I stare at them. They stare back at us.

  Fae Ferocity fades, and the fun I’d been having is gone, replaced by confusion.

  “Uh… hi?”

  One of them spins around to shout at another of their group.

  “What the fuck, Dennis! It’s just a couple girls!”

  “How was I supposed to know that?” the man, who is most likely the Dennis in question, retorts.

  “By the gods, you woke me up for this? I’m going back to bed,” another grumps, before spinning around and tromping off into their camp. Nearly three quarters of the gathered Delvers join him, barely sparing us a backward glance.

  While the remainder argue back and forth, I set Arabella down. She wobbles a bit, but gets her feet under her in no time. She notices me watching and favors me with a glare, making it clear that she blames me for everything—and then some.

  I give her a bright smile, my ears as perky as I can make them, and catch the moment her brow twitches with irritation.

  But also the briefest of instants when her lips threaten to quirk into a smile of their own.

  Just then, the one who started the yelling match between the Delvers steps up to us and I smooth my face into a mask of wariness.

  Human Fighter

  Level 74

  “Sorry for the scare, ladies. Can never be too careful in the Tunnels. I’m Arlo, leader of this merry band of idiots,” he says, hand outstretched to me for a shake.

  I accept it with a smirk. “Pretty sure we weren’t the scared ones.”

  He breaks into uproarious laughter at that. “Y’hear that Dennis?! She’s called you out!”

  “Well fuck you too, foxy!”

  I can't hold back the grin that splits my face. If we weren’t in something of a rush to get out of here, I’d want to hang around just to enjoy the comraderie and antics this group no doubt gets up to.

  When we separate I motion to myself and Arabella. “I’m Emilia, and this is—”

  “Bella,” Arabella cuts me off before I can give them her name.

  Oh, right. Secret Princess. It's a cute nickname, though...

  I decide then and there to use it going forward.

  “Well, lovely to meet you both. What’re you two doin’ crashin’ through the tunnels all loud-like?”

  I stiffen at the comment. He’s definitely talking about me.

  “That’s Emilia for you." Bella’s voice is just about as flat as it gets as she gives me a deadpan look. "She was having a bit too much fun.”

  “Oh? Haven’t heard a beastkin laugh that hard in years. What’d I miss?”

  “She thought it’d be funny to—”

  “So! Arlo,” I plow through, subtle as a brick, “where are we?”

  Even though Bella glares at me, my question immediately catches his attention, and he grows deadly serious. Those behind him that overhear my question do the same, their faces shift into mixtures of concern and wariness.

  “Theola, capitol of the Republic of Tyrania,” he answers succinctly. “Wild magic zone?”

  The moment I nod, our lookers-on all make noises of commiseration, meanwhile Arlo spits on the ground with disgust.

  While Bella momentarily looks disgusted, I can understand his reaction. The horrors that wild magic zones are capable of are no joke.

  No Delver in their right mind would want anything to do with them, unless they had several Mages to stabilize the area first.

  Even then…

  I shake off the thoughts as he continues, “You’re lucky to be alive, then.”

  “You could say that again,” I sigh, mind wandering back to the mercenaries for a moment.

  While I have no idea how they'd even begin to track us down, the System offers truly absurd abilities.

  Or maybe they have their own absurdly magical compass. Or map.

  Gods, I hope not.

  I shake off the thoughts as we're invited to share their camp, but I decline for both of us, and not much later we’re climbing the stairs to layer four. When we’re truly out of view from the camp, I kneel down and motion for her to hop on once more.

  She immediately folds her arms.

  “Absolutely not. I’ll not be allowing you to strip years off my life again.”

  My ears twitch.

  Play.

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  Fae Ferocity activates once more as an idea to get her back on board hits me.

  “I’m that exciting? I had no idea you liked me so much!”

  “You’re that reckless,” she huffs.

  “Mm… you say that, but you’re the one choosing to spend over a week in the Tunnels with lil' 'ol me. Here I was thinking you’d rather be on the surface as soon as possible… but you actually want to have me all to yourself, don't you?” I say with a wistful sigh, a hand pressed to my cheek as if to hide a blush.

  “You…!” she growls.

  Just a little more…

  “I mean, who am I to say no to a pretty lady? Plus I’ll have to give you even more mana, and—”

  “Fine! Just... stop talking nonsense!” she snaps and quickly moves behind me to hop onto my back.

  Gotcha.

  She tries to hide her face as she moves, but I can see the hint of pink on her cheeks even in the dim lighting cast by the Tunnels glittering surfaces. Part of me wants to apologize for teasing her so much, but a deeper, more insistent part of me urges me to keep going.

  I’m going to have to be careful around her, especially when Fae Ferocity is active.

  On the plus side, my stats are boosted once more, and we’ll be reaching the surface in no time at all.

  “You’re surprisingly shy. It’s kind of cute.”

  Then she drops a bit of ice down the back of my shirt, and I spasm at the sudden coldness.

  “And petty! That’s foul play!” I cry.

  “Says the girl who flooded me with—actually, never mind,” she says, cutting off halfway, and I can see her face flush a bright red.

  It’s easy enough for me to connect the dots, and I pounce on it.

  “Oh? Want some more, then?” I give a seductive voice my best shot, and she stiffens.

  “Don’t you dare.”

  “Mm… shame.”

  I feel her taking a deep breath, no doubt readying herself to give me a thorough tongue lashing. So I start running right then and there, not giving her a chance to properly chew me out.

  She still makes a valiant effort the entire time we traverse the tunnels.

  We pass dozens of Delvers as we go, drawing eyes from everywhere with all the noise we make in our passing. None of them are Tier One though, so nobody even attempts to stop us. They look more frightened than anything.

  At least until they see us sprinting past. Then they just look confused.

  Every so often, someone gives me a new look to laugh at, which probably only adds to their consternation.

  With as much fun as I’m having, it only feels like an hour has passed by the time we reach the Tunnel entrance. Blocking the way is an entire squadron of guards, their uniforms nearly identical to the guards of Bephis.

  What gives me pause is that each and every one of them are well into Tier One, with their lowest leveled member sitting at level 82.

  Still, I can’t help but feel a little giddy. We were mere steps away from the capital's undercity, which was famous for being an entire city in and of itself. I’d even heard that it acts like an independent city, with a Small Council and everything.

  I couldn’t wait to see it.

  Unsurprisingly, there are two groups ahead of us, getting checked by the guards, so I join them in line when an irate voice breaks through my excitement.

  “Will you put me down already?” Bella hisses.

  “Oh, yeah. Forgot you were back there for a moment,” I snicker.

  As she gets off, another bit of ice finds its way inside my shirt, and I jolt up with a yelp of surprise. When I give her a glare, she pretends to be busy primping herself, rather than acknowledge her crime.

  While I wiggle about, trying to dislodge the ice buried in my spine, the Delvers just in front of me give us both amused looks. I stop, embarrassed, and give them a strained smile and a little wave.

  The moment they look away, I get back to wriggling. It takes a minute, but the ice finally dislodges from where it seemingly fused with my shirt. I catch Bella looking smug, so in retaliation, I ramp up the mana I’m sending her through our rings to five percent.

  Just for a moment.

  But a moment is all it takes for her to yelp in surprise, once more drawing the eyes of the Delvers in front of us. She, much like I did, gives them a strained smile and a quiet “Sorry, don’t mind me.”

  When they turn away, albeit more hesitantly this time, she gives me a baleful glare.

  I shrug it off, too focused on looking smug.

  Our cold war continues on like that as another group of Delvers join the queue behind us, and even as we are lightly interrogated by the Guards. Then we’re through, and a short walk later, my breath catches in my throat.

  We stand on an elevated stairway atop what I could only describe as the mouth of an enormous volcano, overlooking an entire city. It stretches out beneath us, vast and layered, at least three times the size of Bephis. Granted, Bephis is one of the smallest cities in the nation—but it’s still a city.

  Buildings lay stacked on top of one another, wedged into the cliffsides like weeds forcing their way through stone. Rope bridges and narrow stairways snake between the higher ledges, while at the bottom, where the cavern flattens out, the undercity sprawls in its full glory.

  Two massive tunnel mouths gape like the city’s lungs, carved into opposite cliffs to the left and right.

  The train stations.

  And as if to give credence to my analogy, the flow of it all is as clear as day.

  On the left, the city breathes in: people, crates, and barrels stream down the platforms, porters shouting as the city gulps down its food and fuel. On the right, it breathes out: wagons creak under the weight of metals, crafted goods, and coin, spilling riches back into the world beyond.

  With so many trains, even from this distance I can hear the faint, rhythmic churning of countless mana engines echoing through the stone.

  Mana shifts in chaotic swirls, mingling with the smoke of smithies and chimneys until the cavern roof far above is lost in a ever shifting haze. All the while, the life of a city fills the air with its noise.

  The hammering of forges, hawkers shouting in half a dozen tongues, laughter spilling from taverns, the barked orders of Guards trying to keep traffic moving. And music. Somewhere, a street musician plucks out a sharp, bright tune, barely audible over the din.

  It smells of iron and coal, sweat and spiced food, the faint tang of ozone from magical workings. It’s chaotic, and a little grimy, but so, so alive.

  One of the trains whistles wail, bouncing across the cavern and signaling its departure. It focuses me back to the main task at hand.

  From this distance, I wouldn’t be able to find the train we’d fled from even if I try, so the first thing on the docket is to make our way over towards the left station where the girls will be arriving.

  If they hadn’t already. I haven’t given much thought to how long we were in that Dungeon, but the train ride was only for a few days. I hum thoughtfully for a moment, then turn to Bella.

  The look she’s giving me screams ‘unimpressed’, but I shrug it off.

  So I’m a country bumpkin compared to her. So what?

  “How long were we in the Dungeon?” I ask, getting straight to the point.

  She arches a brow. “You don’t remember?”

  I shake my head. “No, it was a blur to me. I remember everything we did, but not how long it took.”

  “Hm. Well, it’s a guess, but around a day, if a little less. Why?”

  I tap my chin and swish my tail thoughtfully for a moment before responding.

  If it’s been a day, add another half from travel time to get here and how far we got on the train before everything went down… maybe another day or two before they arrive? But how do I notify them…

  “I have friends on the train that I’d like to rejoin, so I was just checking to see if they’d already made it,” I answer. Her eyes widen just a bit before returning to normal. “Why are you giving me that look? I have friends.”

  “If you insist,” she says, looking back to the city.

  “Whatever. Anyways, our first stop is the train station so I can leave them a message for where to find us.”

  Her head spins back to me as she gives me a worried look. “Us?”

  I just take her hand and start dragging her along. No way in all the hells I’ll be leaving her behind after everything we’ve gone through.

  “Wait, what do you mean ‘us’? I didn’t agree to this!”

  Besides, she’s too fun to mess with.

  I practically skip my way down towards the bustling undercity.