I stepped off the ferry on the island of Gerilon situated just south of the city of Leoren. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the tropical climates. Well, tropical as it can be in a brisk Irish-style spring day. It was a little warmer than much of the city since the sun wasn't impeded by large treetops in the morning.

The town, Orvis, the ferry pulled into was beautiful. I hadn't been out this way before and I made sure I took in the sights. Orvis was a small town with a population of around 2,500. It was very much a beach-style resort. To the west of the ferry dock was a long beach and I could see a small morning population of beach goers setting up places to relax or play. The air smelled of crisp salt water and fried snacks. I could hear the laughter from the beach mixing with waves and the calls of sea birds.

The part that made the town interesting to me was the buildings were all constructed out of large coral remains and giant seashells. The coral colonies spun complex arrays over the top of the giant shells used to house businesses and residences lining the beach. Roads, instead of paved with stone, were laid with white crushed seashells. It was beautiful.

Lia and Tizek, each carrying a pack with a week's worth of provisions and a sleeping roll, sprinted off the ferry to look at the local sights. It was Lia's first time out of the city and Tizek was finally able to enjoy himself now he was with a stable social circle. We had bonded more over the past week during training and the pair were far more comfortable in their combat roles. I even managed to convince Tizek to cast heal on me when I intentionally jammed my rapier into my foot.

I, on the other hand, was walking slowly down the ramp to the docks. It wasn't because I was absorbing the scenery. No, I was helping Void, who was wobbling on unsteady legs down the boards. We had never taken a ride on a ship before and she was seasick. While Lia and Tizek were peering over the bow of the ferry at the water, Void and I were seated on a bench where I was keeping her company. Void had valiantly kept her breakfast on the inside during the trip.

"I need to sit," Void moaned as she took short, careful steps. I helped guide her to a nearby bench on the dock and we sat. She leaned over and put her head between her knees. I placed a hand comfortingly on her back.

I looked around and saw an alchemist right at the end of the pier. They were clearly well positioned for this sort of thing. "I can go get you something to help with the nausea."

"No, we need to save up money for your little project. That's more important than my mild discomfort." I could see a little more than just her upset stomach in her posture. When she mentioned the project, I noticed her tail droop considerably behind the bench and a slight tremor rolled across her body.

"You always take this better than I ever expected," I whispered.

"It's just strange," Void whispered back. "The world is dangerous. My gran died in a mine flare when I was young and I lost a grandfather to a disease the healers couldn't cure. This is different. I didn't even die. My memory is just…gone. Sorry, when I feel sick, I tend to worry about things. Let's walk this off."

Void didn't like it when I pressed, so I let it be. "Alright, let's go wrangle the teens and get going."

We found Lia and Tizek just outside the exit to the docks with their faces pressed to the window of a candy shop. They were watching a shop employee, a marmot-clan teen, supervising a machine spinning away as it folded, of all things, taffy. The employee reached over to a small crystal embedded in the simple machine and pumped some of his mana into it before dripping flavoring from a ceramic pitcher into the mixture.

"My lord," Tizek said as his breath fogged the window. "Can we get some?" Lia looked up at me with expectant eyes as well.

I looked through the window and considered our finances. We had to save up the gold or I'd end up visiting a rather unpleasant individual to sell my belt. Inside were baskets with little net bags with the treats. They were 10 copper Sovereigns for six candies. A bit pricey since a cheap stew at a tavern cost as much.

"Oh, why not? We'll just get two more mana cores to compensate," I said, relenting. What was 10 copper coins where I could give the pair some nice memories? Memories which I would ensure stayed with them this time.

After I bought the bag of candies, I handed three to each Lia and Tizek. As we walked down the main road out of town where a sign pointed us to Mermaid Falls and other dungeons in the area, Lia nibbled happily on one of hers. Tizek, on the other hand, already dumped all three into his mouth and was munching away.

I felt a genuine smile come to my face as I watched the teens talk about the flavors they received. Lia had to playfully slap away Tizek's hand when it tried to dart out and steal another candy. I chuckled since it was amusing to see a girl armed with a greatsword and a leather-clad lizard man acting like kids.

I paced behind Lia and Tizek a few meters to give them space. The two were enjoying making friends with someone their own age and I didn't want to intrude. As I smiled at the pair, I felt an arm wrap around my own. I turned and saw Void pacing next to me. She looked over at me and gave a smile.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," I commented as I enjoyed the sudden attention.

"A little," Void said. She briefly tapped her head on my shoulder, having to dip a little since she was taller than me, before returning upright to walk with her body against my side. "I like this moment. It's nice." I smiled in return as we continued on down the road.

The trip to the dungeon took us a little over an hour as we walked down a well-traveled road through hills and a thin forest of birch trees. An explosion of multi-colored flowers filled the grasslands between the tree trunks in the late spring day.

Then we came upon Mermaid Falls. When it came to dungeons, I had an expectation when I first heard about them in this world. I imagined dank caves, crevices formed in the sides of volcanos or abandoned ancient cities. While those existed, they were very high advancement dungeons or dungeons far from cities.

Mermaid Falls? It was an Advancement 0 dungeon controlled by Vialina's Exterminator's Guild. Instead of a creepy hole behind a waterfall, the entryway looked like a theme park attraction. The words "Mermaid Falls" were carved above the dungeon entrance along with depictions of various aquatic monsters found inside. The entrance, while still a cave, had a wooden gate blocking the opening with a pair of full height turnstiles to grant entry and exit.

Dungeons within easy access of the city, which were rated up to Advancement 3, were well-controlled by the Guild. They had incentives to make sure the dungeons were easy to access and helped maintain a strong Exterminator workforce. Without competent Exterminators, mining became very difficult and the city lost access to mana cores needed for daily life.

Next to the entry was a hut made out of coral and shells like the buildings back in Orvis. It served as the check-in station for the dungeon and a local Guild official would be in there. We were an hour early for our reservation time. I didn't want a Guild representative to wait on us for a dungeon like this.

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We approached the station and, inside, we saw a lynx-clan man in a Guild uniform working on inspecting the office. I cleared my throat. "Hello, we're here for our reservation."

The man turned and briefly seemed surprised to see us. He pulled out a slate and looked at the information on it. "Ah, you're early. First-timers tend to be late. This reflects well on you."

"We won't want to be the punk in punctuality," I commented. "Best to give a little buffer in case something happens on the way."

"By the way," the guild employee said as he did something on his slate, "I'm a big fan. I was at the arena and watched your fight."

I wrapped an arm around Tizek and Void while giving a big smile to Lia. "Looks like you three made a good impression last week."

"Yes, they have good potential, especially from the rating in your records," the man commented. "But I'm talking about you, Lord Oliver."

I pointed at my chest? "Me? Are you sure you got that right? I can't imagine you want to look like you have a bad case of mange."

"All the bald spots on you do look odd, no offense," the man said. "But I'm talking about your performance. You see, I find you inspiring."

"Inspiring?" I asked, confused. "I'm a dud. What's inspiring about it?"

The lynx-clan man looked down at the little wooden desk he had inside the building and ran a clawed index finger over the surface. "I'm also a dud. I was only rated at 58%. I've been too scared to even get my first advancement even though the Guild lets employees use the dungeons."

I ran the numbers in my head. At 58%, the man would need to reach Advancement 5 just to equal an average Advancement 1 person's strength. Considering you can't grind out Advancements, monsters more than one Advancement rating below you didn't contribute anything, the man was looking at peaking at Advancement 2 after extensive effort. "Hey man, I'm even worse than that. I couldn't even warm up the tub and I run out of mana just taking a 10 minute hot shower."

"That's why you're so inspiring," the lynx-clan man countered. "You didn't hesitate when you stepped out on the sands. The way you worked your bow? It was masterful and you gave no second thoughts to helping Lia there when she was in trouble. Now you're here going on a dungeon run. It makes me want to at least get my first Advancement. I'll go see if some of the other duds want to form a party and do it on our days off."

"Just be sure to do some training with each other for a couple of weeks before you go," I suggested. "The albatwitches weren't a big threat but they can still hurt you. I don't want you getting too badly banged up."

The lynx-clan man smiled. "Thanks. Speaking of, why here? We aren't expecting our new recruit crush until a few weeks after the city's public schools graduate and the newbies finish their probationary quests. And last I checked, there isn't any demand for transmitter eye control crystals."

"I just heard about the place. I wanted to see what a water dungeon was all about. Besides, your beach sounds like a nice place to relax after we finish," I said, not wanting to give away the fact I really was after a crystal.

The man shuddered. "You're crazy. Water dungeons are miserable. It's cold and damp in there. You'll also be wading around in water most of the time, which is at least warm or it would be truly awful. Though, since it's Advancement 0, you won't have to swim or go much deeper than your calves. You sure you want to spend a whole week in there? You don't have to fight for dungeon reservations and there are nicer ones on the island."

"We're committed to this one," I said. "I really want to see the water dungeon."

The man looked at each of my companions who gave nods in affirmation. He shrugged. "Well, since this is your first time, there's really only one rule. Just be out by the designated time. There are fines for taking too long and we'll have to send someone in to get you. I won't be overly strict since there isn't anyone with a reservation after you, though it is policy to send in a rescue to retrieve you or your bodies if you're late."

The man pointed to a paper map on the wall. On it was a diagram of the cave system. It wasn't much; It was a single entryway with a large cavern at the front. Three smaller tunnels branched out from the back wall. The three tunnels terminated at smaller caverns. In the large cavern, a drawing of an island was in the center of the cave.

"That's the simple diagram. The Guild has a rest point set up in the middle island. The Guild set up repellant crystals there which run on the dungeon's ambient mana. Since you're new, don't get the bright idea to hide behind them to attack monsters. If you do that, they'll just explode and you won't get the essence, mana cores or any drops. You can run back there in an emergency. They'll also break if you try to take them which you'll pay to replace," the guild employee explained.

He then tapped the central of the three rear tunnels. "The boss is back there. It's not hard, just be warned the monster's thick skin means you'll have to hit it a lot to kill it. The dungeon is big enough to clear it once per day. There are also traps, so Void there can get some practice in. Don't worry if you mess up. Unless you're on your last health sliver, they'll just be mostly annoying. They're rudimentary and easy to see."

"Is it dangerous?" Lia asked. She was still not confident in her abilities even though she hadn't had a mistake in the last three days of training.

The guild rep laughed. "Oh, not really. People will come out of there banged up now and again. Otherwise, we haven't had anyone die by monsters in there since we started keeping records a few hundred years ago. The only time anyone dies is if you accidentally hit your friends or, Grand Creator forbid, you try to use the dungeon to hide a murder."

"That's a stupid way to hide a murder," Void said. "It's obvious when there are only the four of you going in and the corpses have weapon trauma."

The man shrugged. "Last time it happened was five years ago or so. It was like you said, real obvious who did it. Thankfully, most criminals are stupid or we'd be up to our eyes in misery."

A brief memory of my second, and last, loop with Gully Jack flashed in my mind before I stuffed that one WAY down. "Is there anything else we should know?" I asked.

The man gestured at my pocket where I stowed my Guild ID. "Check the guides. There's not a whole lot. Just hit the monsters really hard until they die. You're technically not starting for another hour, but I'll let you in early. It's not like anyone will care about this one. Have fun, or, well, try not to be too cold and miserable."

We bid the guild employee farewell and made our way to the turnstiles. I allowed myself a little grin since we gave the man a bit of a break by showing up early. He could enjoy a little downtime in the hut.

I looked over the turnstile and examined its construction. Like most other things in this world, it was made of magically treated wood. Next to it was another black slate, this one had a red light on it. Below were two recesses. One would read your Guild ID to check if you were approved entry. The other was to check your handprint. Further in was a second turnstile.

The reason the entrance had a pair of turnstile gates was a form of authentication to ensure you weren't granting access to someone else. The handprint determined you were present. The Guild ID had a second feature where if it was more than 5 meters away, it would teleport back to a pocket or, if you weren't wearing anything, your prison pocket. The Guild would be notified if you tried to access the outer door a second time without having left first.

I turned and looked at my party. "Alright, everyone ready?"

Void gave me a nod while Tizek was bouncing with excitement. Tizek looked at me. "I am ready my lord! I'll show you I can defeat monsters and keep you safe!"

"I appreciate it, buddy. I'd like you to make sure you keep yourself safe in the process," I said. I looked to Lia and she was staring at the turnstile with a slumped posture and an unsure look in her eye. "You can do this."

"What if I mess up like at the arena?" Lia mumbled as she fidgeted with her fingers.

"Then we'll back you up," Void said. "We're all new at this. I had a hard time with my albatwitch because of how they move. It's different than fighting people."

"So, you want to lead us in?" I said to Lia as I gestured to the turnstile.

Lia subtly backed away. "Can you go first?"

"I'll do it!" Tizek announced as he made his way to the first turnstile.

"Wait for us before going through the second turnstile," I said. "You're the healer, we don't want you getting used to going out ahead."

Tizek fanned his frills. His insecurity was now showing as well. "If you command."

I clapped his shoulder. "It's not a command. It's a suggestion. Lia will end up the most durable of us. I'd like to see you build a more cautious instinct."

Tizek nodded silently, pressed his Guild ID to the turnstile and set his hand on the scanner. After a brief moment, the light turned green and I could hear a click in the gate. Tizek then pushed the spinning door and passed into the first area.

"I think I'll go last," Lia said as she continued to fidget.

I smirked. "Oh no. That's not happening. We can't have you decide to run off once the rest of us are inside."

Lia shuffled back a few steps and her eyes went wide.

I sighed. "Lia, that came out wrong. I don't want to force you into this. However, I know you'll do well. You have the potential to be a great Exterminator. You just need to find your confidence."

Lia looked at the turnstile and back at me. I could see her considering her options. She then silently pressed her Guild ID and hand into the unit and went inside.

I started to feel guilty about pressuring Lia into the dungeon. I paused as I considered what I was doing. Was I getting overly desperate to stop the apocalypse that I was creating terrible memories as a result?

"You must have come from a rich place," Void said at my side.

I blinked in surprise. "That's correct. What brought that on?"

Void nodded at Lia. "You're worried you're pushing her. I think it's a good thing. Kids from the orphanages and slums? They never get out. You've given her an opportunity. She's just nervous. She knows you have her best interests at heart."

I looked through the slats of the gate at Lia. She was taking deep breaths while looking at the second gate. She then took her greatsword off her back and gave it a few practice swings.

"I hope so," I said. "I'm just so used to the other Lias. I keep forgetting she's not quite the same one."

"That must be difficult to think about," Void commented softly.

"I'd rather not think about it. Onto the future, right? Come on, let's go or Tizek will chew his way through the second turnstile." I looked over at Tizek and saw him bouncing with energy at the second gate. His thick scaly tail was flapping hard on the ground as he peered into the dank cave just beyond the turnstile.

"I'm ready," Void said as she peered at the turnstile.

I gestured at it. "Ladies first."

Void smirked in response. "Age before beauty."

I have to admit she got me on that one, so I scanned my ID and went through.

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