I kept at my flight training, and I’ve got to say, progress came pretty fast. I pyed it smart this time by wearing a motorcycle helmet and an orthopedieck brace for prote. The first day was rough—I was still crashing into things, ending up bruised all over and needing some serious healing. But by the sed day, I cracked the code. The trick was being super precise about my destination. Instead of aiming directly for the mountain, I had to aim to get near or over it. Same with getting home—if I aimed for the house, the magic would try to nd me inside, obstacles and all. Aiming just he house made everything easier.

  I expihe process to Rue, and he picked it up right away—didn’t even need a helmet. On the first day, we pyed cat the air, but midway through the game, he nded.

  “What happened, buddy? Why did you nd?”

  “Rue not have enough mana.”

  That was the first time it even crossed my mind to check if my flying was ing mana. Naturally, I facepalmed. By this point, I was sure I had a perma palm print on my face. I flew around with my profile open and checked my mana. It didn’t go down in single units. Every minute or so, my mana would drop by ten units and then regee. The mana regeion in Lumis was just remarkable.

  “We o widen your els,” I told Rue.

  “Yes!”

  “Let me know if your els start to hurt, okay?”

  He nodded, and I cast Absorb Mana on him. After about two minutes, he cried out, “hurt, hurt, hurt.” So, I stopped the spell right away.

  I checked his els with my mana sense, and they looked fine—no tears or damage.

  “Ready for another round?” I asked.

  “Rue hurt. Hurt no fun.” His mental voice sounded unhappy and accusatory.

  “Sorry, buddy. I know it doesn’t feel the best. But it pays off in the end. When your els are wider, your mana regeion will be better.”

  “John do se, Rue do els.”

  I just stared at him. Did my dog just zing me?

  The day, we headed to the ge again, but Rue decided not to join us this time. He was too busy zooming through the air from one end of the valley to the other, chasing kites the wind was blowing. Before we left, he spit out another chewed-up kite in front of me, licked my hand, and said, “Have fun.”

  Whe to the ge, Mahya asked, “Think you go down with the two of us together?”

  “We won’t know if we don’t try,” I replied.

  They hugged my shoulders, and I hugged their waists and rose into the air. I kept an eye on my profile and saw my mana ption jump to fifty units every minute. But with my mana level and the regeion in Lumis, it wasn’t a problem. The three of us desded to the bottom of the ge and tinued. We had to jog for three hours before we entered the first monsters.

  When we were ready to call it a day, an idea popped into my head. Instead of heading back to the end of the ge and rising from there, I suggested, “Want to see if I fly us up from here and back to the valley?” I raised an eyebrow, already feeling the excitement build.

  Al gave me a thoughtful look, his tone cautious. “Do you have the physical and mana capacity to ha?”

  “Like I said, we won’t know if we don’t try,” I replied with a shrug, trying to keep it light.

  “If it doesn’t succeed, there’s a ce we may fall,” he tered, tapping his fingers on his leg as if weighing the risks.

  “We already know I hahe ast,” I said, waving a hand dismissively. “I’ll fly low the rest of the way, so even if I ’t tihe fall will only be a meter or two.” I gave him a reassuring grin, hoping to ease his .

  They both thought for a moment and then nodded.

  It turns out I’m a det substitute for a hot-air balloon. I had no trouble flying us out of the ge and back to the valley. I did feel the extra weight, my arms got tired, and my mana dropped to just over 8,000. Other than that, it was no big deal.

  Mahya was thrilled because we wouldn’t o walk and climb from the valley daily.

  Since we had a few dry days, we made the most of them and pushed through the ge. It looked like we were already at the midpoint along the ge, or at least near it. We stopped harvesting materials from the ge to feed the house. The house wasn’t slowing down, and the monsters weren’t a problem, but we figured we had gathered enough. Curious, I took out the core and measured it with a ruler. It turned out to have a diameter of 36 timeters. It looked a bit bigger to me, but I wasn’t sure. I should’ve measured it when I first got it.

  Live and learn, right?

  In the m, we were all set to head to the ge to tinue, but Rue stuck his the door, turned around, auro his beanbag. I looked outside and saw a thin yer of snow on the ground. It didn’t look like it would st long, and it was barely more than a dusting, but it was snow.

  “What’s the problem now?” I asked him. “You’ve got booties on your paws.”

  “Rue not like snow. Rue stay home today,” he answered, stig his nose up in the air.

  We ughed and headed out.

  After two more days in the ge, we finally found the dungeon. As always, it looked like the bck portal of doom. It was already afternoon, so Mahya said, “It’s too te today. Let’s take a day to rest and run it in two days.”

  Al and I agreed, auro the valley.

  Two days ter, we returo the dungeon. There was snow on the ground again, thicker than st time, but Rue joined us. I guessed he wanted levels more thaed the snow.

  The dungeon was a maddening maze of stounnels, twisting and turning with no rhyme or reason. Every path felt like it was desigo mess with us, winding randomly as if someone had thrown together the yout on a bad day. The walls were rough and sticky, coated in a slick damphat g to everything, making it feel like the stoself was sweating. Glinting streaks and patches of some metallic substance caught the light from ht balls, their shimmer standing out against the dark and light gray of the surrounding stone, like veins running through a giant’s skin.

  The air was thick, almost choking, heavy with humidity that weighed down every breath. A nasty, musty smell filled the space, ging to us just as much as the dampness did. Some ses of the dungeon seemed like they were trying to fold ba themselves, as if we were caught in a loop, with tunnels doubling back to create a sense of endless fusion. The ceiling wasn’t aer, either. Sometimes it was so low that we had to duck or even crouch just to keep moving, and then, in other ses, it shot up so high it disappeared into shadows, leaving me feeling like we were crawling through the belly of some massive beast.

  The stifling atmosphere, the twisting paths, the stant ge i—it all worked together to make sure that if you didn’t lose your sense of dire, you’d at least lose your patience.

  Aside from the stifling atmosphere, the first floor was easy. It was crawling with manta rays, which we’d already gotteo from our time in the ge. They seemed to enjoy hanging around in clusters at random interses, just h there and waiting for challengers. But the thing about manta rays? They’ve got a serious weakness fhtning. So, every time we ran into a group, I’d zap them with a quick burst, and that was that—problem solved.

  The fluardian was just a bigger version of the same manta rays, about three times the size, but just as easy to deal with. One good jolt of lightning, and it was lights out for the big guy. Nothing too exg, but I did mao harvest over fifty tiny crystals from the smaller ones and a det medium-sized one from the big manta. Not a bad haul, even if the fights were underwhelming.

  Now we had a problem. After getting rid of all the manta rays, we did another fusing round of the floor and found nothing to harvest. The tunnels were empty. After walking around for an hour, looking for something iing, I facepalmed again and activated my Luck. The thial lines on the walls magically drew my gaze. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I tried something else. I activated Appraisal.

  High-Grade Silver Ore Value: 3 gold per pinon (837 grams)

  Yes, please, and thank you!

  We were rich—stinking rich, if I was being ho. But for some reason, no matter how much we already had, the sight of expensive loot still made my heart sing. There’s just something about stumbling across a good haul, eve doesn’t involve using a loot spell, that makes it feel like hitting the jackpot all ain.

  Hmm, maybe I am a true adventurer. In all the stories, the adventurers go crazy over loot.

  Once again, my mining tools and skill proved to be very useful. I gave myself a mental pat on the bad started mining. With the number of tunnels, it took us five days to finish the floor.

  My house, as always, was terrific. Of course, I didn’t leave it unattended in the valley. The only time I left the house when we went to the ge was when Rue didn’t join us. When I pced the core and instructed it to open the house, a door appeared iunnel’s wall. Once we went inside, everything looked exactly as it always did. This made the mining work much easier and more pleasant, allowing us to take our time. If ushed ourselves, we could have finished in three days, but there was no reason to rush.

  After we stripped the first floor bare, including feeding the house all the stohat fell off the walls while mining, we proceeded to the sed floor. It wasn’t much more iing. The only monsters on the sed floor were the bugs with the scythe legs, and we had a tried-and-true method to deal with them: hold their limbs with telekinesis and take their heads off. and simple.

  The sed floor took loo clear si was bigger, and the bugs needed more effort than just electrog them from afar. The final guardian was the bear-goril-armadillo thingy, which was actually smaller than the sed o in the ge. By then, we’d run into seven of them and had developed a solid method to deal with them. Al and I kept it busy and focused on us while Mahya cast invisibility, jumped behind it, and decapitated it. and simple. With all the training we did in the ge, this dungeon run turned out to be b.

  It took us seven days to strip the floor—we didn’t rush it. O was pletely bare, we moved to the third floor, which was much smaller. It only had twelve tunnels with those acid-spitting ivorous pnts—Exude Mana + Lightning = bye-bye pnt.

  “It’s a mature dungeon, but not pletely established yet,” Mahya said, looking around.

  “Do we take the core?” Al asked, gng between us.

  “I’m not sure. What do you think?” Mahya asked us both.

  “I thought if we find a wild duhat doesn’t belong to anyone, we always take the core,” I said.

  “We’ll take it eventually. But since we’re staying in the area for the wihe question is whether we should take it now or run it a few more times before taking it,” she expined.

  “We should utilize this duo the fullest extent,” Al nodded.

  “I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “It’s beey b so far. Do we he silver for something specific? you use it for your projects?” I asked Mahya.

  “No. Silver is disruptive. I ’t use it fitech or with my wood creations. But because it’s disruptive, it’s used in many amulets, shields, and other protective measures. We might iure if one of us develops an i in the field,” she replied.

  Al and I g each other. “I vote we run it a few more times,” he said.

  “I think so, too,” Mahya agreed.

  “Okay. I’m not against it. It’s just b,” I said, sighing.

  They both ughed.

  “What?” I asked, feeling defensive.

  “Initially, you didn’t want to fight, and Lis had to vince you to train. Now, when there’s a b fight, you pin. How the mighty has fallen,” Mahya teased, smirking.

  I stuck my to at her, making a face.

  She and Al ughed even harder.

  The final guardian was the weirdest monster I’ve entered so far. Its body, covered in bony ptes, was almost square. It had short legs and a very long head, like an aer’s, with three rhino horns in a row. Despite its short legs, it could move fast, and its preferred method of fighting was to crush us between its body and the wall or impale us with its horns.

  Unfortunately for the monster, we weren’t the right team for it. Mahya could jump twenty meters, Al could already jump three meters, and Rue and I could hover. The cube with the hor crashing its head into the wall at full speed, aook advantage of this to attack it from the sides and back while it shook its head to clear it.

  After five minutes, we defeated the monster without a single scratch. We touched the dungeon core individually to get our rewards, which weren’t bad.

  I got:

  Silver-Tipped Staff

  This sturdy oak staff features a silver tip that enhahe wizard’s ability to el raw, unrefined mana. The silver disrupts any opposing magic it tacts, making defensive and offensive spells more potent. It’s especially useful for dispelling magical barriers and hexes.

  Rue got:

  Silver Colr for Familiars

  This colr, crafted for familiars, is made of durable leather with silver studs. The silver disrupts any hostile magic aimed at the familiar, prote in dangerous enviros. It also enhahe familiar’s natural resistao magical influences, keeping them focused and alert during missions.

  Mahya got:

  Silver-Edged Sword

  This sword features a finely sharpened silver edge, making it incredibly effective against magical creatures. The silver bde easily cut through magical barriers and wards, and the sword’s weight and bance are perfect for powerful, precise strikes.

  Al got:

  Silver-Pted Gaus

  These gaus, which have a yer of pure silver coating, offer excellent prote against magical and physical attacks. Silver’s disruptive properties make them ideal for breaking through ented defehey also provide an enhanced grip, ensuring the swordsman maintains trol during intetles.

  Now, I wholeheartedly agreed with them. With such rewards and us staying put for the winter, we definitely had to run this dungeon a few more times. I just hoped it regeed fast.

  After identifying all the items, paring them, aied about them, we headed to the exit, chattihusiastically. Waiting for us outside was a group of three men who looked like they’d stepped out of a story about barbarians—long hair, long beards, tattoos, sleeveless leather vests despite the snow, and facial expressions of a crocodile with a toothache. A lot of toothaches.

  The guy at the front spoke first, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I told you our little thieves are still inside.”

  Maya’s voice echoed in my mind, “Al, grab John.” She ed her arms around my neck, and Al hugged me from the other side. I hugged their waists, pulling us into a tight circle.

  The same guy sneered, “Oh, how toug. They embrace before death.”

  The three of us turned invisible, and I shot into the air. The men below started shouting and cursing. Two of them pulled out crossbows, firing wildly at where we had been, while the third drew an enormous sword and swung it with such force that his body spun around. H teers above them, we watched the chaotic dispy.

  “Stupid bad people,” Rue ented.

  We all agreed with him. I rose higher, and we observed them for aen minutes as they searched and cursed. Eventually, we flew back to the valley.

  When we nded, I turo Mahya and Al. “Do you think we should ge location?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Mahya replied, shaking her head. “To reach us, they must go the entire length of the ge from the outside, and the terrain is difficult. ces are they don’t even know about this valley.”

  “Those are gold badges. Perhaps they won’t find the terrain as challenging as you anticipate,” Al pointed out, crossing his arms.

  “How e I didn’t feel their power level?” I asked.

  “Travelers always sehe power level of other Travelers, but not of Norms,” Mahya expined.

  “Norms?” I echoed, puzzled.

  “That’s how Travelers refer to non-Travelers,” she crified with a small smile.

  “I’ve never heard that term before,” I admitted.

  “That’s what my parents called them,” she said softly.

  “So, we’re staying put?” I asked, seeking firmation.

  “Yes,” Mahya affirmed. “Even if they turn up in the valley, we hahem without a problem. And I don’t think they will. The ce is too small.”

  I looked at Al to see if he agreed with her. He looked hesitant for a moment, but sighed and nodded.

  I opehe house, whipped up dinner, and we quickly returo our festive mood. We stayed in the valley for three days without returning to the ge. Now and then, some snow fell, but it still didn’t stick to the ground aed quickly.

  After three days, I turo the team and said, “I’m going to che oldens.” With a nod from the others, I cast Invisibility and flew to the ge. Since visibility from the outside into the ge was ent, I had to fly inside.

  When I reached the location of the dungeon, they were still there. They looked ridiculous—still wearing their leather vests to show off their tattoos, but now with bs over their shoulders, teeth chattering, and skin turning bluish from the cold. I shrugged and flew back, thinking that if they wao freeze their asses off in the ge, good luck to them.

  When I got home, I went straight to the kit to prepare lunch. We had a lovely valley, a fortable house, delicious food, and a ke getting a thin yer of ice. Al was already pnning future hockey games, and his excitement was iious as he discussed the possibilities.