Light footsteps come up behind us as another friend joins us. The teenage girl slashes at the air with her obsidian dagger, and a blade of mist cuts into salamander flesh from thirty meters away.

"Well, this is certainly a way to wake up," she mutters, then glances at Amethyst. "Hi, I'm Jade Hebron. Nice to meet you."

"You seem a bit tall and beardless for a dwarf," Amethyst says.

"Yes, I was adopted," Jade says, sending more mist blades at the monsters. "Astute of you to notice. Do we have a plan? How many of these things are there?"

"My ghost counted six Heroics and about two dozen Elites," I say.

Jade winces. "That's a lot."

"I will hold them off," Aunt Rosemary says, holding up her staff in a valiant pose. "Flee while you can, children! Don't let my sacrifice be in vain!"

"No," I interrupt. "That's not necessary. Look, we've already killed two of the Heroics. Didn't you memorize that big book containing every skill our ancestors unlocked? Teach us some skills, [Tutorial Teacher]."

Aunt Rosemary frowns thoughtfully as she lowers her staff before turning toward the dwarves. "You are dwarves, carved of statues, which means you have an affinity for stone."

Basalt grabs a fist-sized rock from the ammunition supply. Following instructions as Aunt Rosemary gives them, he puts his vis into it and hurls it across the pit. The stone strikes an Elite salamander in the face, taking it down like it's Taco Tuesday.

"The rolling boulder trap seems to be stuck," Basalt says. "If I can get that loose again, it should help. Not to mention all these clogged traps! You've got a [Ghostly Watcher], but I need a [Ghostly Handyman]."

"The principle should be the same," Aunt Rosemary says. "But you would need to be able to affect the world around you rather than merely see. I am no Necromancer, but if this were a Sorcery spell, here's how you would do it."

Aunt Rosemary gives instructions, and I listen in with [Fractal Consciousness] as I continue to assist in keeping the monsters at bay. My electrical attacks aren't very strong yet, but the affinity for storm-related magic simply from being born in Tempest is too useful to pass up. (Also fun. Come on, who doesn't want to shoot lightning bolts?)

"Got it!" Basalt yells as his spell finishes forming.

Rather than simply a pair of disembodied glowing yellow eyes, this ghost also now includes vague, misty hand shapes. There's no feet, but what does a ghost need with feet, anyway?

"Alright, ghost me, let's get these traps fixed and throw these monsters out of our home before they hurt our kids."

The ghost flies into the trapped corridor and gets to work. It doesn't take long before the traps are up and working again, and a rolling boulder starts rolling back and forth until there isn't anything moving on that side of the pit.

As I confirm that there are no more monsters outside and we're safe for now, a torrent of aether swirls around Aunt Rosemary in a massive vortex. Spiritual energy surges through her aura, and when it finally settles, it feels much stronger than before. A quick check indicates that she did indeed advance to Epic rank.

"Congratulations," I say quietly.

"By the cores…" Aunt Rosemary breathes, on the verge of breaking down into tears. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. I… will need to take some time to consider my class options, but well done, everyone. Well done indeed."

"Alright, now that our hold is no longer being invaded by monsters, it's time for some questions…" Basalt says in the hearth once we're done cleaning up.

I nod. "Starting with the fact that it's only July and swarm season doesn't start until October, and these aren't the usual Halloween beasties that show up on the surface that time of year."

"Uncle Hawk's party discovered a dungeon with salamanders like these," Anise says. "Or was it Uncle Falcon's party? Well, whichever of them ran across it first, that's the most obvious source."

"But why?" Rowan asks around a bite of roast giant salamander meat.

"Did someone order delivery and just not specify that it should be dead first?" Basalt asks. "Man, these would be great on tortillas. We need to get some corn from Talgarth and make some spicy salamander fajitas."

"I think the salamander dungeon will need to be investigated," I say. "Preferably by one or the other of my uncles and his party, because Aunt Rosemary should probably stay here and the rest of us aren't up to taking on quite so many Heroics without a terrain advantage."

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"The defenses worked well but the traps could use some upgrades," Copper says.

I nod. "Unfortunately, the core wouldn't let me alter the terrain while there were hostiles in its territory."

"Well, my new [Ghostly Handyman] did a fantastic job, at least," Basalt says.

"Monster attacks on my spawnday," Amethyst says with a sigh. "Not the most auspicious start."

"Definitely not a coincidence," I agree. "The salamanders could have followed the scent of the corpses our hunters brought back. They knew where to go. And Amethyst's spawning didn't go unnoticed. I'm guessing Tempest made it harder on her because she already knows what she's doing. The more knowledge you retain, the tougher your start, is that right?"

Amethyst shrugs. "I couldn't tell you. At least it didn't send anything we couldn't handle. We met its challenge and survived, stronger. And I definitely feel better about my life with a living Epic mentor rather than a dead one and being on the run after immediately losing my home. I like seeing the numbers go up, but I'm not attached to it being through constant mortal peril. That's why I prefer being races with a longer lifespan. It's easier to make Legendary as a dwarf or elf."

"You're already planning to reach Legendary?" I ask.

"Of course. Aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Hey, I might have been a poor Roman, but I was still a Roman. We all dreamed of immortality, even if we spent our days covered in dirt. Especially if there was wine involved."

"Let's head up to the surface in the morning," I say. "I need to let my family know about the monster attack and locate one of my Epic Uncles."

"Did you pick your new class yet, Aunt Rosemary?" Anise asks.

Aunt Rosemary shakes her head and tucks a loose wisp of white hair behind an ear. "I'm still weighing my options. I won't receive another class option until I turn 126 or reach Legendary, so I will need to consider more carefully than you lovely children who will get another choice in a few years even if you accomplish nothing else in the meantime."

"What are your choices?" I ask.

"[Tutorial Taskmaster], [Tutorial Guardian], and [Inspiring Philomath]. I have to consider carefully what Hebron may need more."

"Not just what Hebron needs, but what you want," I say. "The class choice is sacred. Any of those would help Hebron in different ways."

"That may be so, but you are the mastermind behind Hebron's development," Aunt Rosemary says. "And I ought to be the one guiding you."

"Mastermind, me?" I chuckle. "I'm just a nine year old kid with five million ghosts in his head who got lost once."

"And you nonetheless have insights that may have eluded me," Aunt Rosemary says.

I sigh. "Alright. Here are my insights. Hebron doesn't need a Taskmaster. The people here are largely self-driven, independent individuals who have been spawned for their expertise in different areas and will presumably be getting to work on those areas themselves."

She nods thoughtfully. "Noted. Then I should be a Guardian, then?"

I shake my head. "Not that either. While your presence here has been helpful and your protection has been invaluable, if you're a Guardian, you're only getting experience bonuses when you're protecting someone or something. Unless you're planning on going delving with students, that would require Hebron to be constantly attacked."

Aunt Rosemary frowns. "Taking a class like [Inspiring Philomath] feels selfish."

I chuckle. "Not at all. You've been constrained for so long in only getting experience bonuses for teaching. You would still be doing that. You'd just also be getting bonuses for studying and learning things along with your students." I pause. "And if you think it feels selfish to take, that says to me that it's the class you actually want but you're afraid you shouldn't take it because someone might need protection or guidance more."

"I agree with Drake," Basalt puts in. "I can't see you barking orders, and [Tutorial Guardian] is a dead end that's just going to lead to you nobly sacrificing yourself at some point without ever reaching Legendary. [Inspiring Philomath] will get you to Legendary."

"You sound awfully confident in that," Aunt Rosemary says.

Basalt shrugs. "Sure, we might all get killed by something ridiculous tomorrow. But my gut says that's your best path forward."

"Very well. I'm touched by your confidence. It's probably just as well to stick to a non-combat class given that I didn't reach Epic until I was 76. And now my lifespan has just essentially doubled, but that hasn't canceled out all the aging penalties to my physical attributes. I will take [Inspiring Philomath]… but we're going to need a better library."

"Agreed," I say.

"You're awfully chummy with the barbarians," Amethyst says as we're getting ready to go.

"Barbarians?" I wonder as it occurs to me that she's probably speaking Latin with her auto-translator on.

"The skyborn," Amethyst clarifies. "The souls from the Heavens and not the Earth. They always feel shallow to me. Their roots don't go very deep and there are things about our existence that they will never be able to understand. We remember Earth, though. That means something. We carry the essence of Earth in our souls."

I shrug. "Maybe, but they have thoughts and emotions and are nice to have around. The world would feel empty without them."

"I suppose it's like keeping cats. But it takes a very special young soul to make it past Legendary. We've got advantages. Unique skills, extra quests, knowledge of the sun and stars. Sol Invictus is dead, but his legacy lives on in our memories, spurring us to new heights."

"I don't get quests from my core," I say. "So I have to be a little more proactive with finding my own path."

"Well, I need to get some supplies and equipment squared away before I can dive into a grape vat," Amethyst says. "I left some requests with Copper, but I'm going to head out with you to see if I can locate some other things myself. What do you know about yeast?"

"It's itty bitty things that eat sugar and burp," I say.

"Right, well, we're going to find some better yeast for wine," Amethyst says. "Garnet said she'd used beer yeast from Nefern, and it works but it's not ideal. I can work with it and modify it but it would be better to get a different strain to start off with, maybe even collect a few different strains if I can find them."

"I'm up for seeking out some very, very small new life that does not want to eat me."

I check my party screen before we go.

Defiant Seekers Leader: Drake (You) Drake Elite Resonant Child Anise Heroic Sorcerous Aethernaut Rowan Elite Apprentice Bodyguard Amethyst Basic Dwarven Brewer

Traveling light this time, with most of us staying behind to keep working on things in Hebron. We take the spiral staircase up and emerge into the Underswamps.

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