Heath should have unclenched when they reached Solstice and the official entrance to the Hummingbird Cluster, but he hadn’t. Every creak and groan of the ship settling, or thud coming from the engine left him flinching and asking Loon for a status report. The ship indulged his newfound paranoia. His crew did not.

  “You’ve been in space for years!” Emerald exploded. “Stop that!”

  “I know! I was just checking, it seemed louder than usual.” Heath defended his reaction to a normal turnover in the engine as they started to approach the planet.

  “I, for one, am flattered. We have come through a trial and faced our own mortality. For how much of ourselves can be ripped apart and replaced before we are no longer ourselves? The concern is flattering if unnecessary, Heath. I have updated my diagnostic scanning protocols twice at your insistence, and every system is operating in peak condition.”

  He blew out a breath at Loon’s attempt at comfort. With a focus he sent a quarter of his mana into [Ship Maintenance]. Pure mana was an inefficient way to fix a ship. Converting the energy into materials always came at a steep loss, when it was even possible.The only reason he was avoiding a stop for more thorough repair was that the hull hadn’t been breached; the most complex layers were still entirely intact, allowing his basic Skill to handle the rest. Most Captains would have skipped the hassle and the mana exhaustion and paid a Shipwright to handle the fix in an afternoon.

  Those Captains hadn’t just done a long run with no cargo to show for it. Every credit counted, and he still needed to feed and pay the crew. Plus a bonus for the combat in the Trellis. Mana only cost him his time recovering.

  Emerald let out a sigh – not top ten worthy but close – and did the same thing. A far larger boost of mana flooding out of them and into the Loon.

  “Thank you both for the kindness. Hull integrity is at a healthy 98%. I am as a spring lamb, wobbling, but full of vigor nonetheless.”

  Their conversation was derailed when the rest of the Loon’s residents joined him on the bridge for the scheduled meeting. Heath felt his palms start to sweat and ran them over the canvas covering his thighs. Somehow this was new. His crew members had mostly been self-directed over the last months, Captaining had been easy when there were only three other people and they all mostly did their jobs. Plus he knew how to operate a cargo hauler.

  Moving on to being an actual dungeon delving team was not so straightforward. If he messed up here, someone might get hurt. Someone would get hurt, eventually. People died in dungeons all the time.

  “Thanks for coming, everyone.” What an asinine way to start. What else were they going to do? “Let’s talk dungeons.”

  Since he could see she was bursting to begin, he gestured at Jenny Mae.

  “Thanks Captain! I have highlighted four dungeons at an appropriate difficulty for our collective levels. And one of them is right here in the Solstice system, tucked just behind the local moon.”

  “Loon, please pull up the public information packets on the local dungeons.”

  On the view screen, a description popped up.

  The Forest Path - Rank 1 Dungeon

  Recommended levels: 4 entrant teams at level 20-25

  Environment: Temperate Forest

  Challenge: Monsters

  Challenge Subtype: Unintelligent, forest animal variant.

  “That’s it?” he asked after reading it through twice to check if he missed anything.

  “Yeah,” Jenny Mae’s shoulder slumped and Heath felt like an asshole. “Each dungeon has a company set up surrounding them that maintain the infrastructure at the entrance and monitor entry/exit.”

  “And buy out all the drops at a rock-bottom rate,” Copperfield drawled.

  “Right. But they control access to the main guide, and come after anyone who tries to publish anything competing. There was recently a bit of local drama when a mercenary company tried to publish an optimized delving order for the Cluster. Every one of the local guilds signed on in a class action. It was quite fascinating.”

  Seeing she was gearing up for a deep dive on how imperial law interacted with local regulations, Heath gently steered them back to the topic.

  “Sounds like it’s something we could handle. If everyone agrees.” His eyes darted to Ekaterina, who returned the look with a blank face.

  “I have already announced my intention.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Right, anyway —”

  “Do we qualify?” Copperfield asked. Their not-pirate turned towards Emerald. “Or are we way overqualified?”

  They huffed but answered, which Heath hadn’t expected. “I’ve got maybe one big move in me if one of you really gets in trouble. But don’t count on it.”

  Jenny Mae was vibrating with the questions, but for once the greenie refrained from asking and let the moment drop.

  “We’ve got three in the right range, one low, and one that can still shoot a gun. Jenny Mae, can you book us a slot? And see how much the guide is.”

  “Right away Captain.” She proved she meant it when she turned and started furiously tapping at the comm at the navigation station Heath was slowly coming to think of as hers.

  “Anything else we need? Maybe a round in a training room with everyone at once?”

  “Definitely that. We need to work out a good squad formation.” Copperfield said. “Maybe look into armor for the rest of you?” He leaned in as if he was going to poke Heath’s stomach. “Not sure you’ll be walking away after taking a hit from a crazed bear.”

  Heath pursed his lips and did some mental math. “Armor is expensive,” he said, leaving the interpretation open for the rest. “Something to work towards but I’m not sure we can swing it for this run.”

  “Grab a hard vac suit. Not as much as armor. Will still get us out of a scrape.”

  “Good thought, Emerald.” Heath grimaced but acknowledged the idea.He didn’t relish the idea of maneuvering in the bulky suits.

  “Or you could just not get hit. You have [Shield] skill, yes?”

  “Thank you, Miss Althalas. So helpful. But that’s a good reminder. I’m a Captain, obviously. My combat-relevant skills are [Shield] and [Marksmanship].”

  “[Leadership],” Jenny Mae said over her shoulder. “It’s classed as a combat skill in the official Guide to Class Archetypes and Development.”

  “Right, thanks. And [Leadership].”

  He turned and stared at Ekaterina until the woman gave in.

  “Fine. My class is Wizard. I have a focus which increases the strength of my spells. As I am sure they do not teach the foundational classes on the frontier, that means I have access to several types of magic, in which I can learn spells through study. For offense you can expect fire and force spells. I have [Staff Combat] as well, should I run out of mana and need to recover.”

  “That’s so interesting, how does your Class progression work? I’ve read a lot on mage Classes but there are so many variants.” Jenny Mae’s question was roundly ignored.

  “What about out of combat?” Copperfield was still slumped over, but Heath was more and more learning that while it wasn’t an act, the casual layabout persona didn’t negate a competent spacer underneath.

  “Out of combat is not relevant.”

  It was amazing how much of being a Captain was just heading off other arguments. “What about you Copperfield?”

  “You saw,” he waved at the view screen, which the Loon flipped to a recording of their battle. “Have the mech, and its operational Skill, which lets me boost [Sea Battles] and [Lucky Bastard].”

  “That is not a Skill.” Ekaterina looked at Copperfield like he was the stupidest rat she’d ever seen crawl out from behind a dumpster.

  “It is.”

  “No, it most certainly is not.”

  “Does [Sea Battles] only work when you’re on a ship?” Heath tried to bring them back on topic.

  “Not if he is in the presence of or protecting his Captain,” Jenny Mae said. “Delve slot booked. Two days from now, three hours after local midnight.”

  They all turned to stare at Jenny Mae. Copperfield was gaping at the unassuming former rancher.

  “What, how did you…”

  “I told you I read the Guide to Class Archetypes and Development,” she responded. Her eyebrows scrunched together like confused caterpillars.

  Emerald started cackling.

  “Jenny, the Guide is three thousand pages long.” Heath said.

  “Closer to three and a half in the latest edition.”

  Ekaterina sniffed. Heath was beginning to wonder if she needed her own leaderboard to track beside Emerald’s, with the most condescending reactions she came out with. “Only because they keep adding to it. Space Station Mechanic or Cybernetic Technician are not real Classes. But the writers like to cater to the masses who believe any System notification at all is reason enough to lock themselves onto a path, no matter what the downsides to a Class are, or the lack of growth opportunity.”

  If the attitude of the conversation had been cool before, it went absolutely frigid at Ekaterina’s declaration.

  Jenny Mae got there before Heath could say anything to diffuse the additional tension. “If it’s good enough for the System, recognized by the Universe itself, it should be good enough for you.”

  “Don’t worry,” the noble replied. “I’m sure if your family works hard enough, they’ll get a Monster Farmer Class or whatever it is they do before they die.”

  He could see it in the usually pleasant Administrator’s eyes, she was one more comment away from launching herself at Ekaterina, and damn the consequences. Heath was tempted to let it happen.

  “That’s enough,” he said, getting the attention of everyone on board. “Miss Althalas, you’ll find the attitude that traditional Classes are superior is not one we look kindly on, out here on the Rim, and I’ll ask you to keep it to yourself.

  “In fact. Let’s call it there for now. We’ll reach the port landside in around three hours, local time early evening. I’ll book as much as we can reasonably get in a training room for the next day, when we’ve all had time to cool off. Delve the day after that.”

  “Very well.” Ekaterina left the bridge and Heath felt his whole body relax a few notches.

  “I apologize for my display, Captain.”

  Great. Now he was going to have a morose Administrator to deal with as well. “No need for an apology. I think we can all agree Class hierarchies are bullshit. For that matter, nothing wrong with being unClassed either.”

  He could see she was still feeling out of sorts and flailed around for something to add. “Hey can you look at some local contracts for us to pick up?”

  That was the right choice, Jenny Mae perking up at the opportunity to use her skills. “We need something to do between delves anyway, and I’d rather not rely on the drops to cover operating expenses. We took a real hit getting out of Geb Station the way we did.”

  “I’m on it!” She left the bridge as well, already muttering about jump times around the cluster and where the other rank one dungeons were spaced out.

  Then there were three. Emerald had already pulled out a bottle and taken a long sip, and for once Heath was tempted to join in. Delving was dangerous, there was a reason that hadn’t been his plan all along. And he was going in now with the oddest, cobbled-together team he’d ever heard of.

  “Hey,” he said, realizing in all the drama something important had gotten left out. “Is [Lucky Bastard] a real skill?”

  “What?” Copperfield looked up from the game he’d just started on his own station. “Oh yeah. It’s a probability-augment passive. Reserves mana, which is a real bitch, and gives a few nudges when I need it the most. Doesn’t win a fight for you, but it can tip the scales when things get close.”

  “Oh damn, that’s amazing. How’s it level?”

  “Yeah, nonstandard too. I’ve asked around and it doesn’t show up on the Pirate tree for most people. No one’s really sure why. Levels come when I get through close calls.”

  “Huh. Neat.”

  “Right? Would have explained if Miss ‘I'm better than everyone’ over there had given me half a minute.”

  Heath let out his own ranking-worthy sigh. “That’s a mess waiting to happen.”

  “Eh,” Copperfield shrugged. “If she gets the job done on the day, it will work out. Nothing like some good loot to smooth over the rough edges.”