"You look chipper," Khi says.

"Cold a-nippin' and delve a-waitin'. Can you ask for anything more?"

"I can think of a few hundred things, yes."

Shrugging my shoulders, I continue crunching through the intermittent frozen puddles with great excitement. Khi joins me in my newest fascination, enjoying the satisfying snaps even more than me. Kor'To avoids any ice with utmost prejudice. Only three beastfolk are trailing behind us today. Entirely different ones.

I address Khi, directing a brief glance at Kor'To, "How are you settling in?" The other security are a touch too far away, and I think they'd rather not be distracted with pointless conversation, intent on keeping their focus squarely on their duty.

Kor'To simply hums in response. It felt like a positive hum, going higher in pitch, rather than lower, by the end. I'll take it.

Khi answers verbally, "Okay." The answer sounded more like a question directed at herself than anything else.

I continue on, obliviously, "Personally, I always find it a gamble sleeping in new places."

The princess perks up, her tail following her example. "Hmm. I didn't sleep that terribly last night. The warm welcome certainly helped."

My reply is slightly embarrassed and not at all a fabrication, "Hey, that's what I'm here for. If you don't feel welcome in the Union, it ain't the Union anymore, you know."

"A good philosophy to practice," Khi says. "I don't believe I've heard it before, though."

I shrug. "Just my observations. Or at least what a lot of people are trying to emulate."

"You are definitely one of them. How many dungeons have you managed by now?"

"Coming up to three hundred, I'm pretty sure." Khi's tail flicks in surprise. Kor'To briefly loses control of one of his eyebrows, letting it displace by a long millimeter, betraying his surprise as well.

Khi says, a dash of amusement bleeding in her tone, "With that track record, no wonder you are so full of energy even this early in the morning."

"Energy is a state of mind," I say. Kor'To makes a slight nod in agreement.

Khi chuckles. "I'll have to take your word on that one."

"Enough about me. Tell me more about yourself, Khi. How strong are you?" I ask.

"I've faced blue— Er... D-grade dungeons before."

Kor'To speaks up for the first time, "Only with a party, Your Highness. Do not misguide our companion." Damn. That's a change in attitude if I've ever seen one. Interesting.

I suppress a yawn. "Want to delve another blue, then?"

Khi thinks for a moment. She flicks a gaze to Kor'To who nods reluctantly. She then turns back to me, smiling happily. "Yes."

"Alright. Any preferences?"

"Choose something challenging."

"As you wish, Your Highness." A floofy tail smacks at my waist.

Khi shakes her head. "Decorum, Mr. Doe." Her serious tone quickly transitioning into a laugh.

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We soon enter the much more populated Guild, earning ourselves a few stares. I throw a pointed glare at the regular loungers, causing them to turn away and start whistling innocent tunes. Our little posse approaches the counter, Khi and Kor'To close to me, with the others hanging back again.

Attendant Ania greets the beastfolk politely, "Good morning, Your Highness, Sir Kor'To." When the two return the greeting, she turns to me. "Lucius, how are you still alive and not an icicle somewhere?" She rummages under the counter and pulls out a beanie, crocheted out of white yarn and with a giant pompom on top. She slips it on my head in one fluid motion, nodding to herself after. Then she continues on as if nothing happened, "What can I help you with today?"

I adjust the beanie a touch. "D-grade. Set for destruction. Upper levels, please."

A stack of already sorted dungeon entries comes out from under the counter. "Look through these," Attendant Ania says. I flip through the pages and pull out my selection. She marks it and hands it back to me. "Be careful."

"You know me," I say. "Thank you for the hat, Attendant Ania."

"You are welcome."

With goodbyes said and a dungeon selected, we start making our way out of the Guild.

I ask the beastfolk, "Are we teleporting or taking our time?"

Khi answers, "Let's run. Warm up a little." I nod in agreement. As we start heading for a gate, Khi continues, "Everyone in the Guild seems to hold you in very high regard. Must be nice..."

"Aren't you a princess?"

She chuckles softly, but not in amusement. "Exactly. It is tiring, having to constantly pretend, to keep up appearances, to..." A flick of her tail interrupts her thoughts spoken out loud. Her voice is low, resigned. "You probably don't care about the woes of royalty. Who would." Kor'To looks like he wants to say something but chooses to remain silent. I don't.

"Meh. You can unload. Zero judgement. You're not my princess, after all."

Khi turns to me in surprise, the resignation wiped away from her face, replaced with a small smile. "That is very kind of you. If I may then, how did you handle leaving your home?"

"Hmm. While our situations are a bit different, I guess it's not by much. Making good friends and filling my time with smacking monsters certainly helped." Among other things.

"I am on the right track then, no?"

"That you are." I contemplate for a moment, deciding if this is the optimal approach. Maybe it's not, but it feels right. "May I ask you a question of my own?" Then I quickly add, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, of course."

She briefly turns to me, curiosity evident in her gaze. "Sure. Ask away."

"Why dungeons?" My broad query causes her to think, formulating a response.

As the seconds drag on, Khi exhales slowly, settling on an approach. "Everything is about power."

Kor'To interjects, "Your Highness—"

Only to be interrupted by her raised hand. "I am here because I am too weak. Because I am a liability. It is no secret, Kor'To. I am sure his Guild has informed him of our situation. Isn't that right, Lucius?"

"Yep."

My simple answer elicits an exasperated sigh from Khi. She asks, "You don't care?"

I scrunch up my face, frowning. "Do I care about the politics? Not really. I'm sure smarter people than me have it handled. Do I care about someone trying to do something stupid? Yes, I do. That's why I'm here, right?"

"And I thought we could dance around the issue for a while longer," Khi says.

"Oh. I don't care about that either. I meant what I said."

"Truly?" I just nod. "Well... Going back on track, I want to be stronger. I want to stand by my mother. Delving dungeons is one way I can both achieve my goal and demonstrate my strength for all to see. For what actually is and what others perceive are two very different things. And you can't neglect either. Especially in my world." Don't I know it.

"Sounds complicated. And very boring. But if you want someone to train with, I find that much more interesting."

Khi smiles, shaking her head. "Would you care to join me in the fight, then?"

"Sure. Have I mentioned how much I like smacking monsters?"

Khi makes a show of thinking intently. "No. First time I'm hearing of it." She smiles again, her brief spiral into gloom forgotten for the time being.

A city gate is reached, and then quickly grows smaller behind us. Khi has no trouble keeping up with my leisurely pace, which is more of a crawl for the other beastfolk, each one a powerful warrior. In only a few minutes, we cover the couple of kilometers to the dungeon. Kor'To orders the three security to stay guard and enters the blue portal just before Khi and me.

The immediate shift in our surroundings is quite stark. Cold and frozen, covered in white. Hot and humid, a mess of green. We are in a dense jungle. Tall trees cover the sky, and pretty much everything else, leaving little room to maneuver. Vines hang and twist. Approximations of animals roam the dungeon. Insects, birds, mammals, anything you might find outside, in the real world.

Kor'To stands a bit behind us, still on guard, but relaxed, confident. Khi moves her gaze from side to side. A deep inhale through the nose freezes her in place.

She turns to me. Some amusement evident in her voice. "How very thoughtful."

I meet her gaze with a bright smile. "Let's hunt."

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