I Hate Dungeon School

"I don't honestly know what you're expecting of me, sir. You already know I wasn't going to go to this wedding, and you've undoubtedly heard about the expedition I'm undergoing. I doubt I have time to do both." I said, downing my first glass of the amberspirit.

"Then you will make time. I need someone to get into Burgotova and around the nobility and get a finger on what exactly is going on. I need the perspective of someone who knows the ins and outs of noble society there, who can find out exactly what is going on. You're trustworthy. The only other Burgotovan with the right connections I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw her in a mineshaft." He grimaced at me. Interesting. Togalli didn't pass whatever test he had laid out.

"I'd ask, but I know you won't tell me. So what exactly do you need to find out? Why the rebellion? Why hasn't the kingdom done anything about it? How are the knights involved?" I asked, holding out my glass for a refill. He did not oblige.

"Yes, but I also need to know why the mages aren't involved. The knights get involved in basically any possible conflict. High-priced mercenaries pretending at nobility as far as I'm concerned. The mages aren't involved as far as I can tell, and that worries me, as they're no less mercenary, but they're staying hands off this time. I need to know why. Too many unknowns, and the other Independent City Lords are getting concerned. When the Five act cagey, it usually means bad things for us smaller players." He explained, standing and looking out the large window that had been behind his chair.

"I'm simply the most useful pawn on the board, yes? You know I don't have much sway. Even before my exile, I wasn't well regarded, so I'm not sure what I'll be able to find out." I said simply, before trying to tap the last few droplets out of the glass.

"That's the long and short of it. And if you get caught, your exile is enough motive to explain it. It won't lead back to Revenstahd." He finished and set the glass down.

I sat there in silence for a moment, processing everything I had been told. It was a tall order, but it wasn't impossible. It was going to take a great deal of explanation to my crew. I was confidently certain about the implied secrecy of all of this.

I hated all of this. No matter what I did, my old life kept butting in, and I was so damned tired of it, but my new life was in the balance here.

I sighed, setting my own glass down. "Fine. I know when I'm trapped. I'll get you your answer, but I have a few conditions."

"Very well, I suppose I owe you that much." He shrugged before sitting back down.

"I want my next year of Dungeon School tuition paid. Also, I need formal wear. I left behind all my good dresses, you see, and nothing says suspicious like a noblewoman looking frumpy at a high-profile event. I'm just a poor student, you see, and such things our outside the realm of affordability for me." I smiled at him, my eyebrows arched conspiratorially.

"Humph. I expected as much. Agreed. Once you return, I'll see that your tuition is paid by an anonymous benefactor. And I'll have my personal tailor make you something. They'll fit you once you're done with me." He nodded.

"I want it in writing too. A copy for you, a copy for me, and a third copy to be given to someone else." I continued.

"Clever girl. You know how the game is played, I see." He grinned widely at me. "Very well! I'll even seal them with my magic seal. Deal?"

"Deal!" I held out my hand. He took it and shook it once. Hard.

I knew I was going to regret this.

"Oh, and another thing. Since you're going, I'll be having you bring a little congratulatory gift to the happy couple. It's just the neighborly thing to do after all." He smirked evilly at me.

-

His tailor was more amazing than I had expected. They were another bastetian, their coat a ginger orange color. In only a few short moment, they had whisked me free of my attire, and while I stood there in shock in nothing but my underclothes, they had taken my measurements, and after holding up several fabrics, a discussing something with her assistant, a small fluffy Kobold, in a language that sounded like the common tongue, but I understood none of the terms, they shooed me out of the room as I dressed myself and told me that my outfit would be delivered that evening.

I hadn't caught their name or that of their assistant. They were a whirlwind of crafting precision, and that left me stunned. Thankfully, the whole process only took a few minutes. Or at least it felt that way. I looked at my timepiece, which Cori had been nice enough to rewind for me after the strangeness at the research facility some time ago.

No wonder I was starving. It was lunchtime. No time to find some place in the city, so I decided to head back to campus and find something to sate my hunger there.

The weather had warmed up some by that point, and my cloak felt almost too warm. I quickly made my way back through the streets and back to the relative safety of the campus. I doubted I was under any actual threat, but all the strange goings on that kept popping up in my life made me unwilling to take any chances with it.

After I got to the dining hall, I quickly acquired food, and a good deal of it too, and after sticking a roll in my mouth, I searched for a seat. The dining hall was crowded today, which I didn't usually encounter. My weird self set schedule was thrown off by all the time I spent healing, on top of everything else.

I noticed some musicians playing which added a nice ambiance to the experience, something that was lacking in the dining hall. Cafeterias were first and foremost places for eating, I supposed. It couldn't hurt to liven some things up every so often.

The pieces were Solstice Holiday fare, which tended towards jauntier tunes. A nice change of pace from the dark and cold of the season itself.

I sat, and the music faded into the background of my notice as I dug into my food, any sense of decorum and dignity ignored as I sought to wrangle the hunger in me.

I was so absorbed in this that I hadn't noticed that someone had sat across from me.

I looked up and saw the last person I wanted to see. Mariana Togalli.

"Absolutely not," I said, before digging in.

"I haven't even asked anything yet!" She protested.

"I don't care, Togalli. Kindly go to hell before my food goes bad." I snarled at her before shoving another bread roll into my mouth.

"Listen, Marchesi. Alta. I have a favor I need to ask you. It's really important." She looked nervous, shy even. It was taking a lot of will to muster this up.

I didn't care.

"Please refer to my earlier answer." I was even surprising myself with coldness. I was in a foul mood sure, but did she really deserve this right now.

"Please, Alta." She was on the verge of tears. That took me aback.

She wasn't one to show emotion, least of all to me.

I sighed, putting down my utensils and taking the bread roll out of my mouth.

"Fine. What do you need? If it's money, it's not happening." I said simply, holding up my hand in preemptive refusal.

"It's not money. It's...gods above and below, I hate that I have to ask you of all people for this." She took a few deep breaths, trying to steady herself.

"Oh, please, take your time. I have all day, of course." I said with the thickest sarcasm I could muster.

She shot a glare, made of daggers, at me before returning to her neutral expression.

"I need you to take me on your expedition."

"And how in the hells did you find out about that?" I returned the earlier glare.

"Word gets around. I don't know the details, and I don't particularly care either. I need to get into Burgotova, and I know I can't do it on my own."

"The wedding, huh? You don't want to miss out on your chance to reconnect to your family hmm?" I asked, leaning back in my chair feigning smugness.

"I also know that you're going too. That rumor has been going around, too. I'll lend you my aid on whatever you're doing, in exchange for you helping me get to the wedding." She blurted out, shrinking slightly in her seat.

Well, this put an interesting wrinkle in things. I had to ask a few more questions.

"And what exactly could you do that I don't already have help with? Adding another person at such short notice is going to complicate things."

"I'm a fantastic archer! You can ask anyone!" She said excitedly. She was truly proud of her skills, that was obvious from her expression.

"Ok, but I already have an archer. Try again." I started munching on a roll again. I hated to admit it, but it was kind of fun riling her up.

"I...please don't tell anyone about this." She blushed. "I know holy magic."

I felt my ears perk up at that. Now that was surprising.

"Holy magic, hmm? And how did this happen? You weren't the religious type back home. A Togalli practicing a foreign faith? The scandal." I grinned.

"It's... It's more scandalous than you would think." She blushed to the very tips of her ears.

"Oh no, don't tell me." It was finally dawning on me what she was talking about.

"Yes. I am an initiate in the Church of the Sighing Rose." She buried her blushing face in her hands.

The Church of the Sighing Rose was a decidedly popular faith in parts of town. The Petals District, to be exact. Which means she worked in the area too, as a minor priestess.

Priestesses of the Sighing Rose helped their parish members unburden their souls. In a sense. In a very erotic sense. They confessed their guilt, and the priestesses comforted them. Wearing little to nothing while doing so.

Somewhere along the line, it turns out that what started life as a bit of sexy roleplay actually developed a connection to some god or another that granted them access to holy magic. Holy magic and how the gods worked was something I knew little to nothing about, but this was truly mysterious.

I leaned in and whispered. "And you've done...you know...that?"

"No. I haven't done anything that far. I just said a few prayers while topless, and eventually I could do holy magic! I don't know why, but I can! I haven't registered because I don't want to have to explain myself to the school!" She hissed back at me.

I stifled a laugh and wiped away the tears from the corner of my eyes. Oh, the blackmail opportunities were too amazing.

"How? How even did you-" I asked, coughing to cover a laugh.

"Listen, ok, I wasn't smart with my money when I got here, and I just took the first job I could find. You're one to talk, Astra." She glared at me.

She had me there. At least I got to keep my clothes on.

Oh, I wanted to turn her down just to rub salt in the wound, but I had to admit, given the area we were going into, holy magic was going to be a lifesaver. And she knew it.

I cursed my pragmatism.

I took out a piece of paper and wrote down our meeting place for our planning session later that day.

"Fine, Togalli. Meet us here at that time. Do not make me regret this." I jabbed a finger at her.

"Thank you so much, Alta!" She almost reached across the table to hug me, but stepped mere inches away.

She stood, smoothed out her outfit, and dashed away excitedly. I couldn't help but smirk as I watched her leave.

I felt somewhat bad for her situation, both with the wedding and the church stuff, but I would never admit it.

There were many worse places to work, and like she said, I wasn't one to judge. I just hoped she enjoyed herself as much as I did with my job.

Back in Burgotova, many would look down on such jobs. They would see it as scandalous, impure, or something like that. Sure it could be, I supposed, but its what we had to do to survive. The money was good, and the guards and other workers protected each other. Abuse, either by employers or customers was frowned up, and punished harshly by the Guard Captain and her soldiers. She was one of us once after all.

At least she didn't fall in with the Church of the Divine Lucre, as they literally worshipped money. Their temple was a dressed-up gambling hall at best, and that's where the really shady sorts flocked.

I shook all those thoughts out of my head and finished my meal. It had sadly gotten colder after my conversation with Mariana, but it didn't care all that much.

After I finished, I sat around basking in my filled state, my hunger gone, and the urge to drift off to sleep fighting to take over my body.

I sat there in the crowded hall and decided to focus on my self. I closed my eyes, and breathed in, breathed out, looked inside. I reached, searched, grasped for any tiny mote of mana in my body. Still nothing.

Not a single iota. Just that tiniest bit of dungeon mana hanging out, like a rock at the bottom of a deep well. Useless to me, but ever present.

I wished it felt like something, like some kind of illness or injury. The pain and agony of some kind of curse of legend. Nothing. Just silent and useless.

I sighed and broke my concentration, the noise and bustle of the dining hall returning.

I hoped and prayed that this expedition would be worth it, and I could return to normal. I wanted to do magic again. I wanted to be able to improve, but without mana, I couldn't. I couldn't even heal with magic or potions.

I hadn't wanted to admit it to anyone, but I always felt in danger now, knowing that any wound would automatically be more serious.

I had to return to normal. If not for me, then for those who counted on me.

Also, preventing the rise of a Chaos Dragon, the death of a dungeon core, the uncovering of a conspiracy involving the nobles of my homeland, and whatever was going on with Togalli. All of that, too. The more I thought about it, the more and more I was dreading this trip.

I looked at my timepiece and groaned. It was time to get going to my meeting. My body protested the sudden physical activity, but it had to be done.

Epic quests didn't plan themselves.