Three month ter I returned to dungeon's entrance. We spend three month repairing the castle and castle walls. We also hunted down all the monsters in the area. Titan, female elf and bunny-girl who still got preferential treatment from me managed to increase one level. Kid mage was little disappointing, but he still had growth potential.I also pnted the seeds that I bought in town or gathered in the forest and thanks to my Nature blessing spell we were expecting first harvest in the next month.

  I used my time to study Book of light and learned ten new spells of Light magic. Among them were five level four spells. Highest level that I could learn now. Among the spells was even level four Regeneration spell, that could restore lost limbs or eyes.

  It was time for my second dungeon exploration. I went through the barrier and started my exploration. I run into another drake pack. This time I changed my tactic and prepared my level four Light magic spell. I took a deep breath and went inside the cavern. I extended my hand an pointed at drakes. They immediately noticed me and prepared for the attack.

  - Sacred arrows!

  My spell created dozens of light arrows that flew towards the drakes. Light arrows flew almost as fast as my regur arrows and pierced drake bodies. Seven out of eight drakes were killed by my spell. Until now I never could use anything as powerful. The only drawback was high amount of mana. Spell costed me one hundred mana. My Mana rapid recovery skill could restore my lost mana in less an hour and a half, but it still was way more time than I felt comfortable with.

  Last drake was wounded and I finished it with my sword. I continued my dungeon exploration. This time dungeon exploration went easier. I killed almost hundred monsters and returned when my mana got so low that I had to use a mana potion. But at least now I was confident in my ability not to die in the dungeon. At least in its upper floors.

  * * *

  I was sitting on in my room and looking down on the valley in front of the castle. In my hands was coffee cup with my st potion of wasp honey. I read that it had healing properties and until then used it regurly as a sweetener for my coffee.

  A year had passed since our arrival. Fruit trees gave first harvest. We already had our first wheat and corn and pnted second generation of crops. Several oak trees were also nicely growing in the field that surrounded Bcksmith cave castle. My Nature blessing spell expedited the pnt growth and after months of casting it made nd around the castle more fertile.

  My dungeon exploration was much slower than I imagined. In a year's time I only managed to map dungeons first floor. It was enormous. No wonder that King of Iron Mountains did not managed to conquer it. Dungeon was not only dangerous, but its size was also overwhelming.

  Things for my sves were going better. I managed to capture some goats. First generation was wild, but they gave birth to three babies and second generation was domesticated, and my sves had high hopes for milk.

  Dwarf build a forge, but already used up all the iron bars that I bought, and now he needed more iron and coal. He was helping repairing the castle and turned out to be good with his hands. Bunny-girl worked as my maid and was in charge of cleaning upper floors, while elf girl became our archer and spend most of the time as a lookout.

  Humans were less useful and mostly worked in the fields or made small repairs.

  We also dig out small pond and I used my Life magic Create water spell to fill it with water. Wall that surrounded the castle was repaired and provided some protection for the inhabitants of Bcksmith cave. Repairs for the castle were on their way, and I was feeling semi confident that my sves will be able to survive and protect the castle. At least for a while. Titans level got to thirteen, and I had high hopes for him. Other sves also managed to get one or two levels up, but they were not warriors, and probably never will be. Kid mage at least improved his magic and was able to use his spells more efficiently. His most useful ability these days was filling Horn of prosperity with mana, so they could have more food. I left the horn to him, since my sves will need it more than me.

  I wanted to level up as well, but even a year ter my level stayed the same. I had to use my level increasing potion to level up and increase my Mana rapid recovery skill, and now was pnning to leave Bcksmith cave.

  Titan came inside the room and bowed.

  - You wanted to see me master?

  - Yes. I will be leaving tomorrow. I my return in a year. Or maybe several. In the meantime I am leaving you in charge. Continue with the same work and watch out for monsters.

  - I see. It will be done as you wish.

  - Good. I will also leave you leveling crystal. Keep it in the secret treasury and make sure its wall is repaired, and make mason build there a secret door.

  - I will see that it is done.

  - I am counting on you. Try not to die until I return.He bowed and I gestured for him to leave.

  Next morning I left the Bcksmith cave. I got a feeling that it will be a long while, before I see it again.

  * * *

  Three month ter I reunited with my party members. They did not change much. They were sitting in the tavern, were we usually rented rooms and eating lunch when I came inside. When they noticed me, Nelly smiled and run towards me into my arms. I hugged her and patted her head.

  - Nice to see that you are doing well.

  Trevor and Luara also smiled and I gave them a hug. I called the waitress and after ordering cooked meat, bread, fresh fruits and cup of water joined my friends.

  - It has been a long time, - said Luara: - Almost two years. We were afraid that something happened to you.

  - Did you not receive my message?

  - We did. That was the only reason why we didn't go to Grimsburg to search for you.

  - I run into a dungeon during my travels. Was too big of a temptation to leave it.

  - Really?

  - Got fourteen orichalcum coins after selling magic stones and monster materials. Heard in the guild that you are doing well and still staying here. At least did not have to look for you.

  - Where did you found that dungeon? - asked Trevor.

  - In Iron Mountains. That is why I could not send you another message. But what about you. Any good news?

  - We increased our levels, - proudly said Nelly: - But no, still do not have master level Wisdom skill. Also we saved two magic gems for you.

  - Thank you for the magic gems. Too bad about your skills, - I sighed: - But I was not counting on that. I am sure that you will level up in time and get all your skills to master level.

  - Will you be staying here? - asked Trevor.

  - No. Neither one of us will be. Didn't Luara told you about our pns?

  - She did. Just was not sure how serious you were, - said Trevor.

  - I was serious. Unless you have some job that you need to complete then you should start packing. A week should be enough for us to prepare and leave for Rakshasar.

  My party members exchanged looks, and I got worried for a moment, but then they nodded.

  - Forwards to our next adventure it is. Before I forget, you should also visit Aphrodite temple. Sahana was asking about you. But today let us celebrate your return.

  * * *

  Next day I went to visit Sahana. Not that high-priestess was my friend, but a good acquaintance.

  She greeted me with a smile and offered to join her for a te breakfast in the temples garden. Sun was shining from cloudless sky, and countless birds were chirping from the trees that surrounded as. Young priestesses was filing our cups, while we enjoyed grapes, cookies and even small cake.

  - It has been a long time since you st visited our temple.

  - And will be even longer. My party is leaving Tyco and we are moving to Opidium.

  - Famous gdiator town. Do not tell me that you are pnning to become a gdiator.

  - No. We are dungeon exploration party. Our goal is the ancient dungeon near Opidium.

  - That one. You do know that it is old and dangerous, even by rakshasa standards?

  - I know. We will take it slow and won't go too deep if it turns out too dangerous, but I wish to see it for myself first.

  - I wish that Ni would share your party's cautious nature.

  - Did something happened?

  - Yes. She and her party members went too deep. Most of them died. Ashy lost leg and arm. Ni gave her elixir that restored her limbs, but trauma was too big. Ashy retired from adventuring. That is the reason, why I wanted to talk to you.

  - Before you say anything, please keep in mind that Ni doesn't like me.

  - Don't you know? She changed her opinion about you, after your journey to Iron Mountains. Also she became friends with female members of your party. They sometimes meet and have dinner together.

  - I did not know that.

  - See, things are not as bad as you think. That is why I wanted to ask you to help her a little and let her join your party, so she could learn from you how to hunt in dungeons, without taking such risks. For a year should be enough, I think. I am afraid that she will not survive another encounter with floor guardian.

  - I am sorry, but it is impossible for several reasons. First we are leaving Tyco, second we have got used to each other and our tactics, and third, our goal is to level up. Dividing life force with Ni will make our progress much slower. And also it is not about tactics. It is more about preparations. Before we started exploring dungeon middle floors, we spend time earning money and not going past dungeon upper floors. After that we spend years learning skills, training and preparing ourselves for the dungeon hunts.

  - Well we did the same thing. We send Ni to Gdiator school, where she learned Gdiator skill.

  - Just one skill. Nelly spend her childhood in Mage guild studying magic and learning skills all her life. Rest of us learned between four to six skill and spend five or six years in different academies learning carefully chosen skills that would improve our chances to survive in dungeons. One skill is not enough, at least in my opinion.

  - I see. But you should not underestimate Ni. She is stronger than you might think. But I do understand what you mean. My I ask what you would advise in her current situation?

  - Let her join some more experienced party. At her level finding new companions without experience will be waste of time. And if you will want to send her companions to magic or other schools, where they can learn skills, it will take almost a decade for them to catch up.

  Sahana smiled at me, and I realized how my words could have been interpreted. I shook my head.

  - I mean a party were she can be a regur party member, not just temporary one.

  - That could be difficult. She already have a reputation in Tyco. As town's strongest adventurer, she is someone to whom people look up for. Other parties may not want to allow her to join, especially because she used to be a party leader. Your party is the only one that she worked together. I could be generous and offer you reward that could be worth your time.

  - Unless you have three low ranking floor guardian magic gems and a sage who can make leveling crystal to compensate for the lost life force, then no.

  - Magic gems? Well Ni did donated the magic gem from the monster who killed her party members, also we have another one in our treasure. But there are no sages in Tyco. All sages who live in Northern Gremlin kingdom, live in the Golden town. But there is a sage in Opidium. I can give you a letter for local high-priestess of Aphrodite, she will be able to help you with introduction to the sage. But magic gems are highly valuable, especially in our town infested with crazy artifact makers. I was saving magic gem for special occasion. I can agree to give both of them to you, but you will have to agree to let Ni join your party for two years time. One year for one magic gem, also she must be an equal member of your party.

  - Equal member, ha. You want her to receive equal payment, just as the rest of my party members.

  I considered my options. Best outcome would be a reincarnated hero or champion, since she is contracted with Aphrodite, owing me and helping out my party. But that would also mean that she as well could ask for help. Worse outcome would be a dispute between us. As a result she could leave and swear for us to be eternal enemies. Or she could get in the way and get one of my party members killed. Or worse, get me killed. Or my party members would leave and join her party, or... Well there were a lot of bad outcomes that I could think of. But we would get another party member for a while and a spellsword at that. Also, I would get two magic gems. I could get them from floor guardians, but who knows how long it would take. And help with getting sages help would be of great value. Even after a year killing strong monsters in Iron Mountain dungeon I was not able to level up. Hunting in a dungeon with a party would take me ten years or even more to increase my level, so I had to search for different ways to increase my level. I still had leveling potions, and without dungeon wasp honey, to be safe I will need eight years before I can use those that I already have. So leveling crystal was my best option.

  - Fine, - I sighed: - But will Ni even agree. She will have to follow my orders. That is not something that former party leader will find easy to do.

  - I will talk to her. But I do not think that she will say no. She did ask a lot of question about you, I think that in a way she looks up to you. She told many times to her party members how you entered Iron Mountain king castle and defeated draugr, all by yourself. I think that it is her goal, to become powerful enough to defeat a floor guardian all by herself.

  - You should talk her out of it, if you want my advice.

  - Might be too te for that, but I will try. Make her strong and wise, - smiled Sahana. She raised her gss, and we clinked our gsses.

  * * *

  My party members did not object and Ni became our new, temporary party member. Adventurer guild master Kannan almost beg us to stay, but my decision was already made. Week after my arrival we left Tyco and took a road that led to Rakshasar town Opidium.

  There was no need for us to hurry and the road took us almost a month. Opidium was one of five great town's of Rakshasar and was famous for its gdiator arena. Among gdiators were mostly sves, but also some free citizens participated in gdiator fights. There were many reasons for that. Among them was fame, gold, training or bloodlust. Some people enjoyed killing and for them arena was a pce where they could kill without repercussions and even get paid for it.

  The only Adventurer academy in Rakshasar was in the capitol Alven, but Opidium had its Gdiator school, were anyone who could pay was able to learn some of the warrior skills. Ni spend time in Gdiator school and got there her Gdiator skill.

  Surrounded by massive walls, Opidium was a town with many temples that towered above the town walls. Most common among them were temples of god Dionysius and goddess Nike, who were important to gdiators and their admirers.

  - Have you ever been in Opidium dungeon? - I asked Ni. During our trip it became obvious that during my absence she became friendly with Nelly and Luara, and it looked like she had a little crush on Trevor.

  - Yes. As a graduation test from Gdiator school, I had to go inside the dungeon and return with at least three magic stones. The more stones we could bring, the higher grade we received, but there were cases when people died during that test. So, I spend in dungeon only enough time to kill three monsters and then got out of there.

  - Sounds cruel.

  - Gdiator school did not value the lives of their students, as much as other academies.

  - I see. Have you ever participated in gdiator fights?

  - No, but many other adventurers do. Not much job for adventurers in there, so many of them work as gdiators. Especially during the Great celebration.

  - What's a great celebration? - asked curious Nelly.

  - It happens once in three years. Usually gdiator fights are rare. They happen once a month and st two or three days. But one in three years people of Opidium celebrate the founding of the town and first gdiator arena. Gdiator fights sts almost a month. Some gdiators can win their freedom, if they become champions. But there is also money reward and usually there is a price, some powerful artifact. Many adventurers participate in Great celebration gdiator fight, so they can get their hands on those artifacts. Next Great celebration will be happening in seven month time from now. Many aristocrats even from neighboring kingdoms come to Opidium, to witness gdiator fights then.

  Sounded more like trouble and annoyance to me than fun. Also, I swore to myself not to participate under no circumstances. Too much fame and exposure for my taste.

  - Know any good taverns?

  - Yes. I will take you to one of them.

  Near the gate was usual crowd of people, who waited for the permission to enter the town. Guards zily checked the carts and looked over the people. They smirked at our adventurer tags, but allowed us passage inside the town. Opidium had wide, paved streets and looked like a prosperous town. Among the towns people were mostly rakshasar, djinn, naga and also plenty of humans.

  Ni took as to one of the taverns, which had big stables and mostly human costumers. Ni was surprised when we all ordered separate rooms. But we earned plenty of money and could afford our own rooms and did not need to save money. During dinner we decided to rest during next day and then go to the dungeon, day after tomorrow. Nelly and me made pns to register in local Mage guild magic circle and then explore the town. Ni promised to be a guide for Trevor and Luara, while Nelly and me went our separate way. I told Luara to sell our horses, and Ni also promised take her to the market.

  Next day, after visiting Mage guild, we went to local Adventurer guild. The building was small and looked like a house in need of repairs. There was just one old receptionist, and few adventurers were sitting near tables that could use some cleaning. Posted quests were mostly common work in town, or some guard quest posted by merchants. Not the most popur pce. I hoped that they will at least have enough money to buy magic gems from us, or we will have to look for some merchants, who were traveling between Tyco and Opidium.

  We walked in the town a little. Most beautiful buildings in it were temples. Nelly went inside some of them, but I stayed outside. Previous temple visits made me paranoid and I preferred not to go inside them.

  Town was beautiful and well preserved, and only disappointment was local adventurer guild. That was understandable. The only dungeon nearby was too dangerous, and monsters were hunted down by rakshasa soldiers. So there was not much job for the adventurers, which meant less income for Adventurer guild.

  Nelly also liked the town and we decided that it will not be the worse pce were to live for next years.