His hand still tingled. Luca stood in the hallway, the one he couldn’t reach yesterday no matter how close he got to it. Outside of the cssrooms stood the same people that accompanied him in the role training. Except this time, another kind of challenge presented itself to him: being social.

  Luca stood straight, his hands at his sides, awkward as can be, seeing the rest of the people already in little groups talking. He himself had never really had to deal with making friends; Dryleave being the small settlement that it was, making friends as a child never presented a challenge. All the kids in the small school simply defected into a big group of friends, and as they grew up and more kids arrived at the school, they split into two easy groups: one group of boys and another of girls. Finally, as they grew older and older, Luca found himself distancing from the rest of his friends, not really being close with any of them, finding most topics of conversation not fun for him to discuss, or simply realizing he didn’t have anything in common with them. Eventually it turned into kind and polite greetings as they passed on the street. Luca simply felt happy enjoying the company of his family and doing his jobs to help the town, so he never really reached out to the other guys his age in Dryleave, even if loneliness sometimes crept in; after all, his family was there! Why would he need friends…

  Little by little Luca noticed how it seemed that everything in his life had made him not as optimal for the outside world as he thought. Turns out, being strong and able to outrun a bull (once) doesn’t cover everything one needs in order to thrive.

  There wasn’t really any pattern across the groups; the colorful siblings chatted with some folks with elvish features. The rugged older man, who seemed to be at least an acquaintance of the guild leader, the orcish-looking fellow, and the Dracon were part of the big group with the most people, where some humans, a dwarf, and a feathered were among others, and Luca saw the very own Preston talking with a couple other humans; the rich man seemed to shoot a gnce at Luca, but the rookie from Cuartel, preferring to avoid that interaction, simply continued looking around. His eyes nded on a curious scene: on the other side of the hallway, the only other person that was alone sat cross-legged on the floor, her hands on her p and her braided blonde hair falling from her shoulder onto her p as well. The elf’s name evaded Luca at this moment; it was something with E… He thought to himself, but his thoughts trailed off as he noticed she was looking back at him, her eyes piercing daggers at his face.

  Luca looked behind him, seeing no one else. He looked back at her as she stared angrily in his direction. Luca swallowed hard; he assumed she must’ve been lost in thought, and, though awkward, it seemed like a good enough opportunity to introduce himself, so he waved at her shyly. But she kept staring at him, and even if everyone else stood between them, creating some considerable distance, Luca could’ve sworn he saw her wince when he waved.

  “ALLRRRIGHT EVERYBODY!!!” A loud voice scared Luca as he heard it from behind him. Turning around, he saw an older, fat man with olive skin and a big beard walk through the hallway and past the people, going towards one of the doors. “You know the deal! If you wish to go into the dungeon to fight or record it, with me!” The man had bck hair tied in a knot behind his head, even though it didn’t appear that long. Opening the room, Luca saw inside desks and a bckboard, a chandelier on the tall ceiling, and a variety of maps and weapons on the walls around them. “Everybody to your seats, come on, come on.”

  Luca hesitated as he understood the situation: css had started, and he missed the first day; everything was assigned, every presentation was done, everything had been settled except for him. Locking eyes with the man he now knew to be the professor, he was slightly surprised at seeing him fsh a big, toothy smile.

  “Ooooh! Finally, we get the st of my students!” He walked to Luca, and before the tter could react, he pulled him by the arm and dragged him in front of the bckboard. Now he was standing in front of the rest of his peers, and being part of the crowd was fine, but Luca felt his throat close as he saw everyone just looking up at him, albeit some not really interested. “So, young man, tell us! What’s your name? What family do you hail from?! Why weren’t you here yesterday!!??” The man’s excitement led into something resembling resentment from him missing the first day, and Luca couldn’t help but look around as his mouth dried and think: … I hate this.

  “U-Um… I-I’m Luca… No st name. I-I had an incident yesterday and had to miss css… sorry.” He turned to the professor for the apology, but the man was looking at him smiling, delight written on his features.

  “Aha, aha… And tell us about you, Luca! Where are you from? What do you wish to obtain from joining our dear guild? Is there anyone you know here? How did you come to join our dear guild? Do you dye your hair, or is it natural?” … I hate this, he thought once more. His mind was bnk, and his eyes darted around the faces of his peers, not really seeing any of them.

  “...........” The silence extended too long, so Luca cleared his throat and steeled his nerves the best he could. When he spoke, his voice was shakier than he preferred. “..... I’m from Dryleave, a town in Cuartel………. and I was invited by the previous direc-”

  “AAAAAHH!!! I knew it was you!!” The young man was startled, which didn’t help as some giggles spread across the cssroom, Preston’s ugh a bit louder than the rest. “You SAVED our precious Kreaspell; you gifted us a few months more to enjoy him… You, my friend… you’ll go far, I know this.”

  “T-Thank you… Can I sit now?” The nodding of the man brought the air back to Luca’s lungs.

  “Of course, of course! We’ll have to start css at some point, huh? Alright, everyone, settle down. Just pick any pce, new one; you’ll have some parchment inside the desk. NOW…” The professor turned to face the bckboard and began writing on it. Luca found himself walking to nowhere just to get away from the situation; he simply gravitated to an empty desk, sitting down and wincing at the sound of the chair grinding against the floor as he pulled it back. Sitting down, Luca exhaled a sigh of relief as he felt the attention going off of him.

  “Here.” The voice beside him opened his desk.

  “O-oh!” Inside, he did indeed see a stack of parchment. Grabbing it, he saw a small bottle of bck ink with the Zenith logo that was bigger than the one Luca bought for himself the day before and a colorful feather that followed a blue and green gradient. Luca felt fancy as he grabbed the items and settled them on the desk. “Thank you…”

  “No problem, handsome~” Luca tensed lightly as he saw the strong hand that retreated from his desk as covered in white scales and some cws going out of her fingers. But before he could even process it-

  “THE DUNGEON OF ZENITH!!!” The professor truly did have a booming voice; Luca felt his temples bump a little after hearing it. “The very foundation of our beautiful city! Raised from the ground magically centuries ago, only for us to RISE to meet it… This, my dear students, is your destiny!” The man was very intense, talking with his hands and his whole body even, his voice bouncing off of the pristine walls and giving Luca a mild ringing in the ears. “We, as people we are, have SOUGHT to conquer this dungeon, exploring it, documenting it, fighting it, looting it, etcetera, etcetera. Because of that, we have divided it into a manner that we can understand and document and all that… bureaucratic business.” The professor groaned at the st part before stepping to the side and gesturing to a simple drawing he had drawn, a diamond-shape that represented the mountain, with some sort of cylinder that got thicker and thicker as it approached the bottom of the bckboard that was inside the very rhombus. “Now, who can tell me about how we documented the dungeon?”

  “Surely our previous director’s guest knows, Professor Nazer.” Luca stopped writing and closed his eyes. His mother had taught him to be kind to everyone, but being kind to Preston seemed harder and harder each time he heard his voice.

  The professor looked at Preston, then at Luca, and then he shrugged.

  “Well? Do you have any insight, dear new student?” He gestured to the bckboard, maybe hoping Luca would stand, but the young man simply shook his head, to the mild disappointment of the professor. “Ah, then perhaps it’s just easier to expin it myself.” The man then took a very deep breath, shook his head, which caused his cheeks to jiggle, and then smmed the board with his palm. “LEVELS! THE DUNGEON HAS EVOLVED ALL THESE YEARS TO BE SO UNBELIEVABLY DEEP AND COMPLEX THAT WE HAVE SOUGHT TO DIVIDE IT INTO LEVELS!!! Anyone know how many there are at the moment?” The css erupted into different people yelling their answers; clearly the professor's enthusiasm was contagious.

  “Six!” Yelled some of the students.

  “FIVE, THERE’S FIVE!” Screamed some others. The professor stood quietly, enjoying the barrage of answers.

  “Seven!” Yelled someone in the back, to which the professor pointed and let out one loud guffaw.

  “AS of the st year, we now know, and are able to share it with the public, that there are at least SEVEN levels to the dungeon of Zenith.” He began writing a number in every section of the bottom-heavy cylinder. “In the beginning, when it was discovered by the first adventurers, it had only ONE level, but as the years went on, and Zenith began exploring it more and more, not only were we able to dissipate its curse, but also to find the rest that were previously unknown to us. Any guess as to what makes this dungeon special, besides the fact that it’s the biggest one found till now?” Some hands were raised, but the professor seemed to struggle with who to pick. As Luca was finishing replicating the drawing the professor had made, he cursed under his breath when Preston’s voice rang out once more.

  “Oh, I believe our dear newcomer must know.” He said smugly. “He must have some knowledge of it; he was invited after all.”

  “Oh, well, I don-” The professor’s voice was cut off by the Dracon that sat beside Luca, leaning back on her chair and looking at the rich man.

  “You know, Preston, you sure like to offer the poor guy to answer. Why? Can’t you do anything on your own?” Some giggles and exaggerated gasps arose from her jab.

  “Oh, I’ll answer with pleasure, dear Mexander.” Luca could hear Preston’s teeth grind from the back of the css. “However, I don’t like to waste breath, so please make sure to have your ears not covered by a pair of legs when I answer, hmm?”

  “Preston, Preston, I’d hear you just fine if I was between a pair of open legs pleasuring someone as you so subtly insinuate, although I suppose you wouldn’t know how it is being in that scenario, would you?” Her voice was confident and carried pity towards Preston as she mocked him.

  The css fell silent for a second as Mexander’s insult echoed off of the walls; some people drowned a chuckle while others simply averted their gaze from the two rookies as they talked from either side of the cssroom. The sound of Preston standing and smming his hands on his desk rang out before another sound drowned it.

  Luca had to put his hands on his ears; it was like thunder had struck directly into the very cssroom. When he opened his eyes, still hearing naught but a slowly dissipating ringing, he saw the professor looking angrily at Preston, his hand raised and in a position as if he had just snapped his fingers. When everyone slowly regained hearing, Luca didn’t look back at the rich man’s seat, but he could hear him sitting down and sliding his chair forward, probably ashamed. The professor looked around the cssroom, his demeanor now much more fitting to an army general scouting his recruits. Before long, an awkward silence filled the room, and seeing no one act up, Luca decided to take the situation by the horns once again, hoping this time he would not be thrown off onto the ground to sit on a puddle of shame. He slowly raised his hand before the fat man noticed him with one raised eyebrow and nodded silently.

  “I-It’s because every level is different.” His voice was now much more steady, and Luca took a deep breath before continuing. “Every level? I-I’ve heard it’s like a different region… different creatures and- and um… like ecosystems and that…” The professor's face changed from anger to surprise to a light smile and then to a grin from ear to ear as he screamed again. His voice, in comparison with the thunder they all heard before, was much more manageable now.

  “MARVELOUS!!!!!!!!!” He excimed. “Finally a direct answer from a student, and it is DEAD. ON. RIGHT!” The man nodded proudly at Luca before finally turning back to the bckboard, pointing to the first cylinder, and finally resuming the css. “Now, buckle up; I’m not pausing for any more interruptions, so we are doing this in one go. All the levels! There is:

  1- The ancient castle! Pretty normal, old-looking fortress, white bricks… Nothing too remarkable apart from the fact that it is in very good condition despite the years, suspected to be the only level that the adventurers that discovered the dungeon explored… Important to know about, but not too fascinating, so MOVING ON!

  2- The decadence of the fortress!! This, my dears, is where it starts to get interesting. Same fortress, different colored bricks, a deep grey, cracks everywhere; much more normal-looking dungeon, but more dangerous as well, as if the very environment made living there harsher and forced the creatures to become harsher themselves.”

  The professor spoke with a tone that made it seem as if he was a bard telling a scary story in a tavern, and whether it was because of his eccentric behavior or because he was actually trying to scare them, the way he spoke did attract Luca’s attention.

  “3- The dark caves!!! Now we are GETTING SOMEWHERE! Dear students, the castle fell, and now only the caverns underneath remain. Here the only light you’ll get won’t be from magical torches but from the few and spread-out flora and fungi that evolved to stand out! Here the creatures get to a level that no low-rank adventurer should face, from man-eating bats to tribes of-” The professor seemed to catch himself, clearing his throat before continuing. ”Dangerous and dark, very easy to get lost, not something you want in this ever-changing pce, which is another topic for another day. Anyhow.

  4- THE FORGOTTEN JUNGLE!!!! ABSOLUTE CHANGE!! The flora gets lusher, more vibrant, and more common. The floor is full of grass-like moss, and the walls have crystals that have rocks that shine like the sun. Full of creatures forgotten to time and monsters that hunger for adventurer flesh, truly… a nd forgotten to time and a nd that itself has forgotten mercy.”

  The professor stared at everyone with his eyes wide open, then slowly mimicked cpping. When the css understood and started cpping to his little speech about the fourth level, he bowed like an actor after a py.

  “5- A GELID TOMB!!!!! ABSOLUTE CHANGE ONCE MORE!! All flora dies—not really, but it does get waaaay more scarce—all flora dies, and instead snow and ice coat the floor, the ceiling, and the walls… Here, my dears, is an icy hell, full of creatures who had to adapt to its harsh environment, but unlike their neighbors upstairs, they had to be efficient… No tribes, no time for civilization when cold is king. Here only the strongest, rgest, and deadliest creatures survive… and they. Are. Hungry…”

  The professor once more looked around the cssroom with wide eyes; this time everyone cpped a bit more lively, and the man seemed satisfied.

  “6- THE VOLCANO!!!!!! ABSOL-”

  “That's it?” Asked one of the elves the gyojin brothers were speaking to earlier, leaving the professor shocked and confused.

  “W-What do… What do you mean that’s it?”

  “I mean… the forgotten jungle, the dark caves… Nothing special about the volcano? Is it just like… Is it just va?”

  The professor looked back at the bckboard, then at the student. He repeated this action quite a few times, his face showing more irritation every time he looked back at the css.

  “... I’m sorry. Have you seen many va-infested caverns under an ice cavern under a jungle?”

  “I-I’m just saying it-”

  “NO! NO, IT’S NOT JUST LAVA. THERE’S SALAMANDER DRAGONS AND MAGMA WRAITHS AND- AND… uh… Okay, yes, it’s mostly va… But it’s still fascinating that it’s there, no?” The css slowly filled with agreeing murmurs and a few quiet cps, to which the professor waved a dismissive hand. “… a-and uh… the seventh one we can’t talk about yet because it’s still being explored, so… A-Anyway! Let’s move on onto measurements! Each level has its own depth, each level is bigger than the rest, and the first level ends just before the mountain outside meets the ground; therefore, by calcuting from the entrance…”

  Luca’s attention slipped away slowly as he looked at his notes. He noted how the dungeon seemed to change drastically from itself as it got deeper and deeper. Suddenly he felt something brush against his leg; looking down, he noticed a white tail snaking its way around his ankle, slowly brushing against his leg under his pants. Following the rest of its body as his face got redder, Luca saw it connected to his deskmate, the white Dracon dy. She rested her face on her hand as she looked uninterested at the bckboard, her eyes never meeting Luca’s even as her tail began to unwrap from his ankle and instead started sliding up his leg dangerously.

  The dracon was tall, around 7ft. Her eyes were a deep red that had one bck slit as a pupil, and behind her eyes on the back of her face, three horns stuck backwards on either side of it, giving her a more primal look, like an animal evolving to look more intimidating. She had a snout that got thinner towards the end of it; it stopped just before it actually got pointy, and the edges of her mouth had jagged edges as if every part of it was designed for tearing things off. She had a long neck that was probably the second biggest contributor to her height, thinner near her face and slowly getting thicker until it reached her shoulders. On her chest were two mounds, contained by her leather top, which contradicted her reptile anatomy in Luca’s eyes. Her body was muscur but not as much as other women he had met in Zenith, her arms weren’t too defined, and her legs were long with her thighs being full; Luca would’ve noticed the fact that she wasn’t wearing shoes due to her feet being different than his by a long shot, but his discrete observation of her body was interrupted by the sound of parchment being dragged across a table, specifically, a small piece of parchment from the very same reptile woman.

  Looking forward and praying she didn’t notice his gaze, he inspected the note. It read, “Hi?, I’m Mexander, friends call me Mexy~ May I have your name?” Underneath was some bnk space, so Luca carefully pretended to be taking down notes as he wrote his name. The man from Dryleave had been taught all his life by his mother that everything written should be said in the most polite way one could muster, but due to the small space, he’d have to conform with writing his name in the best lettering he could muster instead of “The name of one such as myself is Luca.” Luca himself didn’t like how far his mother made him take his phrasing, but even then he couldn’t stop himself from writing like that most times.

  Sliding the note back, Luca’s attempts at distracting himself were frustrated as another piece of parchment slid towards him, which made him confused as to how she wrote it so fast; he certainly didn’t notice her writing anything; did she have this already written?

  On this note it said, “Do you think I’m hot, cute, and/or pretty?” Luca’s mouth felt dry as he read the message. His eyes drifted from the note to her lower body again. He had tried to avoid focusing on that part of her, but the tail that continued sliding and wrapping around his leg was connected to one ample behind, which she stuck outwards by bending her back slightly even while sitting down. She shifted one leg to rest on the other, which gave Luca a better view of her thigh as her shorts rode up ever so slightly. The first time he saw her from afar, the human man couldn’t help but think of how strange it was to see a person with scales instead of skin, but seeing her nearby now (specifically seeing her long legs next to him), Luca noticed how her scales in fact didn’t cover all of her body, but only most of it. Looking at her neck again, it looked softer and squishier; perhaps only some of her scales were hard like a dragon’s. He shook his head and with shaky hands wrote “Yes” on the parchment before letting the ink puddle enough to make it unreadable so he could write “I’d say so” instead in order to look more nonchant.

  As soon as he slid it back, he took a deep breath and looked at the bckboard again; however, she giggled, and her snicker echoed through his mind a thousand times in a second, before she slid the next parchment that made Luca’s eyes shoot wide open and the breath leave his lungs, completely demolishing any possibilities of him ever focusing again on the remainder of the css.

  “There’s an empty closet with cleaning materials two doors down the hall; it’s always empty. Wanna bang there after css??”