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  [Jenna]

  Watching the newbies performing in the trial dungeon against veterans in fancy dress was always a laugh. Many did well, many more did poorly, and the occasional one did well enough that Jenna thought she saw a future high levelled adventurer in them.

  She was currently sitting at the entrance, healing those injured as they came out looking a bit worse for wear. Often dragging their wooden weapons along the floor.

  It was hard not to laugh sometimes.

  “Jenna!” a voice called urgently, drawing her attention. A girl was running towards her, squeezing in and out of gaps in the crowd.

  “Yeah?” she called back waving at her.

  “The Guild master has asked for you, needed back at the guild asap.” She panted out.

  “Right, are you a healer?” Jenna asked, hoping that whoever had sent the message would have been smart enough to send it with her replacement.

  “Yeah, I’m to take over for you.” she replied.

  Slightly surprised, but pleased nonetheless with the unusual display of competence from the guild. She stood up, handed the chair over to the girl and walked away. A nice brisk pace but she wasn’t running all the way there.

  Twenty minutes later, she walked through the door to find Kael, Lorelei and Sebastien seated in the waiting area as well.

  “Hey” she said sitting down between them.

  “Hey” they responded almost in sync with each other.

  “Anyone know what this is about?”

  “Nah, just gotta wait for the lump.”

  “Where was he?”

  “In the dungeon dressed as a slime!” Lorelei responded laughing. “Might be a while.”

  Fifteen minutes later a goliath traipsed in looking like he had been dragged through a hedge.

  They all burst out laughing and he scowled at them. Which of course only made them laugh harder. Well not Seb, just a hint of a smile crossed his flat lips. The man was too serious for his own good, but certainly a lot looser than when they had first met him.

  Jenna liked the group a lot and was looking forward to whatever they would do next. It was probably just another floor on Devil’s Delight, one of the local dungeons, which hadn’t gained a new floor in quite a while. It was up to 26 floors right now but had been that way for a year or so now, so it was about time for a new floor to be built.

  “Oi, stop laughing” the man said, his own grin cracking the attempted stoic fa?ade far too easily for it to be believable.

  They all grinned back.

  “Right, you’re all here” the guild master said popping out of his office to beckon them in.

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  Finding seating in the office was always a rush and this time Jenna was lucky enough to be closest and had nabbed one. Kael jumped into her lap unfortunately. She dumped him on the floor.

  “What’s up boss” Sebastien asked, cutting to the point with a slight frown at Kael and Jenna.

  “New dungeon” the guild master replied, causing smiles all around. “And an unusual one at that,” he continued before outlining what Sigurd had told him. It certainly sounded unique if it was true. Big caverns and lots of open space. Certainly different. It would be a challenge that was for sure, and the man’s warning about being attacked from all angles was a good tip. That would be a huge difference from the usual strategies. Normally, only boss fights had the larger rooms and some of the biggest dungeons. Seb and Lore had delved some of those, but Jenna hadn’t, nor did she think Jackson, or Kael had either. It would be interesting and that was always valuable.

  Once the briefing had finished the group made their way out of the guild, with a shopping list. Jenna’s consisted of potions, potions and more potions. Plenty of healing and mana pots to allow for more healing. Seb seemed worried and that made her nervous. The man was normally unflappable.

  ***Two days later***

  The man named Sigurd was an oddity and it made Jenna curious. He looked young, but then so did a lot of adventurers. He acted young and enthusiastic at times, whilst at others it seemed as if he was weary of life and just waiting it out.

  Jenna felt a passion for adventuring from him as he talked and an excitement he had seemingly tried to bury, perhaps this dungeon had rekindled his desire. As an aluminium plate, he was experienced, yet he was retired, supposedly. He was a mess of contradictions.

  Though she supposed that everyone was, she herself was a healer but yet also a keen adventurer. A dichotomy that was incredibly common, yet when you stopped to think about it, it didn’t make sense in the slightest.

  Sigurd had dived this new dungeon on his own to confirm if it was in fact a dungeon, a brave choice, especially as a solo. New dungeons were notoriously deadly and temperamental. It was the most dangerous thing an adventuring group did, though often highly rewarding.

  Their group specialised in it, surveying new dungeons and new floors to catalogue them for the other adventurers. What made it special Jenna found, was the sense of discovery. It was magical, unique, something she could so rarely experience. It was worth the danger to her, venturing into the unknown.

  Whenever Sigurd talked about anything even remotely related to the dungeons he would fill with passion and life, that reminded Jenna of herself.

  He also wasn’t a deluded fool like most of the adventurers she spoke with, searching for fortune and power. That had already put him in her good books. He had spoken with experience and wisdom when he had told them about the dungeon.

  As she thought about his story, she realised that without looking for herself, she couldn’t tell if he had been right to retreat at the third level or not, she was looking forward to finding out.

  It was probably the correct call though. Caution over ambition was something it took the rookies a long time to learn, and a lot never did.

  Her wandering mind stopped as her stomach lurched making her feel nauseous. She tensed, breathing through it slowly, else she would be sick. Jenna hated the transport pads!

  She was very envious of the others, those who could handle them so easily. They just didn’t agree with her.

  They were at the interchange. Jenna sighed, she would have to go through this again.

  …

  They had transferred from the interchange to Barkamstead via transport pads and from Barkamstead to Oar’s Rest was a long horse ride where they camped in a lovely little spot along the curve of the stream that they had been following for the last day or so. Jenna wasn’t certain if a day in the saddle or a quick five minutes on a transfer pad was preferable. Probably the latter she supposed.

  They stayed in a quaint little inn in Oars Rest where they camped out until the early hours around the fireplace trading stories and drinking on-the-house wine, as the innkeeper had joined them, seemingly friendly with Sigurd.

  Then, from Oar’s Rest it was a two-day trip to Littlebrook that they set out for whilst still a bit hungover from the night before. The first few hours had been very uncomfortable. Not for the first time did Jenna wish her healing spells would affect self-inflicted alcohol poisoning.

  Sigurd had his own horse, far nicer than the ones they had hired. It was also much larger, and they had strapped it up with supplies. Still the small man on the big horse was a comical sight.

  Leaving Oars Rest, the dusty road soon faded into a small dirt track that often just disappeared into the fields and grasses that they walked over.

  Jackson looked even more uncomfortable than the rest whilst riding the small horse. Jenna felt sorry for the horse because even though Jackson had surrendered his pack, she was sure the poor animal was transporting more than other horses were carrying, the rest of them with their packs too.

  Kael often seemed to get bored, and they would look back to find he had disappeared for a while and though he always found his way back, it was when they least expected it. Causing them to jump, well, when Jenna least expected it. It was his favourite pastime to try and make them – Jenna specifically - jump. Damn sneaky man. Lorelei and Seb were just fine, as usual. Argh!

  About halfway through day two of the journey from Oars Rest, Jenna could just about see a settlement on the horizon, Kael had spotted it long before the rest could see it and so they had known to look out for it.

  When she asked, Sigurd confirmed that it was in fact Littlebrook and her spirits rose. Nearly there!

  It took another four hours until she could see Littlebrook in detail though. A cluster of 20 or so houses and a couple on the outskirts. A small stone wall surrounded the main town, and the fields were off to one side.

  A little stream wound its way towards the town, and they followed its course quite tightly. The sound of a ringing hammer and the smell of smoke ran across her senses and, in what seemed like minutes, they were entering the town and heading off towards one of the houses closest to the mountain.

  People looked with interest, and they stopped several times as people came up to talk. Sigurd, it seemed, was well respected, but not a leader of the village. Just a friendly, helpful face.

  Jenna entered his house and could finally sit down. It didn’t take too long for them to fall asleep, draped all around his house. Lore and Jenna took his spare bed. Kael had disappeared at some point and Jackson and Seb camped out in his living room. Littlebrook had no inn or pub, so she was very glad that the Guild master had asked Sigurd to escort them to the dungeon. She sighed deeply, at last she could close her eyes and in no time at all, fell asleep.