《Diary of a Traveling Mimic》


 Beginnings 1

    It would be lying to call the room a typical dungeon room. Sure the walls were that strange grey stone brick that didn''t make any sense; and there was a massive treasure chest that no sane person would ever make to one side. But instead of guttering torches sending dark shadows everywhere, magical lights softly filled the room with a mix of light and dark. The floor was neatly swept, the debris moved to the sides, and the bookshelves were well dusted. In fact one of the shelves was even filled with books!


    Which is why the two adventurers that walked into the room really should have realized it was a trap.


    The duo was a warrior healer pair, and obviously very new. The warrior was a human man in generic ''newbie'' armor. The stuff that the guild deliberately discounted so that people wouldn''t go into dungeons in their work clothes. At least he had been bright enough to get a good sword and shield, as well as backup weapons.


    Meanwhile the healer was likely a half elf. Elves were consistently lean, so only a woman with human blood could get anything like a chubby figure. She had a spare knife along with her staff, and she''d cut her robes to make it easy to run. A good move.


    Still this was obviously their first dungeon delve, since they headed straight for the chest. No one with any experience would even bother with a treasure chest without a trained lockpicker.


    The woman threw out a quick spell, then stood by while the man pulled out a cheap pair of lockpicks. "There''s no magic, but are you sure that''s a good idea? What if there are non magic traps?"


    "I''ve got good gloves, and you can cure any low level poison gas. We should be fine." The man turned to the lock and began to prod at it in a display that was certain to frustrate anyone who knew anything about locks. After all this chest wasn''t trapped, but the ''lock'' was just a hole without any real tumblers.


    As the man continued his futile task the woman looked around cautiously. It was again a smart move, but just not enough. Because while she was checking the doorway leading further into the dungeon, the trap sprung.


    The bottom two rows of books shifted as one to a rough grey skin, then poured out, rapidly taking the appearance of a box with a halfling woman''s torso poking out the top. In a single fluid motion the grinning mimic unleashed its crimson missile right at the man''s head. "Gotcha!"


    The woman yelped and interposed her staff, while the man quickly rose. To his credit he managed to both draw his blade and hit the projectile. But that didn''t matter. His fate was sealed.


    After all, cutting a pouch filled with tomato juice just increased the splash radius.


    "Ack!"


    The man staggered back, stumbling as he tripped on the chest. His companion managed to keep him from taking a spill, but it was still hilarious. The mimic girl laughed at their utter surprise. Finally she gathered herself and gave a quick clap. "Reflexes aren''t bad, but next time use your shield! 63 points."


    "You''re too nice, Shiina." A halfling woman stepped out of the shadows. It was clear the mimic was trying to emulate her body, but still had a ways to go to get everything right. "I''d say they deserve a 52."


    "Eh. It''s a pass either way, Mali." Shiina waved to the two confused adventurers. "Come on now. You do remember there was a test to progress to the second level right?"


    The warrior looked confused. "I thought that would be a battle test."


    Mali folded her arms. "We already know your combat powers when we scanned you. Both of you are level 13. But 80% of new adventurer deaths come from ambushes and traps. The monsters won''t fight fair. If you want stand up fights go become a gladiator or something."


    "What were we supposed to do here?" the healer asked. "Mimics, um, Shiina is a master at hiding. And she''s level 16! Her skills have to be better than ours."


    "The books are the clue." Mali pointed. "There haven''t been books on any of the shelves before here, right?"


    "Ah." The two looked properly chagrined.


    Shiina smirked. "You should have probably also noticed that the chest doesn''t open. The lock''s a fake too."


    "Damn." The warrior looked embarrassed as he wiped off the tomato juice.


    "Still I didn''t completely surprise you. And you were keeping an eye out. You should probably get more members though. You people can only look in one direction."


    "People don''t want to pair up with new adventurers until they''ve gotten through this dungeon," the healer said with a sigh.


    Mali groaned. "Oh is that nonsense starting up again? Like the other kids around here have any reason to act so smug. All the dungeons here are training grounds." She shrugged. "Well this dungeon should be fine for you two. Let''s see, Samuel and Deliliah." The halfling pulled out a paper and scribbled down the name. "You''ll complete the course when you bring the tokens from the boss room back to the guild house. Take care and retreat if you need to. The second level isn''t swept constantly so we can''t guarantee what you''ll face down there."


    "Thank you ma''am!" The duo bowed and headed out the door, further into the dungeon. Shiina smiled as she heard them discussing how to avoid further traps as they left.


    "Well, that''s another job done!" The mimic held out a hand. "What''s the reward this time?"


    Mali''s stern gaze faded. "I brought lunch for both of us today! Meat and fruit pies from the bakery, and a pear cider. Got them fresh before I wandered in." She pulled a blanket out of a pouch and started setting up a picnic site.


    "Sweet!" Shiina pulled herself out of her hiding place and joined the halfling. "Those are the best. I wish I could get deliveries in here. Maybe you could send some of the newbies in here with food?"


    "They''d probably eat it before they got to you," Mali replied with a grin. "Especially these. Anyway I''m hungry. Let''s get started."


    Mali finished portioning out the food and started nibbling on her meat pie while Shiina picked up her own. "Ooh!" The mimic''s eyes widened unnaturally. "Is that cinnamon?!"


    "Yep!" the halfling replied, politely ignoring the drool that hit the cloth and started to sizzle. "One of the traveling merchants had a jar. Though still I don''t know how you can stand tasting everything you touch."


    "I don''t understand how you can stand seeing with two eyes all the time," Shiina retorted before taking a bite. The mimic made a quick approximation of chewing before swallowing the chunk. "If I do that ''binocular vision'' thing too long it gives me a headache."


    "Guess we all have our own problems." The halfling shrugged. "So why''d you yell out before tossing the balloon at them? You''d have probably pegged him right in the head if you''d kept quiet."


    Shiina blinked. "But then I''d only get to surprise them once. With this they get all shocked and panicky and then bam~! And then they stand around being surprised that they weren''t in any real danger. If I just hit them with the juice it''d be ''what''s happening, oh it''s a prank.''"


    "Mimics." The halfling shook her head. "Well you''re still helping me out a bunch so it''s fine. It''s way better to have someone I know won''t kill the new kids instead of having to scout the monsters that form every time we test."


    "It''s more fun for me too," Shiina said, taking another large bite. "I can''t imagine people tasting better than this. And I don''t wanna get killed."


    The two chatted a bit more about the food''s quality as they polished off the meal. Finally as they were drinking the last of the cider, Shiina asked, "Hey, how do dungeons become ''tame'' like this one?"


    The halfling woman looked surprised. "Why do you ask?"


    "Well, I guess, I kinda wanted to know how I became me." The mimic girl looked her friend in the eye. "You probably wouldn''t have chatted with a mimic in a dangerous dungeon. Much less spent all the time to teach me how to read and stuff."


    "Hm, I might have spoken to you if I was in a low level dungeon. After all, I''m level 21, and you were what, 11 when we met?" Mali shook her head. "But after that... well it''s hard to say. I''ve never met a mimic who was as cute as you before, after all."


    Shiina snickered. "Narcissist."


    The halfling grinned, then rummaged around in her bag for a thick tome. "Well I suppose you do deserve to know more about dungeons. I''ll leave you a book so you can study the details later, but I can cover the simple stuff.


    "First what you already know," Mali held up a finger and Shiina nodded to show she was paying attention. "Dungeons are formed in areas where the boundary between our world and alternate dimensions has been damaged. The mixing of otherworld energies and our world''s mana creates the dungeon and causes monsters and treasures to form. The type of damage determines the dungeon type. This one''s from a wizard who wanted a secret lab for his experiments which is why it''s nicer than most."


    "And why the monsters are so varied," Shiina said.


    Mali nodded. "Yep! Anyway when the dungeon master is killed the wound between realities scabs over, but it''s still a weak boundary. Which means the dungeon still exists, and monsters and treasures will still form. But they''ll be weaker than before. And the dungeon won''t spread."


    "Huh. But why do people leave the dungeons open then? Seems like you''d spend a lot of time working to keep the area safe." Shiina leaned on her chest rim, her arms sinking into the frame.


    "The treasures," Mali said. "Dungeons are the only place in the world where you can get materials like mithril, nightcrystal, and ironwood. And then there''s all the stuff that''s a huge pain to find in bulk, like gold and gems." The halfling motioned to the west. "This dungeon is only good for training kids, but the Blue Spike caves gives the village enough steel from all the swords that form inside that there''s two trading companies that export metal to Highspire."This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Shiina hummed considering what she learned. "And what keeps someone from breaking open the scab and making the dungeon ''wild'' again."


    "Short term? Nothing," the halfling''s smile turned vicious. "But anyone who does that gets the Arbiters after them. And that''s a death sentence."


    "Ooooh? The Arbiters? Who are they?" Shiina


    "No one knows," Mali put on her scary story voice. "They say that anyone could be an arbiter. Adventurers hidden all over the world, working for a secret cabal of wizards who keep dungeons in check. Anyone who violates their rules ends up dead."


    The mimic''s form rippled in a shiver. "So cool!"


    "Well, I''m sure most of them are just paper pusher types," the halfling said with a laugh. "Still though, people take that stuff seriously."


    There was a chime, and Mali groaned. "Ugh, speaking of paperwork, I gotta get back to mine."


    "Good luck!" Shiina shimmied up and gave her friend a big hug, which the halfling returned. "And thanks for the book!"


    "Just the book?" Mali asked as she packed up. "What about the food?"


    The mimic waggled a finger. "That was payment for services rendered!"


    "I knew giving you a book on trade was a mistake." With a wave the halfling headed out.


    Shiina stretched her body about double its normal length, then shifted back into her cubbyhole, book in tow.


    The next hour was stillness, interrupted only by the occasional page flip. For a mimic sitting and waiting for days wasn''t uncommon, so boredom wasn''t a concern. Shiina had spent weeks just lurking in this room before, and eating the occasional rat.


    This time however her wait was interrupted by stumbling footsteps from deeper in the dungeon. She pulled the book inside her and filled the rest of the shelves with a fake book imitation.


    It was the half elf healer that staggered into the room. "Help!" The woman managed to call out before crashing to the ground. Two arrows were lodged into her back. She tried to push herself up, but she only managed to get to her knees.


    Seeing someone in danger overrode Shiina''s innate instinct to hide. She pulled herself out of her resting place and tumbled over next to the woman. "Whoa, what happened down there?!"


    The half elf tried to speak, but all she managed was a choking gasp. The mad dash must have exhausted her. Shiina figured the arrows probably weren''t helping and moved to check on them. The two were small sharp heads, designed to pierce armor. That meant no barbs, so the mimic pulled them out.


    Immediately she wondered if she''d messed up because more blood started exiting. "Uh, sorry." She placed her hands over the wounds and let her adhesive slime leak out. That should probably help right?


    Sure enough in a bit the woman managed to catch her breath. She pulled out a cheap potion from her belt and drank it, before looking at Shiina. "There''s an army of skeletons down there!"


    "What?" Shiina blinked. There shouldn''t be any undead in this dungeon. She''d only seen a zombie once, when someone brought one in as a meat shield.


    The rapid clatter of bones on stone caused her to look up. Well apparently there were skeletons now. The half elf, Delilah she finally remembered, turned pale. Apparently she wasn''t up for running yet.


    Fortunately while Shiina wasn''t exactly fast, she was quick witted. She wrapped Delilah up with one arm, and flung her other arm towards the top of one of the broken pillars. With a jump and a pull she launched them both up next to the ceiling.


    And then in a second she shifted around the woman, creating a facade that perfectly matched the pillar below. To any observer it looked like it was a single piece.


    Moments later ten skeletons clattered into the room. Eight kept charging on, while two lingered, their skulls peering about. Shiina had no idea if they actually saw out of their eye sockets, but if so she''d chosen wisely moving up. While the undead found her cubbyhole and several other hiding spots, none of them spared a glance at the ceiling.


    Delilah shifted uncomfortably, so Shiina very carefully opened up a ''crack'' in the ''pillar.'' Now the woman could see what was going on. It''d probably also help her breathe. That was important for humanoids.


    Almost instantly they both regretted it. The freshly reanimated corpse of Samuel staggered in, followed by a human in black robes with a skeleton honor guard. The pale man''s shaved head had tattoos on it that Shiina didn''t recognize. Delilah gave a soft whimper at seeing her partner''s body, but fortunately no one else heard the tiny sound.


    Shiina focused on the fresh zombie. It looked like he''d fought a number of skeletons, but from the number of wounds he''d been overwhelmed. Something not surprising for a level 13 warrior. The skeletons were armed and in some cases armored, the runes that had animated them covering most of their skulls and a good chunk of their femurs. They had to be at least level 9. Even a battle mage would have been overwhelmed.


    That meant there were no clues as to how powerful the necromancer was though. Delilah might be able to use Scan magic, but Shiina couldn''t whisper while she was pretending to be a pillar. So all she could do was watch and wait.


    Fortunately the man was a monologuer. "Where did that little bitch go? The blood trail stops here, but I doubt the mimic ate her." He turned to the zombie. "Well? Start searching! If you kill her I might let your soul rest when your flesh finishes rotting."


    Shiina seethed as the zombie began tearing the room apart, throwing her books on the floor and generally making a mess. She wanted to reach out and smash his head, but that wouldn''t work with the necromancer there.


    Inside Delilah was wiping away her tears and had patched up her wounds with something better than mimic adhesive. Shiina wished she could offer the woman more help, or at least strategize with her, but right now they were both stuck. There was nothing to do but wait.


    And as any good mimic would, Shiina waited.


    The necromancer paced as his minions tore up the room. "If the girl did escape then the guild will be here quickly. I''ll have to use my trump cards early, then stall with my minions until the dungeon accepts me completely. Yes, clearing out the other dungeon rooms is vital so my own monsters can spawn." Shiina set that aside to tell Mali when this idiot stopped wasting time here and left.


    Sadly he was determined. Delilah was squirming uncomfortably to keep her circulation going. And Shiina was biting down her urge to just burst out of hiding purely for the surprise factor.


    A clatter of bones drew everyone''s attention to the hallway that came from the dungeon entrance. With unnatural grace two skeletons dragged in a familiar halfing. Shiina froze as she focused all attention towards her friend.


    Mali had obviously taken some hits, but none of them looked too deadly. She''d probably been overwhelmed as well in the small corridors, but her extra experience kept her from being killed. Unfortunately as a rogue, undead were a terrible matchup.


    Still it didn''t make sense. Level 21 was almost ten times stronger than level 13. Either these skeletons were much stronger then the ones that had attacked Samuel down there, or something was up.


    Shiina peered closer and saw that Mali wasn''t quite as helpless as she looked. Her ''broken'' arm was close to one of her nastier magic daggers, and her eyes were sizing up the necromancer, looking for weakness.


    As an ambush predator herself, Shiina could tell her friend was just waiting for a moment to strike.


    "So, you''re the flunky they have keeping tabs on this dungeon?" the necromancer said. "It must be embarrassing having it stolen out from under your nose."


    "Almost as embarrassing as having to take over a training dungeon." Mali sneered. "Why didn''t you go for one of the novice dungeons? Giant spiders too scary for you?"


    The man chuckled. "Oh this isn''t something I''m planning to keep. Just a stepping stone. But I''m afraid I''m not quite dumb enough to tell you my plans just because you''re at my mercy. No, I''m planning for you to give me information."


    "About what? The guild that''ll be here to kill you in another hour?" Mali gave a weak shrug. "Sure, ask away. Won''t change anything."


    "I was more planning to ask you about the Arbiters," the man said.


    Mali laughed. "Well good luck there. Despite the rumors, the guild doesn''t actually have any connection to the Arbiters. At least not any connection someone like me would know."


    "Hm, I figured you were the local spy. That stupid boy running the place isn''t bright enough to keep things a secret." He shrugged. "Well as my old master always said, ''kill people first and ask questions later.''"


    It all happened in a flash. The man raised his hand, and Mali was already out of the skeleton''s grip. Her dagger was lined up, and she started the weaving run that would close the distance. Then the man snapped his fingers. "Triggered Corpse Bomb."


    The skeletons Mali had escaped detonated.


    Stars danced in Shiina''s brain as it tried to handle the dazzling light. As the haze in her vision slowly lifted the forms began to get back into focus. The man, smirking wickedly. The remaining undead, standing silently. And Mali''s still body, lying on the floor in a pool of blood.


    Mali, the first person she''d met. The person who''d treated her as a friend, who raised her as a daughter. The one who Shiina owed nearly everything to.... And now she was just a corpse on the ground.


    It was only her instincts that kept her from screaming in fury. From quivering in rage and sorrow. How dare he? How dare that human take something that was hers?!


    Blind to the hatred of his observers the man sighed. "Well now, that was dangerous wasn''t it. Tried to Assassinate me. But I''m wise to those tricks." He looked to his minions. "Now go guard this room. I can''t be disturbed while I''m performing the interrogation ritual."


    The undead shuffled out of the room as the man started drawing a circle with chalk. He was unprotected, Shiina thought. Obviously he was higher level than her. Twenty, maybe even thirty something. But he was just a human. Alone. In her dungeon.


    But she also had to warn the woman she was protecting. How to do that? She couldn''t use sound, and with the woman looking out into the room vision was out. So it would have to be touch.


    She carefully placed four fingers on Deliliah''s shoulders. The half elf twitched in surprise, but seemed to calm quickly. Shiina hoped the woman would understand what was happening, as she slowly removed one finger at a time. Counting down, three... two... one....


    And then she leaped.


    Abandoning the disguise was easy. The harder part was keeping on target as she shifted to her preferred form. Fortunately the man was engrossed in the floor, drawing his circles. He didn''t notice her fall until she hit.


    The impact from the ground wasn''t as heavy as she would have liked. The man screamed nicely, but she didn''t feel a single rib break. Must be her amorphous body. Shiina made up for that by slamming his face into the ground with a tentacle arm. That gave a nice crack as teeth chipped. She let her other arm wrap around his neck and face, tasting his seat and surprise as she started to squeeze.


    The man flailed about at the sudden assault. He couldn''t chant any spells, and his strength wasn''t all that impressive it seemed. Shiina slammed his face into the stone again just because she could. He twitched, stunned for a moment.


    Then he twisted his entire body. Surprised, Shiina found herself tumbling off the man. Her arms were still glued to his mouth and face, but he could move his arms now, and he grabbed a wand off his belt. Shiina tightened her grip and hoped that he''d pass out before being able to use the weapon.


    With a crunch Delilah fell on the man. The wand scattered away, as the half elf screamed in pain from the impact. Both of them probably had broken bones now. But Delilah was on top. And she didn''t have a mimic choking the life out of her. What she did have was a knife.


    The stabbing was erratic. Terrible form. Delilah cut herself once or twice from how poorly she was doing it. But she definitely hit the lungs and probably the heart as well. Repeatedly.


    Shiina let the woman continue even after the necromancer let out the last savory gasp of his life. It was only after she snapped the body''s neck that she decided to speak up. "He''s dead."


    Delilah stopped, letting the knife fall as she took deep gasping breaths. After she recovered she managed to choke out, "Are you okay?"


    "I''m fine," Shiina replied. "You should look into healing yourself. I don''t have bones so I can''t break any. You do."


    "Right." The half elf rolled onto her back and lay there. "I''ll do that in a bit." After a few more breaths she added.  "Thank you."


    Shiina nodded. "Thank you." That wand might have ended her revenge right then and there.


    Seeing that the woman was okay for now, Shiina moved to her friend''s body. Turning Mali over it was amazing how little damage there was. All the major wounds were on the back. But those were fatal.


    "I''m sorry." Shiina pulled her friend close. "I''m so sorry Mali. I just sat and watched and then... now... now you''re dead. Why? Why did you have to die? Why didn''t I do anything?"


    She held the body tightly until the adventurer''s guild task force arrived, wishing her fake eyes could cry.

 Beginnings 2

    Dear Shiina,


    I suppose if you''re reading this something''s gone wrong and I''ve died.  Either that or I got lazy and stopped updating my will after retiring.  Hoping it''s the latter, but probably not.  Adventuring is dangerous work in the end, even here in the middle of nowhere.


    There''s a whole lot I wish I could have gotten around to teaching you.  And a whole lot I wanna say, but I suppose the most important stuff is simple.  I''m really glad I met you, and you''re a great friend.  Maybe even something close to family.  If nothing else, you''re the only person who can keep my cute looks around in this world, so feel free to imitate me as long as you like.


    But I don''t want you sitting around pining over me in this dungeon forever.  You''re a unique girl, and I''m sure there''s something out in the strange wild world for you to do.  You don''t have to run out there just yet, but I''m sure you''ll find your calling eventually.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Anyway I''m terrible at sappy goodbyes, so I''ll leave you with the good memories and some good stuff.  First off my bag of holding, complete with my book collection.  Ol'' Sourpuss back at the guild doesn''t need it, so I figure you can have it all.  Second, my dagger of venom.  Figure you could use a little more bite to your surprise attacks!


    Lastly, I want you to have my feather pin.  I know the enchantment''s pretty boring, but it''s got some secrets to it that I''m sure you''ll love.  Of course it may be a while before you learn those, but let me tell you, they''re great.


    I''m really sorry I can''t be there for you anymore kid.  But I''m sure you''ll do fine.  Make me proud, Shiina.

 Beginnings 3

    Shiina had always wondered about the town outside. She''d considered asking Mali to visit, but she''d never gotten around to it. Now that everything had fallen apart, she finally got her wish. It left a sour feeling.


    The town itself felt both too big and too small all at once. The vast empty sky above had been a big shock to her, and while the walls of the houses helped give a little bit of order to things, the streets were so broad and open she couldn''t help feeling exposed. Meanwhile there were people all over. Tons of them. There were more humanoids on the street then she usually met in a month!


    Which is why she was currently pretending to be a crate on a wagon. Well that and having wheels meant Delilah could pull her around at human walking speed. Mimics were not usually fast.


    "Thanks again," she said to the woman. "I don''t know what I''d be doing without your help."


    Delilah shook her head. "It''s only fair. You saved me back there."


    To Shiina''s great relief, they got to the ramshackle inn Delilah said was their destination soon. The innkeeper gave them a curious look as they entered, but Shiina held still so he didn''t ask for any extra money.


    Then again as they entered Shiina figured this might be the type of inn where ''extra guests'' were commonplace. There was a single bed and the only thing it had going for it was ''no obvious stains.''


    "Sorry, we were trying to save money for dungeoneering supplies," Delilah said as she sat on the bed.


    "I mean I live in a dungeon so it''s not bad for me," Shiina replied as she shifted to her preferred chest/halfling form, trying to make her humanoid parts look as natural as possible. She''d kept Mali''s shoulder length red hair and rosy cheeks, but had dropped the freckles. Her ''clothing'' was an imitation of supple black leather armor that drew attention to the svelte curves she was mimicking. And of course the hardest part, the small nimble fingers needed to manipulate things. Satisfied with her disguise for now she turned her attention back to her new ally. "Unfortunately I''m not really good at becoming soft and firm at the same time, so I can''t replace that bed."


    Delilah blinked and turned a little red. "Oh, that won''t be needed. But, um, thanks." The half elf looked down. "So... I guess we should get to know each other?"


    That was a good idea. Shiina admitted to herself she hadn''t paid Delilah all that much attention when they first met. She had a great eye for detail but they were also really good at glossing over things. Maybe it came from ''seeing'' everything around, unlike humanoids. So she took a moment to really look over the woman.


    Delilah had medium length light brown hair with the blonde highlights common to half elves, and stood a little taller than the average woman. Her clothing was the ''generic healer'' white cotton robe, but she''d added some nice blue cotton pants as well and slit the robe to her hips. And she had the build of someone who ate a lot and worked a lot, though her generous figure and perfectly tanned skin probably had made her one of the most eligible young ladies in her village.


    What that done, Shiina did her best smug pose. Best to get the questions cleared out fast. "I''ll go first. I''m Shiina, the smartest mimic in the country. I''ve been alive six years now, and I''ve worked with the adventurer''s guild for most of them. Level 16 mimic, Journeyman tier locksmith, Apprentice tier trapsmith. Copper class adventurer and guild staff, technically."


    Mali had given her training and the official tests, so she knew her skills were that level. Master level however was a ways away.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Delilah looked surprised. "So you were born a mimic? It wasn''t a polymorphing trap or a curse?"


    "Yeah. I formed in that dungeon." Her expression softened. "I got lucky and ran into Mali early on. She saw through my disguise, it was really out of place, and called me out. So I started learning from her and working with her."


    "I see." Delilah folded her hands. "And... was that really the first time you killed someone?"


    Shiina blinked. "You overheard that? Well, yeah I guess. I just never really wanted to hurt people. We mimics need the surprise more than the food. Unintelligent monsters just don''t give off enough psychic shock. That''s why I enjoyed the job. Pranking young adventurers was all the surprise I needed."


    Delilah gave a weak smile. "Well you were good at it. It''s too bad the dungeon''s closed off now."


    "Yeah..." With the new dungeon master killed mid transition the complex was unstable. It could take up to half a year for the training dungeon to reopen. Shiina sighed. "Well that''s the quick info on me. So, how about you?"


    "Delilah. First generation half elf, level 13, 14 now, support mage and healer." She held up the tag she''d been given after the debriefing. "Copper class adventurer, Apprentice tier Herbalist, Curgion, and Alchemist."


    Shiina frowned. "First generation half elf? Sorry, I don''t know that one."


    "It means I''m actually the daughter of an elf and a human," Delilah said. "Most half elves are born to half elven parents these days. For a lot of reasons." She blushed a little. "Um, anyways! My father left not long after I was born, like most elven parents do, though he was at least nice enough to leave me books on magic. My mom... passed away when I was thirty six. I couldn''t keep the farm going alone, so I turned to adventuring."


    "And your partner?" It felt weird asking about someone who''d been murdered and zombified less than four hours ago, but it was probably important.


    Delilah shook her head. "I actually didn''t know Samuel all that well. Training as a warrior isn''t as easy as learning magic. You need study partners and a teacher. You can''t just pick it up from reading. We met at Highcastle when I was getting my healer''s certificate, and we teamed up because neither of us could work solo."


    "I see." Shiina gave a weak laugh. "Well I can''t really frontline myself, so I guess we''ll have to look for a party tomorrow."


    "You''re willing to party with me?" Delilah stared down at her. "Even though I spent the whole fight cowering behind you?"


    "You didn''t spend the whole fight cowering behind me!" Shiina pointed at the woman''s knife. "You got the kill on him! It was pretty cool, even though you broke three bones in the process. I figure you''ve got the determination. And you wouldn''t be level 14 if you actually sucked as a mage. If anything I was worried you wouldn''t wanna team up with a mimic...."


    Delilah looked a little happier. "Well it is going to be strange dragging a wagon into a dungeon. But as you said, it''s important to have someone who can handle traps. And you''ll be very dangerous to anyone who tries to ambush the party."


    Shiina nodded. "Yeah. Sorry I can''t move faster. I never really got the hang of legs."


    "Maybe you could practice as a chair sometime," Delilah said. She flopped back on her bed. "For now I need to rest and recover my mana."


    "Sure thing." Shiina stretched. "I''ll be here when you wake."


    As Delilah settled in, Shiina turned her attention to the dirty windows, watching the strange world outside the dungeon move past her.


    <hr>


    It''s kinda funny, but while magic is the ''smart person'' job, thieving is the ''cunning person'' job and fighting is the job ''anyone can do,'' people actually need to spend a whole lot more work to become a fighter. You can''t learn fighting just from swinging a sword over and over. You need to practice with someone. Mages can gain levels just by reading books and practicing spells. But fighters have to fight.


    Mali said most fighting adventurers either go to a school or train with the local guards as an apprentice. Experienced city guards are in the mid twenties so they consider training up kids to be the only way to get decent replacements. Even if a number of them run off adventuring when they get old enough.


    Schools are for people who wanna do cool weapon techniques and stuff. I hear the best fighters can even do stuff that seems like magic, without using standard magic like magic knights! But you have to train super hard and win a lot of battles. Not many live that long.

 Beginnings 4

    The Adventurer''s guild was painfully crowded for Shiina.  She''d assumed that since Delilah was taking them there early there wouldn''t be a big group.  That was a huge mistake.  The room was full of parties gathered in their fours and fives, all eating breakfast while servers ran back and forth from the taverns across the way.


    "You sure you don''t want anything more?" Delilah asked.  "Breakfast is an important meal.  And we might not get to eat again depending on the jobs available."  The half elf had a spread to match her words.  Fried eggs on toast, boiled eggs, and a bowl of porridge with dried fruits.


    "I mean, I already had my weekly meal yesterday," Shiina said as she cut into her own small omelette.  "This is just to be polite."  She motioned to the crowd.  "Is the place usually this crowded?  It feels more like a tavern than a guild house."


    Delilah nodded.  "That''s what I heard.  The best jobs all come in during the morning, so everyone wants to be here to offer their services.  After the first thirty minutes it''s all just dungeon delving and emergency jobs.  So to keep there from being a fight to get in the door the guild just lets people in early and allows the taverns to serve the members."


    "Hm..."  Shiina scanned the room.  "But we need a party."


    "Yeah..."  Delilah sighed.  "We have to hope someone is looking for help.  Either that or network with the people who are left behind after the rush."


    Shiina grimaced, but she didn''t have a better plan.  Instead she wolfed down the omelet, and shifted into a backpack form.  She didn''t like to stand out.


    After a bit more waiting the guildmaster walked to the front counter and cleared his throat.  The conversations died out as the room turned to the old dwarf.


    "I imagine most of you have heard some of this already, but I''m afraid I have to officially announce both the Blank Tome Training Dungeon, and the Blue Spike Dungeon are both closed due to instability.  Some damn fool tried to open up the Blank Tome Dungeon.  We lost two good adventurers putting him down.  The Blue Spike Dungeon was sabotaged last night by parties unknown.  We''ve got investigators already looking into it."


    The announcements sent a ripple of surprise and uncertainty through the crowd.  Shiina was confused as well.  Who would sabotage a dungeon?  That''s where adventurers made their money!


    The man waited a moment before holding up a hand for silence.  "Because of the sudden attacks on our livelihood, I''m afraid we''ve had to shut down all the dungeons."  There was a rumbling of disapproval which the Guild Master shut down with a slap on the desk.  "Look I don''t like it either, but we need to make sure the remaining dungeons stay safe or the whole town is doomed.  Which means the guild needs to guard and inspect every single dungeon until we figure out what the hell is going on."


    There was another long moment for the muttering to subside, before the Guild Master finished.  "Fortunately we''ve got additional work for skilled adventurers.  We''ll start posting missions now.  Thank you for your patience."


    The lobby became a riot of activity and Shiina instinctively froze.  Delilah however sprang into action, grabbing her like a real backpack and heading into the fray.  The morning rush had begun.


    First at the board were the established teams.  They quickly grabbed their jobs and either went into negotiations or filed out.  Then came the newer groups, looking over the jobs posted to see if they were a good fit.


    Delilah maneuvered around the edge of that crowd, looking and listening for opportunity.


    First a group of young men without any casters : "Excuse me, you need a healer?"


    "Thanks, but not really.  We''re doing caravan duty, so healing is part of the contract."


    After that a team asking about a healer : "I''m a copper tier, level 14 healer, is that okay?"


    "Sorry we need someone over 16.  We wouldn''t be able to keep you safe."


    Shiina''s hopes were raised when another group approached them.  "You''re a support mage right?  Can you also do attack spells?"


    "Not effectively.  I don''t have the personality for it."A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Darn.  Well, good luck searching."


    Finally a trio of women.  "Do you need a healer or a rogue?"


    "I don''t think you''d be a good fit for our group."  They stalked off after glaring at Delilah.


    As the final crew walked away Shiina popped a little out of her backpack ''body.''  "What was that about?  They act like we insulted them.  Did they notice me?"


    "It''s probably because I''m a half elf."  Delilah sighed.  "We have a reputation of being loose women."


    "Wait, people believe that tripe?"  Shiina shifted uncomfortably.  "I thought that was just old nonsense from the dark ages.  Like the whole thing about there being no dwarf women."


    Delilah shook her head.  "It''s complicated.  Anyway, I guess there weren''t any good groups today."


    "Well there''s always tomorrow."  Shiina shivered a little.  "Hopefully the crowd isn''t as bad then.  I''ll try to help out more then"


    Delilah carried her back to their table and set her down with a pat on the ''head''.  "I''m afraid you''ll just have to get used to that.  Some places are crowded."


    "I don''t know how you people can stand it," Shiina leaned herself against a table leg.  "There''s just so many things happening!"


    "Honestly I''m not entirely used to it myself.  It''s worse than the crush at the harvest festival back home."  Delilah sighed again.  "Do you mind waiting here?  It''s possible someone will come in late needing healing services."


    "I''m good at waiting," Shiina replied cheerfully.


    The next few hours were actually interesting, watching people wander in and out of the guild on business.  There were so many moving parts to human society.  And this was a small city!  Apparently Highcastle was ten times the size of this town.


    Delilah was less fond of waiting it seemed.  She started nursing a full pot of tea, and moved on to doing strange calculations and looking over what was probably her research book.  It was strange how restless people could be.  It was terrible for stealth.


    Her observations were interrupted by someone slamming through the door.  "Healer!  We need a healer, quickly!"


    Delilah jumped out of her chair and fumbled around with her book.  Shiina reached out, grabbed the tome, and gave her a grin and a shh gesture.  It''d be easier to get the job as a solo member.  And besides, Shiina was looking for a good surprise off this.


    The half elf looked confused, but nodded and lifted Shiina onto her shoulders before scurrying over to the man.  There was another trio there, but they looked similarly new.  "What''s the problem," Delilah asked.


    The man looked between the two groups.  "Either of you Herbalists?  We had a run in with a Wyvern pack, and our healer almost burned himself out just curing the poison.  We need someone to treat the damage that''s already been done."


    "I''m an Apprentice rank Herbalist," Delilah said.  "And they''re low level wyverns right?  So you''ll want puca leaves.  I have some, though I''ll need to be compensated for their use."


    The other party''s healer sighed.  "I''m also, Apprentice rank, but I don''t have puca leaves on me.  I''d need to buy some."


    The man nodded.  "Looks like you got the job missy.  100 gold plus expenses?"


    "Sure!" Delilah nodded.


    A guild orderly moved in from the side.  "I''ve witnessed.  Please sign here."  Delilah and the man, Yagi, signed their names quickly.  The man handed over the collateral, then turned and started out of the guild.  "Can you ride?"


    "A little," Delilah said.  "Nothing fancy."


    "Good.  I''ve got a spare horse."  The man led them to two horses tied out front.  "We''re at a small mine an hour out of town.  We need to get the injured treated before some monster comes up and catches us with our pants down."


    "Right."  Delilah managed to mount with only a little difficulty.  Though it probably looked more impressive for the people who didn''t know that Shiina shifted her weight to help.


    As they began riding towards the city gate Delilah shifted over to whisper to Shiina, "Shouldn''t you show yourself soon?"


    "What and ruin the surprise?  Nah.  Don''t worry about it, they''re paying for one person so they won''t get mad."


    "But when they see me pulling stuff out of my pouches instead of the backpack..."


    Shiina considered that.  "True.  Hey, why don''t you use the bag of holding.  Just say what you''re looking for and I''ll dig it out and hand it to you."


    "This is a lot of effort for a prank," Delilah muttered.


    "It''ll be fun!  Trust me."  Shiina grinned.  A whole lot of fun.  Time to shock people who weren''t newbies.


    <hr>


    The skill testing system is still kinda weird to me.  Mali said it was important to prove I can do things at a certain level.  Which I suppose I understand.  But these skill ranks only work on this chunk of the continent!  Apparently every guild has different skills and different ranks for them.  Apprentice rank might be copper rank somewhere else.  Or first tier or something.


    Some skills you can transfer over, with a guild''s permission.  Trapfinding is the same everywhere.  But skills like Herbalism only give you access to local guidebooks, not the rank.  It''s all so confusing.


    I asked Mali why people didn''t just check the skills of the people they were hiring directly.  She said that wouldn''t work if you needed something done fast.  I suppose that is true.  Still I hope I don''t have to prove my skills over and over.  Or at least there''s not any more written tests.  Everyone complains about my penmanship but they won''t let me mimic the pen.

 Beginnings 5

    Shiina looked around the camp as Yagi led Delilah to a makeshift medical tent.  There were seven people on cots, six looking pale with partially healed wounds, and one man in robes unconscious.  Probably their healer.  There was another magician standing watch over the men, and he looked up with a sigh of relief.  "Thank the gods.  I kept them from getting worse, but I''m terrible at healing."


    With the problem in front of her Delilah had become all business.  "It''s good you held back.  Improperly healing people with poison damage can be dangerous.  Have they been triaged?"  She reached into Shiina ''backpack'' and after a moment the mimic handed over the puca leaves.


    "Not since Baldy first started healing them.  Don''t know who''s the worst off honestly," the man replied.


    "Right.  Keep an eye on the ones I''m not treating and tell me if their condition worsens."  Delilah moved to the first one, a man who had a puncture in his shoulder.  "Duty grant me Sight." The woman looked him over critically.  "Still has minor internal bleeding.  Shouldn''t take too much mana to fix.  Targeted Heal."  Shiina watched as her friend cast a healing spell before taping a Puca leaf over the wound.


    As the spell finished she moved on to the next.  Shiina was surprised to see the man relax almost immediately.  Magical healing was really impressive it seemed!  Though she didn''t have any of those internal organs, or even blood, so she didn''t have a good frame of reference towards normal healing.  Mali had said it took a while though.


    Delilah grimaced as she scanned the next man.  Shiina wondered why since he only had a slight wound on his chest.  "The poison hit him harder, so my healing probably won''t work."  She looked over to the man who''d been standing watch.  "I''ll move on to the others.  Grind this into a powder and I''ll finish brewing the cure when that''s done."


    "Good idea."  The man took some leaves and walked over to an alembic to begin work.


    Shiina considered that.  What was the difference between that man and the first one?  Injury location?  That might be it.  Most had taken hits to the arms or shoulders, but there was a man whose hand was torn up and another who''s taken a shot to the stomach.


    The paleness also might matter.  The guy with the stomach wound was similar in color to the others, but one of the men whose wound was barely closed looked a lot paler.  Worse than the one that Delilah said had internal bleeding.  He was also fifth in the row, so Delilah wouldn''t get to him soon.


    She sighed internally.  Well there went the big surprise.  Still better to have fun now then try to liven up a funeral.  So once Delilah finished up her spell, she popped out.  "You should probably check that guy.  He looks bad."


    At least the reactions were worth it.  The man grinding herbs spun around too far and nearly tripped himself.  Their guide Yagi drew his sword before sitting there standing in confusion, and even Delilah gave a yelp of shock.


    "Is... is that a mimic?" Yagi managed to spit out.


    "Yep!  Shiina''s, the name.  I worked for the guild until recently."  She tapped Delilah on the shoulder to force the conversation back to the important stuff.  "Like I said that guy there seems the most hurt.  Figure you should check him."Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "Okay."  Delilah hurried over and frowned as the scan went off.  "You''re right.  He still had some poison in the system when he was healed, so he''s taken a lot of internal damage.  This is going to take a lot of work."


    "That''s- this-"  Yagi shook his head to recover.  "Later.  Save his life first.  We''ll worry about curing the rest after."


    Delilah nodded.  "Okay."  She started a longer spell.  "I invoke you, all paths and roads.  By my will be Targeted, I need you for Rescue..."


    Shiina turned her attention to Yagi who looked to be something of a sourpuss given the look he was giving her.  "Heya.  I''m just a tagalong.  Don''t worry about me asking for more cash.  Just wanna keep an eye on my friend here."


    He swallowed his frown and nodded.  "Not a fan of unexpected surprises, but that''s fine.  And you might have saved Davies so I''ll leave it there."  His brow furrowed.  "How''d you notice the color difference though?  None of the rest of us noticed."


    "That''s..."  Shiina considered it.  "I might be better at seeing colors than you?  At least when the objects are far apart.  You need to be able to blend perfectly with the walls or people will catch you instantly just because the shade doesn''t match up right.  Your eyes are too good at pattern recognition."


    "Good to know."


    Delilah finished her spell and sagged as the strain hit her.  Shiina politely slipped off her shoulders and helped her stay up.  "You okay?"


    "Yes.  I just used a lot of mana."  She took a deep breath.  "I should be fine, though I''ll probably be out when I finish healing the others."


    "Then you can rest here before heading back."


    Everyone turned to see a tough looking man in well worn plate mail come into the tent.  He was clean shaven, and his eyes were calculating, but not judging.  Yagi and the other soldier started to salute, but the man waved them off.  "No ranks in the healers tent.  Well not officially anyway.  My name is Graves, I''m the leader of this team.  I want to thank you for helping us out on such short notice."


    Delilah gave a polite nod.  "It was a fair contract so no trouble."  She looked at the man who''d been grinding leaves.  "Are you done with those?  I''ll want to finish the infusions soon if I can."


    "Ah, just a second more," he turned back to work.


    Graves rubbed his chin.  "You''re pretty on top of things for a fresh copper tag.  And you there, mimic girl, I heard you offed that necromancer that caused the ruckus in town yesterday.  I''ll let you get back to your work, but after you''ve rested drop by my tent.  Apparently we need an assistant healer, and a scout''s always useful."


    Shiina and Deliliah looked at each other happily.  It seemed things might be looking up!


    <hr>


    I feel kinda weird writing about mimics.  Like I know me, but I don''t know what humans find interesting about me.  There''s the obvious stuff like how we can copy items almost perfectly.  Copying humanoids is a lot harder.  They''ve got all these hidden bits we can''t see, and so many little moving parts.


    The biggest thing I can think of is the stuff Mali told me about.  Intelligent monsters are rare, and ones that aren''t totally hostile to humanoids are rarer.  Even I had an urge to attack humans when I was newly formed.  That''s how a lot of mimics die.  People don''t negotiate when you bite the rogue''s face.


    Still a number of mimics do manage to meet up with reasonable adventurers, so I''m not the only mimic who works with people.  Though running a training dungeon is fairly unusual.  Most mimics work with wizards or rich people as treasure guards.


    It does sound kinda cool guarding a library all day and getting to read all the books I want.  But it''d be hard to get my scares in.  That''s the other thing.  We need to surprise people.  Mali said if I killed the people I surprised I wouldn''t need to do it as much.  But that''s not really nice.

 Beginnings 6

    Delilah was exhausted when she finished her healing work, so Graves offered them a tent to stay the night.  As her new friend recovered her mana, Shiina looked over some of the books on adventurer rates, just in case.  "So, what do you think about the offer?"


    "Hm..."  To Shiina''s surprise Delilah was a little more hesitant now.  "It''s worth a look.  But I think we should do a bit more research before agreeing to anything.  It''s not that I think they''re bad people, but there''s a few warning signs we should investigate."


    "What do you mean?"  Shiina closed the book.  "The only really weird thing is the size of the group.  But I hear some guilds can get pretty big.  Especially those that double as mercenary groups."


    Delilah nodded.  "Yes.  The strange thing is, they''re a large group that has only two mages, and no women."


    "Uh..."  Shiina considered that.  "I guess that is weird.  Men and women are a fifty fifty split for most humanoids aren''t they?  And spellcasters are a little more rare than warriors, but not that rare.  So what does that mean?"


    "They''re probably a military unit that''s gone mercenary."  Delilah stretched.  "Most armies keep their units gender segregated, and they group based on specializations, with a few auxiliaries to make sure there''s always a few mages or fighters around."


    Shiina looked over at Delilah.  The woman''s reasoning seemed good, but there was no judgment.  "Aren''t soldiers who go mercenary usually terrible people?"


    "It depends on why they deserted."  Delilah looked over.  "A lot quit over pay disputes, which is hard to fault them over.  There''s also units who desert because the leader had a family member who committed a crime, and they were forced to resign.  Or because they backed the wrong person in a civil war."


    "Hm... so you want to figure out the reason.  That makes sense."  Shiina looked over.  "But will we be able to figure that out?  It''s gotta be something people try to hide."


    "I''m sure someone in the guild will know." Delilah rolled back into her bedroll and pulled the covers close.  "Anyway if he''s a good guy he won''t mind.  And if he does mind it''s a bad deal.  But now I need more sleep."


    Shiina grinned.  "Smart!  Well you keep resting.  I''ll stand guard or whatever."


    Darkness fell as Shiina waited, listening to the sounds of the camp moving around her.  It was a lot easier to handle than the manic energy of the town, if still a little louder than the average dungeon.


    Still as the activity quieted down, Shiina considered doing something more.  She''d let Delilah do all the human interaction stuff, but there had to be something she could do on her own.


    After a bit of consideration she decided to do some information gathering.  After all, what better way to learn about this group than listening in on their conversations?  With that thought she slipped out of the tent, changing her chest form into a match to the supply boxes that were littered about.


    Once outside she scouted the area.  There were a couple of campfires where people were chatting, but they''d be hard to approach from this side.  She''d need to go the long way around the camp to listen in.  But as a bonus there was a large tent illuminated from inside along that route.  An excellent place to get more info as well.


    She began her slow crawl to her first objective.  As she moved she honestly wished she could get better burst speed without deforming.  Sure movement was easier to see at night, but a slow crawl meant she was moving over a longer amount of time.


    Halfway through a march a tent flap opened up, and Shiina had to freeze.  A bearded man with a knife in hand looked around, frowning.  There was a long moment of silence, before the man slipped out and looked behind her, before sighing.  "Must have been a rat or something.  Need to get a dog to keep them in line."  He headed back into his tent.


    Shiina waited a long moment before continuing her march, this time working harder to be quiet.  Finally she arrived at the large tent and parked herself outside.  From this close she could recognize the silhouettes inside.  Yagi and Graves.


    "-Commander.  They could turn against us," Yagi said.


    "Which is why we''ll tell them the truth.  We admit we''re an army unit from the Kingdom of Gaius.  They join or they don''t.  But any duo that can kill a level 25 necromancer are worth trying to recruit."  Graves chuckled.  "You really need to learn how to use the truth if you''re gonna be a merc Yagi."


    Well that was an interesting piece of information.  But didn''t that mean they were currently still in the army?  Shiina continued listening.


    "And if they learn we''re part of this little undeclared war over the dungeon that popped up here?" Yagi pressed.


    Grave''s shadow leaned back.  "The only people who know the plan are you, me, the Count, and the King.  And after the Arbiters get rid of the Count and the King the matter''s dead and buried."


    Shiina froze.  Wait, weren''t the Arbiters only involved when someone reopened a dungeon?  She tried to remember everything Mali had taught her yesterday.


    "Will the Arbiters get them?" Yagi asked quietly.  "Seems like we''re betting a lot on a bunch of boogiemen."


    "Yagi."  Grave''s voice was very serious.  "There''s a reason I told them this plan was stupid.  Yeah some people have managed to avoid the Arbiters after popping open a tamed dungeon.  Some people have managed to set up a dungeon and become the dark lord of the surrounding lands.  And for every one of those, there''s ten thousand more who tried and ended up a rotting corpse while adventurers pawned off their clothes.  To pull off that nonsense you have to be smart, skilled, and damn lucky.  And neither of those ''nobles'' have any of those qualities."


    Shiina shuddered as the pieces all fell together.  The dungeon attack, Mali''s death, both had been orchestrated as part of a stupid fight over resources.  And those two men knew!  They knew that mad necromancer had been sent to ruin her life and kill her friend!


    She felt the hard edge of Mali''s knife slip out of the bag.  But after a few long moments the fury cooled to something more reasonable.  She couldn''t attack them now.  Which meant she should return to Delilah and tell her friend what she''d learned.


    The conversation inside had swapped to logistics and bargaining with merchants, so she began to sneak back to the tent.  It was a long journey, but soon she was back at her own tent.


    To her surprise Delilah was up and awake, a small supper in front of her.  The woman looked at her.  "You didn''t go out and surprise people did you?"


    Shiina took a moment to collect herself and shift into human form.  She knew her expression was an exaggerated mess, but at least she could convey how serious things were.  "I went out to get more information.  And...  They, they''re connected to the people that broke open my dungeon.  I heard Graves say they knew all about it."


    There was a crack as Delilah''s grip broke the wooden spoon she was holding.  "What?  These people helped kill Samuel?"


    "They''re working for some King.  An army unit."  Shiina explained what she''d overheard.  "They said there''s a dungeon here that started this whole mess."Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Delilah clenched her jaw, then after a long pause she said, "Do you want revenge too?"


    The half elf''s words dripped with venom, and Shiina felt the knot of anxiety inside her melt away.  "Yes.  I wanted to stab the two right there.  But I figured you should know first."  She paused.  "Also I don''t think I could beat them both."


    "They''ll have to sleep sometime," Delilah said quietly.  "We just need to find an alibi so it can''t be traced back to us."  She quickly choked down the rest of her soup before slipping the hardtack into her pouch.  "Let''s go find this dungeon entrance."


    "Are you sure you want to go?  You, uh, aren''t very stealthy."  Shiina knew expecting humans to meet her standards was impossible, but Delilah was pretty bad in general.


    Delilah stood and gathered up the few belongings scattered about.  "Why does that matter?  I''m going to relieve myself.  You''re keeping me safe from monsters.  And we don''t want any men about."


    "Oh!"  Shiina blinked.  That made sense?  Probably?  She''d trust the humanoid on this one.


    She shifted to backpack form so Delilah wouldn''t have to wait up for her, and kept an eye out as her friend walked out towards the forest.  Sure enough the guard gave them a nod and a wave before continuing their watch.


    As soon as they made it to the treeline, Delilah started moving along towards the hillside.  Shiina tapped her shoulder.  "Go on a little deeper into the woods so they don''t see you."


    They quickly arrived and sure enough there was a cave mouth sitting there.  Now that they were closer, Shiina noticed the pull of the dungeon.  As well as a slight taste of magic.  "That is a dungeon alright.  Now we know where all the wyverns came from."


    Delilah moved closer and held out her hand.  The magic in the air hummed revealing guarding runes.  "There''s a barrier here.  That explains why their healer nearly burnt himself out.  They must have sealed the place after killing the lord, so the stronger monsters starve."


    "And so they aren''t attacked in the night by a pack of wyverns."  Shiina nodded.  "Well that makes sense.  So now what?"


    "Now I break the barrier."


    Shiina blinked.  "Uh, shouldn''t I do that?  And how does that help us?"


    "Breaking a seal is much easier than making one.  And if I do it, they won''t notice someone sabotaging the barrier until it collapses." Delilah began tapping on the seal.  "Meanwhile a surprise attack at night by hungry wyverns is much more dangerous than we could ever be."  She closed her eyes.  "We''ll just have to hope that Graves won''t get away."


    After a moment, an idea came to Shiina.  "I can make sure of that.  How long will it take to break the barrier?"


    Delilah took a deep breath.  "Half an hour."


    Shiina tried to estimate the time.  "Okay.  That should work.  I''ll be back when you''re done."


    She moved as fast she could to the treeline, before getting low to the ground and shifting across the field towards the camp.  The lights were dimmer now, and the guards less attentive.  They were relying on sound and movement to make them alert, and Shiina''s slow shifting didn''t draw the eye.


    Soon she was at the tent.  She pulled the knife from the bag she was holding inside her and made a small cut in the wall.  Nothing a human could use, but her morphic body easily slipped in.


    Graves was sleeping on a cot, a makeshift desk covered with papers.  She considered for a moment looking for proof of what she heard, but dismissed it.  She didn''t have time.  Instead she moved over to the man.  With precision she let her upper body assume Mali''s form, adjusted her grip so she wouldn''t drop anything, then dragged the knife across the vein in his arm.


    He awoke with a start, but before he could get his bearings the poison kicked in, locking his joints in a shuddering wave.  His eyes flickered over to her, and Shiina vaguely wondered if he could make out who had caught him in the dark.  She couldn''t tell from the surprise and terror that wafted off him.  But it wouldn''t matter.  He was doomed and a single cut wouldn''t stand out among the injuries he was going to suffer when the wyverns arrived.


    The deed done she put the knife back into the bag of holding and slouched down to a short box form, then slipped out.  She moved slowly out of the camp, then put on a burst of speed to enter the woods.  It was time to leave.


    She did her best to scurry back to where Delilah was, as she arrived the half elf mage was finishing up her ritual.  It took a few minutes, but the hum quickly faded, and Delilah stepped back.  She looked tired, but she held out her arms to Shiina.  "We need to leave, fast."  The rustling from the inside the dungeon as the wyverns started to react to the change in airflow emphasized her words.


    "I''m done," Shiina replied, swapping to backpack form and swinging onto the woman''s shoulders.  "Let''s get some distance and then you can rest some more."


    "I''m fine."  Delilah''s words were a lie, but she managed to get moving faster than Shiina could, so the mimic didn''t contradict her.  They pressed on into the forest, the moonlight giving both of them enough light to navigate.


    Their travel through the forest was finally interrupted by a magical flare from back in the camp.  They''d gotten far enough that the sounds of battle didn''t make it to them, but the blinding light told them that battle had started.


    For a long moment the two stared at the flare, then Delilah turned and continued on, Shiina giving her attention to the forest around them instead of the mess behind.


    The moon had shifted a fair amount across the sky when Delilah started tripping and bumping into things.  Shiina decided this was her friend''s limit.  "We should stop here."


    "It''s not good to rest in the middle of the forest," Delilah muttered.  "And we have a bunch of wyverns and mercenaries around."


    "They''re a long ways back," Shiina said.  "And I''ll look after you."  She slipped off the half elf''s shoulders.  "You burned through nearly all your mana twice and you haven''t slept enough.  I know I''m fuzzy on what half elves can do, but that can''t be healthy."


    Delilah looked like she wanted to argue, but she leaned against a tree and sighed.  "You''re probably right."


    Shiina nodded, then shifted herself to a long hollow box.  She couldn''t keep her humanoid head and torso up, but she could still vibrate out words.  "It won''t be soft, but I figure you can stuff your bedroll in here and I''ll hide you from any monsters or beasts that''d be roaming around here."


    "It looks like a coffin," Delilah muttered, but she pulled out her bedding and followed Shiina''s suggestion.  As the half elf settled in to sleep Shiina added a ''lid'' to the box, leaving a few air holes while concealing her fleshy friend.  That should be enough.


    Soon Delilah was sleeping, though fairly restlessly.  Shiina wasn''t sure if that was bad, but there wasn''t much she could do to help.  The best she could think of was practicing her ''soft form'' exercises for later.


    The night passed slowly as various forest creatures came to sniff the new arrival in their forest, interrupting Shiina''s reverie.  However nothing bigger than a raccoon came to bother them, so she called it a success.


    It was an hour after dawn when Delilah roused herself enough to push on Shiina''s lid, so the mimic opened up to let the woman get out and refresh herself.


    When the half elf returned Shiina had shoveled out a small fire pit.  "I think we can risk breakfast."


    "Good."  Delilah summoned a tiny flame to some wood chips, while Shiina added more branches, snapping them into proper pieces so the fire could handle them easily.


    As she put in the last of her offerings the snap of a branch to the side caused both her and Delilah to look over quickly.  Shiina felt her heart start racing as two women, obviously adventurers, walked towards them without a care in the world.  The dark skinned woman leading the two smiled, her large vulpine ears twitching.  "Well!  That was harder than I expected, but you also saved us quite a bit of trouble."


    "Who are you?" Delilah asked quietly."


    "We," the woman replied, "are agents of the Arbiters.  And we''re looking for the people who''ve helped us complete our job here."


    Shiina blinked.  She wasn''t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn''t that.


    The other adventurer''s slit eyes scanned the campsite, before holding up a side of bacon.  "We have some food to share."


    Her eyes flickered over and met Delilah''s.  They both nodded at the same time.  "Sure."


    If nothing else she really wanted to hear how the two women found them.


    <hr>


    I asked Mali what keeps creatures from wandering out of the dungeons.  Apparently the answer is : Nothing at all!  So doesn''t that mean there are distant dungeons out there pumping out monsters constantly?


    The answer is : Yes.


    Of course it''s not as bad as it sounds.  So long as the dungeon is inactive, most monsters are just dangerous animals.  Without the dungeon''s aura supplying some of their basic needs, they either integrate into the local environment or die.  If there''s a lack of prey in the immediate area, a lot of creatures will return to the dungeon and thin out numbers there themselves.


    So a dungeon isn''t good for the locals, but it''s not a world ending event.


    Intelligent monsters (like me!) are different, but in general they either set up a town and keep the dungeon clean or tell others about the place and let local adventurers clean things up.

 Gaius 1

    Shiina inspected the two newcomers as they waited for the fire to get hot enough to cook. They were very unique, though mid level adventures tended to be. Especially those that wandered far from home.


    The dark skinned woman called herself Ife. The staff she carried indicated she was some sort of spellcaster, but most people would be distracted by her attire. She had a figure that was usually reserved for sailors'' descriptions of mermaids, and not only was her dress slit up to the hip, but it stopped just below her breasts. Instead of a blouse or shirt she wore a massive sweeping gorget of silver, turquoise, and colored glass that covered her chest. She had long black hair, and her large ears and bushy tail outed her as some kind of fox beastwoman.


    Zanya was between Ife and Delilah in skin tone, and decidedly more slender than either. She wore a full cloak and carried a double headed battle axe, but beneath was the abbreviated outfit of a magic knight. A hefty belt used to cover her chest, leather shorts, and two more probably magic belts to keep a brace of knives and potions. Her short hair was a dark green and her slit eyes and the dark scales that dusted her back and sides marked her as an Ophidian.


    "So," Ife began. "Let''s start with why we were looking for you." She folded her hands and looked at Shiina. "The simplest answer is, Mali told us about a very smart mimic she''d become friends with. In fact she gave you her personal recommendation."


    Shiina looked at the two. "You knew Mali?" Her friend had never mentioned such interesting partners in the past.


    "She was our local contact," Zanya said. "Only did a couple of jobs with us, before settling down. Didn''t like the travel."


    "Which is why she probably didn''t mention anything about us," Ife said. "Since it was all Arbiter business."


    Delilah chewed her lip. "Should I be here? If it''s a secret..."


    "You should know as well. Since you''ve been involved in matters." Ife''s smile vanished. "Sadly we didn''t get word of the conspiracy here soon enough. We arrived after Mali had been killed."


    Silence reigned for a little bit, before Zanya continued the explanation. "When we learned what had happened we started dealing with those responsible. The local Count was first, which is why we didn''t meet up with you earlier."


    "There we learned about the mercenary band posing as adventurers in the area. But sometime last night our Arbiter contact told me the leader we were going to assassinate was already dead." Ife''s smile returned. "And then I did a quick little search spell on the feather token that Mali left to her mimic friend and wouldn''t you know, it was very close to where the target had been."


    "Not sure how," Zanya said mildly.


    It was a fair question given the massive level difference. Shiina looked over to Delilah who started. "I opened the barrier of a dungeon they were camped next to. There were wyverns inside."


    That got a raised eyebrow. "Clever," Zanya said.


    "And I poisoned Graves with Mali''s dagger before the wyverns attacked," Shiina finished.


    Ife chuckled. "Well, it seems you''ve started learning the job already." She looked between the two. "You both seem to possess the skills and temperaments we need as part of the Arbiters. It''s a dangerous job, and it involves a great deal of travel, but it''s one that needs to be done. And fortunately it also pays well."


    "We also do normal adventurer work," Zanya added. "It helps maintain our cover."


    As Shiina considered the revelations, Ife continued. "You don''t have to join us. If you want to stay independent we''ll just disappear and you''ll have a hard time remembering our names and faces. And you don''t have to decide now." Her onyx eyes hardened. "After all, the King of Gaius was the ringleader, which means we need to kill him to finish this job. And your revenge."


    A simple glance decided matters. "We''ll do that job at least," Shiina said.


    "And discuss the rest after," Delilah finished.


    "Good." Ife pulled some plates out of a bag of holding. "Now, I''m sure you have questions. We''ll do our best to answer."


    Shiina grabbed a nice crispy piece of bacon while the humanoids had their meal. "So how''d you find that token? That seems dangerous for me."


    "Mali personalized it with an Arbiter rune. It allows us to track our agents," Ife said. "You don''t need to worry about people outside the Arbiters learning that trick. Anyone good enough to use the spell without alerting our organization has better spells to find people."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Delilah was next. "What skills do I bring to the party? Shiina''s obviously unique, so she''s got plenty of powerful tricks but I''m just a level 14 healer."


    Ife paused. "Do you know about attributes?"


    "Those are the statistics used to judge your physical and mental prowess in certain fields right?" Delilah blushed. "I never bothered learning how to scan those because it''s so hard to get useful information."


    "It''s honestly messy," Ife agreed. "I rarely use it myself. Now, do you know the seven primary attributes?"


    Shiina perked up. "Oh, I learned that one! Strength, Agility, Fortitude, Personality, Intellect, Willpower, and Luck. Right? And they''re ranked from F to S."


    Delilah blinked. "Those are the names, but I thought they were ranked from -4 up to +10 or sometimes higher?"


    "That''s one of the problems with looking at attributes. There''s so many different systems." Ife snorted. "I don''t know why people didn''t stick to the traditional 3 to 18 base scale."


    "Percentile strength," Zanya said, getting a dark glare from Ife.


    "In any case, that''s all correct." The fox woman took a bite of her eggs. "Now, a question for you. What''s the best attribute for a warrior?"


    Shiina considered that. "Strength?"


    "Fortitude?" offered Delilah.


    "Luck," answered Zanya simply.


    Shiina considered that, then looked to Ife. There had to be an explanation to that. It couldn''t be something as simple as ''luck is good.''


    Ife nodded happily as if answering the unspoken question. "Think of the toughest warrior you''ve ever met. Now what would happen if someone slit his throat?" She motioned to show she meant all the way from ear to ear.


    "They''d die," Delilah said. "They might survive if healed immediately." That sounded right to Shiina''s ears. She wasn''t sure exactly how vital specific organs and blood were, but she knew humanoids needed them.


    "Humanoids are surprisingly fragile," Ife agreed. "And yet those lucky shots only seem to happen between people of similar level. Or when someone has a unique destiny. Most of the time when a lowly level 9 cutpurse tries to stab a level 30 warrior in their sleep the warrior wakes up. Or turns in their sleep at just the right moment. Or the knife slips, keeping the wound from being fatal."


    Shiina considered that. "Weren''t we talking about luck, not level? And what about the necromancer we killed? Or Graves? He had to be in the mid twenties, or higher."


    "Luck increases with level," Zanya said.


    "And you are a rare case." Ife made a religious gesture Shiina didn''t recognize. "The mighty gods of law designed this system. Those that ''earned'' power can''t be randomly killed off by ''lesser'' men. The powerful rule over the weak as they ordain." She made another supplication. "But the gods of chaos created a skill to oppose this rule. Assassination."


    Ife''s eyes locked on Shiina. "And all Mimics have that skill. With yours being the highest rank" Her gaze turned to Delilah. "And so do you. Though your rank is much much lower. Which should answer part of your question."


    "Oh." Delilah looked surprised.


    Shiina considered that. It all made sense, and yet at the same time it didn''t. "So how does this Assassination skill work? Because I''ve never noticed it."


    "Scholars have broken the skill into five tiers," Zanya said, taking over the explanation. "But unlike other skills the tier doesn''t affect how much luck you steal from the target. Whenever you use Assassination divine luck just stops mattering for your enemies. The skill level changes how much luck you have to sacrifice to make your opponent vulnerable.


    "E tier, the bottom and most common, is what Ife has. She loses all her luck. Whatever happens happens when she''s using Assassination." Zanya looked over at Delilah. "You''re better at D tier. You keep a little luck. Random animals and commoners probably won''t interfere.


    "I have C tier. When I choose to use my ability I keep enough luck to avoid getting my axe stuck in people or losing my grip because of sweat. It''s a slight edge, but I''m still in danger." Her eyes finally turned to Shiina. "And you have A tier. You don''t lose any luck. Which means you''re always in Assassination state. No one has any special defense against your attacks, no matter the level difference."


    "So as you see, your levels aren''t as important as you think." Ife shrugged. "Though after a bit you''ll get stronger anyway. After all, killing important people is a tried and true leveling method."


    That was a lot to take in. Shiina relaxed a little and mused on the revelations. It was hard to tell if they were telling the full truth, because based on what Zanya claimed Shiina would never notice the difference. This ''luck'' thing happened to other people.


    After another silence Zanya added, "We also really need a rogue and a healer. I''m tired of having to hire temporaries whenever we need to go into a dungeon. It comes out of our pay."


    Delilah snickered. "Well, we can at least help with your next dungeon."


    Shiina nodded. "And what comes after."


    The King of Gaius was marked for death. Why shouldn''t she have the satisfaction of killing him?


    <hr>


    I asked Ife if there are other secret skills like Assassination, and apparently there are! Assassination is just the most common one, with a lot of people having E tier. Especially people without a lot of magical potential.


    Next up is believed to be the "Boring" skill. People with that will miss out on huge dangerous events. They''ll go on a trip right before their village is raided, or the tornado will be two farms over. It''s not well studied because people who have it are kinda boring. But they tend to have very comfy lives.


    "Passion" is another big one. Dedicated artists and performers seem to gain it. It draws them to other artists and things they can use to boost their creativity.


    Other skills Ife said we might bump into are ''Survival,'' ''Health,'' and ''Comedy.'' There''s lots of minor skills but most aren''t well known, and they''re hard to find, much less scan for.


    Interestingly people with heroic destinies tend to just have a lot of luck. Though sometimes their luck isn''t really a good thing. A lot of, "How lucky! Your village is the one the new demon lord tried to attack. Now you have a heroic quest to bring you fame!" Lords and other bigwigs get the better luck.

 Gaius 2

    Shiina was starting to understand why Mali had decided to quit being a traveling adventurer.  Even with all the nice perks and pay the Arbiter agents had been telling them about during the trip.  "We''ve been walking forever...  How can you stand it?!"


    Ife gave her a smirk.  "Practice."


    "You haven''t even been walking," Zanya pointed out.


    That was technically true.  Walking was a stupid way of getting around.  Shiina had shifted into a wheeled cart and pushed herself along.  However, "It''s still work.  And we''ve been at it for three days!" she pointed out.  "Just because I don''t have your weird fleshy legs doesn''t mean I can''t get tired."


    "Please tell me it gets easier later," Delilah groaned.  "The last time my legs felt like this I was sore for the whole weekend."


    "If you''ve done this before it should only be one day," Zanya offered.  This didn''t seem like an improvement to Shiina.


    "The city is just up ahead," Ife said.  "You''ll be resting soon enough."


    As they passed the small rise Shiina saw Ife had been telling the truth.  Below them the land opened up, revealing a city that seemed massive to her eyes.  Walls here and there showed how the place had expanded over time.  To one side sat a decent sized castle, and beyond it all the endless blue she''d only read about before.  "The ocean!" she exclaimed.


    "Yep," Zanya said.  "We''ll be taking a ship out.after we finish our work."


    "But we''ve got a lot of things to do first," Ife said with a grin.  "Starting with getting an inn for our young greenhorns to rest in."


    Delilah sighed.  "I''d complain but I really could use a rest."


    As they moved on Shiina found her attention snapping here and there at all the strange things around her.  The closest farms looked normal to her, but there were strange plants being grown as the ground got a little more uneven.  After a bit she decided they must be grapes.  Maybe for wine?


    The road started to pick up traffic too, so Shiina reached out and grabbed onto Zanya, shifting into a backpack form.  The mage knight stiffened in surprise, then poked at her straps.  "What''s the idea?  You can walk.  Or roll, or whatever."


    "Not without hitting people," Shiina said.  "I''m not made for moving in crowds."  On the open road she''d learned how to move fast, but she wasn''t very agile then.  Zanya snorted but seemed to give in.


    They walked through the commons to the gate.  "Identification?" the gate guard asked.  Shiina morphed her upper part into a humanoid form and showed her guild papers.  "Here."


    "Wha-"  The two guards gripped their halberds tighter as Shiina giggled.  Still they recovered decently quickly, snatching the papers and pouring over them carefully.  "I see.  Guild sponsorship, of course.  Very well."


    "Are you going to do that every time we enter a city?" Ife asked with a certain sour note.


    "I''ll mix it up," Shiina replied happily.  "I have to surprise people you know.  It''s my primary diet!"


    The guard handed the papers back.  "Next time keep your clowning to the city square instead of the entry gate."


    "Fine, fine."  She slipped back into the backpack form and watched as the others got their papers cleared.  Delilah''s took the longest, probably because the woman was newly minted.  One of the biggest benefits of being part of the adventurers guild was getting to travel freely, but because of that forgeries were common.  Those that had stamps showing their travels would get the benefit of the doubt.


    Shiina''s documents on the other hand would probably get through most checks.  ''Mimic'' was not a common race.  And if they wanted to skip through security they usually could.


    Once all the paperwork was done they entered the city proper.  And into a swirling mass of chaos.


    Sounds were everywhere.  People talking, yelling, screaming.  To each other, to the crowds, to no one in particular.  And then there were dogs, horses, birds.  All sorts of sounds that tried to snatch Shiina''s attention away.  Her mind wanted to follow all of them but it was impossible.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    By the time she recovered and was able to tune out the noise of the city, they were at least two streets into town.  Still there was a lot to see.  And  Shiina had to admit she was impressed.


    Glasswork was everywhere, with street lamps every ten feet, and windows on every house.  Not just cloudy windows for letting light in, or stained glass, but pure glass windows that let people see into buildings without letting bugs through.  Crystals were also in great abundance, serving as buttons and fasteners on packs or accents on displays.  None of it was super fancy, but the iridescent colors were pretty.  She''d have to try to mimic them later.


    As her attention slipped off the shiny distractions she started to notice the people.  The houses here seemed to be better than any she''d seen in the small town she''d been to.  The shopkeepers and residents also were a lot less varied than home.  Mostly humans and halflings.  In terms of absolute numbers there were probably more other races than she''d run into before, but there were just so many humans and halflings around.


    They''d made it about a third of the way into the city when Zanya and Ife turned to one of the bigger side streets.  A ways down there was an inn, marked with the universal sign of a bed on the signboard.  For those that could read it was labeled ''The Shimmering Sea."


    The inside lived up to its name.  The tables here were all made of heavy stained glass and crystal held together by metal.  Meanwhile the walls had embedded crystals to give a shine to the walls.  And the servers all had glass and gems in their outfits.


    The clients were less shiny but still interesting.  This looked a lot more like the adventurers and merchants Shiina was used to.  She relaxed a bit despite the noise.


    Delilah seemed worried however.  "Is it okay to stay here?"


    "We get paid a lot, but we spend a lot.  That''s the curse of a traveling adventurer," Zanya said.


    Ife sniffed.  "A lot compared to a fixed adventurer perhaps.  It''s mid-tier for merchants.  Still Zanya''s correct.  There''s no point sleeping in the slums to save a few coins."  She tapped Shiina.  "You should come out too.  Best not act like we''re smuggling people into the room."


    "Oh right."  Shiina slipped off Zanya''s shoulders to drop on the floor in chest form.  She forced herself not to worry about all the people staring at her.  It was like being a real treasure chest.  People should stare at the cutest, smartest mimic, right?


    The master of the house finished pouring a few drinks then moved over.  "Adventurers I''m guessing?  Private room will be forty gold a night.  Commons is five gold a head.  Meals separate.  How long you planning on staying?"


    "We''ll be here for a week," Ife said, handing over three and a half coin threads.  "We might need an extension but I hope not."


    "Fair enough.  Cost will be the same though.  No discounts for length."  The man grinned.  "Or because one of you can fill in as a bed."


    Shiina smirked back.  "Cheapskate!  I bet you don''t even pay your tables."


    The man laughed.  "Girl, I''d like to see you copy one of these beauties.  They''re the pride of the ''Shimmering Sea.''"


    "Oh?"  Shiina turned her full attention to the table closest to her.  There were about a hundred irregular glass and crystal bits in it, but she didn''t need to mimic the inside, so she only had to consider the top and bottom.  The stains and marks on the surface made things a little more annoying, but she''d copied worse while practicing.


    After about a minute of study she did the shift.  First the general shape, then colors.  After that she filled in the textures and minor details.  As an extra she made sure to copy the irregularities in the table''s cast iron stand.


    That done she let her focus return to the room in general.  The crowd clapped, while the master laughed.  "I''ll be damned.  I can''t tell the difference with the two sitting there."  He tossed a spare gold at her.  "That''s worth a coin."


    "Aye!"  "Good work mimic!"  A few more coins arced towards her, and Shiina reverted form to catch them and bow.


    Ife patted her on the head.  "Well as amusing as that was, unless you''re thinking of becoming a performer we should get to our rooms."


    "Especially since you were the one complaining about the walk," Zanya added.


    "Fiiiine."  Shiina slipped the spare coins into her bag and followed the group up the stairs.


    <hr>


    I sorta know about Port Gaius.  Mali talked it up enough.  It''s not the same nation as our village, but it''s close, and it''s got a massive port.  Between that and its glass specialty it''s a massive trade hub.  Though the kingdom proper only gets some of the cut.


    Like most cities in the area, the adventurer''s guild handles minting money in Port Gaius.  The local guild prefers gold coins about two finger widths across, stamped with intricate designs.  These coins have a hole in the center, so strings of ten or one hundred can easily be put together.


    Since the port has a lot of people from different countries, the guild has several money exchanges closer to the water away from the main guildhall.  They''ve got guards and special vaults, just like a goldsmith would.  It''s said that the guild on this continent is actually the strongest military force, just because of all the money and soldiers they have.  As such guild politics can have sweeping changes across the Iron Eye continent.


    Still the nice thing is everyone agrees on what a coin is worth.  No matter where on the continent it''s from, whether silver, gold, or electrum, a properly crafted guild coin is worth the same as any other.  And because of this heavy hold on trade, countries within a month''s journey have similarly stable currencies.  Otherwise they''ll get replaced by Iron Eye guild coins.

 Gaius 3

    The room was admittedly nice.  It was quiet, the windows let in a good amount of shadows, and with two raised beds, a table, and a washbasin there was space to properly hide.  All things a proper room should have.


    Shiina put herself where a footchest would go while the humanoids put down their gear and sat on the beds.  Delilah looked worried for some reason.  "Sorry, did we draw too much attention downstairs?"


    "Oh, no don''t worry about that," Ife replied.  "I''m a little miffed the proprietor tricked Shiina into being cheap entertainment, but that''ll work to our advantage."


    Shiina blinked.  "What do you mean tricked?  I just won a bet fair and square."


    "He runs an inn catering to adventurers and experienced merchants.  He knew most mimics can pull off that transformation with some effort," Zanya said flatly.  "Because of that act he''ll have people sitting around gossiping longer.  And buying more drinks.  That''s why performers get a free meal for even a small set."


    "Oh."  Yeah, Shiina had almost made a meal''s worth of money from the coins.  But she was a very light eater.  She''d have to remember that for the future.


    "It is mildly annoying, but I suppose we do owe him for reminding us your skills can be used for more than just simple pranks and killings," Ife added.  "In larger towns it''s worthwhile to draw a small amount of attention.  Especially in fields unrelated to assassination.  I was going to suggest Deliliah do some charity healing actually."


    The half elf looked surprised, then smiled.  "That would be nice.  I did it back in my home village, but I''ve been too poor for that recently."


    Shiina considered that.  "How can you be too poor to give away healing?"


    "Finding paying work can be a full time job," Zanya offered.


    She supposed she didn''t have any experience on that front.  Shiina''s job had been ''surprising adventurers'' and she''d been handed that shortly after her creation.  As a bonus, that gave her most of her ''food.''


    Ife stretched and opened the window a bit.  "Well first we should plan out our dungeon run.  Rogues and healers can be underleveled in a party, but you two are a bit low for our usual work.  And we need to get Delilah out of that starter gear and into something passable."


    "Uh, we actually never asked your levels," Delilah said.  Shiina nodded.  The whole ''Assassination'' and ''Arbiters'' talks had kinda gotten in the way of that.


    "Twenty six," Zanya said.  Shiina''s lid fell back against the bed.  That kind of level difference put them way out of Shiina and Delilah''s league.


    Delilah looked similarly shocked.  "Can we even help you?  I mean sure you say our skills will overcome level differences but-"


    Ife patted the girl on the shoulder.  "You''ll catch up rather quickly.  As I said, killing powerful people is a great way to get levels.  And we''re doing dungeons for quick cash and an alibi.  Two experienced combatants helping a rogue and healer power level is far more common than you might think."


    "Especially among traveling adventurers," Zanya added.  "Local groups can be picky but we can''t."


    "What dungeon are we going to then?" Shiina asked.


    "The Crystal Manor," Ife replied.  "I''m hoping to get the greenhouse wing, but we could do a gardens run as well.  That will give us a proper staff for Delilah, and enough money to get some new robes.  Fortunately you''ve already got a fine weapon, Shiina."This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Shiina nodded, feeling the dagger hidden inside her.


    Dinah looked at Ife''s outfit.  "I think I''d prefer to find my own dressmaker.  Also aren''t you mostly wearing cotton?"


    Ife''s tail wagged as she laughed.  "Oh, you do have some bite!  It''s fine I realize ladies from more prudish lands are hesitant to enjoy such high fashion.  You can keep the cotton robes, unless you''ve got a passion for wool.  But we do need to get you some proper jewelry for defense."


    "How does jewelry help with defense?" Shiina asked.  Armor made sense for fleshy beings, but there was no way a bit of silver would stop an axe blow.


    Zanya raised an eyebrow.  "You weren''t taught about material enchantments?  I''d have thought you''d at least have seen the differences in gear."


    "I lived in a starter dungeon.  The big gear differences were how much starter crap people had on," Shiina pointed out.


    Ife snorted.  "Fair I suppose.  Delilah, perhaps you could explain."


    "Ah, sure."  Delilah looked down at Shiina.  "Most materials enhance some magic types, and disrupt others.  Iron and other hard metals enhance strength and fortitude, materials taken from animals that have been killed enhance agility and natural skills like poison, and crystals or wood enhance pure magic.  Precious metals can hold any enchantment.  So getting good jewelry will let me use my magic to defend myself better."


    "Oooh!"  Shiina nodded along.  That explained a lot.  "So that''s why magic knights don''t wear much.  Because their clothes would keep them from using their magic."


    Surprisingly Zanya shook her head.  "Wool doesn''t kill the creature and cotton plants don''t count, so they''re safe to use for mages.  I picked this style because my homeland is really hot, and I did want some speed enhancements."


    Shiina looked over at Delilah who returned the glance.  That seemed like a lot of skin to show just to keep cool.


    The half elf decided to take the obvious next question.  "Where are you from anyway?"


    "I''m from Tepeta, to the far west," Zanya said.  "Though I spent a lot of time traveling.  My mother''s a wizard and her tutor is one of the big bosses.  So I was aiming to join from the start."


    Ife sighed.  "I''m from a little closer.  Nubili, down south.  The pharaoh''s third son and one of the governors both started praising my beauty at the same time, so I decided it was time to take a long vacation before I ended up in the middle of a political incident.  Early on I joined a strike team to help put down some fourth rate ''Dark Lord.''  The Arbiters noticed my Assassination skill and recruited me."


    "Do they offer everyone with the Assassination skill a job?" Delilah asked.  "I have a hard time believing the ability is that rare."


    "About five percent of the population, but very rare for spellcasters," Zanya replied.  "No person capable of mastering complex attack magic has ever had an assassination skill over D."


    Shiina blinked.  "Wait, how can it be job based?  I thought humanoids like you could do almost anything if you put your mind to it.  You only specialize because it''s too hard to be good at everything."


    "As I said, it''s a gift from the gods of Chaos."  Ife made her supplication.  "In their wisdom they probably thought granting too much Assassination skill to people capable of dropping poison mist over an entire city would be bad."


    Ife shook her head, ears swiveling.  "Anyway, that''s the sordid story of our pasts.  We''ll need to do some minor runs and get your gear settled while we wait for our information gatherers to finish."


    Shiina and Delilah nodded.  The other half of their job, revenge.


    ----


    For any people who popped up in a dungeon like me, I''m sure you''re curious about why you can speak the same language as everyone else.  And for that matter, why everyone speaks a language pretty obviously invented by humans.  Apparently it''s a really famous story.


    Many centuries ago, a human queen declared that she was going to conquer the whole world.  And as such she created a massive ritual so that her ''future subjects'' would all be able to understand her commands.  Gathering all the mages she could she effectively cast a spell that force taught everyone her country''s language.


    The following war is called the First World War, or the Lightning War, both for how fast it went and how it was conducted.  Casting worldwide rituals gets you attention from archmages, and they raised objections to her conquest plans.


    When the storm had ended, the queen''s successor invited all the local nations for an apology banquet, where they pointed out that at least it would make diplomacy and trade easier.  Mali said the city is now a bastion for learning languages.


    Meanwhile everyone now knows the common language, though people keep their local languages alive.  And local idioms still confuse people.

 Gaius 4

    Shiina spent the night looking out over Port Gaius.  It seemed this place slept just like the other humanoid city, but where her old home enjoyed a deep sleep filled mostly by scuttling animals, Port Gaius was a restless sleeper.  Drunks, prostitutes, and guards wandered the night, along with some shadows that were probably thieves.  Shiina enjoyed watching the little shows play out.


    The noise of the city waking was a little less enjoyable, so she retreated to under the bed and focused on her books.  Sadly there wasn''t much time to read before the others awoke.


    Zanya was first, the woman doing some stretches before switching to meditating.  Ife woke up next, but refused to leave the blankets, muttering something in her native tongue.  Finally Dinah stirred, pulling herself out of bed with a yawn and a long stretch.


    The Ophidian knight seemed to take that as a sign to get moving.  "Ife get ready.  We''re heading to the guild."


    Ife muttered some more things, before forcing herself up.  "We''ll need to wake Shiina as well.  Even if she doesn''t need time to prepare."


    "I don''t need sleep either!" Shiina proclaimed smugly as she poked her humanoid form out from beneath the bed.  "I''m ready whenever."


    Ife blinked a few times then stood and grabbed her dress.  "Good, you can take watch for me when we get back on the road."


    "Rule is two watchers whenever possible," Delilah said off hand as she brushed her rebellious hair.  Ife gave the half elf a betrayed glare, but quickly returned to her own preparations.


    Now that she was paying attention instead of cleaning up their traveling camp, it was interesting how much the humanoid women paid attention to small details of their appearance.  None of them were as observant as her, but they also had to work a lot harder.  Ife''s careful makeup, Zanya''s scale polishing, and Delilah''s hair care all spoke to a deep understanding of how appearance mattered to humanoids.  Shiina wondered if she''d have enough energy to do all that work if each tiny bit of her transformation required so much effort.


    The humanoid''s next destination was the tavern below where they all ate way more than Shiina thought was needed.  Though admittedly the adventurers were all eating more than the merchants.  Maybe all that ridiculous effort required more food.  It didn''t seem like it should, since shapeshifting was way cooler, but it''s possible mimics were just naturally blessed.


    When her allies felt they were properly prepared she hopped on Delilah''s back, getting a smile from the half elf.  And with that they entered the streets.


    The trip over is loud as always, though Shiina found it a little easier to tone out some of the worst.  The guild hall was close, and it was interesting to compare it to home.  Her old guild hall was just a solid two story building.  This one stood three stories, and she could tell each floor was about twice as big as her home guild.  The decor and facing was nicer too, though the tables and chairs in the public area were low cost.  They probably had short lives now that Shiina thought about it.  She silently vowed to stick to non furniture disguises while in guild halls.


    To her surprise the guild seemed fairly orderly.  Maybe it was because they''d skipped the early job rush.  The board did look fairly picked over.  It might also just be how the branch was run.  She saw ten signboards around the counter, each showing the dungeon floors.  Black and white slates were pinned to each section, with a few yellows hanging around.


    Shiina slipped off Delilah''s back and rolled along behind the others as they approached the counter.  Ife was first to the front, her smile seeming to boost the mood of the clerk there.  "Hello.  We''d like to do a run of the Gardener''s Wing of the Crystal Castle.  Is that available?"


    "Gardener''s Wing?"  The man looked at the board.  Following his eyes Shiina could see it was marked in yellow.  "It''s available, but you''d have to do a clearing run.  And since there was a lost run in the Wine Cellars, it''ll be more dangerous than usual."


    Shiina blinked.  A ''lost run'' meant the party that had tried to run the dungeon had been forced to retreat with casualties.  So monsters might have wandered out of that location, possibly with loot taken from the fallen adventurers.  It also meant that expected levels meant less.  She checked the board again seeing the area was supposed to be level sixteen to nineteen.


    "It''s fine."  Zenya shrugged.  "We''re overleveled, so if anything bothers our friends we''ll kill it."  That was true.  The duo could in theory kill five level nineteen foes at the same time.  Each.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Understood."  The clerk pulled out a logbook.  "Fee is five gold each for a yellow tag clear mission, and there''s a fifty percent tax on glass that isn''t sold directly to the guild."


    Delilah and Shiina both gaped at that.  "Fifty?"  Shiina wondered how anyone made any money on that.


    "Local monopoly," the clerk said with a shrug.  "The guild cut is only ten percent.  And actually there''s a quest for one thousand panels of greenhouse glass, so those have already had the tax paid."  He paused.  "You do know how to cut glass right?"


    To Shiina''s surprise they all looked at her.  "I''ve only done work on thin sheets.  Nothing thick."  It wasn''t easy getting that training in either.


    The clerk smiled.  "It''s very similar.  Just carve a groove into the glass, then use a rod to break it at the line.  The important thing is getting solid straight lines."


    She relaxed.  "Okay.  I can do that."  It sounded like there''d be plenty of stuff to practice with as well, so she''d take a few practice tries before trying the work on something really expensive.


    They paid the guild fee and the clerk handed Ife a dungeon pass.  The pass here was a slate slab with the dungeon information all etched into it.  Shiina thought it was a lot more impressive then the wood tags back at the old guild.  Admittedly she''d been in a training dungeon and they didn''t give the test takers the good stuff.


    As she hopped back onto Delilah''s back she noticed a few people heading to the counter now that they were done.  "Why were they waiting so long to apply?"


    Delilah looked back.  "They''re harvesting groups I think.  Probably trying to get the remainder of the quest items."


    Shiina considered that.  Harvesting wasn''t something that happened in training dungeons, but she sorta remembered the details from the guild employment quiz.  "So they''re going to follow us and pick up the spare loot.  But why not team up and work as the point group?"


    Zanya looked back.  "Most harvesting teams are groups taking a break from hard fighting.  Because of a team injury, or just to have a lazy day.  They don''t want to be responsible for a full run."  She frowned.  "And could you look at me if you''re listening, Shiina?"


    Shiina forced her human form out of the pack to meet Zanya''s gaze.  "I mean, I''m not limited by ears and eyes like you."


    "It''s strange not seeing someone''s face when you''re talking to them," Zanya replied.  "And I know your hearing isn''t perfect, so you need to give a sign when you''re properly listening."


    "Okaaaaay," Shiina didn''t like it but it was probably the right thing to do.  Humanoids were so limited.


    Zanya led the group through the streets.  For a moment Shiina was confused, but after a moment she realized the Crystal Mansion must be inside the city.  Most dungeons were formed by people who weren''t exactly popular, but a few rich idiots apparently created the things either because they were going into debt or just as part of a power play.


    Which meant that the buildings around them were rich mansions with high walls, fronted by boring looking guards.  She tried poking her head out and sticking her tongue out at one, but she didn''t get any reaction.  At least not one she could notice.


    The dungeon itself at least stood out.  The walls were granite, with bits of mica shimmering all over.  The guards looked a little more attentive.  And the other humans avoided the gate.  Shiina watched at least three people cross the street to avoid walking next to the entrance.


    Shiina hopped off just in case the door guards wanted a headcount.  That at least got a raised eyebrow and a tiny bite of surprise from the guards, which in her mind meant they were vastly superior to the idiots along the way.


    Still that was all she got.  "Token?" the woman on the left asked.


    "Here you go," Ife replied, handing over the slab.


    The woman nodded.  "Bottom floor, back of the entryway, furthest door on the left side from the entrance.  It will be marked as well."


    They opened the gates, revealing a path cobbled with polished mother of pearl.  But a single step brought them past that to the open mansion doors.  Inside was a mix of sark and light.  Black rugs and tapestries matched dark wood, while glittering crystal and glass served as decorations.  Large stairs led upwards, but Zanya led their group to the indicated door, which was marked with a sign and a sigil for those who couldn''t read the local script.


    "Okay!  Now let''s prepare for a proper dungeon run," Ife said.  Shiina slipped her dagger out.  Time to see how much she''d gotten out of Mali''s stories.


    <hr>


    So Mali said countries love having dungeons because they can get all sorts of loot out.  But doing that takes a lot of effort.  Occasional dungeon runs will help train your guards, but if they''re farming gems or whatever they aren''t guarding anything except the dungeon.  Which apparently is a problem.


    So you need people to go in and grab all that tasty loot for your city.  But obviously the people doing the runs want a cut of the profits.  Guilds help negotiate and maintain that relationship.  They also serve as low level enforcement of basic laws.  If someone has a guild card you can be relatively certain they aren''t going to just randomly start murdering people, and they''ll pay your taxes.  Meanwhile guilds make sure adventurers don''t get short changed, and prevent groups from murdering each other over the best dungeon runs.


    In general most cities let the guild handle all the taxes and fees for the city.  Especially in places where the guild is very strong like here.  In fact some adventurers might be more scared of the guild than the local guard....

 Gaius 5

    Zanya pulled out her double headed battle axe, while Ife and Delilah produced staves.  Ife''s was copper around cheap crystal, with a crude serpent head at the top.  Shiina showed her dagger and waved it about, letting her arm ignore human limitations for a bit.


    "How far can you stretch?" Zanya asked with a curious eye.


    "Uh, about this far."  Shiina stretched out about fifteen feet.  "But it loses strength about two thirds of the way there.  And it''s not super maneuverable so I can''t reach around and stab someone in the back or anything."


    Zanya nodded slowly.  "Still useful.  We''ll train later."  Shiina felt a mix of pride and concern at the whole training thing.  "For now, stick to the basics.  Delilah, give us your enhancements."


    "Okay."  Delilah moved into the center of them all and raised her staff.  "Blessing of Friendship.  Aid of Life.  Strength of Courage."


    Sparkling lights washed over them before fading away.  Shiina felt a tingle run through her, but after a moment it faded as well.  "Um.  Did it work?"


    "Yes."  Ife smiled.  "It seems you''re more skilled than most at your level. Shiina, small enhancements should be almost imperceptible."


    Zanya nodded.  "If you let people feel the small differences experienced warriors will make mistakes.  Only large improvements should be obvious.  What are the strictures?"


    Delilah shouldered her staff.  "Friendship applies so long as we''re working together.  The blessing will boost any action we take to help the group, which is most of them.  Only if you abandon or betray the party will it fade.  Aid is attached to the will to survive, so it shouldn''t fade but it mostly just helps reduce injuries.  Courage obviously is any action to fight or save someone, so it''s only useful in fights or against traps."


    That sounded like a pretty good list to Shiina.  "Is that standard for all support mages?"


    Ife shook her head and smiled.  "No, Delilah here is better than most low levels.  Average support mages can''t match their enhancement and strictures that well.  It''s similar to goals for attack mages like myself."


    Delilah blushed a little at the praise before asking, "What are your specialties, Ife?"


    "I prefer light and dark elements," Ife replied.  "I can''t use wind and ice among the standard elements."


    Zanya shouldered her axe.  "Wind is my preferred element, so we''re covered there."


    Shiina didn''t know exactly how that all added up, but she figured she''d learn.  "So do we have a plan?"


    "Yes."  Zanya started towards the door.  "Ife and I kill everything, Delilah heals if needed, and Shiina tries to find a way to help.  After that we loot and move on."


    That didn''t sound like much of a plan, but she didn''t have time to ask for more.  Zanya threw open the door.  Shiina had enough time to see three humans in maid and butler costumes with crystals poking out of their bodies.  And then Zanya was in the middle of them, axe swiping through the air.


    Her swing slammed one monster to the ground, and before anyone else could react, she hit the other one in the gut with the shaft.  A bolt of darkness flew through the air dropping the butler creature, right as Zanya planted her axe firmly through the maid thing''s head.


    The bodies fell to the ground leaving Shiina and Delilah sitting in stunned silence.  Ife walked in, before turning around and smirking.  "What?  Those were just the door guards.  Come now, we aren''t going to find anything that will slow us down for at least two rooms."


    "If they can slow you down, what are we going to be able to do?" Shiina complained as she worked her way into the room.  It was set up like a sitting area, with two couches and a long low table in the middle, with a garden window and a few dressers with vases around.  In keeping with the decor the table had a class top, all the dressers had crystal decorations on the front, and the flowers were glass.  The sofas meanwhile had crystals randomly shoved into them.  Or were they growing out of them?  Either way it didn''t seem like that would make for good furniture.


    "That''s what you''ll need to figure out," Zanya said.  "You do have the assassinate ability, so you might be able to surprise us."


    Delilah looked down at the humanoids that had been cut down.  "What are these things?"


    "''Crystal Horrors'' is the common name," Zanya said.  "Mockeries of the original servants.  There will be footmen and gardener variants as we push in.  They''re mostly just creepy looking and strong.  Otherwise they''re humanoid."


    "They don''t look like it," Delilah muttered.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Shiina peered at the corpses.  She couldn''t notice any oddities in the figures.  Sure they didn''t look exactly like other humanoid races, but other humans didn''t look like each other either.  Was this part of those humanoid ''instincts'' maybe?  She committed the details to memory.  She could learn more later.


    Right now she had to check the room.  She moved over to the fancy door out, while letting her attention roam over all the little details.  The little cracks in the floor, the design of each dresser, the poison needle lurking in the fake door lock.  All of them got a quick once over before she started acting.


    As she started sliding over to the side of the room, Ife groaned.  "Don''t tell me you plan to search the room for treasure.  We can leave the early looting to the followers.  There won''t be anything good here."


    "Rule two," Shiina said, mimicking Mali''s voice.  "There''s always something hidden in the first room."


    Delilah looked confused, "That''s-"


    Shiina pulled away the secret panel on the side of the corner dresser before smirking at the two casters.  Inside was a pouch filled with dungeon gold.  "Always."


    Ife shook her head while Zanya chuckled.  "You really are Mali''s student."


    Shiina felt a mix of pride and sadness at the simple statement.  For now she put the gold away and headed back to the door leading on.  "The door''s trapped too, so I''ll handle that."


    They proceeded on through the next five rooms quickly, with Zanya quickly hacking down the opposition and Ife cleaning up before Shiina swept the room.  There weren''t any more good finds and the traps were second rate, but at least it was fast.


    "No traps," Shiina said for the next door.  Zanya nodded and readied herself before reaching for the handle.


    The next room looked like a poor mix between a hothouse and a tea room that had been absolutely wrecked.  In the middle stood a mockery of a unicorn.  Its eyes were bloodshot, and its where its horn and glossy mane should be were cancerous crystal growths.  Around it several stablehand dressed horrors stood in attendance.


    Zanya''s stance shifted slightly.  "Hold the door, Shiina."


    The magic knight rushed in. "Dismissal Gust." A wave of her hand slammed two of the stablehands into the wall, while her axe cut the legs out from a third.  The equine horror whinnied in rage, and charged, but Zanya jumped.  "Death Leap," the magic knight muttered as she hopped into the air nearly to the ceiling then plummeted down, axe first.


    Shiina''s attention flickered back to the other four creatures, who were all running at the open door.  That seemed super unfair to her.  Still she quickly reached out a psuedopod and grabbed hold of the door frame before sliding her body right in the middle.  She readied her dagger, summoned up some deadly poison and prepared for battle.


    The first one got hit by some sort of dark energy and fell down.  The second got set on fire by a bright light and started rolling around.  But the third raised a pitchfork and tried to stab her.  Shiina hardened the part of her ''chest'' that was getting poked at and lashed out with her knife.  She felt her blade bite into flesh, resisting and trying to twist the blade, but she pressed on.


    And then the pitchfork slammed into her hardened body.


    It hurt.  Hurt more than she''d ever felt in her life.  The damn pitchfork hadn''t even breached her skin and she HURT!


    Her humanoid body glooped back into her main form.  On instinct she let out two pseudopods and grabbed the other monster''s shoulders before dragging it towards her body.  When the thing''s head was inside she let her ''lid'' become razor sharp and she slammed shut.  The neck resisted for only a second.


    Warm blood hit her like a blast of savory salt.  It tasted amazing, not quite like anything she''d eaten before, and the burst of flavor seemed to wash away the pain.  She unconsciously rolled the head around on a makeshift tongue, trying to get every last bit of flesh.


    The euphoria faded quickly however.  Shiina''s brain caught up just in time to see the last stablehand raising their pitchfork for a stab.  She tried hardening again, bracing for the attack.


    A bolt of darkness slammed into its face sending the creature to the ground.  Shiina relaxed a little and looked around.  Zanya had cut down the fake unicorn which left the room clear.  Delilah was concentrating, while Ife was stretching after the final kill.


    Shiina realized the half elf was probably healing her so she spat out the skull and resummoned her humanoid form.  "Ah, thanks.  You can stop now though.  I''m fine."


    Delilah let out a sigh of relief.  "Oh good.  I was worried because I don''t know about mimic injuries."


    "Apparently I don''t either."  Shiina frowned as she pulled herself through the doorway.  "I thought hardening myself would keep me from getting hurt."


    Zanya walked over.  "Maybe against something three or four levels lower than you, but anything equal or higher level is a threat to someone in full mail with standard magical enhancements.  And mail isn''t part of a human''s body.  We can sacrifice armor to protect our bodies.  You can''t."


    "You''ll probably want to look into shields," Zanya added, heading back into the room.  "For now let''s start looting.  We can do the full breakdown after."


    Shiina sighed.  This hadn''t been as awesome as she''d expected her first dungeon run to go.  She perked up a bit as she looked around the room.  Still there was looting to do!  That was her specialty.  And she''d get to try out some new stuff.


    ------


    Levels are a super weird and messy thing, but some parts are really simple.  Basically it boils down to ''how powerful you are.''  Higher levels are stronger than lower.  The actual numbers are some kinda exponential thing.  Ife said something about ten levels being a power of ten higher?  It''s part of that complicated math stuff.


    But that''s not the real weirdness about levels.  See levels measure how powerful you are, not exactly how good you are at fighting.  Sure a level 40 wizard who spent all their life studying has enough magical power to just obliterate anyone under level 33 that tries to attack them.  But a 35th level fighter might make him sweat.  Similarly there are bad matchups.  A match between an archer and a swordsman cares a lot about distance if they''re close enough level to threaten each other.


    Zanya said that with luck modifiers, there''s no point in anyone without Assassination trying to kill someone more than 7 levels above them.  If you do have that though, nobles, assassins, and hunters tend to be overleveled compared to their actual skills.  And pure fighters of course are always at the peak of their level skill wise.

 Gaius 6

    It turned out cutting glass wasn''t hard at all.  Well it was very hard, but only in a physical sense.  Once Shiina figured out how to get her pseudopods tough enough to get a groove in the glass it was simple.  Carve the desired shape into the glass.  Make a mold to match the groove, carefully break the glass along the lines.  The surface was rough and there was a lot of glass sand, but that was a problem for the buyer.


    "As much fun as you''re having Shiina, we should probably move on," Ife said with a grin.


    Shiina pouted, but the woman was right.  "Okay."  Maybe there''d be a treasure chest or something!


    Zanya moved to her side as she felt up the door.  "So much nicer knowing all that work won''t go to hireling fees."


    "Wait, doesn''t that mean I can get more going solo?" Shiina realized.


    "You can get more per job," Delilah said.  "You saw how hard it was to get a job."


    "Oh.  Yeah."  Shiina nodded.  That made some sense.  If you couldn''t get money often you''d have to ask for a lot.  Something to consider for after this mission.


    Ife looked pleased.  "Many aren''t as wise as you are.  Nice to see we found clever allies."


    "But we need to make you well equipped allies so-" Zanya opened the next door revealing a crystal storage shed and their next victims.


    Zanya smashed her way through most of the enemies, while Ife cut down the rest.  None of the crystal gardeners or glass plants got an attack off, though Shiina managed to stab one.


    The individual rooms started to blur.  A few stood out a little.  The ballroom they stumbled into was very nice.  Mirrored walls, crystal chandeliers, and glass furniture everywhere created a shining monument to wealth.  Shiina grabbed a shimmering glass rose from one of the vases along the way just because it was pretty.


    Finally they ended up in a proper greenhouse, with a large set of double doors leading on.  And as a bonus there was a treasure chest!


    "That should be the end of this section," Ife said, nodding to the doors.  "If we''re lucky a crystal treant will be past it.  If not we''ll just harvest a good branch from the orchard for a new staff.  Either way that will be the end of the run."


    "But first treasure!" Shiina said shifting towards the chest.


    Zanya raised an eyebrow.  "Not going to check if it''s a mimic?"


    Shiina turned her human torso to stare at the woman.  As if she couldn''t sense one of her brethren from this distance.  She kept the glare up until the humanoids all looked embarrassed.  "Apologies," Zanya said, looking away.  Shiina nodded and went back to the chest.


    It was a nice big one, similar to the fake chest she''d used back in her old dungeon.  Of course this one actually had a real lock with tumblers.  It also had a magical rune in the back that would violently electrocute anyone who fiddled with the lock.  She worked to get rid of that first.


    She carefully went over Mali''s instructions as she handled the trap.  First was to determine what the trap was associated with.  Dungeons only used ''protecting,'' ''holding,'' and ''killing,'' as the foundations of magical traps.  The magical trap had the rune for ''holding'' and ''killing'', which meant it was a double stage trap.  One rune was guarding the other, so they''d have to be eliminated in order.


    Honestly given the level range she could probably assume holding was the primary rune and killing the secondary rune.  After all, holding wouldn''t protect the rune itself from thieves.  But it was better to work through the whole system instead of rushing.


    Next was to check the power connections.  Sadly it seemed the rune gathering power from the dungeon was attached to both the associated runes, so there was nothing useful there.  She marked the other runes that were being fed power with chalk, then advanced to the next step.


    Electricity was a big part of the trap so she traced the connections of that rune.  Most of them were to fakes or deception runes, but it did trace back to killing.  That was good.  It meant the killing rune controlled the lethal part of the trap.


    She then moved to the holding rune and looked over the connections there.  Clearing out the fake runes she discovered it was attached to ''honesty,'' and ''ownership.''  That must be how the person with the key could get in.  Not that dungeon chests usually had keys.  But they liked pretending.  Finally there was an anti tamper rune and the connection to the killing rune via some general spellwork.


    With the trap''s details all hashed out, she began disarming.  First sever the anti tampering protections.  Then cut the power to the electricity rune and the various confusion runes.  Finally scratch out killing, then the holding runes.


    "Done!" She happily announced.  With that she went to the tumblers.


    This was both easier and harder.  She forced herself to use fingers, to keep her hands working like a human''s would instead of letting her pseudopods go wild.  Feeling the tension of the lock and the click of the tumblers.


    Eventually the lock popped open.  Shiina peered in and smiled as she saw several real gems and a heavy parchment.  "Ooh!  Magic item~!"If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Delilah leaned over.  "Um, let''s see....  Selective Parchment?  Oh it limits who can read it."


    "A good find.  We might have a use for it in our job," Ife said.  "As for the gems..." the fox woman leaned over and checked them.  "No real magical potential from any of them, but jaspers are rare in this area so they might get interest as something different from the local crystals.  Probably worth three hundred as a group."


    "Okays."  Shiina handed them over to Ife since her bag of holding was mostly filled with glass.  "So what''s the plan with the boss?"


    Zanya shouldered her axe.  "Assuming it''s there, Delilah throws her strongest mana boost on Ife, and Ife shows what happens when she cuts loose instead of hoarding energy for emergencies."


    "That''s the plan for if it''s not there too," Ife said with a smirk.  Zanya raised an eyebrow, but Ife continued.  "If there''s no boss we''ll want to sweep up the trash quickly.  If there''s a different boss I''m not interested in finding out what strange tricks it has."


    That didn''t seem to leave much for Shiina, but maybe there''d be another chest or something.  "Alright.  Let me finish sweeping the room."


    She checked over everything one last time, not finding any goodies.  With a shrug she focused on the humanoids again.  "This room is cleaned out."


    Delilah looked around herself.  "It''s a little weird that you can look everywhere without moving at all."


    "What''s weird is you people and your only seeing in front of you," Shiina replied before sticking her tongue out.  She followed it up with a wink since she wasn''t sure how well Zanya understood her jokes.  Reading people was hard, and the Ophidian was more stoic than most.


    "A valiant attempt but most humanoid''s tongues don''t go past their chin," Ife said, tail swishing happily.


    Shiina pouted.  All these little stupid hidden details were hard!  No one complained if you got the inside of a chest wrong.  Well okay they complained a lot but it was usually more about the biting and the dying parts.  Not the construction details.


    They moved as a group over to the final doors.  Delilah concentrated, holding her staff towards Ife.  "Splendor and Awe, grant this woman the Power she deserves."


    Ife laughed and arranged her long black hair.  "Well, you know how to flatter a woman.  That''s quite a boost.  Shiina, Zanya, if you''d please?"


    Figuring that was the cue, Shiina pushed open one of the double doors while Zanya got the other.  Inside was the crystal treant, a twenty foot tall tree with a gnarled face filling up its trunk, crystal eyes darting wildly about.  Surrounding it were gardeners with twisted crystal growth sprouting from them, all laying corpses down at its feet.  Shiina figured that was probably a bad thing.


    It didn''t matter though.  Because Ife pointed and snapped her fingers.  "By divine right I decree your extermination.  Judgment of Anubis."


    A beam of blinding light and one of incredible darkness spun from her staff, circling each other in a double helix.  They grew closer and closer until they slammed together in front of the crystal treant.


    Shiina''s sense of sight shut down.  When she could see again the room was now completely filled with corpses.  The treant had toppled over and all the gardeners were now lifeless on the ground.  "Wow," she finally said.


    "Remember I''m an average combatant," Ife said as she wandered in.  "Well in terms of power.  The guards we''re going to be dealing with will be my equal in a fight."


    That was a little worrying, Shiina had to admit.


    "Which is why you won''t be fighting them," Zanya said.  "But I''ll be training you how to in the future.  For now let''s get the items."


    Shiina wandered in and looked over the place.  "No chests."  She gave the bodies some attention.  "All monsters.  Though I don''t recognize some of them."  The ones that the gardeners had been offering as tribute all had crystals in them, but she couldn''t see what they were through the damage.


    "Check the pockets for spare change and items," Ife said as she started looking over the treant.  "Delilah come over here.  We need to find a good branch for you."


    Shiina started going through the pile.  The large gold and silver coins that formed in dungeons for some reason, a few crystalline sickles and crude weapons, and in a pocket of a corpse at the bottom, a torn page with arcane scribbles.  "Oooh!  Found something!"  She checked it and quickly determined these weren''t trap runes.  "Yeah it''s for one of you."


    Zanya looked from her own looting and scanned the paper.  "A spell base for a limited ritual.  Divination I think.  Interesting.  Nice find."


    "Er, so is it expensive?" Shiina asked.


    "Probably not," Zanya admitted.  "It''s only part of a spell, so it will require a proper researcher to make something useful out of it.  But I''m pretty sure Delilah and Ife will be able to use it for their own needs."


    Shiina felt a little down that they hadn''t gotten anything super nice.  She''d expected more loot.


    Zanya patted her on the shoulder.  "Not all the stuff is super exciting.  But between the glass you harvested and spare coins we''re all getting three hundred coins after the guild cut.  That''s a pretty good profit for a low level dungeon like this."


    "Really?"  Shiina considered it.  "I guess all those coins add up."


    "Yep.  One of the things Mali was right about."  Zanya moved towards the other women.  "Sadly she was mediocre in a fight, so once we find a proper staff and do some logging you''re going to be joining me for combat practice."


    The mimic slunk after.  She knew she needed that.  But it didn''t sound like fun.


    Maybe she could unlock the mythical skills of the bard and insult people to death instead?  It was worth a thought.


    <hr>


    One of the first things to be (re)formed by a dungeon level is a ''boss.''  Zanya says it''s a holdover from when the levels were meant to hold off invaders.  The fodder along the way filters out weaker threats, but the boss is the cornerstone of defense.


    As such they''re both the most dangerous thing in a dungeon level, and they usually guard the best loot.  Killing one causes the dungeon to enter a ''repair mode'' where it draws in power to reform the boss, reset the rooms leading to it, and then fill in the monsters.  This is why adventurers can''t just nibble at the fringes to make a profit.  You need to go in and kill the boss to get things (other than monsters) reforming.


    Bosses are unique in that unlike the other dungeon creatures (me!) they can be intelligent, but are always soulless.  They''re also always hostile, except to other dungeon monsters.  Finally they don''t need to eat or drink, meaning they can hang out in their boss chamber forever.  (They might still eat adventurers, but just for fun.)

 Gaius 7

    Fortunately for Shiina, Ife had insisted they take the rest of the day off, so mastering violence wasn''t in the cards.  Instead the fox woman was taking them on a shopping tour.  Or at least that''s what she claimed.  Right now she was pouring over a map, ears twitching.  "I swear it was this way.  That''s what the guild woman said...."


    Delilah shook her head to clear it then leaned towards Zanya.  "Weren''t we supposed to turn two streets ago?"


    Zanya gave an almost imperceptible nod.  "Yes."


    "You''re enjoying this," Shiina accused the stoic woman.  There was no other good reason to let Ife stew this long.  Zanya refused to admit her guilt.


    Fortunately after a little bit of hesitation Delilah took command of the situation.  She walked up to Ife and pointed at the map.  "I think this store is the one over there, right?"  The half elf indicated the bakery they''d passed already.  "So we want to go down this street."


    Ife blinked before folding up the map.  "Ah of course!  That explains everything.  Thank you Delilah.  Let''s go then."


    Shiina waited for them to get back on the right track and followed along.  As they continued she noticed Ife was occasionally giving glaces to where Delilah was, changing her direction to match the half elf''s guidance while still pretending to lead.


    She wasn''t sure why the elaborate act was required.  This probably fell under ''humanoids being weird'' but she made sure not to let Ife actually navigate if they ever wanted to get somewhere fast.


    The stores here were a mix of jewelry shops, showing off the crystal and glass art that the city loved, and clothing stores filled with the latest fashions from abroad.  Here and there bakeries and kitchens sat, small tables filled with customers.  The streets weren''t full, but there were a lot of humanoids wandering around looking through the windows at unique items.  But most seemed to just be looking.  Few actually wandered into a store for long.


    "Sooooo, why would an adventuring gear shop be here?" Shiina asked.


    "Wrong question~" Ife said with a wink.  "We''re not looking for an adventuring supplies store."


    Shiina swiveled her body back to the others.  After a moment Delilah answered.  "It''s a magical goods shop since I need a custom staff made.  There''s no point asking a blacksmith or general goods store."


    "Aha.  But what about the gear I need?" She turned her head towards Zanya.


    Zanya shrugged.  "There should be something usable there.  They work with magic knights too.  If not we can get guild standard to start."


    "And here we are."  Ife walked towards a larger store whose sign called it ''Enchanting Fashion.''  Mannequins in well tailored robes sat in the extra large window.  Someone must have used some interesting enchantments to cleanly refuse glass into such a large sheet.


    As they stepped inside Shiina could taste aromatic herbs in the air.  The lighting was mixed, offering shadows and bright light depending on where you stood.  Robes filled most of the floor while staves and rods filled the walls.  Complex jeweled buckles and necklaces sat closer to the back where a woman was sewing.


    The woman looked up.  "Welcome."  Her eyes flickered over the group''s attire.  "Are you here for some new robes?  Something that better fits the local fashion?"


    Delilah blinked a few times then moved to the counter.  "Oh right.  I''m here to get a better staff.  If you can use this."  She pulled out the crystal log they''d managed to harvest.  It was far too thick to serve now, but it was mostly straight.


    The shopowner looked it over.  "Ah from the Mansion.  Right, it shouldn''t be too hard.  What baseline enchantment do you want?  Knowledge or Faith?"


    "Knowledge," Delilah said.  "And how much would a secondary ''Assistance'' enchantment cost?"


    "Hm, pure support?" the woman looked up, and got a nod from both Ife and Delilah.  "One hundred for a basic staff, fifty for each enchantment.  An extra one hundred if you want it entwined."


    Delilah hesitated, so Ife stepped up.  "Please.  Also a simple copper defense necklace with glass gems."  She turned to Zanya.  "What else?"


    "Basic buckler and basic shield if you have them.  Metal preferred," Zanya said.


    The woman sniffed.  "I think I have some back here.  Let me see."  She rummaged around before pulling out two shields.  One fairly small, the other about two feet across.  Both simple steel.  "One fifty for both."Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "Done," Zanya said.  The woman handed over a string and a half and then handed the items to Shiina.  "This should do for now."


    "A shield?"  Shiina looked at the things.  "That doesn''t seem like a rogue thing."


    "You don''t fight like a rogue," Zanya said.  "And you''re not going to be using a shield normally either.  We mostly want something hard for people to stab that doesn''t get you hurt."


    Shiina liked the sound of ''not getting hurt'' so she put the two items inside her.  "Okays.  What next?"


    "Are you sure you don''t want new robes?" the woman offered.  "Even if we use your preferred styles I''m sure I can get some better enchantments on them than what you currently have."


    "We''ll probably be heading north after this, so it''d be better to save up and get some arachne silk garments," Ife replied apologetically.


    The woman sighed.  "Fair enough.  Though I must warn you they are quite expensive.  You may end up with something more... abbreviated than your current outfits."


    "I''m sure we''ll work something out," Ife said with a shrug.  Delilah chuckled weakly.


    As they exited Shiina overheard Zanya whisper to Delilah, "Don''t worry.  I''ll make sure there''s enough for a dress at least."


    The half elf gave a weak smile.  "Ah, I figured as much.  Ife wears a lot actually even if her priorities are... off.  Sorry I''m just a little tired."


    Shiina looked closer at her friend and realized she was a little flushed.  She reached out and placed a psuedopod on the woman''s forehead ignoring the woman''s startled gasp.  Sure enough Delilah was warmer than humans were supposed to be.  "Huh, I think you have a fever."


    "That''s-!" the woman blushed more.  "Oh.  Early.  Well uh, I should probably go back to the inn.  You can um, finish shopping.  I should be fine with a bit of rest."


    "Hm hm," For some reason Ife was grinning smugly while her tail swished about.  She put an arm around Delilah''s shoulder.  "That sickness is it?  Well, I''m willing to help you out.  If you''re okay with it of course.  Zanya and Shiina can finish the shopping."


    Shiina was worried that poor Delilah was so hot she might faint.  But apparently humanoids could handle higher temperatures than Shiina thought.  The half elf blinked a few times, looked at Ife, then nodded.  "I think I''d appreciate that."


    As the two hurried off, Zanya put a hand on Shiina''s head.  "Well let''s find something to do for a couple of hours.  You like baked sweets?"


    "Yeah!"  Shiina automatically responded.  Zanya started down the street, but Shiina quickly zeroed back in on all the weirdness.  "So what was that?  What aren''t you telling me?"


    Zanya hissed and frowned.  "Did Mali give you the birds and the bees speech?"


    "You mean sex?" Shiina replied.  "Yeah I know what you''re talking about.  I''m not a kid, and mimics don''t even do that.  That''s something for you weirdos who aren''t formed by eddies of magic and planar interactions."


    That got a snort from Zanya and her annoyance faded.  "Sure.  Well there''s a lot of details there that aren''t brought up a lot."


    "Really?"  Shiina shook her head.  "Seems like there''s way too many details that get brought up.  You wouldn''t believe the nonsense they claim mimics do."


    "Of course Mali would give you those books.  Are they at least worth a laugh?"  Zanya asked as she picked out a place selling what looked to be sugar cakes.


    Shiina was glad she could focus on things without giving it away with eye movements.  The one with frosting looked divine.  "Depends.  Some were hilarious.  Others were good books with just areas you glossed over.  And a fair amount of garbage."


    She waited while Zanya ordered a small version of the cake and tea, then hopped onto one of the outside chairs so she wouldn''t have to stretch.  "So anyway, what''s this got to do with Delilah being sick?  Doesn''t seem connected."


    "Like I said, there''s a lot of little details," Zanya replied, flopping down in her own seat.  "For example, elves go into heat.  Happens every forty years or something and it actually is dangerous for them if they don''t get pregnant or magical relief.  It''s the only way their race survives given their ever shifting obsessions."


    That seemed like a really stupid way to design a living creature, but elves were weird to begin with.  Still there was one detail.  "Delilah''s not a full elf," Shiina pointed out.  "And I''m pretty sure humans don''t have those issues.  They can sleep with pretty much anything at any time.  Or at least that''s what their books suggest."


    Zanya snorted again and grinned.  "Yeah.  Lot of the mammal-like humanoids are that way.  Humans are the most obvious though.


    "Anyway, she''s got both bloodlines in her.  And that means she''s got traits from both.  Half elves go into heat monthly, but it''s not deadly and easier to deal with."  Zanya completed her explanation and started on the tea.


    Shiina digested all that as she started putting honey in her tea.  "I think I get it.  But how is Ife going to help?"


    Zanya stared at her for a bit.  "I know, if Mali was the one supplying those books, you''re aware two women can be in a physical relationship."


    "Well yeah but-"  Shiina finally added it all up.  "Ooooooh."  She hadn''t expected Ife to be that forward.  Or Delilah to agree to something like that.  Well, at least her guesses on what humanoids found attractive were very correct.


    She sipped her tea and added a bit more honey.  "You humanoids are weird."


    "Yeah," Zanya admitted.


    <hr>


    I was kinda curious about why monsters are uncommon.  After all they pop out of dungeons, no parents required.  That''s gotta give an advantage right?  Unfortunately no.  For some reason monsters from different dungeons, or even different parts of the same dungeon, can''t interbreed.  With intelligent monsters being rare, and most of those being mimics... most monster groups can''t form a stable population.


    Mimics like me and constructs just don''t need to reproduce.  We''re immortal.  Or at least we age way way slower than anyone but the elves.  There''s apparently ways to make more mimics but I''m not required for most of them.  That''s wizard nonsense.  So yeah, all those raunchy books about mimic breeding are lies.  Which is probably for the best.


    The other monster groups that have managed to become part of the humanoid world as it were are monogender monsters (arachne, minotaurs) and hybrids (centaurs, merfolk).  Monogender monsters are fine because they can breed with humanoids already.  Meanwhile hybrids are kinda a weird thing.  Just because they''re technically different species doesn''t stop them from interbreeding.  So modern versions are the fertile offspring of the first monster unions.  And they''ve thrived.

 First Regicide 1

    The next morning Delilah was blushing instead of overheating, which probably meant the matter was handled. So Shiina focused on trying to figure out what Zanya was going to be teaching her fighting wise. She''d tried to get some info out of her yesterday while they were wandering around town, but the ophidian woman refused to go into details.


    After breakfast she''d led them all to the guild''s training ground. Set in the basement, it was way too bright. Magical lighting shown down pretty much everywhere from crystals hung from the ceiling. The nice stone was covered in sawdust as well, though Shiina supposed that made sense for people who could bleed. There were fighting circles, straw dummies, racks filled with wooden practice weapons and one of the longer walls was dedicated for practicing ranged attacks.


    At least it was mostly quiet. A few groups were doing sword drills or archery practice in some rings, but there was plenty of room. It''d probably fill up after the morning dungeon runs. Shiina doubted the guild would pay for space that didn''t get used.


    Zanya sat down on one of the benches at the side, and Shiina plopped herself nearby. Delilah and Ife followed suit. "So, first we need to discuss how we fight as a group. Based on that last run, Delilah you should stay close to me or Ife. Shiina, you should stand between Ife and the attackers. Ife, you finally get to be a stationary caster."


    Ife fanned herself. "At last, the position I was always destined to fulfill~"


    That seemed off to Shiina. "Isn''t it usually the rogues job to attack the weaker monsters? Kill the vulnerable ones while the warrior distracts the big monster?"


    Zanya raised an eyebrow briefly, her slitted eyes considering the question. "Hm, perhaps you saw that in the books you read? That is the popular view in this land I guess. The reality is the fighter does their best to kill the most dangerous foe. The rogue is a mobile distraction. Dancing around avoiding attacks, but demanding attention because ignoring them invites a lethal blow.


    "You meanwhile have no legs." Zanya pointed at her chest body. "You will not be dancing around."


    Shiina stuck out a tongue. "I can move fast when I need to."


    "It''s not about fast, it''s about quick precise positioning." Zanya tapped her on the head. "You''re a mimic. We start with what you''re good at and work from there. And what you''re good at is being an immovable obstacle with a lot of dangerous abilities."


    That did make a fair amount of sense to Shiina, so she swallowed her pride. "Okays. I''ll do my best to learn."


    "Right." Zanya stood up. "Let''s turn to practical matters."


    To Shiina''s surprise Zanya led them to the shooting range first. "We''ll start with Delilah''s training because Ife can supervise." Zanya pulled out ten rocks that were a little bigger than Delilah''s fist. "You need something to do in order to defend yourself and help when healing isn''t needed. So you''re going to learn how to throw rocks."


    Delilah looked at the ammunition. "Shouldn''t I be learning how to sling rocks?''


    "And why rocks. Why not a crossbow?" Shiina asked. Ife''s ears twitched curiously as well.


    "We''re starting with throwing because you aren''t going to be good enough with a sling to properly use it for several months," Zanya said. "At the ranges most dungeon fights happen at, throwing will work almost as well."


    She turned to Shiina and Ife. "And crossbows are slower, harder to maintain, much more expensive, and only shoot arrows. A sling can use all sorts of magical contraptions and gets much better enchantments. They do take more space, but she should be at the back of the fight."


    Zanya wound up and then threw a stone that slammed into the center ring of the target with a heavy thud. "That''s your starting goal. For today work on building strength and aim."


    As Delilah took a deep breath and started sizing up the rocks, Zanya led Shiina to a sparring ring. The woman tossed off her cloak and grabbed a wooden spear from the weapons rack. Shiina moved to the center of the ring, while looking over the weapon. Spears were pretty dangerous to mimics like her. She could match the range, but not without putting her tendrils in danger.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "Shiina we''re going to need to work on two things." Zanya took a practiced stance with the spear. "First your defense. Your mimic hardening is like my scales. A last resort so the hit hurts you less. Which is why we''re going to learn proper defense. Get your shields out please."


    With a thought she located where she''d put the buckler and shield and grabbed them. After a moment she added a third ''arm'' and grabbed her knife too. "Like this?" she said, showing all the weapons.


    A smile flitted across Zanya''s face. "Yes actually. Very good. You might want to hide your extra arms until you need them, but this is fine for learning."


    Shiina felt a little excited at Zanya''s words. Not only was she getting praised, but Zanya had apparently thought about how Shiina could use her awesome mimic skills. This session was getting a lot more interesting. "Okay, so how do you use these shields?"


    "The small buckler is designed to help parry strikes. When I thrust," she gave a weak stab that stopped short. "You bat it aside. Don''t block it directly. It won''t stand up to a strong attack."


    After a moment Shiina slapped the spear aside with her buckler. That made some sense. It was safer to use the hard metal thing to smack sharp weapons then her knife or a bare tentacle. "And the big shield?"


    "Could you hold it at an upwards angle?" Zanya asked. Shiina followed her instruction. This time her spear shot out, and the shield tendril rocked backwards into Shiina''s head as the spear deflected up above her. "That is the best way to use a shield. Turn a direct hit into a grazing shot."


    That was a little worrying Shiina though as she looked up at the wooden spear''s tip. The spear point being over her head was better than it being in her head, but that still was a hard hit. She''d have to reinforce her arm.


    Zanya continued. "However, this will be your backup defense. Armor doesn''t really work for you, so the shield will work for that as well. Sacrifice it to keep sharp things out of your body."


    Shiina considered the suggestion, then drew it back so the shield was sitting embedded in her front like a bit of heraldry. "So like this?"


    That earned a raised eyebrow. "Not bad. Angle it down so the point hits the floor when it impacts."


    She tried the alteration. It felt weird, but it was a good idea. She''d have to practice. "So what''s the second thing?"


    "Overriding your monster instincts," Zanya said. "When you got hurt you reverted to fighting like a mimic. That''s not the worst thing. It''s better than freezing up. But grabbing and biting someone is great for killing one person and bad when there''s a group. As I''m sure Mali taught you."


    That was a painful truth. Shiina knew very well that most mimics didn''t last past their first adventurer encounter. They''d either get caught and blasted or kill a single person before getting torn to shreds. And now that Zanya pointed it out she had kinda flipped out when she''d been poked. "Uh, but how are we going to test that?''


    "Simple." Zanya said, returning to a ready stance. "I''m going to try to hit you. At some point I''m going to succeed. Your goal is to keep fighting smart, and not lose your cool or your form."


    "Oh." Shiina''s enthusiasm slipped away and was quickly replaced by resigned dread. She prepared herself and asked the question she knew she had to. "When do we start?"


    "Now."


    Zanya''s spear was already in motion. A lazy stab at her side. But Shiina managed to bend her arm and swing it fast enough to back the spear away with her buckler. "Hah!" She was a mimic! She knew about surprise.


    She also knew about pain as the butt of the spear smacked into her body. Shiina glared at Zanya as the woman stepped back from the follow up strike. "Better, but you''ve still got work. Reach out and grab a practice knife so you can punish me if I step in like that."


    As she did what Zanya asked she mollified herself with the fact that she''d kept from falling into mimic instincts at least. Hopefully the blocking would come quickly as well.


    <hr>


    Obviously I can talk a lot about us mimics, and what we can mimic. There''s probably an entire book there, because mimics are amazing. But I figure I''ll start small. So : Basic Facts About Mimicry!


    First, it''s mimicry, not transformation. We can''t turn into metal or fur or wood. We just alter our outsides to be hard and shiny, or soft and fluffy, or tough and grainy. While any proper mimic tries to get all the features in, it''s not easy. So we prioritize appearance. I have a hard time being firm and soft at the same time, so usually I default to firm. But you''ll never know until you touch me.


    Second, we don''t follow humanoid biology. All your bones and muscles and stuff get in the way. Not a problem for us! We can bend any amount, unfuse and refuse, and stretch long distances! That''s how I get my wheels working when I''m a wagon. However the smaller the area the less force we can use, so I have to push myself.... You can use that to catch younger mimics, since they need big chest hinges to get bite power. Older ones like me learn to refuse right before we slam down on something. (Please try diplomacy with young mimics if you do catch them.)


    Third, the more things we control the harder it gets. I''m really proud of being able to mimic fingers for example, because ten independent digits are really hard to handle at the same time. Apparently when I''m really focused on that, my other features tend to lock up a bit. For combat three or four tendrils are the best the average mimic can manage at the same time.

 First Regicide 2

    The inn room was a nice reprieve from the bright lights of the training grounds.  Shiina had enough new sensations to deal with.  Apparently pain could linger, which was absolute bullshit in her mind.  She didn''t even HAVE the parts that Zanya had hit anymore but there was a general feeling of pain lingering no matter how much Delilah had healed.


    At least Zanya had needed healing too.  Shinna had given the woman a few nice bruises with the practice knife.  Sure the warrior had been going easy on her, but any success was good.


    Delilah seemed similarly sore from all the throwing.  Shiina had a sneaking suspicion she''d have to learn that too.  At least she could experiment with good ways to toss things.  Following humanoid examples seemed like a losing game.  Especially with their weird eyesight.


    That left Ife as the only person who wasn''t hurting.  And she was somehow being smug about it without actually acting smug.  Shiina was starting to suspect she was a secret princess or something.  She was too good at it.


    The fox woman waited until everyone else had found a place to start resting before pulling out a thick envelope from under the bed.  "It seems our agents have delivered the information we need."


    Shiina forced herself to slide closer to take a look.  The arbiter duo had explained that local agents usually did most of the spying, setup, and cleanup work for assassinations.  They would only need to handle the killing.  Of course that was the hard part, but having someone else do most of the legwork would help both groups avoid suspicion.


    Ife carefully pulled out the documents and spread them out.  "Ah ''wonderful.''  This is going to be another runic extraction mission."  She showed the platinum orb to the group before handing it to Zanya.  "I imagined it would be, but I had hoped otherwise."


    Shiina took a long look at the item as Ife handed it over.  It looked kinda like a trap, except the runes were quite different, and there were no fake lines.  "So that was made by an archmage?"  She could tell it was intricate, but it didn''t feel that powerful.


    "Level forty five minimum," Ife replied.  "As soon as it hits the ground we all get teleported away, the arbiter symbol is burned into the ground, and that wizard will be the only person who shows up on any divination spells for the killing."  She chuckled.  "And since they''re probably somewhere on the other side of the world that should be the end of matters."


    "It''s amazing they''d be willing to spend the time to create magic items for something like this," Delilah said, her eyes flickering over every little spell rune.


    Ife''s tail twitched.  "They probably only do the enchanting.  Have an apprentice spend a few weeks making it then spend two minutes to charge it up and ship it to the Arbiter''s headquarters.  It''s their contribution to keep uncontrolled dungeons from bothering their research."


    "Where will we be targeting it?" Delilah asked quietly as she sat up.


    "Here," Zanya replied.  "It''ll be easier to clean up the mess, and we can just blame heavy drinking if Shiina''s vomit eats through the floorboards."


    Shiina sniffed.  "Throwing up is a problem for people who keep their stomachs around when they''re not using them."  She was not looking forward to the disorientation that apparently accompanied it, but she was pretty sure her biology wouldn''t react that violently.


    "So that''s our way out,"  Ife spread out a map of the castle.  "And this is our target.  The King''s bedchambers."  She tapped the room that had been circled.  "Now to figure out how to approach."


    The map was honestly kinda confusing.  There were different floors and then the outside areas, and so many doors and paths, all with names that were probably super important to humans.  But Shiina was used to dungeons, where monster population was random.


    Delilah pointed at a section.  "Is this a secret passage?  If we can get through the traps that would be a good entrance point wouldn''t it?"


    "Ooh."  A secret passage sounded like a good idea to Shiina.  It''d be nice and shadowy, and they''d be able to surprise people on the other side!


    Zanya shook her head.  "A good idea, but it''ll put us out on the bottom floor.  Even if we get past all the alarms we''ll need to kill guards along the way.  No chance we will avoid being spotted."


    That was too bad.  Shiina had hoped for some proper underground infiltration.  Well if that was off the table they''d have to try something else.


    She peered at the map again, but the thing just wouldn''t process properly in her brain.  After a bit she decided to try retreating to novels.  "How about the roof?  It''s closer to the King''s chambers and I bet there aren''t any guards up there."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Ife grinned.  "An interesting idea.  But how do you plan to get up there without being noticed?  We can''t climb up without drawing some attention."


    Shiina got the feeling this was a test or something, so she considered it.  "Uh, I can quickly get up there if it''s only around fifteen feet.  And I can bring one of you.  Maybe I can drop a rope down after?"


    "A rope would be too slow," Zanya said.  "But that won''t be needed.  I can make a similar jump while carrying someone.  That means we need to find a way to get up in fifteen foot sections.  Or about one story each.  Think you can pick one out?"


    A pang of despair hit Shiina as she focused again on the map.  She tried sticking to the edges, but she had no idea which areas might be guarded.  And what windows people might be looking out of.  Eventually she gave up.  "Um...  Help?"


    "Maybe here?"  Delilah rushed to her rescue.  The half elf pointed at a lighthouse near the seaside wall.  "We can use the lighthouse stairs to get up here, then move to the wall.  After that we can get to this lower part of the roof and from there to the section that will lead to the King''s balcony."  Her finger traced the path over the map, the leaps making Shiina''s brain spin, but the other two were nodding along.


    "Not a bad plan for a beginner," Zanya said.  "Now tell me why it won''t work."


    Shiina and Delilah looked at each other.  There was nothing in the map that would explain that.  Delilah started looking over the documents while Shiina turned to her limited experience.  Hopping on the roof worked in all the stories.  Most humanoids were bad at looking up, and they didn''t want guards wandering around their roofs making noise at night just in case an assassin might one day show up.


    After a moment though the obvious answer hit her.  "They''ve read all the stories too haven''t they.  There''s a trap or alarm on the roof.  Something magic."


    "Indeed.  Almost certainly an alarm," Ife said with a nod.  She tapped her ornate necklace.  "I''ve enhanced my gear so that I can see those alarms from a distance.  But if we''re jumping up to the roof there''s no way we can disarm it before triggering it.  So the roof is no good."


    Shiina sighed and looked back at the increasingly annoying map.  "So what should we do?"


    "It''s a good starting point," Zanya said, patting her on the back.  "We just need to change things here.  Instead of going to the roof, we use the attic window.  That gets us into an underused area of the castle close to our target."


    "That''s good, but won''t they also have alarms on the windows and balconies?" Shiina asked.  It seemed like if you were worried about assassins that would be the best thing to do.


    "Some of the windows, yes," Ife replied as she leaned on her knee.  "I''m sure the king has quite the array of defenses, all attuned to him and his family.  But the common areas won''t be as well warded.  The attic for example needs to be cleaned out regularly, which means wards and alarms on the windows aren''t worth the expense and maintenance."


    Zanya tapped on the balcony.  "Meanwhile this part of the castle doesn''t have many good lines of sight to it.  Great for avoiding someone shooting your king with an arrow, bad for noticing skilled mimics disabling the magical defenses while being supported from the attic."  The woman''s slitted eyes turned to her.  "You can do that, right Shiina?"


    "Uh, I''ve never actually disabled an alarm before, but all the materials say it''s a lot easier than disabling a trap," Shiina replied.  "So I guess I''ll be okay?"


    "I''ll see about giving you practice," Ife said, waving it off.  "After that we cut a hole in the glass doors and shoot King Zyber the fifth until he''s dead."


    Delilah looked between them all.  "Will it be that easy?"


    "No," both the veterans replied.  That was too bad in Shiina''s mind.  She was hoping for easy.


    Zanya picked up the scout reports.  "There will be unforeseen issues, people out of place, and just general problems.  We''ll have to deal with them as we encounter them.  Remember we won''t have our luck helping out.  Maybe if Shiina went solo she''d be able to get past most of that.  But then she''d almost certainly run into something she couldn''t get past alone."


    Delilah ran her hands through her hair.  "So what''s our backup plan?"


    "First we try to handle things quietly and non lethally," Ife replied.  "Be civil and polite and pretend we belong.  If that fails, kill everyone who tries to stop us and charge the target."


    Shiina gave a weak laugh.  It was admittedly a very mimic-like plan.  Stealth into overwhelming violence.  But given her race''s survival time was ''one dungeon run'' it was a little worrying.  Still she didn''t have anything better.


    "But before that, let''s do some money earning missions and get Delilah''s new staff," Zanya said.  "We''ll scout the lighthouse after that."


    <hr>


    I imagine some people are wondering how healing magic works on both humanoids and mimics.  The answer is simple!  Healing magic isn''t actually a thing.  Standard "healing magic" is actually three different types of spells, depending on what needs to be done.


    Look, Mali made me read a whole book on this for the adventurer test and it wasn''t even on the quiz.  So you have to suffer too.


    The most basic healing is a spell to close wounds rapidly.  Seal the damaged area so blood doesn''t pour out.  More advanced spells improve the wound closing, and do other useful things like ''remove foreign objects'' and ''put bones back in place.''  That''s all kinda useless for me, but very important for humans.


    The followup spell is throwing magic into the body''s natural recovery process in order to fix all the messed up stuff.  The body''s natural recovery goes into overdrive and finishes the repairs.  That''s what works on us mimics.  We don''t need the sealing, but the fixing spell does just fine.  It''s also why healing can''t work after five to ten minutes after the heart stops.  There''s no natural recovery to help.


    Lastly are poison cures.  Sending the body into overdrive can actually be bad against poisons.  So instead the usual method is to find something that neutralizes the poison then use magic to target the toxins inside the person to stop the damage.  After that you can give the body energy to recover.


    Obviously it gets more complex after that.  I hear diseases are a real problem.  But those are the basics of healing.

 First Regicide 3

    Four days later Shiina found herself staring at an hourglass in their room at the inn.  The staff had been finished, the cleanup runs had been boring if profitable.  And now they were planning on committing regicide.


    Apparently the best time to go murder someone who lived in a castle was a few hours after midnight.  Late enough that even the people who worked long hours would be going to bed, but before the people who needed to start working early would rise.


    And since Shiina didn''t need to sleep, she was the one who got to keep watch on the hourglass to know when to start moving while the humanoids rested.  Not that Delilah was doing a good job of it.  The half elven woman took a while to get to sleep, and usually only made it ten or twenty minutes before stirring back awake.


    As the last sands started to spill out, Shiina took mercy on the woman.  "You can stay awake.  It''s almost time."


    Delilah gave a quiet groan.  But after a bit she rolled out of the bed and started checking her gear.  She and Ife had both added cloaks to their outfit, while all of them were wearing masks.


    Shiina wasn''t going to bother, given she''d be recognizable as a mimic no matter what if someone got a good look at her.  At least she could pretend to be gear for most of the trip.


    When the hourglass emptied out, Shiina reached up and gave Zanya and Ife a shake.  Zanya popped up almost immediately, giving her a nod of thanks before gathering her weapons.  Ife growled and snapped as she was woken.  But after a bit she forced herself upright.  After a bit of a struggle she got on her feet and grabbed her necklace and staff.  "Why do assassinations have to happen at such ridiculous times?  Kings should wander into secluded areas sometime around noon to be killed at a reasonable hour."


    "If they were willing to take time out of their life to help people in need they wouldn''t be kings," Delilah muttered as she tightened her facemask.


    That got a tiny smirk out of Zanya.  "At least it''s a good moon for killing."  The ophidian finished her checks and offered an arm to Shiina.  "Ready?"


    "For hours," Shiina said as she slipped onto the woman''s back.  She''d checked her shields and dagger twice already.


    Ife was ready after about a minute.  With that done Zanya opened the window and hopped out.


    The alley was dark, the nearest lamps down at either end with the larger streets.  A light mist filled the city, making things cold and clammy.  Shiina''s ears heard little sounds here and there as the nocturnal predators and late night workers shuffled about.  But nothing was close.


    Delilah and Ife dropped down into Zanya''s arms.  Shiina reached up with a pseudopod and closed the window, getting a nod from the magic knight.  With that they put up their hoods and started towards the castle.


    As they moved through the streets Shiina felt her excitement and nervousness rise.  Every step was a chance some guard would demand to know what they were doing out this late.  But the cloying fog gave them cover from distant eyes.


    She relaxed for a second when she saw the pulsing lantern of the lighthouse above them, but the feeling returned as she realized this was going to be the hard part.  She couldn''t just lay in wait for her prey.  She''d have to hunt him down.


    The lighthouse itself was easy to handle.  The stone stairs were slick, but that didn''t mean much to a mimic.  Delilah took a little longer to climb, but they all made it to the foot of the building without much effort.


    Shiina stretched a little, eyeing the distance to the wall.  It should be within range, and while the slick stone would have given a grappling hook trouble, she should stick nicely.  She let her side partially engulf Delilah, the half elf flinching a second before leaning into her grip.  Then she snapped a tendril over to the wall and when it landed yanked herself across.


    The wind whistled around her as they flew towards the wall.  As the stone got closer she realized she was a little lower than expected, so she held Delilah over her main mass.  She smacked into the parapet but she managed to place the half elf on the battlements beyond. As Shiina pulled herself over the side, Zanya and Ife landed with a rush of wind nearby.


    From here they could see the whole castle.  Most of the windows were dark, but lanterns filled the courtyard below.  The castle towers also had lights, probably for the poor guards on night watch.


    Zanya pointed to an open attic window.  This one was a wooden slat on a pole as opposed to pane glass of the lower floors, making it easier to get through without a lot of noise.  Shiina nodded and carefully grabbed Delilah again.


    This time she deliberately let herself aim a little low.  The impact against the wall wasn''t fun, but she didn''t have too much trouble sticking to the side.  From there she pushed Delilah towards the window.


    The half elf banged her shoulder on the pole and then flinched as the slat fell on her back, but she wriggled through anyway.  Shiina crawled in after, taking a moment to engulf the window slat and pop it off its hinges.  Her body kept the sound down so no one should notice.  She plopped into the attic proper after that.


    Setting aside the window slat, she looked around.  There were a lot of various items all concealed by dust covers.  It looked like furniture and sculptures, with an occasional box of something or other.  She had an urge to sift through a chest she saw, but she pushed that down.


    Ife wriggled through the window, followed by Zanya.  The magic knight must have held onto the windowsill while Ife slipped in.  Now that Shiina thought about it, this had been a hole in their plan.  If Shiina hadn''t been able to pop off the window cover they might have been in trouble.


    After a moment looking around, Ife started moving away from their target.  Shiina wondered if this was a special plan before Zanya corrected her.  They moved around the boxes towards a ladder that led to the upper attic.


    Zanya was first up, but the woman froze as she reached the top.  After a moment she slipped back down.  The woman said as softly as she could, "Someone''s sleeping in our way.  Looks like an apprentice houseboy or something."


    "Can''t we ignore him?" Delilah asked.  Shiina looked at the others.  That seemed like a good idea to her.


    Ife shook her head.  "Too dangerous.  Can you knock him out?"


    Delilah hesitated.  "I can, but he''ll wake up when I start putting him under.  I have some other alchemical mixtures, but anything else might mean he won''t wake up ever again."


    "I can cover his eyes," Shiina offered.  If he didn''t see them it wouldn''t matter if he woke up before Delilah drugged him.  And she knew humanoids needed their eyes to see.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Zanya nodded in approval.  "Do it."


    Shiina slipped up the rough wooden ladder.  The upper attic had less stuff in it, but it was still something of an obstacle course of unused goods.  Still there were clear lines for people to walk, and one of those led to a simple straw bed with a boy sleeping in it.  Shiina was iffy with human ages, but she figured he was in early teens.  Definitely not at adulthood.


    She slipped across the floor silently, moving towards the head of the bed.  The boy was sleeping soundly which was good.  Still she turned her hand into a makeshift blindfold and hovered it over his face.  No need to take chances.


    Delilah was more hesitant getting over to them, but she was fairly quiet.  After she was next to the sleeping kid she pulled out a handkerchief and a bottle.  Shiina could taste the horrid bitterness even this far away as she opened the bottle and poured some on the cloth.


    The half elf gave her a nod and Shiina put her hands over the kid''s eyes.  The boy jerked awake in surprise, but his cry of alarm was muffled by Delilah putting the cloth over his mouth and nose.


    The kid tried to push them away and get free, but his struggles started weak and quickly faded away.  After a few moments he went limp.  Delilah pulled away the cloth and checked his pulse before she stepped back.  Shinna reverted to her preferred form and moved on.


    Zanya and Ife were up the ladder soon after.  After a bit of looking around the ophidian led them to a window overlooking the balcony they needed to infiltrate.  Shiina took the liberty of removing the shutter here too.


    Ife murmured quietly, "Curiosity grant Vision." and tapped Shiina''s head.  "You should be able to see alarm spells from a distance now.  If the alarm vanishes before you''re done, you''ve been spotted."


    "Then three pulls on the rope," Shiina replied.  "And two pulls if something''s wrong but I''m not spotted."


    Zanya gave her a thumbs up, then slid the rope out the window.  Shiina latched on, then followed the rope and the wall out into the damp night air.


    The balcony was very nice.  A table and chairs of wrought iron and glass, along with a fancy railing.  The glass doors leading in were also a work of art.  Shiina almost felt bad she was going to have to break them.  And next to those doors was a fairly complicated alarm.  Shiina slid down closer, pausing before the door''s top to peer into the king''s chamber.


    It was empty.  No king in the bed, no people in the room, just double doors and a few closed curtains.


    Two pulls on the rope had Zanya hauling her up quickly.  Shiina added her own limited speed and squirmed into the attic as fast as she could.  After a moment she whispered.  "He''s not there."


    "Not there?" Delilah looked confused.


    "No king.  Empty bed." Shiina stated.


    Ife hissed.  "If we end up having to do this the hard way because that fool decided to bed some maid tonight...."


    "Was the bed made properly?" Zanya asked.


    "Er..."  Shiina tried to remember.  "No.  It was a little rumpled."


    Zanya rubbed her forehead.  "Okay.  We wait a few minutes, then look in.  Don''t show too much of yourself though."  Apparently Shiina''s confusion showed.  Either that or she wanted to explain to the other girls.  "Hopefully it''s just a late night piss."


    The others deflated a little.  Ife looked seriously annoyed, but they returned to waiting.  Shiina spent some time pretending to be the trunks in the attic.


    After the allotted time Zanya tossed the rope over again, and Shiina slipped out.  Reaching the ropes end she peered just past the top of the doors and froze.  The king was standing there, scratching himself and drinking a glass of water.  Shiina pulled herself back up quickly, hoping no one was looking this way.  "He''s in there.  Need more time."


    "Right."  They wanted to make sure he was asleep to guarantee the kill.  And honestly Shiina wanted it to be a surprise.  A proper mimic kill.


    After a bit of waiting Zanya put down the rope again.  Shiina slid down.  This time the king was properly sleeping.  She turned her attention to the alarm spell that was glowing here.


    It did in fact look similar to a trap.  However the runes were totally different.  She saw ''warning,'' ''aggressor,'' ''self,'' and ''deception'' written out, with lines going all over the place.  The only good thing was she didn''t see any false trails.


    After a few moments looking it over, Shiina decided she had to act.  She carefully cut the connections around ''warning'', then ''self'', after that she chewed through the runes that looked like they gave power to the whole thing.  The runes faded slowly, but they cleared away.


    She gave a single tug of the rope, then dropped to the balcony.  The glass separating them from their target was thick, but she could probably cut through.  Still she forced herself to look over the whole area just in case.


    As the other''s dropped down Shiina confirmed there were no more magical wards on the doors, hinges or handles.  Then she paused.  With a hesitant hand she reached out and pulled down on the handle.  The glass door slowly opened.


    It hadn''t been locked.


    Shiina carefully pushed the door open and gestured for her friends to enter.  Delilah looked disappointed, while Ife was holding back laughter.  But they walked through.  Zanya pulled out the runic extraction item and handed it to Ife, before drawing her axe and stepping forwards.


    Delilah''s eyes flickered back out to the balcony and she hissed and started waving.  Shiina turned her attention back and found several shadows on one of the watchtowers were leaning over the parapets to get a look over at the balcony.


    That was bad.


    Zanya rushed forwards, axe dropping,  A terrific crunch sounded as she cut through the king''s body into the bed beneath.  Blood splattered everywhere at the same second a warning bell started to ring.


    Zanya hopped back as the guards outside started knocking on the doors.  It was a good thing they didn''t know why the alarm was ringing.  Shiina and Delilah moved close to Ife, who threw down the magic item.


    There was a flash, some smoke and then they were in their room at the inn.  Shiina felt dizzy as her brain tried to figure out how she''d gotten there.  Her form sagged as her mimicking ability lost track of what was happening.


    The others were much worse.  All three of the other humanoids fell to the floor.  Delilah threw up, while Ife had a few shuddering dry heaves.  Zanya was the best off, closing her eyes, huddling up, and just looking miserable."


    "You all okay?" Shiina asked.


    "No," Ife muttered.


    Delilah spat.  "I need water."


    Zanya flopped on her back.  "I''ve had better days."


    Shiina was considering her response when the sound of alarm bells hit.  First quiet, then increasing at the various towers picked up the alarm.  Lights came on across the city as people woke up to find out what the disturbance was.


    "Well, time to ''find out what''s going on''," Zanya said as she handed Delilah a canteen.


    "Can we pretend we''re sleepy and sick instead?" Delilah asked.  It seemed like a fair question.


    "We have to do that in the common room," Ife muttered.  "Don''t worry.  It won''t be too hard to fake."


    Shiina decided she''d stick to being a box herself.  She didn''t trust herself not to act smug.  Especially since she''d been right about the teleportation.  Internal organs were pure liability.


    <hr>


    All the stories about master wizards talk about their abilities to teleport all over the place, so I wondered why we had to walk.  According to Ife, teleportation is really hard.  Lots of little details, just like when you try to mimic a living thing.  That''s something a mage can fix if they''re teleporting themselves, but unless the mage travels along it''s really easy for something to go wrong.


    For living things, something going wrong usually means you die.  Humanoids of course will just drop dead if you misalign their veins or forget to put all the skin on, but even mimics have a bad time if we get twisted up or put into another object.


    Generally the longer distance you go the more dangerous it gets.  The arbiter runes we have are limited to around three miles and require preparing the location you teleport to.  That''s about the best you can get for safe travel.  Past that though things start getting dangerous.  As in ''one in a hundred people die dangerous.''  And it gets worse really fast, especially without special targeting runes.


    Inanimate objects are apparently a lot easier.  If for no other reason then their insides aren''t moving around all over the place.  They still break every so often, but that''s why they only teleport items that are needed quickly and can be replaced.  Everything else is handled by runners.

 Fishing 1

    It was a few hours past dawn when an explanation for the alarm bells came through the city.  The King had suffered an illness in the middle of the night and passed away.  Town criers and official notices all proclaimed a week of mourning before the coronation of the prince.


    "What''s a stroke?" Shiina asked quietly.  She had a feeling they weren''t talking about axe stroke, but she couldn''t exactly spill that detail in public.


    "Brain injury caused by blood loss," Delilah muttered before yawning.  "Can we go back to sleep now?"


    Ife stood up and turned to the stairs.  "Yes."


    "We''ll miss a chance to earn more cash before we sail out," Zanya protested weakly.


    "Don''t care," Ife replied, ears and tails drooping.  "Sleep."


    This seemed to be a popular opinion, so Shiina followed the crowd up, waiting as each group entered their room.  As they got back in through Shiina noticed something was different.  A pouch was sitting below the bed.


    She waited until the door was closed before pointing at it with a tendril.  "What''s that?"


    "Wages," Ife said, tossing off her necklace before falling face first into the bed.  "Take your share.  But save some for the ship fare."


    Zanya stretched.  "We should probably ask if you want to stay with us."


    That was right.  They''d gotten their revenge.  Now they had to decide if they wanted to be arbiters.


    Shiina looked at the group then up at Delilah.  "Um, I think I want to join.  Mali said I should see new places.  And I think I can learn a lot doing this.  Also it''s way better than acting as a wizard''s guard box."


    Delilah yawned again.  "I''d forgotten we hadn''t officially joined.  If I get tired of wandering I''ll take a desk job or something.  For now, sure."  She lay down next to Ife and closed her eyes.


    "Good," Zanya said.  "Glad to have you."  The magic knight took a little more time, removing her gear carefully while sitting on the bed.


    "Uh, before you sleep, can you tell me why they pretended the king died of a sickness instead of looking for assassins?" Shina asked.


    "Arbiter rune," Zanya replied before flopping down.  "Better to shove it under the rug then deal with the previous mistakes.  Anyway, boat tomorrow."


    Shiina accepted the explanation and settled in to wait.  She was curious what sailing would be like.


    <hr>


    Sailing turned out to be pretty cool!  She was admittedly a little iffy on being over water.  The novelty of the massive ocean had worn off after a few hours of travel.  The rocking of the ship was a little weird.  And seagulls were horrid creatures that she needed to exterminate.  The sailors all said killing them was bad luck, but she swore the wretched things were trying to poop on her.  That was only a minor detail though.  Because she''d discovered the finest sport humanoids had ever created.


    Fishing.


    It was such a simple yet genius system.  Put a fake fish on a sturdy line, throw it off the back, and wait patiently for a real fish to be lured in so you can strike.


    This sport was made for her.


    Delilah sadly was unable to fully appreciate the brilliance of the setup.  She and Ife were suffering from sea sickness.  Shiina could understand the problem.  The ground moving all the time wasn''t natural.  And while her dungeon honed mimic skills let her ignore the pitch and sway of the ship, her friends weren''t as lucky.


    Meanwhile Zanya wasn''t affected at all.  Apparently ophidians had a different way of handling balance, so she was just practicing her footwork on uneven surfaces.


    Shiina had to admit the ship itself was interesting too.  The two masted vessel could apparently get between Gaius and Jalopae in only a couple of days propelled by the big sails.  It seemed kind of strange that it took them longer to walk between neighboring countries then to move between entire continents.  Then again the seas here were good for travel according to Mali''s books.


    The body of the ship was also interesting.  It was bigger than the inn, but still seemed small with all the space taken up by water, food, and cargo.  The humanoids would have to sleep in hammocks among the gear.


    A tug on the line brought her attention to the fishing pole.  She jerked to hook the fish then began fighting with her foe, pulling and relaxing the line as needed to exhaust her prey.


    This was a little different than her preferred hunting.  A battle of endurance instead of a quick kill.  But it was fun.  Giving and taking bits of line to draw her prey closer and closer.  Soon she was seeing the fish splashing at the surface, its final escape attempt foiled.


    She pulled up her catch, a two foot long maidfish, its ''skirt'' of spikes flaring as it tried to defend itself.  Sadly that tactic wouldn''t work on this predator.  With a flick of a tendril she killed the fish with a knife and tossed it in a bucket.


    "You really are good at this."  Shiina looked up to see Maikei, the catfolk who''d taught her the basics and leant her his rod.  "Ever consider sailing as a career?" the dusky skinned man asked with a big grin.


    "There''s probably more to it than fishing," Shiina said.  "And I''m still iffy on this whole boat thing.  The ground should shift around smoothly, not all this wobbly stuff."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Maikei laughed.  "Too bad.  You''ve got the skills to be a good swabbie."  He looked over the haul she''d picked up.  "Mind if I take these to the cook?  Best to start the cleaning while they''re fresh."


    "Oh I was thinking I was gonna eat them right here."  Shiina opened her mouth wide as she picked up the fish.  Maikei gave a double take, and she laughed.  "Gotcha."  She could eat the fish whole, but it''d be more fun to share.


    The sailor wagged his finger, but he was still smiling.  "You enjoy that too much girly."


    Shiina''s reply was cut off by a call from the crow''s nest.  "Serpent to port!  About three knots off!"


    "Turn to starboard!  Prep the barrels," the captain yelled in response.


    "A sea serpent?" Shiina let her attention sway over the ocean but she couldn''t see anything.  "Are we in trouble?"  She''d heard stories of the massive creatures that attacked whales and ships with massive coils and steam breath.


    Maikei looked more annoyed than worried though.  "Nah.  Damn worm will just make us late.  Hope it gives up fast."  He scurried off to help turn the sails.


    Shiina was still uncertain how a hundred fifty foot long faux dragon could be ''just annoying,'' but fortunately Zanya had stopped her exercises to join her at the stern.  "Is this common?"


    "In this part of the sea?  Yeah," the ophidian replied, her slit eyes swaying over the waves.  "About once every four voyages."


    "Uh, is that why sailing is so dangerous?" Shiina asked.


    "No.  That''s pirates, storms, and falling from the rigging.  Sea serpents are some of the safer things you can run into.  The dangerous monsters hide in the deep usually."  Zanya''s eyes stopped searching and she pointed.


    Shiina focused on that section of water and this time she saw the rippling green and occasional splashes as the sea serpent''s spine broke the waves.  Compared to the boat, it was moving much faster.  She could see it coming closer and closer every minute, and she found herself wondering what kind of shape would be good if she got tossed into the water.


    "Barrels on deck!  Take stations!" someone called out.  Shiina focused behind her and saw the crew had rolled out two large wooden barrels that were labeled ''fire danger''.  Ife and Delilah had roused from below as well.


    Zanya tapped her on the head.  "We should get back.  They''re gonna need the space."  Shiina didn''t know what the woman was getting at but she followed along to where her friends were waiting.


    The sailors meanwhile were rolling the barrels to the stern of the ship.  As they reached the back they started adding chains and weights to the barrels.  A woman Shiina recognized as the ship''s wizard was back there too, looking over the preparations.  After a minute she nodded and called back, "Charges ready captain!"


    "Good work," the captain responded.  "Wait for the challenge, then release at your command."


    "Challenge?" Delilah asked.


    Zanya nodded.  "Sea serpents attack ships to mark their territory.  Some are worse than others.  Normally if a ship runs away the serpent considers that a victory and the trouble stops there.  But this one seems to be determined to fight.  So it''ll challenge us before moving in for the kill."


    As if summoned by her words, the serpent lifted its head out of the water.  Even with the thin frame it''s head was still big enough to swallow Shiina whole, and probably add a humanoid for some more meat.  Milky lids fell off its red eyes, and it let out what was closer to a screech than a roar.  Steam burst into the air hundreds of feet, searing a couple of seagulls in flight.


    "Uh, can''t it blast our ship with that breath?" Shiina asked.  It seemed like that would be a serious issue.


    "It''d have to get closer," Ife said.  "Fortunately they care more about the ship itself than the sailors.  So they insist on moving in to break the hull."


    Zanya adjusted her cloak.  "And the matter will be settled soon."


    "Drop one!" the ship''s mage yelled out.  Sailors all pushed as a group to roll the barrel and its weights overboard.  As the clattering barrel started over the side the mage intoned, "Through Patience, Fiery Destruction."


    Shiina waited for the promised destruction, but the barrel just continued over the back into the sea.  Their boat picked up a bit of speed, the captain likely pulling on a magic item to accelerate.  But the sea serpent was getting closer.  The massive ribbon of green starting to thin out as its tail movements grew shorter.


    A massive gout of water blasted into the sky.  For a second Shiina thought she saw the serpent''s head revealed, but it was gone too quickly.  The boat rocked a little harder as the wave from the blast rolled under them.  And then it was done.


    As they sailed on the green coils behind started to darken and fade.  "Hit captain!  The bastard''s done."


    "Excellent.  Secure the spare and turn back to our destination."


    "Aye captain!"  The sailors began running around again, turning sails, pulling ropes, and tying the other barrel down to the side railing.


    Shiina turned her body to face Zanya and Ife.  "What happened?  There''s no way a monster that big was killed by an explosion that small."


    To her surprise Zanya looked to Ife.  The mage took a deep breath.  "Air can compress, water can''t.  That means the explosion is amplified.  Even a monster that big will be stunned by the force."  She pointed at the stern.  "You should be able to see some of the fish that were stunned or killed by the blast at the edges.  And that''s with them having run away from the sea serpent."


    Shiina focused on the water and sure enough there were a few fish appearing at the surface.  The gulls were swooping down to eat them already.  "Wow."


    "Can''t that damage the ship?" Delilah managed to ask.


    "Yes," Ife replied. "Which is why monsters that attack from directly below are much more dangerous than the shallow ones."


    Zanya spoke up again.  "Meanwhile pirate ships can dodge.  Or try to approach from the front or sides."  Humanoids really did have some impressive tricks Shiina had to admit.


    A thought struck her.  "Ah!  My fish!"  She searched around and found the bucket had been moved back.  She relaxed a little.  "Okay.  Let''s get those to the kitchen."  Humanoids had impressive tricks, but she could learn them.  And excel at them!


    <hr>


    The fish in between the Iron Eye Continent and the Striped continent are apparently smaller than their relatives outside the inner sea, but they''re still pretty big.  I''ve never seen a lake fish as large as the ones people fished up.


    So far my favorite is the violet fin gulper.  They''re hard to pull up, but they look and taste amazing.  The fins really are a dark violet that''s hard to get without special dyes.  And the way they''re partitioned gives it a nice fan appearance.  Sadly the color doesn''t last past a week or so.  The fish itself has a very savory flavor.  More similar to red meat than white if cooked right.


    Maidfish are super neat, just because of their spines.  Instead of normal back fins they''ve got a spiny skirt, so when something tries to gobble them from behind they''ll flare it and bounce off the predator''s lips.  The bones are pretty hard too, unlike most fish bones, so they can block the bites of small sharks.  Sailors use them as makeshift spear points apparently.  The taste is pretty standard whitefish.


    On the other end of the spectrum is the hellfish.  They look super generic, like any other mackerel, except for an orange spot on the sides and bottom.  They''re super spicy, with a bitter heat that washes through in a minute or so.  Eating a full hellfish is a dare among some ship crews.  More commonly they''re used as seasoning on ship, since more expensive spices are better kept as cargo.

 Fishing 2

    Port Kalaria was different from either of the two cities Shiina had seen before.  The most obvious was the stonework.  Instead of grey stone and wood, almost everything seemed to be yellow stone or brick.  The air tasted different as well.  She''d been surrounded by the salt of the sea the whole time, but here it was mixed with a fishy bite.


    The rocky cove of Gaius had given Shiina a chance to see how big the city was again as they sailed out.  In fact, the city had seemed even more impressive, hemmed in by the mountains on either side.  Kalaria''s breakwaters however made the city look smaller.  It was a crescent of buildings, leading into a thin strip of green farmland, and surrounded by the dusty yellow of the desert on both sides.


    "Doesn''t look like a great place to live," Delilah said.  "They''ve got barely any farmland."


    Ife chuckled.  "They''re probably wealthier than most cities.  This is the best commerce port for over a hundred miles on either side.  If people upriver want to trade, it goes through here."


    Zanya nodded.  "Don''t expect much in the markets though.  This is just a waypoint between the real rich folk."


    As they got off the ship and started to walk inland Shiina noticed more details.  Windows had shutters of baleen or driftwood, and thick lines zigzagged between roofs to create canopies and laundry lines.  Wells were also common as soon as they got far enough inland.


    Gaius had been primarily about its glass and crystal.  Port Kalaria seemed to be more about the sea.  Goods from all over were shown in markets, but the local stuff was fish, shells, whale oil, and sea monster items.


    "Do they really hunt sea serpents here?" Shiina asked after seeing a spear made from an extra long spine barb.


    "No," Zanya replied.  "The dungeons here are creature dungeons.  The Belly of the Whale is the most famous.  But there''s others."


    Delilah grimaced.  "Creature dungeons are the ones where you have to walk through flesh tunnels right?"  Now Shiina remembered.  Apparently those were the dungeons that seemed like giant monsters.  She''d always wondered if people living near those dungeons could just hack out meat whenever they wanted.  Judging from the stalls selling chunks of ''greatfish'' the answer was yes.


    "Yeah."  Ife sighed.  "We''ll have to do one run to get travel funds.  But if we''re lucky we can visit the Bloody Cove instead."  Her ears shifted towards Zanya.  "Do you remember the guild scheduling rules here?"


    "No.  I don''t even remember the name.  The guilds here aren''t united like they are on the Eugradi continent," Zanya said with a shrug. "We''ll have to visit the guildhouse today to check."


    As they continued down the streets Shiina let her attention drift to the people wandering by.  It was only fair, since they were staring at her being pulled along by Delilah.  And there were a lot of people here.


    The average citizens here seemed to be dog and catfolk, both tending towards sandy yellow black hair.  Of course there were a number of humans and halflings wandering about, but there were also a couple of lamia and Shiina saw an arachne tout trying to get people into her silkworks.  It was the first time she''d seen other ''monstrous'' races around.


    There were also two different styles of dress.  Half the people leaned towards vests and loose pants.  Clothes similar to what the sailors had worn.  Meanwhile the other half seemed to like loose robes with scarfs or head coverings.  It didn''t seem to be different based on race or class though.  Shiina made a note to ask Zanya why later.


    The guild building here was a small affair, dwarfed by the taverns sitting next to it.  It at least looked clean to Shiina''s eyes.  The request board had been organized by someone and there were only a few people inside.  A couple of clerks and a man in armor.


    They moved to the open window, Ife taking over the lead.  "Excuse me, we''re new in town and wanted to know the rules for dungeon runs in this city."


    The secretary gave a slight bow, her cat ears flattening forwards.  "Of course.  May I see your guild certificates and get your current levels?"


    Shiina pulled out her documentation.  As the others produced their papers she took a look over their guild marks.  Delilah was a copper tier like her and had a copper tag to prove it.  Zanya''s paperwork had her listed as a ''hummingbird'' tier warrior along with a rainbow feather encased in resin.  Meanwhile Ife''s bronze capped scroll certified her as a Rank III traveling wizard, with the number of ''verifying dignitaries'' longer than the declaration itself.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Our current levels are twenty six for us, seventeen for Shiina, and sixteen for Delilah," Ife added.


    The woman marked that down.  "Given your rank Lady Ife, you can enter any dungeon you desire.  We handle delves at the point of entry.  You only need to consult with the guild for paths requiring level thirty or higher, which I don''t believe you''d want to attempt with your current party."


    "Er then how will we get to be the lead team?" Shiina asked.  First come first served was bad, but doing it at each dungeon seemed even worse.  Her companions seemed similarly put off.


    The guild woman laughed.  "Oh that shouldn''t be a problem.  Most of our adventurers are travelers like you looking for quick coin.  There''s not many people here that run dungeons full time.  There''s no glory in gathering shellfish, bone, and flesh chunks.  The guard comes by once a week and does runs on the dungeons that need cleaning."


    Ife frowned but nodded.  "Well hopefully that''s true for us as well."


    "Excuse me."  Shiina turned her attention to see the armored man had walked over to them.  "I couldn''t help but overhear you have two sub twenty adventurers and two close to thirty.  Might the lower level ones be a healer and trapfinder?"


    "Perhaps you should introduce yourself first?" Ife asked with a sharp smile.


    The man bowed, tail wagging slowly.  "Apologies.  I forgot I was not properly representing myself."  He stood up and flipped his caplet over his shoulder showing an embroidered sea monster skull, mouth wide.  "I am Augustus, a captain in the city guard.  I was here to schedule a posting for a team that closely matches yours, if my assumptions are correct."


    Shiina turned to face the man, curious.  The others seemed similarly intrigued.  "How so?" Zanya prompted.


    "As mentioned, the city guard does a lot of work keeping our dungeons clean, so our troops need to be able to confront both monsters and men," Augustus said.  "We have a squad of trainees that are up for a dungeon run, but there''s no appropriately leveled healer or trapfinder in the group."


    "Wouldn''t it be better to have an overleveled healer?" Delilah asked.  Her expression fell a little.   "That way if something goes wrong...."


    The man shook his head.  "We want high levels supervising.  But if the healer''s too good they might get careless.  And if the trapfinder''s too good they won''t feel a need to run protection duty.  They aren''t children to babysit, they''re Kalarian guards.  They need to learn to handle risk."


    Shiina slowly nodded.  Delilah''s experience with dungeon training had been pretty messed up.  But Shiina had seen plenty more adventurers go through and learn the basics.  Sometimes what they learned was ''you aren''t cut out for adventuring'' no matter how skilled they were on the practice grounds.  Some of those people had died, but a lot more had figured it out before they got killed.


    She turned to face the others.  "I suppose it''d depend on the details."  Ife stepped forwards to help negotiate.


    "There''s seven guards in the group, all around level sixteen.  Dungeon is sixteen average.  Pay is four hundred each.  Gear and items found go to auction." Augustus reached into a pouch and pulled out a contract.  "You''re allowed to put your personal and group safety first, though losing more than four people is grounds for default.  The guard is in charge of the operation but you may refuse any demand that you feel is especially dangerous.  In case of unresolvable dispute pay will be based on the amount of the dungeon cleared."


    Ife took the contract and quickly looked over it once, then twice.  "Seems reasonable.  Delilah do you have any issue with it?"


    The half elf shifted on her feet a few times before shrugging.  "It''s a squishy dungeon, but I suppose it''s fine in the end.  We''re bringing over double the standard party size.  I''ll do my best to keep everyone healthy."


    "Alright," Zanya said.  "It''s settled.  Let''s sign and confirm."


    "The city thanks you for your aid."  Augustus'' tail wagged happily as they each wrote their name on the contract.  "We''ll meet at the Serpent''s Nostril half after first light''s bell.  You can meet the group and plan how you''re going to work with them."


    Shiina pulled out her shields and knife to give them a once over.  This could be interesting!


    <hr>


    So I should probably move this earlier for my fellow mimics, but I only really got it all figured out myself now.  In any case, I''m sure you''ve noticed, being outside a dungeon is really overstimulating.


    We mimics are awesome.  We don''t need sleep, we need a lot less food, and we can focus all around us.  But we''re specialized to sit in a dungeon room that doesn''t really change for long periods of time.  It''s super easy to zone out for a week, or even a year, and just not worry about stuff because nothing''s happening.  Maybe there''s a patrolling skeleton or something but those are easy to tune out.


    As I''m sure you''ve noticed, the outside world is a lot more chaotic.  After a bit of time you can get used to stuff.  Especially sounds, like birds and insects.  But the shifting lights, and movements can really get to you.  We may not need to sleep but I think being on edge all the time isn''t good either.


    So if you want to take a mental break, or enjoy reading or something, I suggest a thick blanket or box.  Without sudden movements to draw your attention you can easily focus on something, or nothing if you want.

 Fishing 3

    The Serpent''s Nostril looked exactly like it should.  Having seen a real sea serpent the massive thirty foot tall head was obviously something different.  But it was dragon or serpent like.  And there was a nice stairway leading to its massive nose holes, in addition to the path leading down its throat.


    "Heya!"  Shiina looked over to see a group of people, likely the guards they were supposed to help.  All of them were in uniform hard leather or steel armor, though there had been little alterations to suit each individual.  The group was five men and two women, at least to Shiina''s eyes.  And all had weapons with good reach, either boar spears, two handed swords, or halberds.


    The man who''d called out to them waved, spear lazily resting on his shoulder.  "You''re the assisting group right?  Boss said it''d be all women and you''d have a mimic gal."


    "That''s us!" Shiina happily called back.


    The two groups met up and exchanged polite greetings.  Zanya introduced the group.  "Ife and I will be in the back in case of emergencies.  Shiina is our rogue and Delilah our healer."


    "I''m Thadius," the man said.  "She''s Sheari, the trio are Primus, Ahmed, and Tertius.  Erudnie is the gal with the weird hook thing, and Lenius is the man pretending he''s not staring at Ife''s chest."


    The dog man called out growled.  "Shut it, Thadius."


    Ife smirked.  "It''s okay, I''m used to it.  Best to get your looking in here where it''s safe though.  It''d be a shame to die to a monster because you were looking the wrong way."


    The other guards laughed and elbowed their embarrassed comrade.  After a bit things returned to business.  "So our usual tactic is we move in as a combat line and clear the place out.  If we need to we''ll split up to handle multiple targets.  We decided both of you should follow the smaller group to help out."


    Shiina nodded.  That sounded good to her.  Delilah tapped her staff.  "Alright.  I should warn you my support spells are going to be weaker than usual because of the group size.  But my healing won''t have that problem.  So bring the wounded to me quickly."


    "Yeah that''s the downside of moving in large groups," Thadius said.  "So it goes.  Anyway, enemies are pretty simple.  The common enemies are white slimes, fishmen, and razor worms.  The last ones are ambush predators so if you see holes in the ground be cautious around that area."


    "Nothing intelligent?" Shiina asked.  She wasn''t expecting to run into any kin but she figured she could check.


    Erudine spoke up.  "We''ve never seen a mimic in these dungeons.  Occasionally there''s been an eelman, but it''s a tame dungeon so they usually just walk on out.  No one really wants to live in a meat tunnel."


    Shiina nodded.  That made sense.  Even if the meat was tasty you probably wanted to live somewhere else.


    "Anything else before we start the mission?" Thadeus asked, ears twitching between the two groups.  Shiina didn''t have anything and it didn''t seem like anyone else did either.  "Alright.  Let''s go."  The seven guards formed up and began heading up the stairs, Shiina and Delilah following, with Ife and Zanya after.


    As they got closer Shiina could get a good look at the dungeon entrance.  The Nostril was about eight feet around, and she immediately understood why people called it a squishy dungeon.  Every footstep caused the flesh to deform and leak a little.  Shiina could taste the meat through her bottom, though it wasn''t anything great.  Just savory and fishy.  The entrance continued until it met up with the other nostril.  There the path got wider, finally leading to a fleshy ramp that sat a little above the ground.  If she remembered right this was what humanoids called the ''epiglottis.''


    "First room ''opens'' when we step on this here," Thadeus said.


    "After that the dungeon is live," Erudine added.


    Delilah held up her staff.  "Let me give what boosts I can.  Blessing of friendship.  Aid of life.  Strength of courage."  Magic washed over them, but Shiina couldn''t tell the difference between the current enhancement and what Delilah had given her in the last dungeon.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    After the spells completed the guards began up the fleshy ramp.  The way it shifted under their weight felt weird, but it wasn''t too unsteady.


    The irregular hollow they entered was different from the dungeon rooms Shiina was used to.  This place had no furnishings.  Just bumps of meat, thick hairs, and pillars of thick sinew.


    It also had a number of white slimes.  The large gloopy masses sensed the change in atmosphere and started towards the group.  Shiina was curious, since she knew these things were weak, but had never seen them in battle.


    The guards moved as a unit, making sure they couldn''t get attacked from behind.  Whenever they got in range of a slime they stabbed the monster.  Sometimes the creatures rolled away, but usually they puckered up as white liquid spilled out.  As the slimes tried to seal their wounds a heavy slash would confirm the kill.


    "Another wave," Erudine called out.  Shiina let her attention shift back to the room and saw that a batch of slimes had rolled in from one of the exits.  She wasn''t used to that either.  Normally doors stopped that kinda nonsense.  Still it didn''t look like there were enough to be a threat.


    Shiina worked her way behind the line of guards and waited with her dagger.  She saw Delilah hit one with a rock, but the creature just kinda shrugged it off.  "Blunt damage won''t work," one of the guards called back.


    "Well at least I hit it," Delilah muttered.


    One of the other slimes got close enough that Shiina was able to reach out and stab it.  The outer coating was actually really hard to get a good puncture into.  The rubbery skin trembled and deformed while still resisting the stab.  And when she managed the thing managed to pucker up and close the wound.  She''d have to use some poison next time.


    Of course that slime got stabbed and slashed soon after.  This wasn''t really a fight, so much as an extermination.  The dungeon was a little crowded from not having been cleaned, but the first rooms were still pretty short of challenge.  After a few more minutes all the slimes were puddles of goop on the ground.


    "Alright, all clear.  On to the next room," Thadius said, starting towards the open passage leading further in.


    "Nope!  Wrong!  Minus twenty points!" Shiina called out while holding her arms above her in an ''X.''


    The guards all paused and looked at her.  "What, should we be looking for traps?  The slimes got through fine."


    "Are you a slime?" Shiina asked, getting a few chagrined head shakes.  "There might be traps at head height or something.  But also, you forgot to loot the room."


    "Wait, there''s no way there''s some treasure here, I mean-"


    Thadius stopped as Shiina cut open a thin layer of sinew to show a flesh pocket with three pink pearls sitting inside.  She waved her finger at the greenhorns.  "Rule two, there''s always treasure in the first room."  Ife shook her head while Zanya smirked.


    The guards kinda looked at each other and shrugged, while Delilah leaned over.  "Is that actually true?"


    "Mali always said so," Shinna replied.  "Though if the place got cleaned out recently it''ll probably only be like a coin or two."  She turned back to the dungeon path and worked her way to the passage.  "Now let''s make sure we don''t get like coated in acid or something."  It was trap finding time


    <hr>


    So I imagine a lot of you mimics out there are wondering what''s up with humanoid senses.  Or you''re humanoids wanting to know about how awesome mimics are.  Well here''s a quick primer on the differences.


    The big thing is humanoids have distinct sensory organs.  Well okay they can ''feel'' everywhere around them, and magic sense is linked to that.  But all their other senses require specific organs, and sometimes those are weird.


    Eyes are the biggest difference between mimics and humanoids.  Unlike us mimics who can sense light from all around giving us complete vision of our surroundings, humanoids (and a lot of other animals) need to see using their eyes.  That''s right, if a humanoid isn''t facing you, they can''t see you, so use that for extra surprises!


    It''s not all weaknesses though.  Humanoids get great depth perception and can accurately guess the distances to things hundreds of feet away.  If they can see you, you''re in danger from arrows or other projectiles.  We mimics need to focus to see things that far out, leaving blindspots similar to humanoids.  And I still don''t get how they aim so well.


    Humanoid hearing requires ears.  Which honestly doesn''t matter that much, since sound carries.  Humanoid ears can get blocked or damaged, but sometimes that can help.  I really hope mimics are immune to siren song....


    The weird one is taste and smell.  We mimics don''t bother with smell, but the humanoid ability to taste is located only on their tongue, they have another way of sensing stuff in the air.  It''s linked to their nose, since they need to breathe in air anyway, and apparently its similar but different to taste?  I''m not sure how that helps.  The whole mess is a huge disadvantage in my opinion.  Though I suppose that means they don''t have to taste what''s on their streets....

 Fishing 4

    A quick search of the tunnel showed there was actually a thin wall on the side that probably led to somewhere bad.  "Okay don''t lean on this," she said.  Continuing on she made it to the next room, the guards following.  This room was another mess of flesh and hairs.  A few bloody crusted holes were on the floor.  "Uh, think those are the bad holes?"


    "Yeah," Thadius said.  "Keep an eye out for tunnelers.  We''ll move to clean them out."


    Zanya''s sharp voice came from behind.  "If there''s a chance of ambushers, keep your healer close."


    "Ah right."  Some of the guards looked more chagrined than others, but they motioned for Shiina and Delilah to follow as they moved towards the holes.


    They were about halfway there when Shiina noticed the meaty floor start to move.  Small lumps forming and spreading as something tunneled closer.  "They''re coming," she said.  The guards readied their weapons in a loose line.


    A horror of sharp black edges attached to a pasty grub body burst free in a shower of gore.  The razor worm was at least six feet long and four feet around and it let out a screech as it raised into the air, ready to snap its jaws down on Erudine.


    The catgirl swung her bardiche in an arc that slammed into the worm''s side.  The creature was jerked to the side as its body burst open.  More gore spilled out, and the razor worm flopped to the ground, its upper half still trying to attack.


    Similar scenes occurred along the line.  The sole exception was Lenius, whose spear punctured the creature, but didn''t knock it aside.  The worm twisted and struck his arm, blood spurting as the razor worm''s mouth latched on.


    The dog man screamed, twisting the spear and trying to use it to push the creature off.  But the worm ignored its guts being torn open.  Shiina was reaching out to move closer, when a blast of light pierced the worm''s head, leaving a massive hole.  The creature spasmed a few more times, then dropped dead.


    Delilah moved up to start healing the injured man, while Ife lowered her staff.  "Your formation was bad.  You should have had the spear users in the middle if these things can ignore deathblows."


    The trainee guards looked either chagrined or annoyed at that.  "Never happened in practice," Primus muttered.  Shiina gave the man a look.  Lots of things never happen in practice.  She wasn''t even that experienced and she knew that!


    Speaking of experience, she moved closer to the worms.  One of the halves was still twitching and snapping.  How would she kill one of those?  After a moment she decided poison was probably her best bet.  Maybe something caustic that wasn''t common in nature.  She decided on ''stomach burster'' poison and gave the worm a stab.


    The grublike body was again surprisingly resilient, but her blade did puncture through.  A dark stain appeared on the creatures body and the thrashing increased as the stain spread.  Soon a good chunk of the worm was a mottled purple and the creature lay still.


    Meanwhile Delilah seemed to have finished her healing.  "Is your arm okay now?"


    Lenius rolled his shoulder a few times and nodded, his tail wagging slow.  "Yeah, thanks.  And sorry."


    "It''s why I''m here," Delilah replied with a smile.


    Thadius grinned in return.  "And now to move on.  Er with a better formation."


    "And after I check for traps," Shiina added pointedly.


    "Right, right."  The fighters parted so Shiina could look over the next passage.  This one had some kind of sphincter blocking the way.  Probably this thing''s version of doors.  And she saw veins leading to some type of trap.  Time to get to work.


    The door was fairly easy.  Just a three rune holding, acid, release setup.  She cut the link for acid first then the rest.  "Okay!  Ready to move on."


    The next few rooms went smoothly.  It was early on, and the worm ambush had gotten the guard crew to pay attention.  But as they continued on the difficulty started to ramp up.


    Shiina really didn''t like the fishmen.  The creepy things were about four feet tall, used long stabby weapons, and had a tendency to leap over the battle lines.  Worst of she couldn''t find a poison that would disable or kill them quickly.  She''d had to hunt down their weak points which were mostly in the lung area.  Or the gills area?  She wasn''t certain.


    The room they''d just burst into had a dozen of the little annoyances, along with some white slimes and acid pools.  Shiina had no idea why there were pools of acid sitting around, but they''d made sure to stay away as much as possible.  The guards had set up two lines each between acid pools and were hacking away at the monsters.


    As the front lines bottled up, three of the fishmen did their wriggling leaps over the heads of everyone.  Ife burned one from the air, and one was heading towards Zanya, but the last turned back towards Delilah.  "I got it," Shiina said as she moved to face the creature.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    She let her big shield sit just outside her body, while moving her small shield and knife to get ready for the creature''s attacks.  The fish thing started off poking at her with a trident, so she slapped the weapon away with her buckler.  It wasn''t a heavy hit though, so the creature was able to get off another stab.  This time Shiina slapped it into the meaty ground where the barbs got stuck.


    With a quick move she slashed the creature''s hamstrings as it tried to pull the trident out.  Pain caused it to lose its balance, and she moved a little forwards to stab its chest.  A flailing arm turned that into a stomach stab, so Shiina politely gutted the monster.  With half its entrails on the ground it didn''t resist her killing blow.


    Turning back to the fight it looked like things were getting cleaned up.  Delilah was healing the bruises that the fishmen had managed to inflict while the rest of the group was finishing off the wounded that were still aggressive.


    Shiina let her focus wander in search of hidden valuables.  There''d been a few chests along the way and even more hidden pockets of pearls, but there didn''t seem to be anything here.  "Drat.  No money."


    Thadius shrugged.  "Yeah this is a pretty low return dungeon.  We''ll get to carve out steaks or something when we leave I guess.  Anyway the boss is up ahead.  It''s a giant spine mite.  Kinda flat body, armored, with big spikey antennae and two claws.  It''s got a nasty jump too, so keep an eye it doesn''t land on you."


    "Right."  Shiina kept a spare escape tendril in the back of her mind so she could call it up fast.  She then moved to check the last passage.  The final door seemed safe and there weren''t any traps on the lead up.  Good.


    She gave Thadius a side eye when he moved through without officially declaring the place trap free, but it didn''t really matter.  Instead of complaining she moved to the back of the group.


    The bosses room was a large pulsing chamber.  Wind and water rushed through in streams from pores in the sides, while an alcove in the back suggested a treasure area.  The boss was sitting in the middle of the room, waiting.


    As the guards moved in and started to surround it, it began to quiver.  Second later it rose up, revealing the creature had been partially burrowed into the floor.  It was about twenty feet long, and had antenna just as long up front.  In addition two big claws and a multitude of clawed legs scrabbled in the air in anticipation.


    Shiina decided she wasn''t a fan.


    With the beast mostly surrounded the guards started moving in, but the first attack came from the creature.  The two thick barbed antenna swept backwards from the creatures face, forcing Primus and Ahmed to block with their heavy weapons.


    As the two staggered the rest of the guard group charged.  Shiina couldn''t keep track of all the attacks, but she was pretty sure most of them drew blood and a few of the creatures legs got severed.


    The thing did a spring bending dip and push and flew into the air, straight towards the entrance.  Delilah squeaked as Shiina grabbed her and threw a psuedopod where the monster had been.  With a mighty pull she flung herself under the jumping arthropod landing in the meaty depression it had carved out while it slammed into the floor where they''d been.


    The guard squad rushed after the beast, using their heavy weapons to land hits.  This time the monster jumped and spun in place, lashing out with its pincers, but Thadius and Erudine had already dodged.  In return one of the mantis arms got a solid crack from a two handed sword.


    Shiina was starting to edge forwards when the spine mite spasmed and shuddered before dropping to the ground twitching.  She wasn''t sure if it was dead to start, but the hacking that followed probably sealed the deal if it wasn''t.


    One boss defeated.


    The guards let out a cheer. "Alright!  Time to finish the mission and head back.  Wasn''t too bad," Thadius said.


    Shiina let her focus shift.  Delilah was healing up the bruises caused by flailing limbs and antenna.  There was a chest and some cash in the alcove.  No traps on the chest.  And the alcove-


    She saw the holes in the ceiling just as Thadius walked past her towards the treasures.  "Stop!  Don''t-"


    The razor worm burst from the ceiling and stretched down, mouth open.  Shiina stretched out her arm with as much strength as she could.  The poisoned dagger hit the skin and punched through into the creature right below the head.  The purple death stain started to expand....


    The razor worm still buried its maw into Thadius'' neck.  Blood burst out as the dog man lost the left side of his neck.


    A flash of light burned the creature in half and the worm collapsed.


    And so did Thadius.


    Shiina pulled herself over as fast as she could.  The bite had gone almost half way through, and blood was leaking out of holes all over.  She had no idea what to do.


    Delilah was there a moment later.  The half elf started a spell, then stopped and shook her head.


    Slowly the other guards joined them.  Shiina wanted to hide away, but she had to face them.  "I''m sorry.  I was too late."


    Erudine shook her head slowly.  "You warned him to watch out for traps."  She knelt by her fallen comrade and moved his half cape over the wound.  "Damn it Thadius.  We were so close...."


    They''d finished the dungeon, but it didn''t feel like a victory anymore.


    <hr>


    "Seventy percent of adventurers die in their first ten dungeon runs.  In places with very heavy training requirements, that number drops to about twenty percent, with another third quitting for something safer, like the army."


    That''s the first paragraph of the adventurer''s study book the Iron Eye guild gives to people.  And it''s something Mali drilled into me constantly.  For that matter I got to see it on some level.  Plenty of parties came back out of the dungeon missing one member, or with people saying they were going to quit.


    It''s a completely different thing to watch someone die personally.  Especially someone in your party.  Even if it was a temporary thing.


    I''m dungeon born.  Dungeons are my home and I will probably never stop delving.  But if you have any hesitation?  Quit now.  If you''re fine with beating up dungeons half your level and don''t want to challenge something hard?  Not a bad career.  The only way to fail at dungeon delving is to die.

 Fishing 5

    Shiina sat brooding as she looked out the inn''s window. There had to be something she could have done. She saw the stupid worm. She''d hit it! But it hadn''t mattered. It pissed her off.


    A slight rustling noise turned her attention to the door. A paper had been slid under it. Shiina reached out and picked it up. On it was a simple message. "Al Jirtea. The Shimmering Mines."


    Shiina considered looking outside to see who''d dropped it off, but chances are the person would be gone already. Whatever it was couldn''t be too urgent, so she left it on the dresser and went back to the window. There were still a few hours before the dawn.


    She hadn''t gotten an answer to her question by the time the other women started to stir. She''d have to bug Zanya about it later. For now she waited for Delilah and Zanya to get somewhat awake and ready before grabbing the note and handing it over. "This came in."


    Zanya picked it up and gave a muttered curse. "How annoying."


    "Did someone open a dungeon again?" Delilah asked.


    "No, otherwise we''d have target names. Seems like someone''s trying though." Zanya dropped the note on Ife''s face, getting a growl in return. "The reason I''m annoyed is because Al Jirtea is a shithole in the middle of the desert. Getting there will be a huge pain and totally mess up our route."


    "Al Jirtea?" Ife moaned. "Fucking wonderful. It''ll take a whole extra two months to get to the Webwoods."


    Zanya''s eyes flickered. "We can cut it down to just an extra few weeks if we go through the lamia lands. That sound good?"


    "Yeah," Ife forced herself upright, grabbing the paper and setting it on fire. "We''ll have to hurry if we want to get a caravan out though. Are you all up for that?"


    "I don''t really want to stay here much longer," Delilah said simply. "Even if the destination isn''t much better...."


    Shiina stayed out of the way as the others finished their morning preparations. That done they quickly headed out towards the edge of the city, looking to see if a merchant caravan was forming.


    Ife was first to point at an area. "There. Seems like three merchant groups are preparing." Sure enough several people were filling wagons and hitching them up to the desert plodders that seemed to be the beast of burden around here. The giant lizards were laying flat to get the warmth of the sun in the early morning chill.


    Shiina inspected each group as they got closer. The largest seemed to be a group of wealthy halflings with guards and porters of different races. They had extravagant wagons with silk canopies and drapes over them, and their plodders had shimmering gold barding over their dull brown scales.


    The next group seemed fairly small. Humans and dogmen with only a couple of simple wagons and a number of camels that were being stacked high with goods. They had a number of guards with them as well.


    Lastly was four wagons of dwarves that mostly seemed to be already packed up. They were currently working to get canvas covers onto the wagons to protect from the heat.


    "We want to try to get money off this trip?" Zayna asked.


    "Money can be exchanged for food," Shiina replied.


    Delilah grimaced. "We should probably try."


    "Silk isn''t cheap," Ife added. "Besides the local merchants are going to fleece us for traveling supplies."


    "Okay." That settled, stepped back so Ife could go meet the middle set of merchants.


    A well dressed man with several gold rings noticed their approach and moved to meet them. He was wearing the fakest smile Shiina had ever seen, and she had an artificial face. "Well met. Are you paying travelers, or seeking employment?"


    Ife gave a deep bow that got the man''s eyes wandering. "We''re seeking employment, at least until Al Jirtea."


    "Ah that is unfortunate." His eyes turned hard as he shook his head. "I''m afraid we have no room for additional guards. Good luck in your search." He turned away, the conversation apparently over. Shiina forced down the urge to stick her tongue out at him.


    "Well that''s the good paying option gone," Zanya muttered. "Let''s see about the other one."


    Ife led them over to where the dwarves were working. One of the men noticed and gave them a wave, before finishing setting up the canopy on the wagon. As the rest of his fellows worked to tie off the ropes, he hopped off the wagon and walked over. "Morning ladies. Planning on traveling?"If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "We''re looking for work to Al Jirtea," Ife said. "We have business we need to handle there."


    "Hmph, bad luck that." The dwarf tugged his sideburns. "Well we''ve got supplies that need to make it to Bone Mountain fast. So we''ll be heading the same way for a bit."


    Shiina perked up. "Wait, Bone Mountain is on this path? Can we go there?"


    The others looked at her in surprise. "It''s along the route. But why do you want to go there?" Zanya asked.


    "It''s Bone Mountain! A mountain, made of bones!" Shiina gestured with her hands. It was so obvious how cool that was. She didn''t understand why the others didn''t get it. She was damn sure there wasn''t anything like that back home.


    The dwarf laughed at her enthusiasm. "Now there''s a lass with taste! Anyway, we don''t have money for guards, but if you''re willing to share the watch and help out along the way, we''ll share our food and fire. That a fair deal to you?"


    Ife turned to the group. "It''s that or paying for travel. I think it''s a good deal." she said.


    "It should do," Zanya replied. Shiina and Delilah nodded.


    "Glad to have you with us! A more interesting crew than the usual greasy merchant for sure. I''m Terasil. Can do full introductions when we hit the road." He motioned towards the last cart. "Let''s get the last canopy up on that cart so we don''t all fry, then we can tell the bastards up front we''re ready to go."


    As Shiina slid behind the group she decided it''d be a good time to ask the question that had been burning in her mind for a while. "Why does everyone seem to hate Al Jirtea so much? I haven''t seen much about it in my books."


    "They''re slavers," Delilah said dismissively.


    "Eh?" Shiina turned her attention to the first caravan. Sure enough she noticed that the people actually doing work all had metal collars on. "But isn''t slavery illegal here? How can they have slaves in town?"


    Terasil shook his head. "Not illegal here. Iron Eye Continent''s unique, and good on them. Only a small chunk of lands have actually banned slavery. It''s not common, but still legal. Course those ribless bastards in Al Jirtea are worse than anyone else I know of."


    They reached the wagon and Shiina stretched her arm to grab and pull one of the poles upright. As the others started lashing it to the wagon she asked, "So what makes this place extra bad? I figure being owned by someone''s pretty shitty." Delilah nodded in agreement.


    "There''s a wide range of rules depending on where you are," Ife said with a shrug. "I was sold as a temple slave myself when I was a child. But I do admit I''d rather be a temple slave than a mining slave."


    Zanya gave an eye to Delilah. "You also have debt prisons. Which are a lot like slavery to my mind."


    "The rich city merchants have those," Delilah said with heavy scorn. "Us commoners don''t think much of them."


    "Fair," Zanya replied, finishing off the first pole and moving to the next. Shiina helped pull it up again. "The big difference between Al Jirtea and the rest of the world is related. Almost every country has some kind of Jubilee or Day of Forgiveness. All debts cleared, all prisoners pardoned, and usually all slaves freed."


    Ife nodded, tail swishing. "In my home you have to be freed within ten years, and offered a gift for your services. Which is how I made it into the clergy myself."


    "Meanwhile in Al Jirtea, if you''re a slave you''re a slave for life. And so are your children." Terasil spat on the ground. "Hell, I hear the little bastards will enslave their own kids, if the other parent is a slave. Won''t even let people buy and free the poor souls."


    Shiina nodded slowly. "Okaaay. So they''re jerks. Why hasn''t their city been burnt to the ground yet?"


    "They''re jerks with five gold and gem producing dungeons," Ife replied. "So they''re incredibly rich and can buy off any merchant and mercenary who cares more about gold than morals to keep them safe. So long as they don''t totally ignore diplomacy that will get more cities pretty far."


    Zanya''s inner eyelid flickered. "They also live in the middle of the desert, so it''s really hard to get an army to them. And while everyone wants their stuff, not many people want to live there."


    "Oh." Shiina wondered if maybe letting someone pop open a dungeon and burn the place to the ground was a good plan.


    Apparently her thoughts were apparent. Or Delilah had the same idea, because the half elf whispered to her, "It''d probably hurt the slaves more than the rich people. And then there''s all the travelers like us who''d have to deal with the monster hordes."


    Shiina sighed. Delilah was right. Human politics was so confusing. Still she kinda wanted to do something. Maybe she''d get to assassinate someone as a treat. She''d ask Zanya on the way. Along with a few other questions....


    <hr>


    For my fellow mimics, a quick primer on slavery : You know how humanoids treat inanimate objects that annoy them? Well imagine a humanoid thinks they own you and expects you to do all the work for them? Yeah.


    As for why the Iron Eye continent banned slavery, here''s the short form on the Grim Crusade.


    About six hundred years ago there was a particularly nasty city called Yurklie. They not only were huge on slavery, they added magical compulsions to their slaves that forced compliance to every whim. Yeah apparently some places are so messed up they added mind control on top of the ''don''t stab you boss'' restrictions. The other cities didn''t pay much attention though. They just ransomed their citizens like normal, and assumed the mind control was removed with the slave status.


    It turned out that Yurklie didn''t do that.


    So one day Yurklie''s king decided they wanted to expand, and reactivated the mind control on all the slaves that had been ransomed. They forced those people to open the city gates and lead suicidal charges against resisting troops.


    As you can imagine, none of the other cities were happy about this revelation.


    Short version, is when the surviving prince of Javergrund went full dark lord and unleashed an army of the dead, the rest of the cities didn''t help. They just grabbed picnic lunches and watched as he burned Yurklie to the ground, salted the earth, and enslaved the souls of its inhabitants.


    Afterwards slavery was banned continent wide, and in return the undead would stick to their city. The pact was tested once. The armies of the dead didn''t even make it halfway there before the other cities removed the people responsible.

 Fishing 6

    After some consideration, Shiina decided she didn''t like deserts.


    The heat was sorta annoying, though it was a lot worse for her humanoid companions.  She could feel the heat, but it was easy to adjust.  Meanwhile it had only taken half an hour before Delilah had given in and swapped her robes for an undershirt.  And that was with a cooling spell she''d carved into the wagon.  The dwarves seemed similarly miserable, having ditched their armors and heavy aprons.  Even Ife and Zanya were fanning themselves.


    But to Shiina the biggest problem was that it was big and empty.  As soon as they left the green swathe of the river delta, it had just been sand and the occasional shrub.  Sure the ocean had even less in the way of features and landmarks, but there she could go fishing!  Here there was nothing to take away from the total lack of features.  But the jostling of the cart ride was just enough to keep her from properly zoning out.


    She shifted in her seat at the front of the wagon and let her arm slip down to grab a rock.  At least there were plenty of those around.  She carefully considered the targets available to her then decided for now it didn''t matter.  She needed accuracy first.  So she tossed the rock at another bigger rock in the distance.


    And missed.  The one damn thing binocular vision was good for.  Oh well.  She''d figure it out eventually.


    The driver looked over at her.  "Didn''t think mimics could get bored so easy.  The ones I''ve met caravanning all said they could sit still for days."


    Shiina turned her body to face the woman.  Majuli if she remembered right.  "It''s easier to stay calm when there''s not so much open space above and rattling about.  Besides, I''m trying to practice throwing."  She hesitated a moment before admitting why.  "I wanted to save someone, but my knife wasn''t good enough.  Maybe if I had hit the monster with something heavier it would have worked.  So I need to learn to aim."


    "Hm, I ain''t a mimic, but I hear you all have a hard time hitting something further than fifteen paces."  Majuli paused to make sure the desert plodders were on the right trail before continuing.  "That''s about as far as you can reach isn''t it?  Was told if I ran into a hostile mimic to stay further away."


    It was a little odd hearing that there were specific tactics for killing her, but then she supposed tactics for killing humanoids were more generic.  Zanya had been teaching them how to kill people with weapons from the start.


    Shiina put that aside and nodded to the dwarven woman.  "We can reach about that far, but there''s no real force in the hits.  You need to worry about a mimic grabbing you or your gear.  Not getting punched."


    "Makes sense," Majuli tugged her sideburns.  "Spear haft isn''t as deadly as the point but if you ignore it you''ll end up in a world of hurt."


    "I thought dwarves preferred axes," Shiina said, motioning to the weapon at the woman''s side.


    "That''s for surface fighting," the dwarf replied.  "Tunnel fighting is spear and shield.  Course most people aren''t mad enough to try to fuck with us in our tunnels, so they''ll never see it."  She shrugged.  "But back to your little problem, I don''t know if a rock will do it.  You''d need to hit the bastard perfectly every time.  And perfect for every type of monster that you run across.  That''d need a Technique, and I don''t think you''ll be making a ranged Technique.  No offense."


    "Technique?"  She''d seen the word in a few books but it wasn''t common.  "Is that like a Skill?"


    Zanya slid closer to them, her cloak''s hood blocking the sun.  "Technique, Skill, Maneuver, Waza.  Lots of different words for it.  In the end it''s carving a move into reality enough that the gods let you accomplish something beyond normal limits."


    Shiina perked up.  None of the books she''d seen had really explained it.  "So if I practice enough I could throw a rock that will knock over anything?"


    "If you practice for a few decades, become a master of throwing, and want the Technique so much you can draw the attention of both a god of law and a god of chaos," Zanya said.  The woman gave Shiina a long look.  "If you want to shave twenty or so years off that, try working with that dagger Mali gave you or mimic abilities."


    Majuli raised an eyebrow.  "Sounds like you got experience.  Got some Techniques of your own?"


    To Shiina''s surprise Zanya nodded.  "Yeah, because I''m a Magic Knight.  The less you''re demanding from your Technique the easier it is to get one.  My Death Leap sends me around twenty feet in the air with the power of wind.  And Deep Cutter gives my axe swings another three inches of reach.  Between my connection to wind and the fact that the effects are fairly minor I managed to pull together both those two in a year.


    "However," the warrior''s tone drew in Shiina''s full attention, "Techniques have limits.  You''re stuck in your technique once it''s started.  If I use Death Leap I have to jump mostly up.  And I can''t attack while I''m going up.  If I''d mastered the technique while attacking upwards I wouldn''t be able to not attack, and I''d be limited to whatever weapon I mastered it with."


    "So what''s the benefit?" Shiina asked.  "You could do both of those easily already."


    "Speed," Zanya replied.  "Techniques let me do what I want instantly with perfect precision.  If I need to jump, I can jump immediately.  If I need that extra reach I can get it mid swing.  That''s the power of simple Techniques.  If I need to be creative I can take the time to plan it out properly."


    Shiina considered that.  It sounded more and more like what she wanted would be a technique.  But that ran into a problem.  "So if I wanna learn how to do this Technique sometime soon I need to find a way to stop someone dead in their tracks first, then train until it''s second nature.  Or really cool."


    "Yep.  That''s the way it is."  Zanya shrugged and moved back to the full shade of the cart.


    Unfortunately that left her with a problem.  "I still don''t have a clue how I could have stopped that worm," she muttered.


    Majuli overheard her.  "Well you could also try to make something better.  Just have to wait a little longer before you can use it.  Mimics are good with patience, right?"


    "We''re good with waiting," Shiina replied.  She grimaced then reached into herself and grabbed a book.  "Maybe I can find something in Mali''s book on poisons."This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The dwarf nodded.  "Something to do I suppose.  We''ve got another hour before we''ll be setting up camp."


    Shiina blinked.  It couldn''t be more than two hours after noon.  "Why stop so early?"


    "We set up our path around oasis locations."  Majuli pointed into the distance.  "That green speck is the only water for another nine hours.  We try to push past it and we''ll be stuck in the sands come nightfall."


    With a lot of effort Shiina could just barely see the spot on the horizon, and she nodded.  "Suppose that''s important.  Even plodders need to drink.  But don''t other people use these oases?"


    "Sometimes.  There''s rules about fighting there, and the place should be able to handle a caravan five times our size, so there shouldn''t be any problems."  She paused.  "Well, except for monsters.  We try to leave a side open so the beasts can drink without bothering us, but we''ll need a good watch."


    Shiina nodded.  "Right.  Guess I should get my reading in now."  She flipped the book open and started going over poisons.  Maybe there was something here that would work.


    <hr>


    As the oasis got closer Shiina had to admit it was an amazing sight.  The desert sands transformed almost instantly into reeds, brush, and palm trees.  Birds called out warning as they approached and she imagined a lot of smaller creatures went into hiding.


    Their group set up camp at the border of the green patch.  The Al Jirtea crew took one end of the camp, letting their slaves guard the perimeter.  The other merchants were in the middle, leaving the dwarves and her party to handle the other flank.  Shiina decided she''d take the furthest patch out as her area.  After all, she''d be guarding all night.


    They all helped set up tents so the humanoids wouldn''t wake up covered in sand.  Shiina had just given up on her outer layer and just occasionally dropped out the sand that had stuck to her.  And when that was done everyone retreated to the shade of the oasis.


    Shiina set up next to a rock and started practicing attacks.  She hadn''t found anything in the book that''d work for poisons, so it was back to hitting the bastard hard enough to keep them from biting someone.  Or stabbing them or whatever.


    Her first strike was closer to a slap.  She grumbled and set up her chest to get better grip on the ground.  The next one would probably count as a punch, but not a very strong one.  She needed some more force.


    It took her about half an hour before she figured out that the same ''casting'' motion she''d used for fishing could add to the strike.  Her blows actually seemed like an attack now!  But she knew it wasn''t enough.  It wouldn''t stop anything that was moving fast.


    "Shiina?"  She looked up to see Delilah moving through the reeds to join her.  "What are you doing?"


    "Practicing," she replied, trying another swing.  Maybe the angle would matter?


    Delilah sat close by, but still giving her some space.  "You know it''s not your fault right?  You couldn''t have saved Thadius."


    A flash of anger burned through Shiina.  How could Delilah say that?  The dungeon had taken something that was hers!  But she forced the feeling down.  "I... I guess I know that, but I can''t accept it.  How can you just let something like that go?"


    Delilah frowned and leaned against a palm tree.  "It''s not easy, but it''s something you learn.  I''ve had a lot of practice as a healer.  You can''t save everyone, even if you try your best."


    Shiina slowly nodded.  Diseases or large numbers of wounded would easily push a healer to their limit.  And then people would start dying, no matter how good you were.  But it still didn''t sit right with her.  "But I was so close.  If I could have hit it harder, killed it faster...."


    "You aren''t going to get anywhere thinking like that."  Delilah sat up and glowered down at Shiina.  "Killing things is easy.  You probably killed it the second you stabbed it.  You said you wanted to save Thadius?  Then start thinking about how to save people, not how to kill monsters."


    Shiina blinked.  "But that''s..."  Weren''t they the same thing?  How could she save someone without killing the thing attacking them?


    "She''s right."  The rustle of reeds preceded Ife''s arrival.  The fox woman flopped down on Delilah''s shoulder, causing the half elf to blush.  "Our cute healer here might not know the details, but I do.  The gods will not answer a conflicted desire.  If you want to save someone, that''s how you need to think.  If your training focuses on killing something, even for a good cause, all you''ll get is a better way to kill something."


    "Even if I need to kill something to save someone?" Shiina asked.


    Ife''s ears turned forwards as she focused on Shiina.  "Especially in that case.  Because if you''re ever wrong, you''ll wind up back where you are now.  Having killed the threat, but not saved your friend.  The gods rarely go the extra mile to fix your mistakes."


    Shiina sighed.  She still didn''t really get it.  "I need a break."  She shifted her body around to face her friends.  "So you''re a priestess?" she asked Ife.


    "Indeed."  The fox woman said proudly.  "My parents sold me to the temple at a young age, but I learned quickly.  Between my looks and an aptitude for magic after my servitude ended I was inducted into the higher ranks of the clergy."


    Delilah raised an eyebrow.  "Because of your looks?  Don''t churches normally keep those bits unsaid?"


    Ife preened, tail wagging.  "Beauty is a sign of the gods favor.  Which is how we know our party is quite blessed."  Her lip curled into a wry smile.  "Though admittedly the ability to blow people into little bits is a greater sign of the god''s favor.  That''s why I was given such a high position despite my birth."


    "Well I''m not sure about beauty, but the blowing people to little bits part makes sense."  Shiina was very much aware beauty was in the eye of the beholder.  And very malleable.  Especially for her.  "If you were such an important priestess though, why did they let you go adventuring?"


    "I''m curious too," Delilah said.


    Ife sighed.  "Well in the end my purpose was to get a political marriage and serve as a court mage and spiritual advisor to some nobleman.  When that started looking more like a political incident the high priest agreed it would be better for me to become a traveling priestess."


    Delilah looked a little concerned but simply nodded.  "I see."


    Even Shiina could tell there was probably a lot more there, and that was before they got into weird human things.  But she figured that was something that could wait.  She stretched and pointed to the camp areas where smoke was rising.  "Looks like they''re getting food ready, so we should head back."


    She''d have time tonight to practice.


    <hr>


    There''s lots of stories about the creation of the world, but Ife gave me the most common one.  Here''s how it goes :


    The gods of Good and Evil were the first to create worlds, and the first to destroy them in their struggles.  Their wars raged on, creating and consuming planets and each other.  However other gods had seen the results and were intrigued.


    The gods of Order found the intricate systems that intelligent creatures to be a great source of inspiration.  The way mortals worked with limited tools to impose order on randomness impressed them, and they sought to create a world to watch mortals strive and gain new ideas.  But all their created worlds were deterministic.  They could be incredibly complex, but they played out perfectly with no true randomness.


    The gods of Chaos found the struggles of mortals to be incredible entertainment.  Their foibles, quirks, and infighting amused the gods to no end.  They wanted to make a world they could watch, to see what new entertainment mortals would dream up.  But their worlds fell apart too quickly.  There was nothing that bound the worlds together long enough for mortals to thrive.


    And so, upon learning of their fellow gods'' desires and failures, Order and Chaos reached an accord.  Chaos would form a world where randomness and inspiration could exist, while Order would give it the rules and structure to last.


    Yet while their goals were similar, they knew each side had different views on how a world should be run.  They also knew what would happen if disagreement led to war.  And so the two sides made a deal.  The gods would not interfere, unless a god of Chaos and a god of Order both agreed on a course of action.


    Thus we have our world.  Free from the battles of the Gods.  Where you can seize your destiny through hard work, or being very interesting.

 Fishing 7

    As night fell and the desert turned from burning to chilly the birds quieted down.  But the rest of the desert awoke.  Shiina carefully watched the various players, getting a feel for the nighttime animals.  That way when her attention was elsewhere she''d still notice changes if something dangerous came out.


    The first out were the lizards using the last rays of sunlight to give them energy to hunt the insects that had been wandering about.  They were quickly followed by scorpions and hunting spiders.  All of which started to establish a pecking order among themselves.


    Next out were the mice, toads, and snakes.  Shiina hadn''t thought that toads could live this far into the deadly sands, but they were here, croaking for all the world to hear, challenging the mice for supremacy of the oasis.  At least until a hungry snake reminded them of the actual apex predator.


    They weren''t the brightest, but she was very glad they were here.  Because as she saw a toad grab a millipede with its tongue Shiina had a revelation.  Delilah was right.  She''d been doing this all wrong.


    Mimics couldn''t push at long distances.  Their tendrils were designed to pull.  To drag prey to their ''mouths.''  She shouldn''t fight it.  She should work with it.


    Once she felt she had a good idea of the oasis'' feel at night she turned back to practicing.  It wasn''t easy, but she thought she was on the cusp of figuring something out when morning arrived.  She''d get back to it tomorrow.


    Satisfied with how things had gone she moved over to where Majuli was gathering the watch up and getting prepared for breakfast.  "Anything I can do to help?"


    The dwarf pointed to a woman who''d nodded off next to one of the wagons.  "Yeah, wake that lazy fool up would you, and make it a good scare.  She was supposed to get up and feed our yeast but she decided she wanted to nap more.  Skulless gal left her weapons in her tent too so extra reason to give her a spook."


    Shiina grinned.  "Sure thing!"  She moved over to the sleeper, trying to think of the best setup.


    After a bit of consideration, she copied one of the barrels.  It was a nice solid piece of work, so she didn''t need to obsess about the interior.  For her body she put together a drippy doughy mass with vague features.  That done she leaned over next to the sleeping woman and whispered at her, "Sooooo hungryyyy."


    The woman twitched a little in her sleep but didn''t wake.  That was fine.  Shiina loomed over her and continued, slowly raising her voice.  "Why didn''t you feed me?  I''m so hungry.  You abandoned me!"


    The sleeper''s eyes flickered open, slowly focusing on Shiina.  Then the woman screamed and fell over backwards, scrambling on the ground.  Shiina absorbed the savory taste of surprise while continuing the act.  "I am the ghost of the yeast you left to starve!  Neither beer nor bread will I ever become!  Give me back my purpose!  Woooooooo~!"


    Her victim spun around and rapid crawled towards Majuli.  "Something''s in the dough!  It''s been possessed!"


    As Majuli burst out laughing, Shiina shifted back to her normal form.  "Gotcha~!"  She preened at the slack jawed shock.  The other members of the caravan were starting to rise and see what the commotion was as well.


    The dwarven woman she''d tricked stared at her for another minute, then turned to Majuli.  "You tricked me!"


    "That''s what happens when you fall asleep on the job," Majuli replied without a hint of remorse.  "Now get back to your work, or we really will be dealing with dead yeast.  And it''ll be more depressing than funny."


    The dwarf glared at Shiina before walking back to the cart, grumbling all the while.  Shiina moved over to Majuli''s side.  "So why do you have so much yeast anyway?  I figure that''s hard to transport."


    "Ah, that''s one of the things Bone Mountain needed."  Majuli started boiling water as the fire warmed up.  "The Stone Fucker dropped some spell that killed all the yeast in the area.  Had some idiot helping him inside the mountain, so we''re lucky that''s all the damage.  But our kin have been drinking old beer and eating flatbread for a month now, so we''re helping restart their cultures."


    "Yikes."  Shiina was glad that they''d show up after the caravan had helped resupply the city.


    She helped set up breakfast, then moved to join her friends as they woke up.  Delilah was already into her extra rations, nibbling on a bar of fat, oats, and fruits.  "Did you have any luck thinking about things last night?" the half elf asked.


    "Yeah actually!"  Shiina perked up.  "I think I got a good idea."


    Zanya seemed interested.  "Oh what did you come up with?"


    "I wanna keep it a surprise," Shiina said with a grin.


    Ife snorted.  "I would have thought you''d had enough surprises this morning."


    Shiina let her grin widen just a little too much.  "There''s no such thing as too many surprises."


    Her friends looked at her and shook their heads almost as one.  "Mimics."


    ---


    Once all the groups had packed away their camps, they started out into the desert again.  Soon the hot sun drove most people into the covered wagons, with only the drivers and a few unfortunate scouts stuck outside.  Shiina wasn''t as affected as the others, but it was still stifling and boring plodding over the dunes.


    Until excitement found them.


    They were about four hours on the trail when Terasil noticed they were being followed.  The dwarf trader pulled out a spyglass, and swore as he checked the horizon.  "Six camels.  Halflings in desert nomad garb."


    Everyone perked up at that.  A group that small wouldn''t be attacking the caravan, but the chances of the riders just happening to arrive on the same trail despite taking a different route were slim.  "Are they scouts, or something else?" Zanya asked.


    "Not sure," Terasil admitted. "The nomads around here hate Al Jirtea because of all the slaving.  But I haven''t heard about caravan raids.  I''m gonna go pump the merchants for more information.  Figure they take this route enough to know what to expect."


    Everyone made ready for trouble as Terasil headed out, putting on armor and grabbing weapons.  Delilah moved to enhance the cooling rune they''d carved into the floor, but Zanya stopped her and poured her own mana in instead.  "We''ll want you at your best.  The caravan''s short on healers."  Shiina went over her toxins, grabbing stuff that the desert locals and wildlife wouldn''t be used to.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Terasil was back not long after, looking grim.  "Apparently they''re scavengers.  The nomads figure something along the trail will be attacking us and killing enough of our plodders we''ll have to abandon goods.  Then they walk in and pick through the corpses for free stuff."


    "So we''re going to be attacked by monsters," Ife said, her tail drooping.


    "Aye."  The dwarf pointed to one of the smaller chests.  "Delilah, you said you were a Apprentice tier herbalist right?  We packed some notes and supplies on the local poisons for our own use, but a mage can use it better.  Hopefully they''ll be enough to work with."


    Delilah hopped up and hurried to the chest.  "Oh that''ll be great.  I''ll start researching right now."  Shiina hoped the stuff in there would work on the plodders too, but she was kinda fuzzy on how to heal poisons.


    Terasil continued, "Majuli, keep an eye on the lass just in case.  And after the mess you handle the haggling with the ribless little shits up front.  Get the most you can without letting them just leave their poor slaves to die.  Hell, force them to let us treat the people if they want help for their animals."  Shinna nodded along with her friends in agreement.  They weren''t going to leave people to die if they could help it.


    "The rest of you loosen the canvas ties.  We might get hit in a few seconds, or a few hours.  Do your best to stay ready while not dying of heat."  The dwarf waited for some affirmations before motioning to Shiina.  "Gonna have to put most of our fighters in the middle, so would you be willing to join me in the back cart?  Figure you''re best at turning an ambush around."


    "Sure!"  She checked with Zanya who gave a nod of approval.  A thought hit her.  "But uh if something goes wrong I can only get us out.  The plodders are going to be in trouble."


    The dwarf gave a slow nod.  "I''ll loosen the leads so they can break free if needed.  We can gather them later."


    Shiina hopped off the lead cart and moved to the back, while the others shifted around.  With a quick pullup she placed herself in the lookout''s seat and readied her dagger and shields.  Terasil fiddled with the knots on the leads for a bit, then got the large plodders moving again.


    As they continued on the tension in the air was so thick she could almost taste it.  The drivers ahead were letting their plodders decide the route a little more, probably so they could look around.  But no matter how much Shiina focused her attention there was just the desert and the distant riders following them.


    Then the area turned from bright day to muted night, a strange moon hanging to the side of the trail.


    Shiina barely had time to react before a powerful force hit her mind.  Attack.  Kill.  Feed.


    With a violent shiver she threw the presence out of her head.  "We''re under attack!" she shouted as she tried to get her bearings.


    The caravan had stopped, the plodders and drivers confused by the sudden change.  And from all around them creatures were burrowing out of the sands.  Giant centipedes, huge beetles, and three foot long scorpions all surfacing to prey on the caravan next to them.  For a moment it looked like a horrific painting of an ambush rather than reality.


    That moment ended fast.  The caravan erupted into action, warriors moving to defend the carts and transport animals.  "Watch the back," Terasil yelled as he hopped off to swat one of the scorpions moving towards their plodders.


    Shiina let herself fall off the cart, sending her knife to stab a scorpion, while her shield squashed a large tiger beetle.  She let her attention sweep under the cart, which was mercifully clear before turning to the back.


    A four foot long brother of the tiger beetle was scurrying at her huge jaws open wide.  Shiina yelped and put her large shield in front of the creature''s jaws.  The insect grabbed and started trying to yank it away, but Shiina''s grip held firm.  She took a cue from the scorpions and let her arm swing around to stab the beetle in the side and top.


    The angle weakened her blows.  The first bounced off armor, but the next dug in, letting the poison dagger inject insecticide.  The creature continued wrestling with her for a bit, before suddenly going into convulsions.  Shiina took that as a sign to stab it more.


    When it properly curled up to die, Shiina shifted to face the caravan again.  It looked like their group was doing good, though Terasil was having to guide the plodders to the safety of the group.  The big lizards weren''t thrilled with the sounds of battle that way, and were trying to go back.


    The dwarf was so busy that he missed the centipede running towards him, poison pincers ready to strike.  "Look out!" Shiina yelled but it wouldn''t be quick enough.


    She was at the limit of her reach, a friend was in danger, and all she had was an untested idea.


    It''d have to do.


    ''Please work'' she prayed as she reached out.  Her empty tendril slapped weakly into the centipede and latched on to the body.  Shiina summoned every bit of her strength and weight, then hauled back.  "Fishing strike!"


    It all clicked together.


    Her forceful pull sent the centipede tumbling to the side, completely disrupting its attack.  As the creature recovered Terasil whirled and swung his axe without hesitation.  Five furious chops later the danger was past, the centipede now in pieces.


    Shiina turned to the rest of the caravan, just as the sun returned.  The surviving attacking creatures scurried back into the sand.  The dwarven carts looked like they''d weathered the raid well, but one of the merchant''s wagons had been smashed by something that looked like a sandy overgrown angler fish.  And from the shouting further up the Al Jirtea group had problems too.


    Terasil gave her ''chest lid'' a hearty slap.  "Damn fine work lass.  I owe you one."  He looked at the mess up front.  "Ah, a falsemoon fisher.  That explains the mess.  Well let''s go take account of the damage and see what we can do to fix it."


    "Yeah."  The two hurried as best they could over the sands to where the others were gathering.  As they got closer Shiina saw Delilah was already working to triage wounds from the survivors of the merchant cart.  Meanwhile Zanya and Ife were inspecting the dead falsemoon fisher.  Or at least Zanya was while Ife leaned on the ophidian for support.  Shiina moved to join them.


    Zanya looked down when she arrived.  "Everything go okay back there?"


    "It was rough, but we made it"  Shiina gave a wide smile.  "I think I might have pulled off a Technique too!"


    The snake woman''s inner eyelid blinked.  "What?  After a day of work??"


    "Mimics are favored by the chaos gods, and Bone Mountain by the law gods, so it''s more likely than you''d think."  Ife gave a long yawn.  "Still good work.  You''ll want to refine it properly later."


    Shiina gave the fox woman a once over.  "Are you okay?"


    "She pushed herself hard and nearly ran out of mana," Zanya said.


    "You can do that when you''ve got a lot of fighters to guard you," Ife replied without a hint of shame.  "Besides, the faster we ended things the less wounds Delilah has to treat."


    That seemed like good reasoning to Shiina.  And Zanya didn''t seem annoyed.  Shiina turned her focus to where people were cutting off the fish monster''s lure.  "So what should we do now?"


    "Either help out or keep an eye out for other monsters.  I don''t expect anything, but better safe than sorry."  Zanya started helping Ife back to a wagon.  "We''ve still got a ways to go."


    <hr>


    Appaaaaaarently what I got wasn''t a full Technique.  Still I''m proud I pulled it off, despite my personal weaknesses.  One of my biggest failings is that I''m too aggressive.  Mali always said ''a good adventurer prioritizes defense.''  And Zanya agrees.  I''ve been training


    That''s actually one of the big differences between adventurers and wandering duelists.  If you''re on your own the best reaction might be to strike back, trying to kill them before they kill you.  But if you''ve got a team you really should go on the defensive.  So long as you don''t die, the healer can patch you up while your team covers for you.  Or if you are the healer you can patch yourself up while your friends convey their displeasure to the attacker.


    So good adventurers default to defense.  If I''m being honest, it''s one of the reasons I''ve gotten away with some of my pranks....  Still I''m working on being more defensive myself.  I''m not a lone monster, I''m a team mimic!


    That might be why I managed to pull off Fishing Strike.  It''s in between attack and defense.  It''s aggressive enough that my instincts approve, but it''s not a killing blow so I can still rely on it to save people.  I''ll have to practice to see if I can only target enemies or if I can yank allies out of the way of stuff like arrows.  Though humanoids tend to be unsteady enough I can pull them without special effort.

 Al Jirtea 1

    In the end the human merchants had to leave half a cart''s worth of goods behind.  The Al Jirtea group handed out some of the food they decided to give up on and burned the rest.  Sixteen bodies also got left behind, though all had died before Delilah had reached them.  The half elf had to rest for a full day afterwards, but she managed to stave off the worst poisons and heal up the injured enough that they would survive the rest of the trip.


    A trip that turned out to be fairly boring after the initial excitement.  Shiina had made sure to stay watchful, but nothing had bothered them except the sand, wind, and a snake that decided it wanted to nest in one of the carts.  It hadn''t even been venomous.


    So she''d spent the rest of the time with Zanya, refining her Technique.  It wasn''t just a good move for rescuing people, it was also something she could use to help out in a fight without getting underfoot.


    At last the stone walls of Al Jirtea appeared in the desert before them.  The tall walls of sandstone hid the smaller buildings, but towers of marble capped with alabaster or bronze reached up higher into the sky.  Flanking the gates were statues big enough to be visible even at this distance.  And the place seemed to ooze magic.


    The caravan, glad to be at the end of the journey, cajoled the desert plodders to hurry just a little more.  Soon Shiina got a better view of the gates.  The massive steel doors were at least twenty feet tall, and covered with prayers in the local tongue.  To either side fifteen foot tall statues of a halfling riding a lion drew attention from the actual guards, who looked far more boring.  A portcullis blocked most of the open gate, but an internal door had been installed, big enough to allow two carts through at a time.


    The guards checked the IDs with a magic device, seeming to handle each caravan all in one inspection.  They searched over the dwarves'' info along with Shiina and her friends quickly, before the leader turned to Terasil.  "Just passing through to Bone Mountain?"


    "Aye.  Got supplies for our kin." Terasil shrugged.  "Though we''ll need to wait a day for the next caravan heading that way.  No way we''ll be able to take the route solo."


    The guard nodded, accepting the story.  "Entry fee is two gold a head.  Remember taxes apply even for small sales."


    Shiina grimaced at the ridiculous fee.  But there wasn''t much they could do to complain.  Terasil  handed over cash for everyone.  They''d have to pay the dwarf back for that.


    Entering the city proper, Shiina saw that here near the edge of town, the buildings were more normal.  The stores and houses were covered in intricate tiles and the storefronts were flashier than Shiina''d ever seen before.  But the ridiculous palatial residences weren''t the norm. Just far more common than she''d have ever thought.


    The citizens were also more diverse than she expected.  The halfling merchants in the stores looked wealthy, but not the ultra rich that had to own those mansions.  And the rest of the people traveling the streets were either foreigners or slaves.  People of all races in all sorts of clothes walked to and from trading houses.  Meanwhile all the manual labor was handled by downtrodden collared slaves.  Most of those were catfolk, though a number of halflings and other races were visible as well.


    "If you''re looking for the rich bastards that own the place, don''t bother," Terasil said quietly.  "They''re all in their mansions lazing about, or running caravans to throw money around outside the city.  The shops here mostly cater to the merchants who are trying to pry some of the gold out of the noble''s hands."


    "Kinda weird having a city that''s mostly run by people who aren''t citizens," Shiina remarked.


    Delilah nodded in agreement.  "I''m starting to see why the nobles back home were so smug about how nice they were to us.  They were comparing themselves to these people."


    Shiina looked to Zanya.  "Can we destroy the city?  Pleeeease~"  She tried puppy dog eyes.


    "Not until after we''re done with work.  And not while we''re here under guild protection," Zanya replied offhand.  "Also those eyes are creepy.  Never do that again."  Shiina pouted.  She''d thought she''d emulated dog eyes perfectly.


    "Now that we''re done with the jokes, we should start with some planning," Ife said.  "Specifically you might want to keep a low profile Shiina.  Those guards didn''t separate our paperwork from the dwarven caravan''s.  They probably think you''re with the merchants, since that''s the usual traveling mimic job.  It''ll give us an edge."


    Shiina chewed her lip.  She didn''t like the idea of being hidden away all the time.  On the other hand it sounded like it could lead up to a totally awesome surprise.  After a moment she nodded.  "Okay.  But that means you''ll all have to carry me around.  Moving furniture gets looks."


    "Fair," Zanya said.


    Terasil was cleaning his ear.  "Not that I heard any of that, but if you''d like to get some rooms for the crew that''d save us some trouble.  We''re gonna need to stable the wagons."


    "We could do that," Ife said.  "However, it might take us a while to find a place to stay.  Did you have somewhere in mind?"


    The dwarf pointed down the road.  "Wanderer''s Rest.  Only decent inn that doesn''t use slaves.  Charges too much, but that''s just how it is here."  He counted out some trade gold.  "Should cover our portion, minus the entry fee."


    Ife took the money.  "Thank you again."


    The four hopped off at the next street.  While the dwarven caravan moved down towards some stable barns, Shiina got carted along down the street past the various jewelry stores.  She guessed this was the ''visitor'' area.  But the prices were more than the whole stash of gold in her bag.  Delilah seemed similarly intimidated by the numbers posted.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Is this because gold just isn''t worth anything here?" the half elf asked.  "Or are they just showing off?"


    "My guess is both," Ife said.  "The prices aren''t too inflated.  A rich merchant could buy that easily, and if you constantly worked for a month or two you could afford a more average piece."  She sniffed.  "Honestly I''m kinda disappointed.  I expected better quality from a city right next to gold producing dungeons.  The goldwork is comparable to the stuff back at my home, and it''s less expensive there."


    Shiina looked over at Delilah.  They both shook their heads.  The idea of tossing around that much money was just foreign to them.


    A little later they reached an open square and the inn they were looking for.  The Wanderer''s Rest was a simple plaster faced four story building with several windows open.  The Inn''s sign was lacquered wood and paint, as opposed to the metal and gold signs everyone else seemed to use.


    The square out front had a fountain to one side that was almost normal looking.  Until Shiina realized what kind of flex spraying water into the air was here in the middle of the desert.  On the other side was a stage that had a small crowd watching a trio of jugglers.  Shiina had perked up until she saw all the performers had collars.  That made the performance more sad than fun.


    She turned her attention to the hotel.  That seemed actually fun.  The air tasted of fragrant spices and perfume.  The tables were low to the ground, with cushions instead of chairs.  The setup looked like it would be easy to change the layout of the room.  Troublesome for a mimic long term.  She''d be better off copying the fancy braziers that kept the place well lit.


    The desk was currently occupied by a well dressed half elf, who offered a slight bow at their approach.  "Welcome to our establishment," the man said.  "We only have one class of rooms, but I think you''ll find them comparable to the best in the city.  And since our staff are all freemen, they will be eager to assist you with any troubles you might have here or outside."  That was super clever, using the lack of slaves as a selling point Shiina thought.


    "We''re looking to get 7 rooms for ourselves and the rest of our caravan."  Ife handed over the money.  "Is this enough?"


    The man counted and after a moment nodded.  "Indeed.  If you''d describe your companions I''ll mark your rooms."


    After a bit more paperwork nonsense they headed up to the third floor where their rooms were.  The furniture was again mostly cushions and a spare dresser.  There was at least a travel chest.  Shiina shifted it to the side so it''d be symmetrical with her if she copied it.


    As Delilah put down her pack she asked, "Why the chest and not the dresser?  You wouldn''t have to shift the furniture around."  The half elf sounded legitimately curious.


    "I don''t care how rich this place is, they aren''t paying for two mirrors in a room," Shiina replied.  "Besides, copying something with a mirror is a rookie trap.  It''s too easy to get caught shifting before your attack."  People liked looking at mirrors, and the change in lighting would be obvious even if they weren''t facing her.


    "I see."  Delilah nodded slowly.  Ife and Zanya seemed similarly pleased with the information.


    After the humanoids finished setting up their nest, Ife pulled out a small vial of glue and stuck a tarnished copper coin on the window shutters.  "The local contact probably will be tracking us through our pins, but that will work as a backup."


    "What''s the plan?" Shiina asked.  "Actually what''s the problem?  I imagine having a dungeon busted open would have been noticed.  But no one''s talking about it."


    "That''s a good question," Zanya said.  "We''ll check the adventurer''s guild tomorrow.  It''s possible there''s a threat our spies picked up, or maybe some divination work showed there was some danger here.  Hopefully the local contact gets us something to work with."


    Delilah frowned.  "And then what?  Do we just kill people until we get the right one?"


    "We do whatever''s needed to keep people from reopening the dungeon," Ife said with a smirk.  "Murder, bribery, threats, or if it comes to it, asking nicely.  If we succeed we get a bag of coins, if we fail we try something else."


    "That seems somewhat vague," Delilah commented.  Shiina agreed.  That level of detail was anathema to proper performance in her mind.


    "We''ll figure out more when the contact''s info gets here.  If it wasn''t something solvable they wouldn''t have bothered summoning us," Zanya said.  "Until then we should just rest and fill out the expenditure forms."


    Ife''s tail swished violently.  "I''ll help if you need it.  I''m not spending a coin more than I have to here."


    As the others went about their tasks Shiina settled in to wait.  She''d pre-filled most of her paperwork last night.  The benefits of not needing to sleep.


    Cheers and wolf whistles from outside drew her attention.  Shiina poked up enough to see down into the square.  The jugglers had been replaced by a catfolk sword dancer.  The woman''s flashy moves and brief costume had caused the crowd to swell.  From below she heard the barker yell "The sultana offers a gift to her citizens!  Enjoy the performance of her finest sword dancer, Hafsa!"


    As Shiina watched, a set of assistants tossed silk kerchiefs and balls onto the stage, where the dancer cut them down.  Shiina was impressed.  It''d be hard to get such precise cuts on floating scarves.  The things she stabbed tended to be solidly placed on the floor, which made it easier to get a good strike in.


    Her mood soured as a few people in the crowd decided they''d ''help'' the performance by tossing coins at the woman, trying to get them stuck in the catfolk''s cleavage.  The woman managed to block most, but a few bounced off her.  The crowd seemed to find this hilarious.


    Shiina turned back to the others.  "Are you sure we can''t burn down the city?" she asked Zanya.


    "Unless you have a very big fire spell you''ve been hiding, yeah I''m sure," the ophidian replied.  "The opportunity to fix shitty cities just doesn''t drop out of the sky because we want it to."


    With a sigh Shiina settled down across from the chest and pulled out a book.  She had a feeling she''d prefer that to people watching here.


    <hr>


    I asked Mali once why Bags of Holding didn''t revolutionize transportation.  She said they did!  But only for stuff that fits in a bag.  There''s a few limitations to items of holding, which has influenced what''s considered ''expensive'' in a lot of places.


    First you can only put stuff in that could fit in the bag normally without the extra space.  The bigger the container the harder it is to make the enchantment, and the easier it is to damage.  And of course if your super expensive cart of holding gets broken because you hit a rock, it''ll take someone very skilled to fix.  So big stuff can''t be carried around easily.


    Second, perishable goods can''t be easily transported that way.  The bag isolates the objects inside.  That''s good because you don''t want your books mixing with your monster parts.  But it means you can''t shove in a bunch of ice and keep your stuff cool.  If you''ve got a bagful of fish, you need to use a bag of preservation to keep them fresh.


    So while iron ingots and stuff can be shipped in bulk a lot easier, good lumber has to be shipped the old fashioned way.  Same for fruits, fish, and other high end goods.  Which is why the wealth of Al Jirtea is flaunted in goods that can''t be easily transported.  Wood, rare food, statues, and unfortunately people.

 Al Jirtea 2

    It was only a few hours from sunrise when a paper airplane flew in through the window. Shiina poked her head out the window and looked around for the person who''d sent it, but she couldn''t make anything out in the streets. The glittering magelights that littered the streets and reflected off the gilding everywhere created a riot of shadows that thieves and ambush predators could use to skitter almost anywhere.


    "Maybe I could toss rotten fruit from up here," Shiina mused as she turned back to the letter. It''d get some good surprises at least.


    The letter was fairly simple. "Follow the feather after the guild auction." Shiina put it on the dresser for Zanya and went back to her book.


    As the sky started brightening in preparation for sunrise, Zanya and Delilah woke up. As Delilah worked on her hair Zanya checked the note and grunted. "Want to wake up Ife?" the ophidian asked.


    "Sure~!" Shiine grinned. She was always happy to help with things like this. After a moment she grabbed a feather quill out of her bag and got to work. She tried starting with Ife''s fluffy ears, but they were good at unconsciously flicking away tickling annoyances. Ife didn''t seem any closer to consciousness.


    She shifted her attention to the foxgirl''s nose, with much better results. A sneeze and a sudden jerk had Ife sitting up before her brain finished waking up. Shiina waved as Ife''s brain slowly caught up to her body. "Good morning."


    Ife blinked a few times before giving a rather unladylike snarl. Still the woman''s attention turned to the matter at hand. "We get a message?"


    "We have to go to the guild auction," Zanya said.


    Ife sighed. "Dried fruits for breakfast then."


    Delilah cursed. "Doesn''t the guild have someplace to eat if they force us to run there so early?" A good question in Shiina''s mind. Humanoids needed food.


    "The local ''guild'' is just a branch of the city government. The dungeons are so desirable they can break some of the usual rules. They do things like this to keep adventurers in line," Zanya said.


    "And poor," Ife added. "Many people come here hoping to get rich raiding the local dungeons for gold and gems. But Al Jirtea is very good at making sure the gold goes to the city, and not the pockets of fortune seekers."


    Shiina nodded slowly. "If you want to actually get rich off delving, sell adventuring gear." Mali had said that a lot.


    She waited as the humanoids prepared for the day, then hopped onto Delilah''s back as a ''pack.'' The streets were pleasant, still covered in the cool from night while still bright with the dawn. Those that had active jobs, mostly slaves, were out and about, taking advantage of the cool to get their jobs done.


    Zanya led them south, through the streets filled with expensive looking eateries and jewelry stores. However as they continued on things started to change. First the signs started to have more silver than gold, and the wares decreased in price. Then stores that advertised they would buy gold and gems began appearing. The buildings started becoming more and more utilitarian as well, with none of the artwork or tiling.


    And then the whole city seemed to stop and a new one began. A city of tents and houses in poor repair. Facing this mess were stores advertising adventuring gear at what were utterly ridiculous prices. At least the guild building was easy to find. A shining edifice in the midst of what could only be called passable lodging. The best thing that could be said about this chunk of the city was that it was small.


    The people here were a mix of races, much like the merchants. But these people were dusty and mean looking. Their little group got a lot of dangerous glares before being dismissed. It was obvious new adventuring groups weren''t welcome. But everyone was more interested in getting to the guild hall.


    Shiina had to force herself from popping out and peering over the crowd as they got to the guild hall proper. What she''d assumed was a proper building was just an elaborate facade hiding the real guild hall. The adventurers got to stand in the square out front. At least the walls gave some shade.


    They continued to get glares as they found a place near the back to stand. Shiina didn''t want to know what would have happened if they''d tried to push forwards. She saw at least five arguments break out, and only the intervention of others had kept one from turning violent.


    The place was starting to warm up when a gong rang out. To Shiina''s great relief there was apparently a platform in front of the guild house, because three women rose above the crowd into view. All of them were wearing rather aggressively cut clothes, but still had enough business aura that they had some respectability. Shiina tried to memorize the ensemble for later.


    The woman in the middle adjusted her glasses and folded her hands. "The auction for this week will begin. To start, I must inform you all that the Shimmering Mines have already been taken. Wessle''s Warriors have extended their contract for a week, giving them control of both initial runs and follow up mining."


    A wave of indignation and rage swept the crowd. A man up front seemed to speak for the majority. "What do you mean extended again?! Those bastards have been sitting on that dungeon for two weeks! Are you trying to keep us out of work so we take your damn loans?!"


    The woman seemed unconcerned. "Bidding is the most fair system for the mine''s owners, and we have no connection to the moneylenders. Are you willing to pay ninety nine percent of your findings to beat their bid?" The crowd grumbled and yelled some more accusations and a few curses, but Shiina noticed no one left. "Very well. We''ll start the bidding for the Shimmering Sandpit. First is the Antlion''s Gauntlet path."


    As various groups started yelling out percentages, Delilah looked to Zanya. Shiina wished she could do the same, but she''d have to rely on her companion to show curiosity.


    Fortunately Zanya quietly answered. "They allow one group to attack a dungeon path, and one to do a followup run. Each has to bid how much of their winnings they''ll offer to the city for the privilege."


    As the numbers rapidly reached into the seventies Zanya continued. "As you might guess, desperate groups with loans due overbid to try to meet their deadlines. That keeps profits down for everyone and ensures the next group will need to take loans out." The ''winner'' claimed the run for eighty seven percent of the profit. "All but the best run groups collapse and leave paupers or are sold into slavery in two years."


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Shiina now wished she could talk so she could ask about burning the city down again, but since the answer probably wouldn''t change she forced herself to watch the auction play out. Ife put in a few low bids that didn''t go anywhere, but in general they just stood around and watched people who were at the end of their rope make bad choices. The exceptions were a couple of very organized groups that took the level 31 paths.


    Finally the last auction finished, leaving only the winners to plan their dungeon runs, and the losers to leave for another day. No one had the effort to spare glaring at newbies. Ife''s play had made them look like clueless rubes who''d pass through soon.


    "That wasn''t worth missing breakfast for," Delilah said as they began their walk back north. Shiina softly vibrated in agreement. She didn''t even need to eat that often, but this whole thing had just been depressing.


    "That wasn''t worth waking up for," Ife stated, her tail drooping behind her. "You could have handled this yourself Zanya."


    Zanya shook her head. "You''re not foisting this off on me. We all suffer together."


    Suddenly the feather pin Shiina had gotten from Mali seemed to shiver. Her attention was drawn to the building to their left. It was a kitchen that looked like it had private tables, and there was a woman with a veil staring at them by the entrance. A few moments later Shiina noticed the woman was wearing a feather pin as well.


    Shiina bided her time as their group followed the woman into the restaurant. She led them to a large booth and closed the curtains before pulling a wand from her belt and tapping the barrier. "I call upon you Secrecy, muffle all Sound." The cloth shimmered for a second as the spell took hold. The woman removed her veil. "We should be safe now."


    Figuring that was her cue to relax, Shiina shifted to her preferred form. "So what would you have done if we took a different route back to the inn?"


    "Pretended you''d gotten lost on the way to meeting me." The woman pouted at Shiina. "Look, it''s hard doing my job here. The nobles have their hands in everything. I can''t just hide in the guild like the others do."


    Ife leaned on the table. "Speaking of jobs, what even is our job?"


    The woman showed a yellow gem. "Your job is to confirm if our suspicions about someone trying to open the dungeon is correct, attempt to convince the people involved not to do anything stupid, and if that fails, possibly an assassintion to slow things down. The Arbiters have prepared support items, and will send additional people if you need to abort the mission."


    Ife groaned as her ears flipped back while Zanya rubbed her forehead. Shiina slumped into her chest as well. That sounded like it''d be super hard, and might not even get finished while they were there. She didn''t want to run away in the desert and then figure out what happened from some note three months later.


    Delilah however knew the correct response. "Stew and wine."


    Shiina perked up. "Oh yeah. That''s what was on the menu! Lamb right? I wanna try it with the local spices." The place had to be getting all sorts of dried goods in, so there''d probably be a lot of interesting flavors!


    Their contact blinked a few times. "Can''t you buy your own?"


    "I refuse to deal with any more vague nonsense on an empty stomach," Delilah stated.


    After a moment Ife''s tail started to swish. "That''s actually a good idea. Chilled wine and good bread too. Make it a business expense."


    "Ugh, those take forever to get repaid!" Their contact looked annoyed, but after a moment she carefully slipped out the curtain.


    Shiina looked to Zanya. "This isn''t common right?"


    "Very unusual," the woman replied. "They''re probably short on people in the area. My guess is if we can''t do it, one of the Arbiter leaders will have to handle the matter."


    "And they really hate that," Ife added.


    Their contact slipped back in, putting down a heavily laden tray. "Here. I''m only doing this because I know the mission sucks."


    Shiina let the humanoids grab their portions first before ladling a bit for herself. As she''d hoped the spices were excellent. Dry and tangy, adding unique flavors to the stewed meat and vegetables. The broth was thicker than any she''d had before as well, even if it was mostly lentil.


    After tasting her own meal Ife spoke up again. "So what is happening at the Shimmering Mines? It sounds like there is a group of adventurers working the place. How is the dungeon going to end up busted open?"


    The woman rolled her eyes. "For two percent of the profit? No, that''s a front for their real plan."


    Zanya nodded. "That did stand out. But why are you certain they''re the ones planning to reopen the dungeon? My guess was they were going to steal a bunch of money and run."


    "Their boss, Wassel. He''s always been anti slavery, and he''s working with the local desert tribes. The tribes that Al Jirtea raids for slaves." The woman pulled out some papers showing the man. A middle aged catfolk warrior with a two handed sword. "Our divinations have confirmed the dungeon will be opened in three weeks. He''s level forty at last check, so I doubt anything could get past him, much less all the other adventurers and guards."


    Delilah folded her arms. "Are you sure this isn''t a self fulfilling prophecy?"


    The woman sighed. "We did our best. Divination is hard, okay! But that''s why you''re going in to negotiate first. We don''t care about anything else so long as the dungeon stays closed. They want to burn the city, salt the earth, unleash a zombie plague? Not an Arbiter problem. But, uh, if so please tell me so I can leave."


    "So are we getting any tools for this mission?" Ife asked. "Because I''m not going to walk into their camp and announce I''m an Arbiter agent. And if they want us to do an assassination on someone in the forties their guards are going to be able to beat us even if we get an assassination shot."


    "Yes. I was actually curious about the gear they sent, but now that I''ve met you it makes sense." She pulled out an Arbiter rune, along with three face masks and a shimmering green potion. "These masks will conceal your identity. Avoid giving your names and even level fifty mages won''t be able to place you later. The effect won''t last past a week, so feel free to destroy them when you''re done. We''ll do our usual memory filtering service, but obviously that''s less effective on high level people in memorable situations.


    "Of course a mask won''t work for a mimic, so instead we have a potion of skill." The woman pushed the flask in front of Shiina. "Your mimic skill will be boosted for two days. I''ve been told you shouldn''t try anything special with it though. Just items."


    Shiina felt a little bit of disappointment at that, but that quickly faded as she picked up the potion. "So two days of boost huh? Guess that means I should be able to fool almost any adventurer."


    Zanya nodded. "That''ll help if we need to go for the assassination. Still I hope it doesn''t come to that." She spread out the papers. "Let''s start planning."


    <hr>


    Cuisine in Al Jirtea''s actually super varied. They have to import food from outside and their choices are restricted by ''whoever''s willing to sell to them.'' The super rich can eat whatever they want, but even the just normally rich people have to settle for what''s available. One month might have the stores flooded with couscous, the next there''s only rice and lentils. Similarly meat and vegetables are almost always preserved in some way. It''s cheaper to buy saffron than fresh beef around here.


    That''s led to a lot of stews, casseroles, and rice dishes. Heavy on easily transported staples, with a heavy use of herbs and spices. As a mimic the taste is exquisite but the portions are way too big. Fortunately I can hand my extras to Delilah.


    As for what the poor eat, it didn''t look great. Ife said that if it weren''t for dried fruits being so cheap people would be dying of malnutrition constantly. As it is, gruel and meal are the most common, with flatbreads being a close second.


    Carrying lots of liquids is kinda a pain, so wine is uncommon. It''s too much of a status symbol to simply ignore, so apparently a lot of money is spent subsidizing wine merchants. But the stuff is still expensive. More common drinks are teas and other infusions. With some fortified beers to keep the poor too drunk to plot.

 Al Jirtea 3

    The Shimmering Mine was a good hour outside the city, so Shiina got to enjoy some time as a sand sled.  Though enjoy was a strong word.  The material seemed to be miserable no matter how you tried to cross it.  It was too loose to give solid fooding and too solid to act as proper liquid.  "We should have rented camels or something," she said as she tried to push herself to keep up.


    "We might need to teleport away," Zanya said.  "And we wouldn''t be able to take the animals too."


    Shiina sighed and continued up the dune.  At least their target was near.  The rock pillar that the mine was at the base off had gotten much closer as they''d progressed.  And the thin smoke from campfires was now visible.


    Ife held up a hand as they were about to crest the dune.  "I think we''re close enough to ready our disguises."


    "We''ve got two days on Shiina''s potion, so probably," Delilah said.


    "It''s worth keeping something that good in reserve as long as possible," Zanya said.  "But Shiina''s going to need to take some time to get used to it.  So yeah.  Drink away."


    Shiina perked up.  "Finally!"  She pulled the flask out of her bag and drained it.  The potion was bitter and bubbly, with a strange metallic taste on top.


    For a moment she didn''t notice anything.  Then she felt messy.  Out of place.  With a shudder she fixed her inefficient disguise, making sure to get the solid feeling of her chest right, while still keeping her hair fine and soft.  The little details that made imitation flesh, cloth, metal, and leather different came to her easily and she fixed each part as needed.


    Turning her attention up she saw the other three looking at her in surprise.  "What?"


    "It''s really effective," Delilah said.  "I didn''t even notice before, but you really did improve a lot of details."


    Ife''s ears twitched repeatedly.  "Indeed.  I need to work better at noticing those little things.  So many bits I didn''t realize were strange until you fixed them.  And here I was certain I had the best eye for small details."


    Shiina let her focus go over her form.  It was weird.  She could tell it was a better disguise than what she normally did, but it all felt natural.  Like doing anything less perfect would be inherently wrong.


    "Well that''s a lot more likely to fool a high level warrior."  Zanya presented her back.  "Time to become a traveler''s pack."


    "Right!"  Shiina hopped on the woman''s back before shifting.  The thick cloth of the backpack was much easier to copy, letting her body shift with the Ophidian woman''s movements.  She decided to add a few hard bulges here and there mimicking larger travel gear inside the pack.  It was an excellent disguise.


    From the expressions on her friends'' faces they seemed to agree.  They gave her a once over, before putting on their own masks.  Shiina''s focus blurred as they did.  For some reason she had a hard time seeing their details now.  She knew who they were, but explaining why would be difficult.  Magic could do some impressive things.


    That done, they continued over the sand dune.  Ife had judged things well.  There were another two dunes to cross to get to the camp proper, but little bits and pieces were visible.  Guards were already signaling their presence to the people below.


    Shiina did her best to get a read on the camp as she was carried closer.  The mine entrance was obvious from the large hole in the mountain face.  In front of that was a barricade and a guard post, alongside several mine carts piled high with gold and gems.  What was strange was the group also had several groups of lizards in pens.  Some looked like small plodders, while others were more aggressive looking, with big mouths.


    The camp proper was in four sections.  The center was a big tent with several smaller ones around.  They looked to be recently bought and not frequently used.  The organization was more scattered as well.


    The other three groups'' camps were perfectly arranged.  The well worn tents were placed around according to some plan Shiina couldn''t easily guess from up here.  But she could tell where the main cooking fire and the animals were kept.  Each group had their own style and layout, but just from the size of the tents involved one group was obviously halflings or some other small humanoid race.


    In addition Shiina saw riders slipping out on either side moving to flank her group, while the number of people with swords and staves outside was increasing.  Nothing blatantly threatening, but if a fight did break out it''d be over fast.  The guard''s levels started in the low twenties and went up from there.


    Ife took the lead as they got closer, not showing any signs things were wrong.  Zanya was similarly calm.  Shiina could see Delilah as gripping her staff tighter, but the cloth facemask hid anything more.


    As they began down the final dune, two catfolk in robes and headscarves moved up.  "Who are you and what do you wish with our people, travelers?"


    Ife held her hands up, making a circle with her thumbs and forefingers before lowering them and bowing.  "We come in the name of peace.  The portents are dark, and so our masters require us to speak with your leaders.  In the names of the gods of Chaos and Law, we ask to meet to avoid war."


    Ife''s words had the tone of a ritual, though Shiina couldn''t feel any magic from it.  The two guards who''d come forwards looked slightly confused, but bowed slightly in return.  "May we have the names of those who seek audience?"


    "We serve the Arbiters," Ife said, letting her words ring out over the whole group.


    The two men up front seemed confused, but behind them a couple of people swore loudly.  A human woman with a heavy bow and a dogman with a staff, both wearing outfits closer to what the adventurers back home preferred.  The human called out, "Let them in.  Wassel will need to see them."


    "We can''t let them in like that," muttered one of the closer tribal guards.  "Can''t we bind them or something?"  Shiina''s insides tensed.  It wouldn''t destroy their plan but it''d make it harder.


    "Won''t matter," the woman replied.  "They''ve got ridiculous magic bullshit on their side if we try anything clever.   Better to go for a kill if needed."  Well that was totally wrong, but Shiina wasn''t going to tell them otherwise.  It seemed that the Arbiter''s boogeyman status would be working for them.


    The catfolk she was talking to didn''t seem thrilled, but he stood aside to let the woman through the crowd.  She looked over them each, her eyes passing over Shiina without a hint of recognition.  "Very well.  Please follow me.  I''ll tell the bosses you''re here."


    "Thank you."  Ife bowed again, with Zanya following suit, and Delilah catching up after a second.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The woman waved them to follow her, and set off through the tents.  A few warriors came after, keeping their group surrounded.


    After clearing the maze of tents and fire pits they arrived at the large central tent.  Two guards were stationed outside, but a quick explanation caused them to open the flap.  They entered into a large meeting area that dominated about half the tent.  Past that were curtains concealing additional areas.  Probably the places where people actually lived.


    Most interesting to Shiina was the furniture in the middle.  Everywhere else had cushions and low tables.  This had a solid high table, about five feet across, and chairs set up on either side.  Some built to accommodate halflings.


    As Zanya set Shiina down to the side, Shiina realized how clever this was.  Beneath the table was a half partition preventing small thrown weapons from passing through.  With the width of the table, there was no easy way to assassinate someone at the other side.  You''d have to show your attack.


    It wouldn''t work against a mimic hiding under the table with a poisoned dagger.  But that was a very unusual threat Shiina had to admit.


    In terms of guards there were the two at the front and a halfling mage and a lizardman with a brace of knives.  Both looked very capable and dangerous.  If they had to go for an assassination Shiina would have to be fast with the Arbiter Rune.


    Her friends each waited in their own way.  Zanya sat unmoving, while Delilah nervously shifted about.  Ife meanwhile managed to loaf around in lazy elegance.  Shiina made a note to try to mimic that later.


    After a few minutes five people entered from the back.  First was the warrior Wessle, wearing a gambeson and with his sword sheathed but still in hand.  After that three people in local dress entered, a halfling and two catfolk.  Probably speakers for the tribes.  And last a catfolk woman in a plain but well made dress with a collar on.


    The four men sat down at the table while the woman stayed at the partition.  Wessle set his sword against the table, probably where he could easily draw it.  "So, what the hell are a group of people claiming to be with the Arbiters doing here?  Don''t you just show up to kill people who mess with dungeons?"


    "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," Ife said.  "And I''m afraid what you''re aiming for is pretty obvious.  Trying to get a dungeon that will unleash burrowing lizards would be my guess?"


    Shiina considered the targets in front of her.  She considered a slash with poison to get two targets, but that wouldn''t guarantee a kill given the number of healers an adventuring group would have.  She''d have to hit the femoral artery, and then add a poison that would kill if a healer tried to patch that up.


    One of the catfolk leaders spoke up.  "And if we pledged to close the dungeon after our work was done?  Would that cause your masters to turn their attention elsewhere?"


    Ife blinked and looked at Zanya.  The woman considered for a moment.  "If your work only took a day, that might be acceptable.  We don''t care about people who just ruin dungeons.  That''s someone else''s problem.  But using dungeons as a source of unlimited troops is something we need to discourage.  Especially old dungeons."


    The mood in the room dropped considerably.  Hands were moved a little closer to weapons.  "That''s a problem," Wessle said.  "Because, you see, I really want to discourage this fucked up slavery system.  And I''m not interested in killing their slave soldiers to do it.  So unless your masters want to help us deal with this problem, I''m afraid we''re at an impasse.


    Shiina made sure she had a strong grip on the Arbiter Rune, but Zanya didn''t give the signal.  Instead the woman kept her hands on the table.  "I don''t see how a bigger army is going to reduce the number of casualties.  Especially an army of monsters that''s filled with hate towards the dungeon master''s enemies."


    "Forgive me if I don''t give away our secret plans to a possible enemy," Wessle replied with a thin smile.


    "Um."  To Shiina''s surprise Delilah spoke up.  "Obviously you''ve got some way to destroy the magic keeping the slaves bound to their masters.  But I don''t see why you''d need an army for that.  You''ve got a group of adventurers in the upper thirties.  I can''t think of many places you can''t get if you try.  And once the magic item in question is destroyed the slave revolt will end Al Jirtea.  That''s why slave soldiers are a stupid idea."


    Wessle gave a slight nod.  "You''re right.  If there was a single artifact somewhere in the city we could get this done without the whole army nonsense.  But they aren''t quite that stupid.  They''ve got three artifacts keeping their slave system running.  And one of them is in the palace treasure vault, which no thief has ever broken into.  So unless you''ve got some way to get the sultana to just let you into the most secure vault on the continent, we need an army that can burrow into the city."


    Shiina shivered.  She shouldn''t.  She should wait for Zanya.  But...


    "I think I can do that!" she said cheerfully as she popped up from her resting place, both arms waving.


    A wave of surprise filled her as everyone started.  Wessle rolled out of his chair with a sword out, all the guards had their weapons drawn, the tribal leaders had backed up out of range, and her friends were looking at her in shock.


    Zanya was first to recover.  "Damn it, Shiina."


    "Come on, I''ve wanted to burn that city down since we got here.  Now we have a chance!"  She turned to Wessle.  "I''m sure it can''t be that hard to get a box into the royal treasury.  You owe them a ton of gold after all."


    After another long moment people started lowering weapons.  "Do you think it will work?" asked the halfling leader.


    "Possibly.  It does end with less assassins after our head," Wessle said.  He sat down again, sword still in his off hand.  "The slavery enchantment is tied to three statues.  The one in the central square is obvious, but the other two are in the royal treasury and atop the Sultan''s Tower.  Disable all those and the city is ours, no dungeon bullshit needed.  Obviously the central square is easy to handle ourselves.  Think you can take out the other two?"


    Ife sighed.  "Well we might as well consider it.  What''s the basis of the enchantment?"


    The catgirl slave in the back spoke up.  "By the Glory and Splendor of our city''s founder all Slaves must Serve their Master."


    Ife looked at Zanya then Delilah.  "Do we want to try?"


    "Yes," Delilah replied immediately.


    Zanya nodded a moment later.  "I guess our work as arbiter agents is done.  Which means we can''t use these anymore."  She removed her mask then folded her hands.  "Everything from now on is just a deal with us as a mercenary adventurer group.  We can definitely ruin any statues we get near.  But we''ll need more info from you to pull it off."


    "Excellent," Wessle gave a sharp smile and sheathed his blade.  "Let''s talk details."


    <hr>


    So as something kinda like an assassin I''ve had to get acquainted with different levels of ''dead''.  Skilled mundane healers can bring back people from incredible trauma, and magical healers can perform feats that seem impossible.  On the other hand someone can fall down the stairs and just die.  So how do I know what someone can heal?


    To start we have to discuss what makes up people.  All living things are made up of lots of little organisms working together.  Us mimics just have a team effort where all our bits pitch in where needed, but humanoids are a huge mess of moving parts that go all over the place in their....  Sorry.  Important thing is that a level 60+ healer can bring someone back so long as a single part of you is still alive.  That''s where stories of people ''raising the dead'' come from.  But you''re still toast if three days pass, and there''s not many level 60 hearers out there, so I don''t worry about that.


    On the other end of the scale is ''alive.''  So long as a humanoid''s heart is beating without help they''re considered alive.  (Mimics are ''alive'' so long as we can maintain a shape.)  If you''re alive, the healer just has to stop whatever''s killing you.  Usually the injury letting blood out, or the disease/poison destroying your insides.  Now this can be really hard, especially with diseases.  A healer can burn themselves out curing the damage from cholera only to watch their patient waste away again.  But for adventurers ''alive'' is the best state, because you can be decently sure your healer can fix you up.


    That means as an assassin I want to make sure they''re ''dead.''  No heartbeat.  This is fixable on its own, but the preferred way to stop someone''s heart is massive trauma.  If there''s no blood to pump, that''s a lot of mana to fix things.  And then there''s the wounds to seal.  Or poisons to heal.


    That''s a really long way of saying, I can''t just stab someone in the neck and run.  If you want to make sure they''re dead, you have to wait a bit, or deal damage appropriate for the level of healer around.

 Al Jirtea 4

    Re-entering the city was fairly easy.  The walls were designed so the average person couldn''t jump them, but Zanya and Shiina weren''t average.  A quick leap and they were inside the walls, moving quickly to an alley so their entrance wouldn''t be questioned.


    After a quick look around Zanya turned to Shiina.  "So can you stick to the plan this time?"


    Shiina wilted under Zanya''s glare.  "Sorry sorry.  It just was there, and I really thought it was the best choice," she muttered.


    Delilah shifted uneasily.  "It did turn out okay in the end."


    "Yes, but we can''t count on that.  We need some way of letting you contact us without you breaking your cover," Ife said.  The woman''s tail bristled before relaxing.  "No time for that now though."


    Zanya sighed.  "Yeah."  She gave another check to make sure the alley they''d jumped into was clear.  "Well let''s go over this plan again."


    <hr>


    "So we gotta get you into the royal vault," Wessle said.  "Pretending to be part of what we owe the fuckers was a good idea.  But it won''t work.  That goes to the city to be counted before part of it goes to the vaults.  No way to be sure they''d take the box we give them into the vaults or if they empty it out.  You''ll have to get it into the Sultana''s hands directly."


    "Don''t suppose we can just leave it outside her palace as a gift," Delilah asked.


    Ife shook her head.  "That would make people a little suspicious.  No, we need to buy something from her.  Something that could justify spending massive amounts of gold."


    The tribal leader next to Wessle spoke up.  "You seem to have the air of nobility, Miss Fox.  Al Jirtea''s falcons are famous.  That would justify a large purchase."


    "I never learned much about the art," Ife admitted.  "I wouldn''t be able to keep up the pretense."


    Shiina thought for a moment.  The only high ticket item they could justifiably buy were probably slaves.  "Uh, there was that sword dancer I saw the first day we showed up.  Catgirl, large chest, very skilled.  Would someone like that require a whole chest of gold?"


    The woman in the back perked up.  "Do you mean Hafsa?  Yes she''d require a very heavy price."


    "You''d have to explain why you wanted to purchase her," the halfling said.


    Zanya considered it.  "How good was she?"


    "Uh," Shiina considered it.  "She managed to keep performing while cutting down about half the coins the crowd were tossing at her.  That''s gotta take some skill."


    "We could justify it by saying we wanted another fighter," Zanya said.  "Maybe hint at Ife being a libertine and Delilah hating slavery."


    "Would that work?" one of the leaders asked Wessle.


    The warrior nodded slowly.  "Yeah they get off on do gooders buying a slave to ''save them''.  Or people falling in love with a slave and having to pay them for the privilege of getting together."  His eyes flickered back to the woman standing behind the group.


    Delilah grimaced.  "At least it''ll be easy to play the part."


    "You''ll need that fragment of honesty," the woman said, walking to Wessle''s side.  "The Sultana''s bargaining room is designed to give her a considerable advantage.  She''ll be able to see your blatant lies, and she''ll be protected from most attacks.  The only good part of the room is it will enforce any trades made."


    "You''re saying so as long as we give them real gold, the trade is magically enforced," Ife checked.  "I think I know of that spell.  Easily manipulated, but still powerful."


    "Yes.  It''s a safety measure to keep the sultana from taking advantage of people in negotiations," the woman said.


    The tribal leaders all snorted at that.  "Not that they haven''t figured out every loophole.  Bastards."


    "That will get Shiina into the treasury."  Zanya said.  "That leaves the tower and the courtyard."


    "Our people can take the courtyard.  The tower is more troublesome."  Wessle looked over the group.  "I don''t suppose you have any Arbiter tricks you can use there?"


    Ife shook her head.  "No, because we can''t use anything Arbiter related for this job.  Zanya, how is your climbing?"


    "If I can crack the walls it should be doable.  But you''d be better off sniping the statue," Zanya replied.


    Wessle shook his head.  "Can''t.  The palace is protected from the outside.  If you break the statue inside the treasury we''ll start looking for a way to breach the palace wall.  It''ll cost more lives than I like, but if that''s the price that needs to be paid, so be it.  Better than trying to fight into the treasury."


    "I can help boost Zanya''s magic and climbing skill," Delilah said.  "But you''ll want to have a backup plan."


    Shiina waved.  "I could try to get up there."


    "It''d be pretty hard.  Better to stay safe unless you get very lucky," Zanya replied.


    Wessle leaned on the table.  "Hm...  It''s workable.  The most important part is getting into the vault.  The outer statues are mostly distractions and backups in case a lone rebel got lucky with the treasury statue.  They''re not meant to protect against a skilled strike team, and my crew isn''t the best adventuring group in the city for nothing.  You''ve got half an hour after the first statue falls.  If you can''t break the tower statue we''ll handle it."


    The woman put her hand on Wessle''s shoulder.  "Dearest..."


    He placed his own hand on hers.  "Gotta get done.  And it''s a chance to get out of this without a price on our heads," the man said quietly.  He turned back to them.  "So, on that note, you need a couple big sacks of gold right?"


    <hr>


    Delilah looked over Shiina''s disguise.  "Let''s spread the gold a little more up top.  It''s too obvious they''re in bags of holding right now."


    "They''ll know we''re using bags of holding because otherwise none of us would be able to carry it," Zanya pointed out.  Shiina silently agreed.  The piles of gold were heavy enough even WITH the bags.


    "We''ll need the bags as part of the price too," Ife said.  "On that note, replace that steel with silver Shiina.  You need to look like a box worthy of royalty, and gems only go so far."


    Shiina followed Ife''s suggestion, mimicking the softer metal instead of the harder.  Fortunately she didn''t need to actually be sturdy.  Construction was a problem for actual objects.  The potion''s power was helping tremendously too.  She felt certain no one could tell she was a mimic.


    "Well I think that''s as good as we''re going to get," Zanya said.  She closed Shiina''s ''lid'' gently before picking her up.  "Everyone ready?"


    "Always," Ife said with a tail swish.


    "As much as I can be," Delilah said, fiddling with her staff.


    Shiina settled for a shudder in Zanya''s hands since she didn''t want to be talking.


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    "Then let''s go buy a slave."  Zanya began towards the Sultana''s palace.


    The sun was heading towards the far horizon, causing long shadows to fill the streets.  They''d decided to move in near nightfall so the actual attack would happen in the dark.  It''d take some work getting the timing right, since they needed to have enough time to convince the Sultana to meet them and make the trade.  But Shiina was decent at guessing the time when she was paying attention.


    As they went through the streets Shiina kept getting confused glances, but they quickly shifted away from her.  Everyone was wondering what was in the box, not suspecting she was a mimic.  Soon the people giving her the questioning looks were the Sultana''s guards.


    "What is your purpose here?" asked the gatekeeper.


    Ife took the lead.  "One of the sultana''s slaves caught our eye.  We were looking to purchase her.  The dancer Hasfa."


    The gatekeeper gave a crude laugh.  "You need both eyes to properly look at that wench!  But unless that box is half full of gems you don''t have enough to buy her."


    "Actually the box is full of bags of holding.  The bags have the gold and gems," Ife replied casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.


    Delilah lightly pulled on Shiina''s lid and she opened up to show the piles of cash.  The gatekeeper and the guards sobered up at that.  Though Shiina had been hoping for a little more surprise.  Apparently big sacks of gold were too common here.


    "We will see if the Sultana has time today.  She is a fairly busy lady," the gatekeeper said before hurrying to speak to a runner.  Somehow Shiina didn''t think the Sultana was that busy.  What was the point of being stupid rich if you couldn''t laze around all the time?  And it''s not like the woman worked for her money.


    After a few minutes a runner came back and the Gatekeeper bowed.  "The Sultana will see you.  Please mind your manners."  The guards opened the gates, and a slave led them into the palace.


    Shiina had mixed feelings about the place.  Shiny works of art were cool.  But the sheer amount of gold on display kinda ruined the vibe.  There needed to be some other colors for contrast.  Anyone trying to sneak in could probably wrap themselves in cloth of gold and just pretend to be an art piece when people walked by.


    The meeting room was still super gaudy, but at least had gems and cushions to spice things up.  She guessed this was the meeting room for ''people the Sultana doesn''t think much of'' because one side was higher than the other.  More than required to bring a halfling up to eye level.


    Zanya put Shiina down up front as the group sat down and began to wait again.  Fortunately the sultana didn''t seem to be too interested in wasting their time to prove herself.  It was only a few minutes later before the guards entered along with Hafsa.


    Shiina paid closer attention to the woman they were going to be ''buying'' for the plan.  Hafsa had the sandy hair and dusky skin that suggested she was related to the local catfolk tribes, and generally an athletic body.  Of course her scant dancers outfit worked to draw attention more to her chest, which eclipsed even Ife''s.  The woman was giving them a judging glare, which was fair given she thought they were slave traders, but Shiina was surprised she was so open about it.


    As Shiina finished inspecting the woman a herald entered and proclaimed, "Her magnificence, Sultana Zabi."


    The Sultana was honestly a kinda uninteresting woman, her chubby figure overshadowed by her ridiculously baggy clothes and layers of jewelry.  Shiina was kinda disappointed.  She''d been hoping for a more imposing villainess.  Sure there were defensive wards all over the jewels but that was par for the course for a wealthy ruler.


    Her friends all bowed as the Sultana took her seat looking down on them.  "Well, I hear one of my kittens has caught your eye.  Might I ask what interested you in her?"


    "We saw her perform.  She''s actually skilled with a sword.  We can use another frontliner," Zanya said.


    "And she''s pretty enough to associate with the rest of us," Ife added with a wink.  Delilah gave the fox woman a sour side eye, but stayed quiet.  Hafsa seemed similarly unimpressed.


    The sultana meanwhile preened. "I see.  Well those are quite good reasons.  Before we go further however I have to tell you, Hafsa here isn''t civilized enough to take care of herself, so her loyalty is enforced by magic.  If you have any delusions of freeing her, throw them away.  Of course that would be a stupid idea to begin with, but so many dullards complain about the matter I have to spell it out."


    Zabi''s eyes narrowed and she leaned forwards.  "You weren''t planning on freeing her were you?"  Shiina felt the magic in the room ripple with the question.


    To her surprise Delilah spoke up.  "It''ll be an interesting magical challenge.  I could probably use it to get an apprenticeship with a grandmaster."


    Apparently that wasn''t what the sultana expected either.  After a moment the halfling ruler laughed.  "How amusingly foolish.  Well mages will do mage things.  If she slits your throats don''t complain to me.  Ignore my words and your fates might be quite messy."  The sultana sat there for a moment, thinking about something.


    Ife broke the silence.  "I''m sure the gods of law and chaos will reward our actions and prayers.  It will turn out for the best."


    The sultana''s smirk turned wicked.  What had she seen in Ife''s words?  Shiina tried to figure it out, but the trade continued on.  "Well, I''m a busy woman, so I don''t do haggling.  Tell me your offer and I''ll tell you if it''s enough to take Hafsa off my hands.  She might be a barbarian, but she has valuable skills.  And several charm points."


    "We noticed," Zanya said dryly.  "As for the offer," she opened Shiina''s lid.  "Two tons of gold and a thousand lapis lazuli gems."


    The sultana thought for a moment then nodded slowly.  "I think that will do.  Scribe, fill out the contract."  She waved her hand to one of her minions who started scribbling away.  "Who will be the owner?"


    "It''s all our money," Ife said, "so we will share control of the slave.  Make it out to the adventuring party financed by Mage Adjunct Zalaty."


    The scribe finished quickly, with the sultana quickly adding her signature.  "If you would?"


    Shiina wished she could read the paper from where she was, but all she could see was the back, and the thick parchment didn''t let her see the ink even when the light hit it directly.  Ife, Delilah, and Zanya all read it over and after a quick agreement Ife signed.


    "Well," Hafsa suddenly spoke up from where she''d been standing, "you dunces really fucked up now."


    "What?" Shiina and her friends all stared at the catgirl.  Shiina was really glad her surprise wouldn''t show because she''d have botched the whole operation right there.


    The sultana rolled up the document while glaring at Hafsa.  "Ah yes.  My restriction on that foul mouth of yours would have worn off.  Well, no matter."  The woman''s evil smirk returned as she stepped back behind her guards.  "And now we need to discuss your fine for heresy.  I believe ten thousand gold will suffice.  Payable immediately."


    Delilah swore in elvish, while Ife''s ears and tail bristled.  "Heresy?  You''re accusing a priestess in good standing of heresy?!"


    "Indeed.  One cannot speak for the gods of law and chaos at the same time," Sultana Zabi said smugly.  "It must be punished.  Of course if you don''t have the money, we''ll have to enslave you and confiscate your possessions."


    Zanya''s eyes narrowed.  "And of course you waited until we spent all our gold to remember this rule."  So that had been the play.


    "Oh don''t be such whiny slaves," the Sultana said.  "The tribes are getting uppity again, and we need soldiers to handle them.  Adventurers are great for that.  Especially adventurers that are working with the tribes to get information on my palace.  Did you imagine we didn''t know you fools got this gold from our mines?"  Shiina wanted to reply that this gold wasn''t all from her mines but she forced it down.


    "She was planning to fuck you no matter what," Hafsa said.  "This is just her excuse."


    "I knew this was a bad idea," Delilah muttered.


    Ife was still bristling.  "You won''t get away with this!  The gods will see your transgressions!"


    Zanya put a hand on Shiina''s lid and gave a gentle squeeze.  "You will regret this.  Trust me."  Shiina tapped the inside of the Ophedian''s hand.  She''d gotten the message.  It didn''t matter if everyone else got taken as prisoners.  Shiina could still complete the mission by herself.


    "Guards take them," the sultana said.  "Feel free to be rough if they resist.  After that, Hafsa show them to their new quarters.  After all, they went out of their way to become your friends.  Why not get friendly with them?"


    "Yay, such great friends," Hafsa muttered.  "Well at least I can enjoy being able to fucking curse for a bit."


    Zanya gave Shiina another pat before the guards shackled her and led her out.  The sultana exited as well, leaving Shiina in the room with a couple of guards.  "Get some slaves to carry that down to the vault," the likely leader said.


    Soon a few slaves arrived and roughly lifted Shiina before carrying her further into the palace.  It was annoying, but Shiina kept a tight lid on her urge to jump them.  There were bigger surprises ahead.  Much bigger surprises.


    After a long walk through the tacky halls, Shiina was placed in front of two massive doors.  Judging from all the trap runes scribbled all over it, that was probably the vault.  The two outside guards waved the slaves off.  The guard outside used a large key to unlock the door, then knocked on a gold panel three times.  After a few moments the doors opened.


    The room inside was a storybook cavern of riches.  Gold pieces piled high, artwork everywhere, and a large statue in the back looking down on it all.  The only thing missing was a dragon to lay on top.


    Two guards came in from inside.  "New delivery huh?"


    "Sultana tricked some stupid outsiders."


    "Hah!  Well not our problem."  The inner guards picked up Shiina and entered the vault, the massive doors closing behind with a heavy thud.


    Shiina prepared for an excellent surprise as the two guards moved her towards the other chests at the base of the statue.  Then she stiffened as her eyes fell on the one person hiding among the boxes.


    "You fools," the other mimic roared out, "Why have you brought one of my kin in here?!"


    Of course the Sultan would have a mimic guard.

 Al Jirtea 5

    Shiina abandoned her full chest form, spitting out the bags of gold, while striking at the guards holding her. The one on her right got the poisoned knife to the neck, killing him instantly, while the one on the left got brained by her shield. He tried to recover, but Shiina had his hand stuck to her. A quick flick of the knife ended that threat as well. Savory crimson burst over her as the man died in shock.


    The spray of coins had ended the other mimic''s charge letting Shiina shift to face her kin in her preferred form. "Hey, so maybe we could talk this out. We''re here to end the whole slavery thing so-."


    The mimic in front of her simply shifted to the side. A hammer headed pseudopod spun out of the mimic and slammed into her. Pain washed over Shiina as she tumbled end over end across the treasure room, skidding to a stop next to a trio of gold statues.


    Roar! Bite! her instincts screamed. She felt her body ripple with the need. But she forced that down and instead retrieved her shields. Shiina glared at her kin. "Why the hell are you loyal to these jerks? They''re terrible people."


    "Loyalty? Pathetic. You''re trying to become like the humanoids." The other mimic advanced. "I''m here because there''s food. I surprise. I bite. I feast. That is the way of the mimic."


    The sheer contempt in the other mimic''s voice shocked Shiina. But hot anger quickly replaced it. That thing was judging her? "Well you fucked surprise up already, so let''s see how good you are in a real fight." She grabbed a gold cherub statuette and flung it at her foe.


    Her foe stupidly just hardened to take the hit. She smirked at it''s grunt of pain. Then flinched back as a tendril hit her ''lid'' "Fake human," the other mimic sneered as it used it''s pseudopod to launch itself at her. Pain erupted in her side as another hammerblow slammed into her, then her enemy''s jaw opened wide to cut her in half.


    "You''re not a mimic, you''re a box with teeth," Shiina hissed as she slammed her large shield down its throat. The impact gave a lovely crack as some teeth broke and dissolved away. She gave her foe another crushing blow for good measure.


    Her reward was another crack, before a hammerblow to her head sent her spinning to keep from losing the mass.


    The enemy mimic grabbed one of her humanoid arms and kept pulling her in a circle, pinning her shield arm and getting her away from the heavy objects lying around. Shiina could have abandoned her humanoid parts, but she forced herself to stay focused and whole. It was a matter of pride now. Instead she looked around for a good weapon. Her knife wouldn''t do.


    She saw her chance just before another blow hit her. Shiina shook off the impact, then called up her nascent Technique. "Fishing Strike!"


    Her pseudopod lashed out over her foe, slapping into the face of a gold statue. With a hefty yank Shiina pulled it as hard as she could.


    The heavy statue was too big to move all on her own. But her tug had unbalanced it. Slowly at first, then increasingly quickly the statue leaned, then topped. Her foe had just enough time to realize the situation before the hunk of gold landed on it, shattering the fake wood and steel under its massive weight. The other mimic shuddered, then partially melted as it died.


    Shiina winced and stretched as silence fell over the vault. She had lots of bruises from the battle, but she''d won. Turning her attention back to the marble statue that was her target.


    The statue really was a work of art, depicting a halfling riding a lion in slightly larger than life size. Apparently it was the founder of the city, which is why his statues were used to power their enchantments. A careful look showed the many runes that controlled the whole thing. With time she could probably disarm all of them.


    Of course there were easier ways. Shiina fished out the bottle of acid she''d been given for the mission. A quick twist of the cap and then she merrily poured the liquid all over the statue''s face and body. The spell required splendor, so as the face dissolved away and the fine engravings were pitted and damaged, the magic quickly died.


    That complete Shiina moved on to the next step. She recovered as many gold bags as she could without encumbering herself. Then she tossed a chunk of the gold out of the bags to shovel in some jewels, before heading back towards the doors. Along the way she saw a dress that looked like it might fit Delilah, so she grabbed that, along with a bolt of silk.


    She reached the doors and twisted the elaborate knob, but only half the bolts retracted. Shiina blinked at the barrier. "Who builds doors that can''t be unlocked from the inside?" There had been guards posted here! Was this place really set up so they could get stuck and starve to death? Banging on the doors might get the outside guards to check, but there was obviously some kind of soundproofing, since no one noticed the fight she''d just had.


    A heavy clunk as the remaining bars suddenly retracted caused Shiina to pull herself to the side and shift to full chest form. Maybe someone had heard and they''d needed time to open up. Well the mess would be obvious, but hopefully they wouldn''t send in too many guards.


    To her surprise the first thing through the door was the bloody corpse of a guard. "Oi! Mimic girl!" Hafsa walked in, covered in blood, to toss down the corpse of the other guard. "I know you aren''t dead, because you''re still my master. So let''s fix that bullshit."


    Shiina popped up after a moment, "Wait, uh, what''s going on now?"


    The catgirl kicked body aside and looked down at her. "You morons bought me, and then sultana enslaved the rest of your crew. Which means, as the only free member, you''re my owner. Your friends told me the whole ''free the slaves'' plan, so I suggest less gawking and more doing, ''master''."


    Shiina''s head was spinning, but she could work with the bits she understood. "Uh, okay. We need to get to the top of the tower, and probably should avoid fighting all the guards. So can you clean off all that blood?"


    Hafsa looked down at the mess. "Point." She twisted a ring and the blood evaporated off. "Glad the sultana is obsessive about us looking clean at a moment''s notice."


    Things were still moving fast, but that was probably good. If Shiina was confused everyone else had to be worse off! "So, slaves probably don''t wear backpacks. What can I disguise myself as?"


    "Er, maybe a large basket?" Hafsa grimaced. "But I can''t use my swords if I''m holding you."


    "Well we can''t be stealthy if you''ve got a mimic walking next to you," Shiina replied before shifting to a basket similar to one of the few in the room. "Anyway, let me handle the stabbing." Her assassination ability would help more.


    Though that did bring up how had Hafsa killed the guards so cleanly? Maybe the woman had an assassination ability of her own.


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    Hasfa hissed in annoyance but picked her up. "I suppose."


    As the catgirl carried her out Shiina wedged the inner lock and grabbed the key before shutting the doors. She handed it to the woman as a peace offering before going fully to basket form. Hasfa''s eyes widened and her ears perked up, but she accepted the gift without comment.


    They began maneuvering through the lower floors, quickly bypassing the guards, both slave and free, before ending up in the slave quarters proper. The one place that wasn''t covered in gold.


    Shiina wondered for a moment if they were going to meet up with Delilah and the others but Hafsa took her through the passages to a large spiral staircase. This had to be the bottom of the tower. The catgirl looked at the mass of steps before her, tail lashing, before starting up.


    They continued on for several floors before Hafsa spoke up again. "So how the hell did you end up in this plan?"


    "Work related. We either destroyed slavery or got in a really stupid fight," Shiina said. "My turn. What''s with all the cursing? They can''t like that." It seemed like something that would get a slave killed.


    "The bitch in charge ordered me to keep my foul language in check. Magically forced me to bite my tongue." Hafsa''s grin turned predatory. "Now that it''s gone I''m never keeping my mouth shut for trash like that again."


    Shiina could understand on some level, but her mimic instincts still shied away from it. "Might consider it for stealth missions."


    "Maybe." Her tail swished violently, but she did quiet down a bit. She whispered as they rounded another full circle. "Couple of guards two floors up. Then it''s clear to the top." Shiina vibrated in understanding.


    Her mood soured when she found that ''a couple'' of guards turned out to be four. All of them were in chain mail, with scimitars designed for indoors fighting. From the flick of Hafsa''s ears, that was unusual. However she continued forwards like there was nothing wrong.


    "Stop. Why are you here?" a guard asked.


    "The sultana asked me to set up a spot for her," Hafsa said in a neutral voice. "She wanted to show the new slaves some ''flying lessons.''"


    The guard snorted, but shook his head. "Captain Rafesh said no one will be allowed up without his express permission. Go speak with him so he may consult with the sultana."


    "Competent bastard," Hafsa muttered under her breath. Shiina took that as a sign stealth was about to go poorly.


    Her dagger lashed out at the leader''s neck, while her big shield struck the closest one. At the same time she slipped out of Hafsa''s grasp and dropped to the floor. Surprise flooded the room.


    She pulled the dagger from the dying man''s throat and went for her third target, but the man managed to step back. She had to slam the knife into his armpit, the point slowly pushing into the rings to deliver its deadly venom.


    She let her attention fall back to the other fighters. A shield bash kept the stunned man out of the picture, while she moved to parry the final guard''s swipe with her buckler. The first blow was turned aside, but the man twisted his strike and stabbed. Once again pain hit her as the tip pierced into her side.


    The guard''s cry of triumph turned to a shriek as a sword took off his hands at the wrists. Hafsa stepped past the man and with a spinning move clove through the heads of both that guard and the one fighting off Shiina''s poison.


    Shiina took the opportunity to alternately bash and stab the last guy to death. She carefully sealed her wound, panting at the effort. "Well that sucked,"


    "Guard must be on alert because the tribes are gathering," Hafsa muttered. "Better finish this before the Captain realizes the dumb bitch of a sultana didn''t question your friends at all and forces them to spill the whole story."


    "Sure thing!" Shiina said, hopping on Hafsa''s back as a pack. "We''ll have to think up a good move for the statue though."


    Hasfa''s tail bristled. "You can''t be serious. Why am I carrying you up the stairs?"


    Shiina slowly grinned. "Should I carry you?"


    "It''d be nice," the catgirl retorted.


    "Okay!" Shiina slipped off and scooted through the door. Checking the tower it was perfect for her goals. They''d stopped adding intermediate floors from here on, making the whole thing a spiral staircase with a railing overlooking the drop in the middle. "Let''s go!" Hafsa was smart enough to realize Shiina was up to something, but the woman eventually just headed into the tower.


    Once they were both inside, Shiina tightened her hold on the catgirl and started doing the upward jump pulls that she''d used to help Delilah around. Hafsa yelped and latched on as Shiina yanked them upwards, jump by jump. It was a little tiring, especially with all her injuries. But it was also pretty fun!


    They came to a stop below the trap door to the top. Shiina turned her attention back to Hafsa. "Was that good?"


    To her surprise the catgirl smiled. "Fuck yeah! That was much better than the stairs." The woman''s expression became more thoughtful as she looked up. "Right so we have to break the statue? You have something for that?"


    "Used it already. Gonna have to deface it the hard way," Shiina admitted.


    "Well, guess I''ll get to try out my trick earlier than expected," Hafsa said before climbing up through the door. Curious, Shiina followed.


    The statue was a perfect copy of the one she''d defaced down in the vault, down to the runes. Or maybe this was the original? Either way it sat in the middle of the tower, surrounded by open space before the roof. She had to admit, the view was pretty amazing from up here, even without binocular vision. That must be why people were willing to go up all those stairs.


    Returning her focus to the statue, she saw Hafsa standing next to it, sword out. "Uh, I know you''re good but isn''t that a little too hard?"


    "Just gotta understand the stone right." Hafsa muttered. The woman centered herself, then gave a single clean cut.


    Blue sparks flared as magic hit magic, then quickly faded. The neatly bisected halfling figure slipped off the lion to hit the floor hard. Shiina winced as cracks covered the floor, but fortunately it only seemed to have damaged the tile up top, not the main structure.


    Shiina felt the magic in the city shift, then a moment later evaporated. The night seemed still, then screams started to sound from below. Hafsa gave a wicked laugh and snapped the thin slave collar around her neck. "Oh its time to have some fucking fun!" The woman looked at her. "Wanna join me?"


    Shiina shook her head. "I should probably find my friends. We''re supposed to meet up at the base of this tower."


    Hafsa slowly nodded. "Okay, that''s fair." She grinned. "Well I''ll help you down, then start looking for some revenge."


    "Thanks!" Shiina hopped on her back. "Try not to die though. I figure it''ll take a while for the local tribes to bust in and finish off the guards."


    "Don''t worry about me. I''ve got plans," the catgirl said with a nasty smile.


    <hr>


    Clever readers will notice big massive enchantments that can cover cities seem very similar to prophecies. Things like ''so long as the founder is venerated, slaves will serve,'' or ''the walls will never fall so long as brave men defend the gate.'' This has two reasons.


    The first is that a lot of prophets and fortune tellers were the best mages in the old days and they were quite willing to make sure their prophecies came true via direct action. They had declared what would happen, and were willing to spend lots of time and effort to make sure they were correct. So a lot of ancient prophecies have a spell attached to them.


    The second is since most people designed massive enchantments around prophecies, those are the best researched. Tying your massive enchantment to a legend, prophecy, or other saying means you don''t need to worry about time wearing down the runes, or some rogue disarming it like a trap. The magic just ''is.''


    The downside of course is that when you tie your magic to ethereal things, weird quirks of language can cause problems. Nonsense like how the walls of Perphia fell when the last brave man at the gate was killed by an arrow, even though there were plenty of brave women there.


    This is why the multiple item path for large enchantments has started to gain ground. It''s more expensive, but generally impossible to just cheat via reinterpreting the spell. And if properly defended can be just as effective.


    All to say, Al Jirtea''s system was stupid not because they put their spell in statues, but because they only had three; the things had to be in ''important'' places; and because slave soldiers is just a dumb idea. A really dumb idea. And that''s why their city state got destroyed.

 Al Jirtea 6

    Shiina patiently waited at the base of the tower disguised as a dresser.  She got to assassinate a lone guard that ran past in the confusion, but mostly she just watched as the palace descended into chaos.


    From what she was gathering, most of the slaves had started looking for ways to escape.  However the slave soldiers and a few more violent ones had lashed out at their abusers.  The guards had no idea what exactly was happening, and were trying to find someone in charge to tell them what they should do.


    The door burst open again, and Shiina perked up as Zanya moved in, axe already out.  Ife and Delilah followed, each ready for a fight.  They looked like they''d seen some combat already, but Delilah had healed most of the damage.


    "Hey!"  Shiina announced herself before shifting and waving to her friends.  "My mission went pretty good.  You all okay?"


    Shiina''s presence caused them to relax a bit.  Delilah was first to approach.  "It sucked, though we did get to tear apart the guard captain.  So that should help."  The half elf tapped Shiina with her staff.  "Blessing of friendship.  Aid of life.  Strength of justice."


    The buffs washed over her and she smiled.  "Thanks!"  She looked over at Zanya.  "What''s the plan now?  I wanted to help out, but I didn''t have a clue what to do other than stab guards."


    Zanya motioned towards the front of the palace.  "The gate.  The adventurers inside the city will be trying to break into the palace proper, since that''s where most of the leadership is.  We let them in and effective resistance should be over."


    "Where''s that catgirl by the way?" Ife asked.


    "She went out to get some personal revenge.  Oh right!"  Shiina pulled out the dress and silk.  "I gave her the key since she helped me out, but I stole these from the treasury earlier!"


    Delilah blinked while Ife preened.  "Thanks?" the half elf said.


    "That''ll help with getting new gear later," Ife said.  "But first let''s handle the gate."


    A massive bang rang out as Shiina felt the ground ripple, almost like it was liquid.  The sheer power caused her to lose form for a moment before she managed to stabilize.  She focused on the others, who were picking themselves off the ground.  "What the hell was that?"


    "At a guess, a high level mage finding the gate shut," Ife replied.  "We might be late."


    "Let''s check," Zanya replied, heading towards the stairs.  Shiina did her best to keep up with Delilah as they moved to the ground floor, then worked their way towards the front doors.  It was a winding mess, but fortunately the sounds of battle helped them keep their direction


    As they headed down the last hallway two guards stumbled out of a side passage.  With a yell of alarm they rushed at Shiina''s group.  Zanya blocked the first one with the flat of her axe, while Shiina lashed out with her dagger.  That caused the man to hesitate long enough for Ife to catch him.  "Beauteous Radiance," she incanted, sending a beam of light through his chest.


    The death of his friend caused the other halfling to flinch, which Zanya took advantage of.  A powerful overhead cut slammed through his weak guard and buried the axe well into the man''s lungs.  The ophidian took a moment to rip out the weapon before starting forwards again.


    As Shiina entered the entry chamber she froze.  The place was a scene of carnage unfolding.  The doors were broken open, blood stained the gold, and three warriors, Wessle at the front, were destroying the pitiful resistance in front of them.


    Shiina had heard about the difference between levels.  How around a fifteen level gap fights turned from a struggle to a total slaughter.  But she''d never really understood what that meant.  The catfolk warrior casually walked forwards, his two handed sword snapping out at anyone who got in range.  He didn''t even bother blocking, just killing each enemy as they advanced with a speed that Shiina could barely follow.  This totally eclipsed Zanya and Ife''s skills.


    Soon the massacre was over.  Shiina got the impression they really hadn''t needed to rush here.  Wessle cleaned his blade.  "Good work.  Do you know where the Guard Captain is?  He''s the last loose end."


    "He was questioning us when the spell broke," Delilah said.  "I kicked him in the groin and Ife finished him."


    "Excellent," Wessle grinned.  "That ends the leadership problem."


    Zanya blinked.  "We don''t know where the Sultana is though."


    "We do," Wessle said, pointing upward.  "Someone gutted her and hung her from her own balcony using her intestines.  That problem is taken care of, and the corpse is even nicely displayed."


    Shiina figured that took a lot of work.  She wondered if it had been Hafsa or someone else.  Still that led to her big question.  "Now what?"


    "Now we clean up the rest of the mess piece by piece."  He motioned to his allies.  "I need to finish up here.  Gather up the newly freed slave soldiers and get a proper strike squad to squash pockets of holdouts.  But if you''d like to keep assisting we''ll want a healer and some people to help the doctors.  Of course if you wanna go around busting up resistance I won''t complain, but I imagine you''re done trying to fight above your level."


    Delilah looked at Ife and Zanya.  "I think I''d like healing more than sacking the city."


    "Less rewarding, but much safer," Ife said.  "I''d be fine with it."


    "Shiina?" Zanya asked.


    "Sure!"  Shiina pulled out her diary.  "I''ve got questions for doctors anyway!  Never really got to meet one."


    Zanya nodded.  "Just do it in between work."  She looked to Wessle.  "Where''s the medical station?"


    "Main square."  He paused then bowed his head.  "And damn fine work.  Keep the payment we loaned you.  You earned it."


    <hr>


    "Needle." the elf doctor said, holding out her hand.  Shiina took the small knife the woman had been carrying and replaced it with the requested needle.  She watched as the woman sewed up the wound before waving to Delilah.  "Patient is ready."


    Delilah walked over and held her staff over the wound.  "Charitable healing."  The flesh fused under her attention, the wound fading to a faint line before vanishing entirely.  The patient had been unconscious for the whole time, so they couldn''t say if they were doing okay.  But Shiina saw their color improve.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    The doctor cut the stitches and carefully pulled the thin thread out.  "Anyone else?" she asked as she finished the procedure.


    Shiina turned her attention to the front of the tent.  It didn''t seem like anyone new had been brought in.  "Nope!"


    The elven woman moved over to a seat and flopped down.  "Thank the gods.  That''s more work than I''ve had in a month."  She looked at Delilah.  "And thanks for your help, child.  So many magical healers get touchy when asked to fix up after a doctor''s mess."


    "I''m not stupid enough to try to deal with splinters and shrapnel with my current healing," Delilah replied.  "And it''s much easier to have a professional do the surgery so I can focus on the cleanup."


    The doctor turned to Shiina.  "And thank you for your help as an assistant."  She smiled.  "Even if your bedside manner needs a bit of work."


    "I promise not to ask to lick the knives next time," Shiina replied politely.  She''d still do it.  It was good for cleaning!  But she''d word it differently.  "I learned a lot about humanoids too!"  Anatomy books were useful but actually seeing the insides gave her a much deeper understanding.  It was so messy, disorganized, and kinda amazing.


    After a bit of rest the doctor stood up.  "Well, you two kids can get back to your friends.  The local healers can handle the rest, and I''m going to need to drill the basics into their heads.  As well as keep an eye on my nurses.  You deserve some time to sleep, and maybe a bit of relaxation after all this chaos."  She gave another friendly smile.  "Though if you''re ever in need of a spare coin don''t hesitate to visit my office.  I''ll probably move on in a century or so but that''s plenty of time."


    "Thank you," Delilah said with a bow.


    They headed out into the night towards where Ife and Zanya were standing with the other guards.  "So that kid thing, is that because elves just think we''re all kids, or because you''re a half elf," Shiina asked.


    "Probably a bit of both," Delilah replied.  "They vaguely understand other races grow up faster, but they have a harder time with half elf ages.  It''s one of the many reasons why elven parents and half elf kids usually end up estranged."  She sighed, before shaking her thoughts off.  "She seemed very nice though.  More focused than most.  I''ve never heard of an elf willingly sticking around a city for more than four decades."


    Shiina nodded as she internalized the info.  Elves were one of the strangest humanoid groups, and she''d never really gotten to interact with one much.


    Zanya and Ife were relaxing at the guard post when they arrived.  It seemed there were plenty of spare troops to keep the place safe, so most were just relaxing while a few kept watch.  "Done?" Zanya asked.


    "Yeah," Delilah replied.  "So now what do we do?"


    Ife stood and brushed off her tail.  "I got us a room back at the inn we were staying at yesterday.  So I say we enjoy a big meal and a long rest."


    "It''s open?" Shiina asked.  Normally an invasion caused a bit of disruption in trade.


    "No slaves on staff," Ife said with a shrug.  "They were offering free drinks to newly freed citizens outside last I saw.  And recruiting staff on the side.  I imagine the owner is planning to expand."


    Shiina blinked.  That was impressive in a kinda cold way.  Then again she was planning on taking a nap while the rich villas finished getting sacked so she probably didn''t get to judge.  "And our plan after that?"


    "Start looking for a way to leave town," Zanya said.


    "Are we really planning on destroying their entire social structure and running?" Delilah asked.


    Ife''s ears twitched.  "Well, that''s what we usually do."


    "Better to disappear into legend then become a well known name," Zanya added.  "We''re lucky only a few people know we''re responsible for this mess.  Most will just guess we were here by accident."


    Shiina thought over it for a bit.  It did seem kinda bad to change everything then run.  But Zanya had a good point.  And they''d changed things for the better!  "It''s too bad we can''t see how it all turns out.  And I''d kinda wanted to try a dungeon run too."


    "That was never going to happen," Ife said, tail drooping.  "You saw how they run their dungeons here.  Too bad though because there''s lots of materials we could have gathered."


    "Well I mean, since the old guild was government run they''re gonna be gone," Shiina said.  "Nothing''s stopping us from just doing a dungeon run."


    All the humanoids stopped and looked back at her with wide eyes.  Eventually Ife turned to Zanya.  "She''s got a point."


    "Forbidden Tombs?" Zanya said.


    "Forbidden Tombs," Ife replied.


    "What are the Forbidden Tombs?" Delilah asked.


    Zanya''s eyes shimmered in the moonlight.  "A dungeon.  The only dungeon in the area that forms Sun Tears."


    Shiina tried to think through all the rare materials she knew about, but she couldn''t remember hearing anything about those.  "I don''t think I''ve heard of those."


    "They''re teardrop shaped gems of condensed light," Ife said.  "Actually common in most areas because they form in lower level dungeons.  But they''re the sultanate''s gem, so harvesting and export have been banned.  Meaning they''re fairly rare here."


    "They''re also perfect for equipment that boosts enhancement spells," Zanya added.  "And unlike the other dungeons, not many other people will get the idea to harvest from the tombs, so we likely won''t have as much competition."


    Delilah perked up.  "That does sound much better than fighting one of the desperate groups trying to farm gold and gems.  What level is it?"


    "The main path is level fourteen I think," Zanya replied.  Shiina considered that.  Fourteen was similar to the low level dungeons near Shiina''s home.  So this should be a cakewalk.


    Ife grinned.  "We''ll set out tomorrow."


    <hr>


    The Forbidden Tombs were not in the cemetery like Shiina thought they should be, but actually ten minutes outside the city, in a rocky chunk of the desert.  A flat slab lay on a small rise, with stars in the middle leading down.  The smoldering wreckage of a small outpost sat beside it, probably a remnant of the tribes'' push to the city.


    "Doesn''t really look impressive," Shiina said as they reached the entrance.


    "It''s not," Ife admitted.  "If it weren''t for Al Jirtea sending assassins to murder anyone who tried to sell or own Sun Tears taken from here it would be just another dungeon."


    Delilah frowned.  "Hm, so by the time people know it''s safe to buy these gems they''ll know the supply has been freed up."


    Zanya nodded.  "No get rich quick scheme for us.  Just semi-valuable stones, a good dungeon run, and crafting materials for later."


    "Eh, that''s fine.  We''ve still got those bags of holding filled with gold," Shiina said.  She''d be buying fancy meals for a year at least!


    They headed down the stairs, the stone walls taking an ancient worn look as they descended.  Wall art depicting lions, sunbursts, and halflings standing tall over groveling humans started to appear.


    The stairs opened up into a large entry passage, with the murals all around the room, leading to an intricately carved stone door.  Shiina''s attention was drawn instead to the catgirl doing stretches in the middle of the room.


    Hasfa jumped to her feet at their party''s entrance, hands going to her swords before she blinked in confusion.  "What the hell are you doing here?"


    <hr>


    I''ve said before elves are one of the weirdest races on the planet, and meeting a normal elf kinda showed why.  Elves have two main characteristics.  Because they''re functionally immortal their sense of time is totally skewed.  One of my ''jobs'' helping was to remind her the patient was still bleeding if she got caught up in something and took too long.  I''ve heard stories of elves sharpening their blades mid fight, and at least one of them has multiple witnesses.


    Which leads to the other points about elves.  Elves have the shortest attention spans of any sentient being in creation.  If something manages to catch an elf''s interest they will almost certainly chase after it.  What might catch any specific elf''s interest is purely random, so it can''t easily be used against them.  But it''s almost certain to happen.


    This leads to what''s considered the ''usual elf cycle.''  An elf will arrive somewhere, find something they want to learn, spend fifty to a hundred years getting good at it, then pack up and move out overnight on a whim.  Most towns rapidly learn to never let an elf hold a vital job because one day they will be gone.  At the very least they force the elf to train up an apprentice to take over.


    Elven cities are held by those few elves that can practice some form of delayed gratification, like the doctor we worked with.  Instead of just running off they''ll wait a few decades for someone competent to come back so they can hand off responsibilities.  The rest of the population however just wanders in and out.  Most elven cities are now multiracial, just because the elves don''t stick around to actually live in them full time.

 New Companion 1

    Shiina decided to answer Hafsa''s question.  "We''re gonna run the dungeon and loot it.  Why are you here?  You can''t be thinking of trying to solo this place."


    "Why not?" Hafsa replied, tail bristling.  "I''ve got the experience from their damned blood arenas.  I''ve got the swords.  I''ve got magic.  I''m gonna carve my way through this dungeon, deck myself out with the sultanate''s special gems, desecrate their stupid corpses, and then head out of this sandy dump to make my fortune."


    "Rule one: Solo adventuring is a quick way to die, not a path to wealth," Shiina recited.  Mali had drilled that one into people fast.  "Do you even have trapfinding experience?  Much less a way to heal?"


    The catgirl''s ears swept back.  "What do you care?  You offering me a job?  Because otherwise I''m not interested in your platitudes.  I''m getting out of this place one way or another."


    Shiina blinked a few times and looked over to her friends.  Delilah was hanging back, while Ife and Zanya were looking more dismissive.  They''d probably seen a lot of half baked adventurer proclamations.  Shiina was used to them as well, from all the people who failed the mimic test.  But for some reason Hafsa felt a little different.


    After a moment Shiina remembered why.  "Uh actually Ife, I think she has the Assassination skill.  She was hacking down guards pretty well."


    Ife''s eyes widened as they flickered over to Shiina.  "Hm.  That''s a fair point."  She looked back to Hafsa.  "Would you mind letting me do a deep scan?"


    Hafsa seemed confused now, but after a moment she shrugged.  "If you tell me what you find I suppose."


    Ife concentrated on the catgirl, and Shiina noticed Delilah doing the same.  Maybe seeing how well she could match Ife''s skill?  After a few long moments Ife''s tail began to wag excitedly.  "Oh my.  Level 18 already?  And B tier Assassination with magic knight potential?  I wasn''t sure that was even possible.  Maybe you do have something we can work with."  She looked to Zanya.  "Your thoughts?"


    Zanya''s inner eyelid blinked.  "Hm, so why do you want to become an adventurer?  There''s safer ways of making money.  I know you have skill as a performer."


    "Ha!"  Hafsa sneered.  "More like skill at shaking my tits.  You know that''s all people cared about."  Shiina thought that was fairly dismissive of her abilities, but the woman continued.  "I know how to seduce people and how to cut things, and I''ll be damned if I spend my life as entertainment or serving like a soldier.  I''ve had enough of being other people''s toy.  I''m gonna carve my own way.  If you people are willing to work with me, sure we can team up.  Otherwise I''ll do it myself."


    Zanya considered the woman''s weapons.  "And you plan on using two swords?"  It was an uncommon style.  Most dual wielders preferred a smaller off hand.


    "There a problem with that?" Hafsa asked.  "It''s how I trained."


    The warrior looked to Ife.  "What''s her strength?"


    "Eighteen, in the ninety second percentile," Ife replied, causing Zanya and Delilah to both roll their eyes.  Shiina wasn''t sure what that was supposed to mean, other than high.  She wasn''t even close to memorizing all the weird notification systems humans used for themselves.


    "Huh.  So she can actually pull it off."  Zanya gave Hafsa a considered look.  "Shiina, Delilah, are you two willing to give her a shot?"


    Shiina spun to look at Zanya, while Delilah started at the question.  "What do you mean?" Delilah asked.


    Zanya shrugged and focused on Hafsa.  "Your judgment isn''t the best, but you do have skills and drive.  Soloing a dungeon is stupid, but the three of you together should be able to make easy work of this place without Ife or I stepping in.  How about we try that and decide if we''re willing to work together more in the future?"


    Shiina perked up.  "Oh that sounds cool!"  She spun back towards Hafsa.  "What do you think?!"


    Hafsa blinked a few times as her ears twitched.  "That''s...  Well, having a healer and a trapfinder will help a lot.  I suppose if you''re all okay with it."


    Delilah slowly smiled.  "That sounds good to me as well."  She moved forwards and offered her hand to the catgirl.  "We didn''t have time to do much more than introduce ourselves before sending you out to help Shiina, so let me properly greet you.  I''m Delilah, half elven support caster and traveling adventurer.  Pleased to work with you."


    After a slight hesitation Hafsa shook.  "Uh, Hafsa.  Catfolk sword dancer and I''m hoping to become a magic knight.  Good to meet you."


    Shiina offered her own hand after.  "Shiina, cutest mimic rogue in all the land.  Looking forward to another bit of fun!"


    That got Hafsa to smile as she shook.  "Likewise.  I do have to admit that was a fucking hilarious mess we started."  The woman closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before turning her gaze to Zanya and Ife.  "Right so if I''m doing this proper, I suppose I should grill you for what''s in the dungeon.  I know it''s got bugs and corpses, but not much past that."


    "A very good question to ask, but sadly we can''t say," Ife replied.  "If it''s like most tombs that have Sun Tears you should expect some nasty traps here and there.  Probably some kind of tomb guardian as well.  Either stone lions or real ones guessing from the inscriptions.  But the Forbidden Tombs have been, well, forbidden for some time."


    Shiina considered that.  "So we''ll want to move carefully.  I''ll have to do a lot of trap spotting."  She wasn''t sure how traps figured into the luck stat or levels yet, but a big rock falling on your head was usually lethal.  It was her job to make sure that didn''t happen.


    "Bet some of the treasure will be trapped too," Hafsa muttered.  "Sounds right for those fuckers.  Guess I''ll be asking you to check shit a lot Shiina.  Better than poking it with a stick I guess."  She looked to Delilah.  "I need to worry about fireballs or some shit too?"


    "I don''t have aggressive magic," Delilah admitted.  "But I''ll be giving you full heals and buffs.  Actually let me do that now."  She concentrated.  "Strength of Courage.  Aid of Life.  Blessing of Beauty."


    Shiina felt the magic wash over her, but she had to ask about the last one.  "Don''t you usually use Blessing of Friendship?"


    Delilah looked a little embarrassed.  "Well this is a trial to help prove we can be friends, so casting a spell reliant on that is dangerous.  The magic would get twisted easily."


    "Very smart move," Ife said.  "Never ''test'' your magical bindings."


    Hafsa gave a half amused half annoyed snort.  "Beauty though?  Kinda on the nose.  Though I suppose that''s what makes it work."


    She turned towards the door and gave her swords a half twirl before pointing to the carvings.  "So one thing I do know; the first fight''s gonna be a giant centipede.  You see the whole ''centipede chains'' thing they''ve got going?  Apparently that''s how the rulers of the dead mark their slaves.  So centipedes guard tombs."


    Shiina considered the carvings.  Sure enough a giant centipede surrounded the whole door, while the lowly catfolk and humans were bound with centipede links.  The pattern on the animals looked familiar too.  "Oh, I bet those are blood lightning centipedes.  The ones that have paralytic poison.  Mali taught me about those.  Her favorite paralysis poison."


    Delilah chewed her lip.  "Right.  I know that one.  I''ll get the poison cure just in case."


    Hafsa''s tail swished in annoyance.  "I''m gonna just murder it, but I suppose it''s better to be prepared."


    The catgirl pushed against the stone door, causing it to open with a grinding rumble.  The first proper dungeon room had two pillars with cheap stone coffins lining the sides.  And each pillar had its own four foot long centipede on it.


    Shiina shifted in front of Delilah, while Hafsa dashed into the room.  The first centipede was just getting off the pillar when two swords lashed out cutting off its head and a chunk of its body.


    With a quick twirl Hafsa faced the second centipede as it scuttled forwards.  Her first cut went straight between its jaws.  Shiina couldn''t tell if the blow had pierced through the exoskeleton, but it stopped the centipede long enough the second sword could slice off the front chunk of the monster.


    All in all it was pretty cool!  Even if it was just killing some bugs.


    They waited for the dead insects to stop thrashing before fully entering.  Shiina checked the room, giving the coffins long looks and occasional taps.  None of them had any corpses inside which was good.  One was trapped with some kind of falling object that she didn''t want to deal with, and one rattled nicely.


    "So is the door trapped?  Some kinda puzzle?" Hafsa asked as she shifted impatiently.


    "She''s probably looking for treasure," Delilah said.


    Hafsa''s ears went back.  "Treasure?  Here?  There''s no-"


    Shiina opened the coffin, revealing an ivory scroll case.  "Rule two : There''s always treasure in the first room," She said smugly.  The scroll inside looked just like some art, but she stashed both.  If nothing else she''d be able to add to her collection.


    "Is that really true?" Hafsa asked, looking at Ife and Zanya incredulously.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Ife shook her head, ears flat.  "Do I have proof?  No.  Is it foolish?  Yes.  Has it been true every single time someone who believed it checked?  Also yes."


    The catgirl peered at them all to see if it was a joke, but Zanya''s amusement and Ife''s defeated look seemed to convince her.  She shook her head and turned back to Shiina.  "So any traps on the door further in?"


    Shiina did another check.  The door had a mechanism, but it was very simple and not dangerous.  She shook her head.  "Nope!  Just push the eye of the person there to move on."


    "Get ready."  Hafsa stretched her arms, waiting for Delilah to get to the back of the formation before pressing the button.


    The door slid open into another chamber that had two large stone reliefs covered in dazzling lights.  Shiina''s attention however was on the group of foot long scarab beetles that turned to face them.


    Once again Hafsa rushed forwards.  The beetles took to the air, the drone of their wings filling the room.  There seemed to be seven of the creatures, and while Shiina didn''t think they''d be a danger to her, her friends would probably have a harder time.


    She ignored the four zeroing on Hafsa and faced off with the other three.  The insects had started further back, so she started off thinning the numbers.  "Fishing strike!"  Her arm hooked the closest insect drawing it straight into her shield.  The beetle hit with a solid crack and she slammed it into the floor with a hefty squish to make sure it was dead.


    Shiina turned her attention back to the others, but before she could do anything else Hafsa rushed in and cut down one of the remainder.  The three survivors from her rampage all turned to follow as she kept her scimitars weaving a web of steel.  The woman was bleeding from a ragged bite, but she''d taken center stage.


    "Targeted Heal," Delilah intoned and the blood started to slow.  Well that was handled at least.  Shiina considered matters for a second before pulling herself closer.


    The three insects had pushed Hafsa back to a wall and were darting in and out, preventing her from focusing on any target.  But they had to commit to an attack to actually hurt Hafsa, and that would leave them open for a counter.  In addition sand was whipping up around the catgirl, making the insects'' flight uneven.  Neither side could get a good blow in.


    Shiina simplified the math.  Her knife lunged out as one of the insects recovered from dodging Hafsa''s cut.  It pierced the shell and injected spider venom into the bug.  Between the wound and the poison the creature fell.


    With only two targets up Hafsa used one blade to harry a bug, while lashing out at the other.  She clipped a wing and sent it to the ground, where Shiina did a followup stab.  Meanwhile the last insect was hit by a rock.  Shiina saw Delilah looking happy as Hafsa finished off that one.


    The battle done, they all checked their weapons.  "No sling?  You''re just tossing rocks?" Hafsa asked incredulously.


    "It''s easier to aim," Delilah admitted.  "I still have trouble getting the sling to fire right."


    "Suppose I don''t know how to use one myself," Hafsa admitted, tail calming.  She looked to the walls, "Anyway, looks like we got a good haul!"


    Shiina turned her attention to the reliefs.  They looked like the creation myth, with teardrop shaped gems in place of the stars.  The stones were no bigger than the tip of her pinky finger, but they were quite distinctive.  "No traps," she said after a moment.


    She carefully pried one out of its niche.  The smooth gem felt warm to the touch, and glimmered with inner light.  It wasn''t hot, and the light was small.  But it turned the yellow gem a pleasant golden hue, reminiscent of the sky at dawn.


    "Sun''s tears," Ife said, kneeling down to look at the item.  "A little small, but good quality.  "I bet with all the ones in this room, we could get something crafted that would double the number of people Delilah can buff."


    "That seems pretty powerful!" Shiina said.  She rolled the gem around in her hand enjoying the unique feel.  "Why can''t they boost other spells?"


    Delilah looked up from where she was holding a few gems.  "Hm, they feel like they can only be used in slow and steady growth.  Sudden spells won''t work.  I probably couldn''t use them to boost healing magic.  Unless it was a long term ritual."


    Ife smiled and nodded.  "Exactly.  Some healers use it for minor diseases, but in general it''s used for long term projects or equipment for enhancement spells."


    "Eh, given how small these are they''d probably be best as lighting."  Hafsa shrugged then grinned.  "Oh, maybe a low class bar.  That''d be a great place to put the ''royal gems'' of this city."


    "I have a feeling the first gems are probably going to go to actually useful things," Zanya said dryly.  "Though then again we got a lot of gems already.  We''ll have to see how common they are here."


    "Yep!"  Shiina smiled, pocketing the gem before looking over the door.  This one had some kind of magical nonsense on it.  "Well.  Trap time.  Let''s see.  Poison gas, so...."  She started work to press further into the tomb.


    The next several rooms fell into a pattern.  Hafsa would charge in and get in a huge fight, usually taking some wounds.  Shiina would draw in as many enemies as she could to keep the fighter from getting overwhelmed, and Delilah threw out healing and, occasionally, a rock.


    The traps had started to get more involved too.  Right now Shiina was trying to organize the lineage of some dead dynasty, with the promise of a shower of darts if she got it wrong.  Fortunately while no one knew anything about the people listed, Shiina could tell which person went where based on the trap''s mechanics.


    Finally she slid the last ruler into place, causing the door latch to release with a click.  She scribbled down the names on a spare sheet of paper then moved back.  "It''s all safe."


    "Why''d you bother with those loser''s names?" Hafsa asked, her tail snapping back and forth.


    "I like knowing things," Shiina replied.  "Besides it might come up later."


    That seemed to placate the woman.  "Fair."  She took front position.  "Ready for another scrap?"


    Shiina nodded, while Delilah raised her staff.  "Ready," the half elf said.  "Be careful.  This looks like a midpoint room."  Which usually meant a tougher fight than the lead up rooms.


    "Right" Hafsa pushed open the door.


    This room was an elaborate funeral chamber, with a halfling sized gilded sarcophagus sitting in the middle.  Two stone lions sat as honor guards, but as their party moved into the room the statues stood up with a grinding of stone.


    Shiina raised both her shields and made a note to get a hammer or something for monsters that were stab proof.  She''d have to play defense here for a bit.


    Meanwhile Hafsa once again ran in blades flashing.  Her first cuts scored lines in both lion statues, the steel clawing into the stone with unnatural grace.  But the wounds wouldn''t have taken down a real lion, much less these animated monsters.


    Unfortunately that got both the monster''s attention.  Hafsa danced away from their return swipes, but while playing tag with both the enemies she couldn''t focus to deliver a solid cut with her power.  Shiina edged forwards as close as she dared but she couldn''t leave Delilah open.


    A swiping claw caught Hafsa''s stomach and the woman staggered back.  "Targeted Heal" Delilah called out, keeping the woman''s intestines inside, but the second lion was lining up for a pounce.


    "Fishing Strike!" Shiina lashed out and grabbed the stone lion''s hindleg yanking the monster back towards her.  The tug sent it tumbling to the ground next to her, so Shiina grabbed a rock and started hammering on its head.  The lion''s claws raked out but her shield kept the blows at bay.


    The stone lion rolled to its feet, one ear chipped off by Shiina''s attacks.  It lowered itself to pounce, so Shiina shoved her shield right in its face.  Much like its living counterpart, the lion lashed out at the shield biting at the rim and scratching at it.  The beast''s fangs and claws searched for Shiina''s arm behind the metal, but she let her appendage weave and dance to avoid the blows.


    After a few nerve wracking minutes Hafsa appeared behind the stone lion and brought her blades down.  This time the blow cut deep into the construct, and the construct could no longer hold the magic animating it within.  The stone froze then crumbled from its exertions.


    Shiina took a deep breath.  She didn''t need to but she found it helped calm her down and refocus.  As her attention spread out she saw Ife and Zanya relaxing too.  They must have been ready to jump in just in case.


    "Thanks," Hafsa said to Delilah, rubbing her stomach.  "Been a while since I''ve been hit that bad."


    "About that."  Zanya stepped forwards.  "Hafsa you''re going about this wrong."


    "What?" the catgirl bristled.  "Aren''t I a frontline fighter?  I go in and fight!"


    Delilah folded her arms.  "You''re a fighter but you''re taking on too much!  You''re trying to battle everything in the room!"


    Shiina blinked.  That was true.  "Yeah, you haven''t really been leaving anything for me to fight."


    "That''s the magic knight''s job," Hafsa spat back.  "Do you want me to ignore monsters trying to kill you?"  Shiina frowned.  That was a bad way of looking at it.


    "Normally you''d be right," Zanya said.


    Shiina and Delilah turned their focus to the more experienced warrior.  "Uh, what do you mean," Shiina asked.  She was pretty sure what Hafsa was doing was stupid.


    A smile flickered across Zanya''s face.  "Hafsa, your mistake is you''re treating Shiina like a rogue, expecting her to run around the battlefield and harry creatures while you have to keep enemies focused on you.  But Shiina''s not a frail thief who can strike from the shadows.  She''s a mimic, and she''s going to have the best defenses in the party."  Hafsa''s anger faded into confusion while Shiina felt pride at the declaration.


    "So for our party you should move around.  Don''t worry about staying between Shiina and the monsters."  Zanya motioned towards the spacious room.  "Sure you should keep some focused on you, but you don''t need to play defense for others.  You get to dance around and harry everything.  Only stick around for a brawl if you want to or need to.  And if something goes to annoy Shiina, let her handle it until it leaves a nice big opening for you."


    The explanation seemed to invigorate Hafsa.  "Well shit.  I suppose I was making a mistake."  She gave Delilah a smile.  "Sorry.  Guess I''ve been forcing you to work extra hard."  She looked down at Shiina.  "And suppose I should have asked how you''d do in a fight.  Shouldn''t have assumed."


    Shiina felt happy she''d rated an apology, but she just nodded.  "My fault for not explaining.  We''re all new here."


    "This is my third dungeon," Delilah said.  "And that included the training mission that I only beat on a technicality."


    Shiina considered that.  "Actually this is only my third dungeon too.  But I lived in the first one for several years."


    "Sounds like an interesting story.  Probably more fun than mine."  Hafsa shouldered her blades.  "But first we gotta clear this dungeon out.  Think it''s worth peeling the gold off that coffin?"


    Shiina focused on the gilding.  "Hm, it''s pretty thin, but it shouldn''t be too hard."


    "You know there''s some rewards that aren''t worth the effort," Ife said walking over."


    Shiina glowered at the declaration of heresy.  "It''s an adventurer''s duty to steal everything not nailed down."


    "This is petty vengeance too," Hafsa said.  "I''m defacing everything I can."


    "I at least want the turquoise," Delilah, said, testing the gems.  "It''s a lovely color."


    Ife sighed, but moved to help them finish the looting.


    <hr>


    Something I was always curious about is ''why do dungeons form treasure?''  The point of a dungeon is to be a self contained fortress, so obviously things that are valuable will form.  But there''s no real point in having pouches of gold, gems, and magic items appear in hidden locations.  That just attracts adventurers.  Mali kinda shrugged it off, but apparently Zanya''s mom studies dungeons and offered a few theories.


    The first is that treasure is the gods reacting to dungeons forming.  Each dungeon is a wound in creation, and the gods either consciously or unconsciously form treasure in the area like an oyster forming a pearl.  That brings in adventurers to clean the place.  This is the most popular, even if the gods aren''t usually so direct in their meddling.


    Second is that its the dungeon bleeding off excess energy.  Dungeons are innately unstable and have frequent energy fluctuations.  If the dungeon''s power is low monster replacements and repairs just take longer, but if its high the power has to go somewhere.  It''s known power can go into reinforcing a ''boss'' but some think power fluctuations also go into treasure formation.


    The last major theory is that it''s related to the dungeon''s formation.  Dungeons are meant to hold things the creator desires, and so the dungeon forms items the creator would desire as well.  This one is least popular, mostly because it''s hardest to prove.


    If you want my opinion, I think it''s to draw adventurers towards traps and mimics!  We have the best kill rates after all.  Nothing gets people''s guards down like a pile of shiny gold.