"My pack won't fall apart," I said.

"You're certain of this?" Ignis asked.

"I'm certain," I said. "We're bound together by Candace's magic and a dungeon Quest of insanely high difficulty."

"Truly?" The Instructor stared down at me.

"Yes," I nodded. "This… Omnid takeover seems like really concerning shit, sure, but to me… it doesn't make that much of a difference. Before I went into that damn office, high level prads delvers like you seemed like the toughest inhuman monsters around, someone to fear and hate. Now I discovered that delvers like you are actually on my side. However, overall that's not relevant."

"It's… not?"

"Not really," I shrugged. "I thought that it was Prad corpos that were the biggest baddies out there, walling up dungeons and whisking away talented but dumb kids into perpetual delving slave labor. Now it's honestly just… the same shit with a different name and face. Prads? Omnids? It doesn't matter who's the asshole in charge. There's nothing I can truly do about the Omnid-controlled government at this point. Opposing what the Omnicorps are doing is as productive as yelling at the sky or emptying the ocean with a spoon. Like is there something you can do about these… Omnids?"

"Not really," Ignis sighed. "Especially if Archmage Amadeus won't do anything to help."

"Exactly," I said. "Therefore it's not relevant now. Sure, it might become relevant later, if I can figure out how to leverage it for the good of my impossible mission somehow… but not at this juncture."

"Then what is relevant… at this juncture? What exactly is your… impossible mission, Alec?" She asked.

"I… need you to be the best damn dungeoneering Instructor you can be for me and my team," I said.

"Why?"

"I have a quest from the Magnetic Lynx of Highway Sixty Nine," I revealed. "If I don't conquer the Infinite Highway—the Magnetic Lynx will murder everyone in Ferguson."

"Everyone?!" Ignis breathed out. Her eye flickered at me, a Truth rune flashing within. "Hrm… you're not lying."

"No, I am not. Everyone in town dies unless I reach and shear the heart of the Infinite Highway," I said. "This whole shebang with the Principal simply showed me that while I cannot trust the local Pradavarian Administration, I can absolutely trust you, Instructor Fern."

Ingis nodded.

"I need you… to push me and my delving pack to our limit, to train us as the best damn delvers in the world… because unlike the others, we cannot afford to fail," I told her. "We aren't delving for money or fame. We're delving to save Ferguson."

"Very well. This I can do." She straightened, adjusting her suit jacket. "Return to your team. Prepare for the simulation. I'll join you shortly."

As I turned to go, she added, "And Mr. Foster? Be careful. You've potentially placed yourself on a very dangerous radar with the knowledge you carry."

"No worries there," I nodded grimly. "I'm always careful."

With a snap of her claws, the barrier shield around us dissolved.

When I rejoined my team in the gymnasium, they were in the middle of a heated debate about who would be permitted to sit on my right side at lunch as the number two lieutenant. Candace was the first to notice my return, her silver ears perking up.

"There he is! Took ya long enough," she called out. "What did the principal want?"

I hesitated, remembering Fern's warning about the walls having ears. "Got a corporate job offer," I said.

"You did?" Kristi stared at me. "Damn that's pretty fast. Did you…"

"I rejected it, obviously," I said. "Someone needs to supervise you guys."

"Just... supervise?" Candace fluttered her white lashes at me with a coy smile. "Not... rule? Command? Dominate?"

"Uhh, sure," I replied, rolling my eyes at her insinuations.

Nessy's blue eyes narrowed as she studied my face. "You're hiding something," she said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Your scent changed. There's a new layer of... worry. Plus your expression. You're tense about… something."

I glanced at the others, who were now all staring at me with curiosity and concern. No point in denying it to these four.

"Fine," I admitted. "Yes, I'm hiding something. I promise I'll tell all of you about it after the sim... if you behave."

"Just for that, I'm not gonna behave," Candace laughed. Her tail swished mischievously. "In fact, I'm going to be extra naughty."

"More than usual?" Adelle commented. "Is that even possible?"

"I'll have you know that my naughtiness has no upper limit," Candace declared. "I'm basically the infinity of misbehavior!"

"That's how you get coal in your stocking on See-Mass day!" Nessy snorted. "Hrmm. What's the square root of your naughtiness, then?"

"The imaginary number 'i' raised to the power of 'your mom,'" Candace shot back without missing a beat.

"Are we talking Cartesian or polar coordinates for this naughtiness function?" I asked, playing along.

"Oh, definitely polar," Candace wiggled her eyebrows. "Everything I do is polarizing."

"I have no idea what you dweebs are talking about," Adelle admitted. "But it sounds dirty so I approve."

Before our mathematical innuendo could evolve further, Professor Fern strode into the gymnasium, her scarred face set in a determined expression. She had composed herself remarkably well after our confrontation with the Principal, though I could still see a pitch of tension in her movements.

"Team Foster," she called out. "Approach."

"Is that what we are?" Candace commented, glancing at me. "I feel like we could use a funnier name."

"Later," I said.

We gathered around the Instructor as she activated a holographic display showing a detailed map of what appeared to be a dense forest stretching towards the mountainside cliffs away from the edge of the school.

"This is your dungeon simulation," she explained, fiery eye scanning our faces. "The rules are simple: retrieve the hidden treasure from the forest and return to the gymnasium without being 'killed' by the monster students. The forest directly outside of the gym back doors has been temporarily modified by me to serve as the dungeon environment."

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"Professor," I said, "quick question: if we manage to capture or subdue monster students, can we turn them back into delvers to assist us?"

Fern shook her head. "No. Once designated as monsters, they remain so for the duration of the simulation. However," she added, "if you can drag them back into the gymnasium—outside the dungeon boundary—they will be considered 'permanently disabled' and removed from combat. The gym's ward will knock them out into a deep sleep until 3:30, which is when delving class ends today. Tomorrow, all of the Sentinels you eliminated will be back to haunt the forest similarly to how most dungeons respawn their monsters."

"Got it," I said with a nod.

"Also," Ignis continued, "you may procure equipment from the 'Guild Shop'." She gestured to a wall featuring a display of various items. "Smoke bombs, flashbangs, knockout blackjacks, extradimensional bags, pacifier handcuffs and ropes—basic dungeon-delving supplies."

Candace bounced on her toes with excitement, pulling a bag from the wall. "Dibs on the extradimensional bags! I can totes bind them to hold more than their intended capacity!"

"Ehhh," Adelle examined the wall weapons and cracked her knuckles. "I'd rather just use my… natural weapons."

Professor Fern gave us a final, meaningful look. "I'll be departing now to... manage the dungeon environment. Good luck, Team Foster."

With that said, she strode out through the back doors of the gymnasium, heading into the forest to take her position as the "dungeon boss."

Once she was gone, I gathered my team into a tight huddle.

"Alright, here's the plan," I said, lowering my voice. "First, we need to make the most of our talents. Nessy, I want you to empower Candace with your Riffweld. Can you sing something that boosts magical control of binding skills?"

Nessy nodded, her blue eyes lighting up. "Can do."

"Perfect," I turned to Candace. "Once Nessy empowers you, I want you to bind Kristi to the concept of 'invisibility' or something along those lines. Basically, make her harder to spot, easy to overlook."

The fox nodded.

"Candace, how many people can you bind fully to your control?" I asked the fox.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Two at most, if I want to maintain stable control threads via soul-swapping. I can pilot one person at a time. I'll need a partner to pilot the other bound person. You in?"

I nodded, turning to the raptor. "Kristi, once Candace finishes binding you to invisibility, I need you to scout and capture two 'monsters'. Preferably ones who won't be immediately missed."

"Sure," Kristi grabbed a blackjack and a pair of pacifier handcuffs from the wall.

We moved to a quiet corner of the gym. Nessy took a deep breath and began to sing, her voice carrying a strange power that seemed to make the air vibrate around us.

The fox's silver fur seemed to glow faintly due to the music, her gray eyes taking on a shinier luster.

"Shit, this is awesomesauce," Candace grinned, flexing her fingers as violet-silver sparks danced between them. "Like I could bind the whole world right now! Commer, raptor-bae!"

She turned to Kristi, placing her glowing hands on either side of the raptor's head. "Unbind notice," she murmured. "Bind obscurity. Bind eyes slide past, attention wander, mute sound, obscure smell, memory forget…" she rumbled under her breath, pawing the raptor.

Kristi's form seemed to shimmer slightly, not truly invisible but somehow less... there. When I looked directly at her, I could see her but it was hard to think about her and my eyes kept sliding off her body.

"How do I look?" Kristi asked, walking around our group.

"Way hard to focus on ya," Adelle said. "I'd probably miss you if I tried to punch your noggin."

"Like someone I'd forget I saw even while I was looking at you," I replied. "It's working. Go get 'em!"

Kristi nodded and flashed away, vanishing from sight completely as she took off.

While we waited, Candace and I prepared the extra-dimensional bags, the fox binding them to increase their capacity. Once the bags were ready, now featuring an interior space of about 2 by 2 meters each, we stuffed various weapons, potions, and tools into the bags, preparing for every contingency we could think of.

It was nearly thirty minutes later when Kristi returned, slipping through the door with two unconscious pradavarians slung over her shoulders—a male and female pair of gray wolves.

"That was almost too easy," she said, laying them down on the gym floor. "The monsters are all over the forest, but they're completely disorganized. No coordination, no leadership. They're just wandering around in small groups or alone. Elementals are helping them though. I nearly got caught when a wind Elemental blew my scent toward a group of cats."

"That's Yura Carriosh and Pire Wick," Candace said, examining our unconscious captives. "Good catch. Low level knobs, not particularly observant."

I nodded in approval. "Perfect. Bind em."

Candace knelt beside the wolves, placing one hand on Yura's forehead and the other on Pire's. "This is gonna be tricky," she stated. "I'm going to create control threads from myself to Yura and from you to Pire. You'll essentially be riding in his consciousness while I ride in hers."

"How exactly does that work?" I asked.

"Think of it like... remote piloting," Candace explained. "Your body will go into a trance state while your soul inhabits Pire's body. You'll see through his eyes, feel through his senses, but you'll be in control. It's the ultimate infiltration technique."

"Is it dangerous?" Nessy asked.

"Nah," Candace assured her. "Not usually. I've done this before."

"With whom?" I wondered.

"I bound myself and Cap into Bark and Tequila," Candace grinned. "While they were passed out drunk. It was fun making out using other Prads' bodies."

"I see," I said, trying not to think too hard about the ethical implications of her actions. "How long can we pilot them?" I asked.

"If we stay super close to our own bodies," Candace replied, "At least around 3 hours. Basically, the further away the body you're piloting is, the faster the Astral binding decays. Alright, let's not kill daylight n' do this."

Candace began the binding ritual pawing at my head, her powers making the silver threads appearing in the air that connected me to the unconscious wolf boy. I felt a strange pulling sensation, as if my mind was being gently tugged from my body.

"Lie down," Candace instructed. "This will be disorienting at first."

I complied, stretching out on the gymnasium floor. The last thing I saw before closing my eyes was Nessy's worried face hovering over me.

Then darkness. A sensation of falling. Followed by a sharp snap, like a rubber band stretched too far and then released.

I opened my eyes.

Everything looked... different. Colors were muted in some ways, especially in reds and oranges. Adelle appeared grey-ish to me. Scents flooded my nose, thousands of them, each distinct and carrying information I could barely process. I could smell everyone in the room, could pick out their individual scents with shocking clarity. Could hear… so many things in the directions my ears faced. I was taller too, which threw off my balance.

I sat up, looking down at hands that weren't mine—larger, covered in gray fur with black claws.

"Whoa," I said, my voice sounding deeper, rougher. "This is so weird."

Beside me, Yura—or rather, Candace in Yura's body—was already stretching, tail fluttering.

"Mmm, not bad," she purred, running her hands down her borrowed body. "Yura's got some decent muscle tone. Yo, wolf-tato, how do you feel?"

"Like I'm wearing someone else's skin," I admitted. "But functional."

"Move around for a bit, get used to your new bod," she said.

I stood up and nearly toppled over. Having digitigrade legs and a tail was weird. Nessy and Kristi offered me their hands and I grabbed on, wobbling around the gym close to my own passed out body, trying to get the hang of my new prad body.

Candace hopped behind and then moved around my slowly moving self, performing increasingly complex acrobatics.

"Hrm, feels like sooooomeone smacked me on the noggin, pretty hard," she commented, glancing at Kristi. She grabbed a small healing potion from the wall and chugged it and then offered another potion to me. It took away the headache that I didn't even notice since my senses felt so overwhelmed in general by the body-swapping experience.

In ten more minutes, I got a better hold on walking in a prad body and only relied on Nessy to hold my hand.

"Kris, put our bodies into each bag," I ordered.

Kristi carefully placed our passed out original bodies into the largest of the extra-dimensional bags. Candace-as-Yura slung the bag containing her real body over her shoulder.

I grabbed the bag with my own body. The expanded extradimensional space pretty much eliminated the bag's internal weight, making the bag easy to carry as if it contained nothing at all.

"Stage two time! Nessy, Kristi, Adelle—hide in the bags. We'll carry you in, then release you once we're past the initial defenses if we run into trouble," I said in about twenty more minutes of walking practice with the bag.

"Wait, what?" Adelle protested. "I'm gonna be stuffed in a bag? Like luggage?"

"Like a secret weapon," I corrected. "You'll spring out when you're needed and punch whomever in the face. Bam!"

"Ffffine," she grumbled, climbing into the bag offered by Yura-Candace. Kristi gave me a nod and climbed into the bag after the cheetah.

Nessy let go of my hand, allowing me to limp about for a bit on my own. Then she nuzzled into my wolf-cheek offering me a tight hug and climbed into my bag.

"Ready?" I asked, my wolf voice still sounding very alien to my wolf ears.

"Born ready," Candace replied with Yura's voice, grinning with wolf fangs. "Let's go infiltrate 'dis 'effin dungeon!"

With our packmates and our original bodies safely stowed away, Candace and I pushed open the gym doors and stepped out into the forest.

The treasure-hunting game was on.

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