Magnus was sitting on his camp chair inside the walls of Lillyfell, reading. Next to him his best friend, and step brother, Edward was stretching. Magnus had stretched before they left. Then again it was much easier to move and stretch in Edward’s cloth armor than Magnus’s leather and hide armor.

  Edward Doe was a dark skinned young man with short curly black hair. His cloth armor was currently orange but Magnus knew it had a color changing enchantment courtesy of their mothers. The outfit, and the near bulging bag next to him, made him look every bit the Scout he one day wished to be.

  Jeremy, one of their front line brawlers, was leaning up against the flat stone wall. Magnus could still remember when the walls had been wood and when they had brought in a stone-shaper to raise the new ones. Magnus had watched as he pulled stone out of the earth with his magic and reshaped it like clay, making the solid stone walls they had today.

  Jeremy Thatch was a brown skinned man built like a brick castle and was every bit as formidable as one, even though he wasn’t a class holder yet. His carefully sculpted muscles made him look like he was carved from caramel marble, even while relaxed. Though Magnus knew he was actually a big cinnamon roll when not working.

  Corva, their resident soon-to-be Ranger, was coming down the steps of the wall.

  “They're almost here.” she said.

  Corva was a Half-Elf, what was commonly referred to as a changeling. More specifically her mother was a dark elf and she had inherited her mothers pale skin and dark hair, but her fathers violet eyes. Dark Elves usually preferred to live underground with the dwarves. Which made Corva and her mother outliers with their shared love of nature and forests.

  The last three members of their party, and the whole reason they were there, were running late. The problem was Magnus’s team wasn't class holders. Edward only had one essence and the rest had two. This meant they couldn’t officially register to be adventurers. Nor could they officially take contracts from the adventure society. But they could sign on as auxiliaries as long as a registered adventurer took the contract.

  But his team's bread and butter was acting as escorts for nobles and crafts people that wanted to venture out into the wilderness around Lillyfall. For the crafts people, it was mostly to protect and guide them while they harvested magical materials. Being able to harvest raw materials oneself could often lead to a noticeable increase in quality when it came to alchemy and enchantment.

  For the Classholding nobles from Acadamia, the city to the east, it was mostly for them to play at adventurer with some local minders to make sure they didn’t die. They hadn’t lost a single person yet despite some of the nobles best efforts to get themselves killed.

  Magnus wrapped his book in wax cloth, to keep it dry, then put it away in his bag and broke down his camp chair, tying it to his bag before putting it on his back. He could hear their carriage coming now.

  A carriage with no horses and no driver rode up on its own. The door opened and the first one to step out was Celeste Leocor, the warrior princess of Lillyfall. A gorgeous blonde woman in half-plate with piercing violet eyes.She had her fathers build, which made her look like she was related to the Amazons. She was a Vertues Squire aspiring to be a Knight of Verue or maybe even a full Paladin someday.

  The next one to exit was quite a bit shorter and bouncier than Celeste. Sophie Victoria. She had shoulder length red hair and the build of a dire bear cub. The top of her head only came up to Magnus's chin. Her pale skin glistened with the ointment she used. As she exited she unfurled an umbrella that proceeded to float behind her as she stepped down. She was dressed in durable, but comfortable, clothes suited for a long hike. Sophie was the mayor's daughter and an accomplished alchemist in her own right, even though her class was Artificer.

  Last came Apprentice Victor Dragmir, with dark hair, a goatee and piercing clear blue eyes, in wizard combat robes. He was practically a copy of his father, Wizard Hendrik Dragmir.

  Together they made up The Violet Rose. Lilyfall's first home grown adventuring team. The name was a legacy name from Celeste's parents’ party.

  “Sorry, for keeping you waiting!” Sophie said apologetically. “It was my fault. I got caught up working on a new mana potion recipe and lost track of time.”

  Before any of the waiting four could respond, Victor cut in.

  “You don’t need to apologize, Sophelia. That's why we’re paying them.”

  Corva’s pointed ears twitched, signaling her irritation. Magnus stepped in to make sure her or Ed didn’t say something they all might regret.

  “We appreciate the apology. It's good to see you again, Sophie.”

  “It's good to see you too.” she said, stepping up and hugging Magnus.

  This earned a glare from Victor who was betrothed to Sophie. A political arrangement between their parents. Magnus ignored him and hugged his friend back.

  As she backed away, Celeste was staring at Magnus.

  “You’re the one who keeps breaking your swords right?” The golden haired warrior asked him.

  Magus let out a sigh. Of course that had gotten around. Lillyfall wasn’t big enough for a rumor as juicy as the leader of the resident auxiliary adventures team managing to break two swords in less than a year.

  “Yes, that’s me. But I assure you that I’m not trying to make a habit out of it.”

  “How many swords have you broken?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, sounding more curious than accusatory this time.

  “Only the two.”

  “So far.” Ed chimed in impishly.

  “Not helping.” Mangus shot back.

  Celeste frowned at them both and shot a concerned look at Sophie.

  “It’s fine, Magnus saved my life once.” Sophie said to her friend

  Magnus felt his face flush red against his will. That had been the first time he had broken his sword, and was an embarrassing memory for him. She was a class holder and hadn’t really even needed his help.

  Celeste gave an exacerbated sigh.

  “Did you at least read over the quest details?” The party leader asked.

  “No, none of us bothered to read the quest we signed onto. We were just planning on tagging along with you and collecting the coin." Corva said sarcastically.

  Magnus saw Victor bristle, getting ready to say something.

  “We are to aid you in locating and meeting with the household of wild fey in the area. So you can politely ask them to leave and to help ensure your safe return should they take umbrage with your request.” Magnus cut in quickly.

  “My Father is the one who convinced an aid to Lord Thaine to put up the quest.” Victor said proudly. “It’s about time we drove off those riff raff, always hanging around and stealing things.”

  “Hey Vic, this quest might go smoother if you just don’t talk for the rest of the time. I know how much you love the taste of your own foot, but we would all appreciate it if you could keep it out of your mouth for the rest of the trip.” Ed said.

  Celeste gave an exasperated sigh.

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  “Can we please stay focused. Victor, keep your ego in check. Magnus, reign in your party. Sophie, would you mind putting away the carriage please? It won't work outside the walls anyway.” The last part she said in explanation to the auxiliary adventurers. “We need to get moving soon if we want to have any hope of making it back to the city before dusk.”

  Magnus’s party was primed to leave and had been for half an hour. So as Corva and Ed glared at Victor, and Jeremy loomed like some kind of caramel titan, Sophie turned back to her carriage, snapped her fingers twice and pointed to the stables by the city gate.

  “Please be a dear and put yourself in your usual spot in the stables.” She ordered the animated carriage.

  The carriage then trundled off obediently.

  “Thank you!” Sophie said after it.

  Magnus cast some enhanced endurance spells on his party so they could keep up with the class holders.

  Victor scowled at him.

  “You shouldn’t waste your mana like that. You don’t have enough to spare on trivial spells. If we get attacked in the woods you’ll probably need every bit of it you can muster.”

  There were farms around Lillyfell until the secondary wooden blockade and Mangus could meditate as they walked to help regain his mana.

  “I appreciate the concern but I think it will be fine unless we get attacked right outside the gate.” Magnus responded as politely as he could manage.

  Then the temporary party of adventurers and auxiliary adventurers headed off. Since they were, in fact, not attacked right out the gate, Magnus focused on his breathing and ordered his thoughts while reaching out and pulling in mana from his surroundings.

  Magnus remembered when this had all been forest, before they started expanding the city. Essence users like them coming from the city to buy up the available land and start farms. The first few years they had a lot of casual farmers who couldn't tough it out. Only the true cultivators managed to stand the test of time.

  As they started walking Ed began clapping his hands.

  “I fell into a vat of slime and the old lady won't let me in.” he sang

  “Oh where's a mangy hound meant to lay his weary head?” The auxiliary party sang back as they started clapping too.

  “Drank my last coin but my coin purse is still full.” he sang, grabbing his crotch suggestively.

  “Oh where's a mangy hound meant to lay his weary head?!”

  As they passed the farms, the farmers and farm hands paused their work to start clapping along, and join the chorus with them.

  “I climbed up on the roof to sing my sorrows to the moooooon” Ed sang, stretching the moon into a howling sound.

  “Oh where's a mangy hound meant to lay his weary head?!”

  Celeste and Victor looked annoyed while Sophie clapped and sang along.

  “Running from the guard, slipped and sprained my knee!” Ed started to feign a limp while gesturing dramatically to his leg.

  “Oh where's a mangy hound meant to lay his weary head?!”

  The song featured a drunk, the “mangy hound” in increasingly ridiculous scenarios. It had an endless number of possible verses with people making up new ones all the time. But it always ended with:

  “Aurora dawn blesses me again, back to work I go.”

  “No rest for the wicked, ol’ mangy hound!”

  △

  Several hours into their trek, they elect to take a break for lunch. The four essence users eat trail rations while the adventurers pull out full meals that had been stored and preserved in their various storage items.

  “Magnus, do you mind using identify on this potion and let me know how it looks? I’m pretty sure this is my strongest healing potion so far but I didn’t have a chance to test it.” Sophie asked, walking over and handing Magnus a glass bottle containing a red liquid.

  There was a small note attached to the side facing away from Celeste and Victor that said ‘read me’. Magnus tried to be stealthy as he palmed the note. He was pretty sure his whole team clocked the interaction but the other adventurers weren’t paying them much attention.

  As he moved his mana through his chakra points forming the pattern he wanted and organized his thoughts in the proper order, the potion started to glow to his eyes. He pointed two fingers at the bottle and said:

  “Scio-it”

  A little window popped up.

  Health Potion

  rank:Masterwork

  quality: Good

  2-12 points of LP recovery.

  Ingredients: Blood lilies, Sanquin Oak Berries, wild bee honey

  She was right, this was her most potent potion yet. He couldn’t see how much it would allow someone to heal exactly, but he could see how much mana it had with his Magic Essences. He could even tell what ingredients she had used. But that was probably because he already knew and had helped her gather the ingredients. His Identify spell wasn’t that strong yet.

  “This looks really good. You should be proud of yourself. How many of these do you have?”

  “Eight. Enough for everyone to have one and one left over. I also have my regular healing potions.” She said with a smile.

  “Sounds perfect.” He said, smiling back. “If you’ll excuse me I need to go find a bush. Hey Ed, do you mind coming back to keep watch?”

  Magnus was really hoping this wasn’t a love letter. Ed finding out wouldn’t just be awkward; it would be downright embarrassing. Sophie wasn’t some casual acquaintance, she was a loyal friend and she was betrothed to Victor. His stomach tightened at the thought of the storm that would follow.

  It was in fact not a love letter, it was however short and clearly hastily written.

  The contract for the fey is just a pretence. Dragmir has been tracking the formation of a dungeon core in the area. Victor is looking for the dungeon.

  ‘Sophie you beautiful genius Magnus thought as his mind started to race.

  Magnus knew Victor was turning into a bit of a prick, but this was a new low. They had done a good job putting together a group for a delve on the cheap. But they weren’t properly equipped or prepared for a new dungeon. This was far too dangerous for all of them.

  Ostensibly the contract was issued by an aid on behalf of Lord Thayne. They were concerned that having wild fae so close to their border with The Magocracy of Minalan would be too much of a temptation to some slavers and it would start a diplomatic incident. A concern, he now knew, Wizard Hendrik had put in his head. Not literally of course, if he was caught using mind magic on a lord's advisor it would be his head one way or another.

  Ed had been reading the note over his shoulder. Then they had a quick silent conversation in adventuring hand signs.

  Ed: ‘Snake wizard, bastard son both traitor’

  Magnus: ‘Weasel mageling can't bastard. Wizard H mageling father.’

  Ed: ‘Whore son’ (aka:Whore’s son or son of a whore as opposed to Son whore which meant son is a whore)

  Magnus: ‘Wizard M nice you rude’ signed while scowling.

  Ed: ‘ You're right. We need plan’

  Magnus:’Cast message. You, me, alchemist S’

  Ed: ‘good plan. First piss break’

  Magnus wasn’t the leader because he was the smartest or most powerful member of his team. He was the leader because he knew how to spot his team members strengths and delegate tasks to those who could get the job done best. If they were walking into a new dungeon blind,then he wanted the two smartest people he knew to figure out how to prepare.

  Message would let them silently talk to each other through the M.I.S. However Magnus would only be able to keep it up for about 30 minutes before his mana bottomed out. Then he would have to meditate again to regain enough mana for a real fight.

  Magnus prepared the message spell and held it ready to cast. As soon as he saw Sophie while walking back into the clearing he cast the spell. The link between the three of them went up and Magnus had a little text box in the corner of his vision. The messages were partly telepathic; you didn’t actually have to read anything, it was just how the system manifested the spell for some reason.

  “Stop wasting your mana,” was all Victor said, clearly unable to tell what he had cast.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” was all Magnus said in return.

  ‘Mageling Asshole’ Ed signed when his back was turned.

  Corva was the only one other than Magnus who caught the sign and snorted.

  “Hey, since we’re out in the field, how about I preserve my mana and not cast enhanced endurance on everyone.” Magnus was looking at Victor as he spoke, but then gave a look to his team.

  Jeremy and Corva managed to control their expressions. Ed, on the other hand, had a mischievous smirk, but that was how he usually looked.

  Victor didn’t even last until the end of Magnus’s Message spell. He got frustrated at the slower speed of the essence users and broke down, casting enhance endurance on the four himself, in the process letting Magnus get a look at how he cast the spell. It was so fast, but he was pretty sure he caught some differences. Victor's version also had a refreshing effect, easing the strain and tension in their muscles from walking all day. Magnus really wanted that spell.