” Lord Nos said from behind her. “They’re an important alchemical ingredient, apparently.”

  Tyla didn’t respond. Something else was occupying her attention.

  You have reached Level 2.

  Applying Benefits for Level 2

  Toughness + 1

  Dexterity + 1

  Perception + 1

  Willpower + 1

  Charisma + 1

  Please allocate free Ability point

  Tyla selected Perception without hesitation.

  Please select a new Trait. Available Traits: Discern Enchantment, Identify Potion, Commune, Empower Alchemy.

  Tyla winced slightly. She had hoped for a Trait that let her cast higher-level spells, but everyone had agreed that the first Trait of a new class was almost always a perception one. The main exception here was Empower Alchemy, which was a holdover from her Apprentice Class. And Commune, which Tyla was unfamiliar with.

  “I’ve made a level,” she announced. “Has anyone heard of the Commune Trait?”

  Everyone looked to Lord Nos, who shook his head. “Never heard of it,” he said. “I know most of the common wizard ones, but…”

  “If it’s not common, then it’s got to be related to the purpose of Tyla’s Class,” Kelsey mused. “As a Dungeon Witch, it’s got to be dungeon-related.”

  “It lets me… commune with dungeons?” Tyla asked. “Should I take it, then? That is what we’re here for, after all.”

  “That might not be it,” Kelsey cautioned. “It might only work with the dungeon you’ve got strapped to you.”

  “That would be good as well,” Tyla said. “I feel there is… something there but I cannot reach it.”

  “It’s your decision,” Lord Nos reminded her. “I know you revere Kelsey, but her advice can be questionable.”

  “Hey, no questioning my advice!” Kelsey retorted. “You can recognise that it’s good or you can fear where following it may take you, but which it is, is never in question.”

  “Fair point,” Lord Nos said. “Kelsey’s advice is always terrible.”

  Tyla chuckled at the byplay. “I will take Communion,” she said. “And see where it leads me.”

  She selected the Trait. She didn’t feel any different, but Traits did not always make themselves known. She looked at her status page.

  Tyla Greenwalker of the Padascar Tribe, Dungeon Witch (Level 2)

  Overall Level: 14

  Paths: (Broken)/ (Broken)/Apprentice Dungeon Witch/

  Strength: 12

  Toughness: 8

  Agility: 12

  Dex: 19

  Perception: 22

  Will: 16

  Charisma: 11

  Traits

  Persistent Tracking

  Silent Shot

  Danger Sense

  Sense Magic

  Cast Lesser Charm (10)

  Commune

  “Try touching the wall of the dungeon and… opening your mind,” Kelsey said dramatically.

  Tyla went to try it but found herself stymied. The roots and vines covered everything, there was no wall that she could touch.

  “Oops!” Kelsey said when she realised what the problem was. “Time for violence, Anton! Time to realise your old dream of being a woodcutter.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “No need,” Tyla said. “I can fix this with a spell.”

  She laid her hands on the plants and reached for the magic that was hers. Plants weren’t meant to move. Well, some of these could, but not in the way Tyla wanted. Magic could change that. Tyla concentrated on the mana of Control and Plants and let it flow through her. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to move the roots aside. Not far, just a hole big enough to put her arm through.

  A vinelurker jumped out of the hole with a squeal. Tyla jerked backwards, too startled to do anything but dodge. She fell to the vine-covered floor while Zaphar took care of her attacker.

  “Are—are you all right?” he asked, once the vinelurker had been skewered on his daggers. “You need to take more care.”

  “Thank you.” Tyla glared at the hole, but no more monsters came out. The vinelurker had… lurked… underneath the roots. There were spaces there that a monster could crawl through while she was concentrating on her Commune Trait.

  She could fix that, with another spell, though. Tyla focussed on her Plant magic again, twisting the roots around the hole to cut off any access from the wider area.

  Now it was safe to use.

  “I’m going to try it,” she announced. Without waiting for a response, she put her hand on the cavern wall and… opened her mind.

  Or, she tried to. What, exactly, Kelsey had meant by the phrase was not clear to Tyla, but she thought it might mean something like how a hunter stills themselves to better perceive the world around them. Only, instead of senses, she must have meant magic.

  Tyla could sense magic now. She knew the cavern walls were filled with it. Not part of a spell, just raw magic like the magic that flowed through her. Her magic, she could control. This magic wasn’t hers, but she reached out for it anyway, letting her magic touch it. It was right there, she was… she wasn’t there.

  She wasn’t in a root-filled cavern, dripping with moisture. She was in a grey void, limitless in extent, and yet only just large enough to hold three people. There were three people there. Herself, and two others.

  One of them was staring at her. They looked like a human-sized sligg, without the hardened growth that served as armour on the larger ones. Just a slimy-skinned humanoid. They were naked, but Tyla couldn’t tell if they were male or female.

  The other one was flying agitatedly around the first. It was a winged humanoid with blue skin. It was much smaller than the other figure, less than a foot tall. Blue light flickered around its wings as it furiously fluttered them. As Tyla watched, the winged figure flew at her.

  “You’re not supposed to be here!” she… squeaked. It was probably supposed to be a yell. Flying towards Tyla was probably supposed to be a threat, but Tyla was still too startled to move. The little winged creature halted itself a few inches from Tyla’s face and glared at her.

  “Well? What do you have to say for yourself!” she demanded.

  Tyla blinked. “A good day to you,” she said. “I am Tyla Greenwalker of the Padascar Tribe and I am very pleased to meet you.”

  “You think we don’t know that!” the little creature yelled. “We know everything. We know you’re level fourteen, we know you’re a—a Dungeon Witch!”

  The large sligg held up its hand. “I told her,” it announced. “Sorry if I wasn’t meant to.”

  “That is fine,” Tyla said absently. She pointed at the sligg. “You—you’re the dungeon, aren't you?”

  “Don’t answer that!” the little creature shouted.

  “And Kelsey talked about her dungeon fairy, Mel. Is that what you are?” Tyla asked.

  “I’m not Mel!” the tiny humanoid yelled.

  “I meant, are you a dungeon fairy, like Mel is?” Tyla clarified.

  “Oh.” The little person looked a little lost for a second. Then she rallied. “I’m not going to answer that!”

  “You’re right about both things,” the sligg confided. “This is Aelisinne.”

  “Don’t tell her things!” the fairy protested.

  “It’s only fair,” the numina replied evenly. “We know things about her, she should know things about us.”

  “Do you have a name?” Tyla asked the numina.

  “Yes! It is The Hungry Depths.” the sligg said proudly. “Lots of people know this name.”

  “I meant—but I suppose you are the numina, aren’t you? I meant how Kelsey has a different name from what people call her dungeon.”

  “It is Kelsey who is strange, not me. There is something wrong with the way her name is written. Names should not be in quotes.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” Tyla admitted. “Kelsey is a very strange numina.”

  “She is a dungeon, then?” The Hungry Depths frowned. “She is a dead city. Has she come to kill me?”

  “She hasn’t,” Tyla said. “We have only come to talk to you.”

  “As if!” Aelisinne objected. “Humans always come here to kill us.”

  “I’m not a human,” Tyla replied. “Nor is Kelsey.”

  “But the others are! And you—” The fairy’s voice choked off, and she flew behind The Hungry Depths.

  “You carry the corpse,” The Hungry Depths said. “You have killed before.”

  “Not numina!” Tyla protested. “Kelsey killed wizards and gave me their cores. She said that I would make better use of them than they would.”

  The sligg stared at her. “Perhaps I see more clearly now. She uses dead things, that is why she is a city of the dead.”

  “Would you like… do you want me to hand them over to you?” Tyla asked.

  The Hungry Depths cocked its head as it looked at her. “You would do such a thing?” it asked.

  “I was raised to honour the Numina,” Tyla said. “I don’t know… what the respectful thing to do is in this situation. Kelsey said I should take it, and I am of use to her, with my magic. But if you say that I should not, then Kelsey will understand.”

  Tyla had her doubts that Kelsey would understand, or agree. She fully expected the Avatar to get into a huge argument with The Hungry Depths on the matter. But, in the end, she thought that Kelsey would honour Tyla’s wishes.

  The Hungry Depths narrowed its eyes as it looked at her. “Elves,” it said. It looked over its shoulder at Aelisinne. “Sin, you said things about elves?”

  “Elves are all right,” Aelisinne muttered. Tyla had the impression she wasn’t supposed to hear that admission, but there was no distance here. “When they’re not carrying corpses.”

  “All right,” the numina repeated. “High praise, from Sin.”

  It thought some more and then frowned. “Kelsey is right. You should keep it,” it said. “If it stays here it will go back to the wizards.”

  Tyla bowed. Or not. Now that she was trying to do a physical movement she had the distinct impression that she didn’t have a physical body. But the intent of the bow was communicated, so it was all right.

  “Will you speak with Kelsey, Numina?” Tyla asked.

  “Speak? I cannot. And Sin is afraid of her.”

  “I am not!”

  “She doesn’t like dead things,” The Hungry Depths confided. “But we are speaking now, yes? Why does another dungeon seek to talk to me? What interests do we have in common when we cannot move or act outside ourselves?”

  “Kelsey can,” Tyla stated. “She has established communications with the humans that live above her. She is starting to take a role in society.”

  “That’s forbidden!” Aelisinne hissed. She flew up to Tyla, to make her displeasure known. “Dungeons aren’t supposed to do that!”

  “Which part?” The Hungry Depths asked wryly.

  “All of it!” Aelisinne insisted. “This Kelsey has gone rogue and is sure to be punished.”

  The Hungry Depths blinked slowly. “Perhaps she will,” it agreed. “But there is no rule against talking to her, is there?”

  “There should be!”

  “But there is not,” The Hungry Depths concluded. “What, then, does Kelsey want?”

  “She wants to know about the King, Ranon Kalond the Fourth. Or, perhaps he is not a King. His class and his path are the main things she wants to know.”

  The Hungry Depths stared at Tyla, its face unreadable. “Ranon Kalond has not delved in four years, ten months and fifteen days,” it said.

  “That is fine,” Tyla said. “We don’t need the information to be recent.”

  “And what do you offer in return?”

  “Before we start trading, I should ask if you want the corpses of your monsters back. Kelsey took them, but she’s ready to give them back if taking them offends you.”

  The sligg waved its webbed hand. “My garden is green, good for growing things. You have not damaged it enough for it not to grow back.”

  Tyla bowed again. “We are grateful for your gifts. I will have to talk with Kelsey again to find out what she offers, but I’m sure she would offer you mana, monsters or weapons if you desire them. What is it that you want?”

  “If you were really an elf, you would give her what she needs without a bargain!” Aelisinne declared.

  The numina cocked her head at the fairy. “Is this true?” it—she—asked.

  “It is the way of my people to support the numina in any way that we can,” Tyla agreed. “If there is something you need that is within my power to grant, I will give it freely.”

  The Hungry Depths narrowed her eyes again. “You are a wizard, but not a strong one,” she said.

  “I hope to grow stronger.”

  “I see. You are not dead, but she uses you. This is what talking can do.” She glanced at the fuming Aelisinne. “Tell me of Anton Nos. His Class.”

  “Lord Nos? He is a hero…”

  “A Heroic Liberator,” The Hungry Depths corrected. “What does this mean?”

  “It’s… a type of hero? One that specialises in freeing people from slavery?”

  “I see. And he aids The Kelsey?”

  “We’re all working together, yes.”

  “Then tell The Kelsey this. She will have her answer when Anton Nos frees me.”

  wasn't missing due to Kelsey being disciplined, or imprisoned, or anything like that. We just forgot! It happens.