I Hate Dungeon School

The morning came sooner than I would have liked, and all the associated hustle and bustle that it came with.

My roommates and I barely passed a word to each other as we prepared for our day. We all had our tasks to complete before we left in a few days, heading off into the roads and mountains that connected the lands of Revenstahd to Burgotova.

So much to do, it could make your head spin. It also didn't help that it was freezing in the room this morning. I really hoped they would solve the heating issue by the time we made it back. After all that time in the frozen reaches, I would want to be nice and warm. With lots of hot bathes and showers and food. I hadn't even left yet and I was missing all of that.

Before we all split up, I gave them a quick rundown of my plan with the invitation. They seemed to be on board with it, but then everyone had just woken up, and they would think on it and get back to me.

We all agreed to meet up again this afternoon with Eira and Andritch to finalize things. We then separated.

I could feel everyone's nervousness. Either that or I was projecting my nervousness upon them. Cori was a tough one, but I had no idea how she would fare in the mountains. I had to confess, I hadn't asked her much about her homelands, and maybe she was more suited for the wilds than I gave her credit for.

Myth I was very worried about, as the two places she had spent much of her time before coming to Dungeon School were warm places, and she was such a slender thing, I was half concerned she would freeze to death out in the mountains. Smitty was from that area, so I had no concerns for her. Her nervousness seemed to stem from seeing family again. A happy sort of nervousness, I realized. Andritch, I had no thoughts about. Eira, I was confident about. I had no basis for that, but I trusted her. She hadn't talked much about her past or home, but she always seemed so incredibly put together, I never felt a need to worry.

A nagging part of my brain was telling me something about that, but I chose to ignore it. No reason to lower my confidence any further with unnecessary worrying. I had enough necessary worrying to do.

I stepped out of my room and shuffled my way down the stairs. I saw a familiar face outside. It was the elf who worked directly for the headmaster, Walther. Black hair, glasses, short ears, uniform, the whole works. I struggled to remember her name before it clicked.

"Hello, Ms. Farina. Can I help you?" I asked, my breath steaming against the cold air. Solstice was going to be upon us in a few weeks. The coldest part of the winter, and its icy touch was already making itself known.

"The Headmaster would like a word. About your 'field trip.' If you would follow me, please." She turned with nary another word and walked away. I followed close behind. Refusing to see the headmaster wasn't the best of ideas, and I supposed I owed it to him for all the help he gave me for the duel against Knight Cavendish. I likely wouldn't have won without his help.

We crossed the early morning campus grounds till we reached the Administrative building. Winter was a strange time to be out and about in the early hours. The campus, which normally had all sorts walking to and from one place to another, was empty, with nothing but the sounds of birds and wind, and the soft non-smell of snow and cold. It reminded me of the old necropolises in the furthest northern parts of Burgotova. Cold stone edifices stand in silent guard over nothing.

We entered the Administration hall, and the tone went from the deathly silence of the campus to a hustle and bustle of business. I had never really been to this part of the hall in the early morning. The few times I had been here were typically in the afternoon, and everything seemed quiet. But this was a tornado of bureaucratic chaos. I saw some of my professors, other teachers I didn't recognize, representatives of a variety of guilds, both of craftsmen and various adventuring subspecialties.

Farina cut the bustling crowd as if it weren't even there, whereas I struggled to dodge around the seemingly endless crowds of various clerks. I couldn't even imagine what all of them did here.

After we cleared the chaos of the main hall, it was quiet again. A few clerks and students were milling around the other halls, but none of them paid me any mind this time. A nice change from the attentions of last time. We found our way to an office. Not the same office as the last time, which made a growing sense of concern creep into my guts.

Change was fine. Unexpected change was definitely not fine. It made me paranoid. Of course, these days, everything made me a little bit paranoid.

She knocked on the door.

"Come in." A familiar voice called from inside.

She opened the door, held out her hand, indicating I should enter, and closed it behind me with nary a word to Walther.

"Ah! Marchesi! Good to see you again. I've been informed by Andritch, Calderon, and Danica that you've gotten yourself tangled up in another bit of shenaniganry. That's what I like to see in a perspective delver. Too many are too focused on the money to enjoy the adventure these days! Your generation is too gold hungry, I tell you!" He let out a boisterous laugh before his face turned serious.

He motioned for me to approach the large desk, upon which was a map of the continent. I recognized all the major area. Revenstahd in the center, the other five member nations of the Mortal Kingdoms arranged around it with little speckles littered all throughout representing different independent city states. And around all of it was a vague expanse, simply labeled 'Borderlands.'

It was a splendid map, much more detailed than many I had seen. Complete with all the rivers, lakes, and the names of every single tiny village and hamlet. It even had the exact locations of every single dungeon in the region. Even ones I had never heard of or seen in the indexes and textbooks.

It was massive. Detailed and massive. Such maps were often closely guarded secrets. Likely why he wanted to meet in private. This was a guild map, and anyone who got their hands on it would have a distinct advantage.

"Sir, should I even be seeing this?" I asked, that seed of nervous concern growing into a tree full of worry at the sight of it.

"Do you have photographic memory?" He asked gruffly.

"No, sir," I replied quickly. I definitely didn't. I could barely remember what I did the day before clearly, so memorizing this map was impossible.

"Then I'm not concerned. Besides, this map isn't your concern for today. Depending on how things go, it might become your problem later, but for now, just ignore it." He tapped the table on the corner, causing a rune to light up. The map then proceeded to roll itself up into a tube far smaller than would seem possible based on its fully spread out size. He stuffed it into a map case and tucked it into a locking safe on one wall.

He then shuffled around in a box on the wall for a moment and brought me another tube. He held it out to me.

"What is this, si- Walther?" I asked, remembering how he disliked formality.

"Automap. It's a magical artifact that previous headmasters found in a dungeon in the south called The Cartographer's Edifice of Mournful Rapture. An utterly melodramatic and overwrought name, but that was the style at the time it was found." He explained, his eyes rolling with barely contained annoyance.

As much as I wanted to delve into that bit of trivia, I had to focus on the matter at hand.

"And what does it do exactly? I can guess, by the name, but I want to be sure." I said, taking it from him. It felt a little heftier than I was used to with map cases.

"It's an artifact that will draw a map based on your movements from the point at which you turn that nob at the top of the scroll case. You don't even need to take it out. In fact, its best if you don't. The case itself is the artifact, it can use any sort of paper." He explained, closing the case, he pulled it from back up.

"And why are you giving this to me?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"New dungeon. Need to get an idea of its layout as soon as possible. Since you're planting an unstable core, its likely we'll need to send more expeditions there than we used to, and an automap is the best way to get our foot in the door with explorations, so to speak." He sat down with a dramatic flop in his big chair at the end of the table.

He pointed a finger at me. "And to head off the question of why you, and not Andritch, it's because Ms. Marchesi, at the end of the day, this entire expedition is your responsibility. It was your infant core that's gone unstable, and sure, it may have been because of my researchers' actions that it happened, but you get to take all credit for any failures or successes of this expedition."

His tone was cross with me. It wasn't the welcome, even fatherly tone of the last time we had spoken.

"You're taking this very seriously. I get that it's a big deal, but-"

"Ms. Marchesi...Alta. I appreciate all the growth you've made here in such a short time. Not just with your schooling, but the whole duel incident really helped us out, politically speaking. But you haven't even finished your first year, and you've gotten in a disproportionate amount of trouble, even for an adventurer. After a certain point, your level of troublemaking will either lead to you becoming a legend or dead. Or worst of all, a dead legend. I'm becoming concerned about this, and I don't want to see you becoming another name on the wall of remembrance, and you are quickly heading that direction." He sighed, sinking deeper into his seat, rubbing his eyes.

He waved at me to take a seat, which I obliged immediately.

"I just don't want to see you die too young. You've got a lot of life left. Especially with you being an elf. Do me a favor, please, Alta? After you get back from this trip, just keep your nose clean till after graduation?"

"I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best. It's not like I'm trying to get into these situations. They just keep happening!" I explained, likewise slumping into my seat. These chairs were really nice. I needed to get a nice chair like this someday.

"That's what they all say. That's what I said in my day. I know you'll just find some other bit of chaos to get into. Especially in year two. That's when all hell breaks out for you dungeoneers!" He laughed heartily, slapping the tabletop suddenly. I couldn't help but smile at the improvement in his mood. "I just had to say it. The teacher part of me, you know."

"I'll do my best to disappoint, then!" I said with a big grin.

"Of that, I have no doubt! Now get out of here, Marchesi. And take a tip from a veteran. Pack extra jerky. Lots of extra jerky. It'll help you more than you would think. Wax too!" He winked at me before shooing me out of the room.

I left, closing the door quietly. I turned around, and like a ghost appearing out of nowhere was Farina.

"Hello?" I said reflexively.

"For you." She said simply, handing me a letter.

"Thank-" She turned and left before I could finish what I was saying. "Well ok then."

I looked at the letter and saw the seals on it. I swore when I recognized the seals.

The City Lord.

How? How does this keep happening to me?