Hans, Devon, and Mazo ventured to the griffon pass for further tests. They already confirmed that Hans could use Petrify from cockatrice chickens, Earth Smash from an earth elemental, and Sleep Spores from an armarillia, but those were only three of several abilities found among the dungeon’s residents.

  Devon absentmindedly kicked a rock across the desert ground. “Where should we start?”

  “I have a few ideas,” Hans replied.

  He thought of a gazer and envisioned beams of light shooting from his eyes. Two bolts of energy soared across the canyon and struck a rock face. Gazer beams weren’t explosive, so the result wasn’t catastrophic, but even from a distance, the smoke of the impact and the trickle of stones cascading to the ground were easily visible.

  “Yeah, that’s a good place to start,” Devon said, laughing.

  “Was that difficult to do?” Mazo asked.

  “Thinking like a Mage, having to manage intention or whatever, is strange,” Hans replied. “But if you figured it out, I’m sure I will.”

  Mazo rolled her eyes.

  Hans smiled. “Guess I should just keep going?”

  When both Devon and Mazo nodded, Hans thought about activating the lamia illusion ability, the one that tricked an enemy into seeing the lamia as their perfect love. For some reason, Hans felt like he needed to close his eyes to do that, which he realized wasn’t the case. Using magic was weird.

  He looked at Devon. The Paladin stared back at him, looking a little bored.

  “It didn’t work?”

  “What didn’t work?” Devon asked.

  “Are there shapeshifters in the dungeon?” Mazo interrupted.

  Hans shook his head. “No, why?”

  “How’d you take my form?”

  “What? I didn’t. I- Oh gods.” Hans envisioned dropping the illusion. “You really saw yourself?”

  “Yes…” Mazo replied.

  “That was the lamia ability to project an illusion of their true love.”

  Devon laughed. “And Mazo saw herself?”

  “Nothing wrong with loving who you are,” Mazo said, failing to restrain her grin.

  “What should I test next?” Hans asked.

  “Do the rest of the lamia arsenal,” Mazo encouraged.

  “What abilities am I forgetting?”

  “A lamia matron has to know something like twenty to thirty spells, if memory serves.”

  “Those aren’t abilities.”

  “...But the monster does them. Stop arguing and just try it.”

  Hans decided to start with Summon Water Elemental. In terms of traditional spellcasting technique, he did not know the first thing about summoning a creature from the elemental plane to fight on his behalf. Literally. He didn’t know a single incantation or gesture for any version of that spell. To satisfy Mazo, he tried doing it with his crude version of intention.

  As if poured from an unseen spigot, a lesser water elemental splashed into existence a few feet in front of Hans.

  Mazo cursed and stomped away.

  The Guild Master looked around. “I really did that?”

  “Looks like it,” Devon said. Mazo was even farther away now and still cursing.

  “Huh,” Hans mused to himself. “I think I can understand how Mages get their egos. Summoning a monster to do my bidding hits a certain kind of satisfaction I’ve never felt before.”

  Hans tested several other lamia spells in quick succession. He threw fireballs, meteors, and red lightning. Like the lamia matron, he could hold the red lightning in a ball, gradually filling it with more and more energy. At first, he grinned like a madman at the power in his hands, but then he felt the mana wobbling, as though he were losing control.

  Hans launched the spell rather than press his luck. It occurred to him that while this quick access to spells was incredible, he had none of the training and experience of a Mage. A normal student gradually worked their way into stronger and stronger spells, giving them a great deal of practice with managing their power.

  Jumping right to using one of a lamia matron’s strongest spells was irresponsible, Hans realized.

  But it was also amazing.

  Mazo returned as Hans experimented with Force Wall and Force Bolt.

  “Going to be okay?” Devon asked the halfling.

  She grumbled. “Yeah. I’m just jealous at how quickly this is going for him.”

  “I wouldn’t call it quick,” Hans said. “I’m over forty and also had to die. Not exactly a shortcut.”

  “You know what I mean,” Mazo replied. “I’m happy for you, though. And I’m happy for me. You’re an even more valuable research subject now.”

  Testing the far-dorocha abilities next, Hans cycled through the most interesting spells he had seen the fae Druid use in the dungeon. He shot roots shaped like spears out of the ground. He summoned a Stone Storm to spray rocks, and he conjured a thick layer of Druid Fog.

  Speaking mostly to himself, Hans said, “I have so much practice ahead of me. We should have brought some fairy acorns to see if I could summon the wooden soldiers too.”

  Mazo stepped forward with a finger up. “That raises a good question, actually. We know you can use Illusion magic like a lamia, but can you use Shapeshift like a far-dorocha?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Try it?”

  Hans hesitated.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know shit about magic, Mazo. Shapeshifting doesn’t seem like a spell an amateur should toy with. Gods, I wouldn’t call myself an amateur. I’m something less than that.”

  “I can just reverse it if you can’t.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Pretty sure.”

  After a moment of thought, Hans decided to go for it. He pictured the dire wolf from his battle with the band of orcs outside of Gomi. His entire body bubbled like the groans of an upset stomach. His vision shifted, and his hearing warped. He saw wavelengths that a human eye couldn’t, and he heard a dizzying array of sounds and tones, including Devon and Mazo’s heartbeats. Overpowering scents of all kinds filled his nose. He could smell the dead griffon across the canyon as well as the perspiration in Devon’s armpits.

  Hans abandoned the spell. When he opened his eyes again, he was on his hands and knees in the dirt.

  “Didn’t work?” Devon asked. “Looks like you started but lost it.”

  “It worked,” Hans replied. “I wasn’t prepared to view the world like a dire wolf, it turns out. That fucked with my head way more than I expected.”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “But you can Shapeshift?” Mazo clarified.

  Hans nodded.

  Mazo whistled. “I agreed with Devon about this being a Diamond boon before, but that observation was bigger than I think any of us realized. If you can use the spells monsters know… Try using one of the gazer spells.”

  “I did the Eye Beams.”

  “No. Try summoning a demon, one of the ones they used.”

  Hans envisioned the large round demon with six orange tentacles, the one the size of an ogre and covered in dozens and dozens of mouths. He willed it to step into the material plane and fight on his behalf.

  A beast reached through a tear in reality and pulled itself through. It stood in front of Hans, awaiting orders.

  “Uhh, dismissed?” Hans attempted.

  The demon poofed into black smoke.

  “These are high-level spells,” Devon said. “How are you able to use them so easily?”

  “Because the dungeon core has the knowledge,” Mazo answered instead of Hans. “His proficiency probably matches that of the monster it’s borrowed from. So, if it’s in the dungeon and it- Oh. Oh fuck.”

  Hans and Devon looked at the halfling confused.

  “Use the Wargod Barrier spell,” Mazo said, flinging a Mana Arrow at Hans immediately after.

  The weak projectile crumpled against a Barrier that encased Hans.

  Devon stepped back. “Holy shit.”

  The Guild Master didn’t move even after he dropped the Barrier. He stood still, eyes wide.

  “I want to try one more thing,” Hans said, “and then we’re taking a break.”

  “Running low on mana?” Mazo asked.

  “How do I tell?”

  “Full body fatigue. Growing headache. Maybe blurred vision and dizziness.”

  Hans gave himself a moment to assess how he felt. “No, I don’t feel those.”

  “As in, not at all?”

  “Right.”

  Mazo rubbed her face. “Your mana pool must be massive.”

  “Wait here, and then we’ll go home,” Hans said. He turned and jogged deeper into the griffon pass before Devon or Mazo could say or ask anything else.

  Following the smell was easy enough after being a dire wolf for all of two seconds. Griffon meat was far less tasty than camahueto meat, so the harvesters didn’t bother to butcher the monster, but they did collect its hide, feathers, and talons. Stripped of its exterior and starting to rot, the corpse of the griffon looked like a mangled clump of meat with legs.

  But the goblin shaman knew necromancy, and Hans suspected that Wargod did as well.

  Hans pictured injecting his spirit into the dead griffon, using that invisible force to command the beast to stand.

  It did.

  When Hans rejoined his friends, neither spoke. They simply stared at the undead walking along beside the Guild Master.

  “I need a favor,” Hans said. “We keep all of this between us, at least for the time being.”

  Devon and Mazo nodded their agreement.

  This is the path. This is how we keep Gomi safe.

  Quest Complete: Plan for a possible encounter with Wargod.

  The smith, his son Harry, and his apprentice Eduardo worked outside of a new shop in Leebel’s Rest. When Hans arrived, he sheepishly got the smith’s attention.

  “I hope you don’t mind me stopping by,” Hans said, approaching carefully. “I wanted to apologize to Harriet, if she was okay seeing me. If you’re okay with me seeing her.”

  “You’ve been all torn up over what happened, haven’t you?” the smith asked.

  Hans nodded.

  “I went looking for you to tell you it was alright.”

  “I took some time away to collect myself,” Hans replied. “I needed to make sure I wasn’t dangerous.”

  "Harriet's doing fine. She was fine not long after, from what I understand. Becoming a statue scared her pretty good, but it came and went quickly. She’s going to be okay. I assure you that.”

  A sigh of relief escaped Hans’ lips.

  “Mr. Hans?” a small, feminine voice asked. Harriet stood in the doorway to the shop.

  “Hey, Harriet,” Hans said. “I wanted to say I’m sorry and give you these.” The Guild Master held out a box of chocolate chip cookies from Charlie’s bakery and a bouquet of wild flowers he picked from the fairgrounds.

  The young girl bounded forward and hugged Hans. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”

  “Really? Just like that?”

  “Mr. Devon told me it was an accident and that you felt really bad about it. But I’m fine now. You don’t need to worry.”

  “...You’re not afraid of me?”

  Harriet looked up at Hans and blinked several times. “No?”

  Hans hugged her back. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you.”

  “Want a cookie?” Harriet asked, holding the box open. Hans laughed and accepted. They were still warm.

  “Feeling better about it?” Olza asked. She sat on a stool in her lab preparing ingredients for the next day’s work. Jerry floated around the room, helping with the process by fetching various tools and materials as Olza needed them.

  “I think so. I’m sorry to put you through even more.”

  “Stop it.”

  “What?”

  “All of this is a blessing,” she said. “Do not feel bad about coming back to me. I don’t care that it’s complicated.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Olza glared.

  “Okay. You’re sure. Got it.”

  Jerry the imp offered Hans a fresh cup of tea.

  “Thank you, Jerry.”

  “What’s next, in your mind?” Olza asked.

  “We’ve got the Games coming up, and then winter will be here again before we know it. I’d like to revamp some of the upper-level classes before then, which means-”

  “Hans. No. What’s next for you?”

  “Right,” Hans replied. “Mazo wants to try burning out my mana pool. She says it's important to know where those limits are so you don’t pass out in the middle of a fight. After that? I have a lot to practice.”

  “As in, you’ve failed on some of the spell attempts?”

  Hans shook his head. “Not even once, but that’s different from using them effectively in a battle. It feels like learning to use a sword over again.”

  “Sounds frustrating.”

  “Not at all. I’m ecstatic. I have so much to play with. I mean, the Wargod at the Standing Stones is too much for Mazo to solo, and it looks like I have all of his spells. They’re just there. Centuries of his practice are mine now. And that’s one monster in the dungeon.”

  “Did you test every monster in the dungeon?”

  “Sort of.”

  Olza cocked her head.

  “There’s a few things I’m afraid to test and a few other things I tested in private. Devon and Mazo haven’t seen them.”

  “Is hiding it from them intentional?”

  “Yes, but I haven’t decided if I should stick to that or not. Everyone at this level–saying that still feels weirder than hells–has contingency plans for if they have to face off with another Diamond or Platinum.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s not as nefarious as it sounds,” Hans assured her. “Adventurers are always thinking about how they’d win hypothetical encounters. And if you have someone like Devon in the world, it’s hard not to imagine him switching sides, you know?”

  “Or growing dungeon clones.”

  “Right.”

  Olza crossed her arms and leaned back slightly. “Are you going to tell me, or is it a secret from me too?”

  Hans laughed. “No, not a secret from you.”

  Thinking about the carapace of a shadow scorpion, Hans imagined himself disappearing from view.

  Olza’s eyes bulged. She stood to walk around Hans. “If you weren’t right in the middle of everything, I wouldn’t notice you, at least not at first.”

  The Guild Master wasn’t perfectly invisible, as that was a feat even shadow scorpions couldn’t achieve, but he wasn’t much more than a blur either. With a little bit more dim light and a backdrop with the more chaotic coloring of a natural environment, Hans would be able to hide just as well as the scorpions could.

  He dropped the ability.

  “Trying mimicry scares me, but this is the one that freaks me out the most,” Hans said.

  Kneeling, Hans extended his left pinky finger and pressed it into the floorboards of Olza’s lab. His finger slowly sank into the wood, but he withdrew it before the entire finger had been submerged.

  “Cave crawler?” Olza asked with a gasp.

  Hans nodded. “I’m fine losing a pinky again, but I’m terrified of my concentration wobbling while I’m inside of a rock. Turning off the cave crawler ability in that scenario sounds like instant death to me.”

  “Yeah, that is scary.”

  “So I’m not sure how far I’ll push my luck there, but I have to admit it's tempting. The tactical advantages of that… It’s nuts. All of it together is crazy.”

  Open Quests (Ordered from Old to New):

  Monitor for independently grown sections of dungeon.

  Complete the next volume (Bronze to Silver) for “The Next Generation: A Teaching Methodology for Training Adventurers.”

  Continue the momentum of establishing a Hoseki-grade library in Gomi.

  Learn to help your advanced students as much as you help beginners.

  Relocate the titan bones to the dungeon entrance.

  Master your Diamond boon.