In the tent, Shewa saw once again something hard to understand. It was normal for a girl to want to change dress in a private location. It was a little hard to do on a journey, but the men serving under the commander were well-behaved. Dungeon masters don’t need to change clothes like regular people. They want a new shirt, dress, shoes, whatever, and their old clothes change immediately. But this dungeon mistress was doing it like any mortal. She took off her light yellow dress and started dressing in a new one.

  "Can I have a question?" Shewa asked while helping Naomi to fit it.

  "Sure."

  "Why don't you wave your hands and make one dress appear and another disappear, like all dungeon masters?"

  Naomi's eyes widened with horror.

  "But that’s bad. It's terrible. You can’t just destroy someone's hard work."

  "But you can recreate it perfectly. Doesn't it?"

  "Only on the surface, and no one can recreate someone's passion, hopes. See that yellow dress. Goddess gave it to me on our first meeting. It means so much that I can’t properly express my feelings. How can I destroy that kind of gift." Sheva, hearing that, almost had a heart attack. She held in her hands a holy artifact.

  "I understood. Thank you for your wise words." Priestess stammered.

  "Everything's all right?" Naomi asked, a little worried by her change of attitude.

  "Yes. And I think we are ready. It fits you well."

  "Yes. It's not too tight either."

  "That’s good too. That's one reason why I prefer robes. That and straps on your back. Can you reach them?"

  "Barely." Naomi tried. "Oh well. I will try magic or ask one of the spiders from my core floor."

  "I guess that they are quite big spiders? Are you not afraid of them?"

  "If I were in your position, I would probably run screaming. But as you probably know, my creatures can’t harm me." The priestess nods. "So I was curious how touching them feels, and it turns out they love scratches and being petted."

  Sheva looks at her for a moment and starts laughing.

  "Sorry, Mistress, I can’t stop. It's too funny."

  "I know how absurd it sounds." Naomi also laughs with her.

  "Uff. I haven't laughed like that for a long time. Are you ready? Can we come back?"

  "Yes," Naomi answered.

  "You look wonderful." Venancijs greeted them when they entered the tent.

  "Thank you, sir. For your kind words and gift." Naomi thanked him sincerely.

  "We heard some commotion, can you say what's happened?" Asked commander.

  "It’s because I asked the mistress if she has someone to help untie the dress."

  "And I said yes. Giant spiders from my final floor. And how my curiosity led me to discover that they love pets and scratches."

  "Can you imagine something like that?" Asked the priestess with a wide grin.

  "I prefer not." Answered the commander.

  "I have a small question." Grand Merchant asked.

  "Yes?"

  "You see, Mistress, as you probably know, some merchants like gold a little too much and don't like to spend it. Because of that, you could meet some of them trying to take advantage of you."

  "Unlikely." Naomi disagrees. "I have no idea what you need to cross the desert. However, an experienced guide is obvious. Ask the commander how many of them agree on something like that."

  "Mistress is right. Not one will agree to venturing into the desert without enough supplies."

  "And the second important thing is that the desert is dangerous, and there is always a chance of losing all supplies in a storm, for example. Anyone in need can seek shelter and help here."

  "And about danger. In your absence, we concluded we should peek on the first floor. Of course, if we allowed Mistress."

  "Of course, you can delve there. But please don’t venture to the second floor. I do it deadly, and giant spiders are not the most dangerous down there."

  "We won't. We are not allowed to do that. Only the official adventurer guild exploration team can do that. We plan only to see two or three first rooms, nothing more. And we are doing it because of your remote location. The Guild will want something more than simple ‘’We found a new dungeon ‘’." Explained the commander.

  "Ok. Good to know. But please be careful down there. I don't won't kill somebody."

  "Excuse me, my Mistress, but dungeons are places where people die." Said Venancijs.

  "I don't know about other dungeons, but my job is to teach people not to kill them. Yes, there will be accidents, but I can’t prevent that. However, every time someone dies, it means that I failed."

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  "I understood Mistress. I'm sorry for disturbing you." Answered Grand Merchant.

  "It’s ok. I chose my role as dungeon mistress, fully aware that people would die because of my creations. Anyway, I think I will go now. I need rest before your delving tomorrow. Good night."

  "Good night." Said the commander and grand merchant.

  "I will take you to the camp border. I will be right back." The priestess said and went with Naomi.

  Venancijs spoke as Sheva returned to the tent a moment later.

  "Priestess? Have I offended Mistress in some way?"

  "I don't think so. She is just very pure-hearted and very similar to The Lady. Just like her, she doesn't like unnecessary bloodshed. Oh, I remember two more things that you should know."

  "What is it, Priestess?" Asked commander.

  "First, don’t ask her to immortalize anything you own unless you made that personally." It was something that some successful crafters do. When they create something exceptional, they seek the nearest dungeon and offer it to the master. And he turns it into the prize or the chosen weapon of one of the champions."

  "Why?"

  "Because immortalizing something means destroying the original, all efforts and fillings that someone put into it will be erased too. And she hates that."

  "I will inform the guild as soon as we get back." The great merchant nodded. This information can buy some goodwill from the Dungeon Mistress.

  "And the second one?" Asked Lucius.

  Priestess gave them signs to get closer to her. When they were very close to each other, Shewa whispered.

  "That yellow dress is a holy artifact, given to her by The Lady personally."

  The commander almost choked on water, and the Grand Merchant turned pale.

  "I need some fresh and cold air." The commander said after he stopped coughing.

  "And I need a bucket of cold water. Maybe it will calm down enough to get some sleep."

  At dawn, people slowly woke up from their sleep. Even if most of them would be resting, it was normal to be ready early. There was always a lot of work, like feeding the camels. At least there was no manure to clean up. The dungeon took care of that.

  "Thuldir, did you eat breakfast?" The commander asked the dwarf warrior.

  "Ay, commander."

  "I have two tasks for you for today. The first is to help me move some lifting mechanisms in the tower. I think I see similar things in one city used to load goods onto barges."

  "Well, commander, I’ll try to help. I am walking the warrior path, but I learn and see few things as a youngster."

  "I'm counting on that. The second thing is fast delving on the first floor. Yes, I remember what I said yesterday, but as Grand Merchant pointed out, Adventurers Guild likely will want to hear something more than there is a new dungeon."

  "Ay, commander. That could happen. But why me?"

  "You are a shield warrior, and on the first floor is the shrine of The Smith."

  "Ah, true. I should pay respect to my ancestor."

  "I will pick three more for us. We will be delving after dinner. Let's grab a few people and look at this contradiction in the tower."

  "Ach, you are right, commander. It looks just like those in ports." Thuldir agrees when they reach the lift near the stairs. "Let's see what we have here, " He says, inspecting everything.

  "Two of you step inside this wheel and start walking the oasis." They start walking, and the platform slowly rises. As she moved, he saw some rope being pulled by the lift. This line goes through two wheels. One of them had a lot of short wings with a place where a rope would go through and turn it around. A little higher and a little to the side was another one with numbers from zero to four and only five wings. The line was only on one side of this wheel. The groove was also bigger, and the line didn't touch or move it. Thuldir saw a metal ball on the line when the platform almost reached the ceiling. The ball strikes one of its wings When the ball reaches the wheel with numbers and moves it by ?, the top number changes from zero to one.

  "Commander, how high are the higher floors?"

  "Something about three yards. Hard to say."

  "Ay. Dungeon masters like to use some rare or forgotten measurement units." He agrees. The number changes to two when the second ball passes through the wheels. "Ha, ha, it works. Boys, start walking in the opposite direction."

  When the platform landed, the dwarven warrior turned to the commander and said.

  "I can see why my god ancestor chose her. Just a few simple improvements, and she made this lifting platform much better. So, from the beginning. I won't talk about the wheel because it's obvious how to use it. What is important is three things. Before moving the platform, you need to check for loose on it and if the gate is locked. We are in a dungeon, and those wooden beams should keep the platform in place, but better safe than sorry."

  "Truth." The commander agrees.

  "And now the best parts. In mines, especially dwarven, bells, sometimes glowing magical stones, are used for sending signals between floors or through long corridors. It's a simple and reliable system, but each mine usually has its own set of signals. This is much better. The dwarves will be storming this place to see this. And it’s so simple. Anyway. This thing with numbers from zero to four shows the floor where the platform is. You can even see where the next metal ball is to know how high the platform is in between floors. But this thing." He pointed to a wheel with words and a crank. "Is so much better than bells. Similar things should be on every floor. When you move a crank on one floor, it moves on every other. And those words are simple commands: stop, up, down. There should be some agreement that the crank shall be moved only by someone on the floor where the platform is. Something like that exists in mines."

  "Good." The commander nodded, relieved that using the platform was very easy. "Now I need a few more people to show them how it works, and we can start preparing for the rest of our journey. Moving necessary supplies will be easy."

  "Ay, commander."

  After lunch and some brief preparations, fourteen people, chosen mainly by the commander, went to the southern tower, where the entrance to the dungeons was located. There was Thuldir, Priestess Shewa, Grand Merchant Venancijs, and some random adventurers, who now don’t have anything better to do and can be useful after delving.

  A very nervous Dungeon Mistress was waiting for them there. Lucius thanked the gods that she wasn’t wearing a yellow dress. Instead, she had simple boots, trousers, and a simple shirt with short sleeves to the middle of the arm.

  "Hello, Mistress." Shewa smiled at her. "I hope you didn't wait too long for us?"

  "I don't mind waiting. It means that you are making more preparations." Answered Naomi.

  "Don’t worry. They know what they are doing." Priestess tries to calm her down.

  "But they don't know what's down there. And I can't tell them that."

  "Because of that, we will go check no more than three rooms. We will do that very slowly, and at first sign something too dangerous, we go back." Explained the commander. Naomi nods, still nervous. "Listen, everyone. I'll lead a small group down to see what's down there. There won't be a second try, no matter what. It's the job of the exploration team. Our job is to protect the caravan. I'm doing it only because the guild loves reports, and you all know how they hate it when someone comes and says there is a monster." All the adventurers start grinning and laughing. "Good. Thuldir will be the main shield bearer. Rafin, you're good with a shield too. Are you ready Hemben? As a mage, will be needed." Both nodded. "And Methild as the scout."

  "What about me? You need a healer down there." Asked Shewa.

  "Priestess, you are the main healer for the caravan, and this is an unnecessary risk. If something happens, the paladins will have lots of questions."

  "Oh, you know them. They are very overprotective sometimes." The Priestess joked.

  "They are also occupied with other tasks, and I don't want to give them extra work when it can be easily avoided. However, please wait for us. Hopefully, nothing serious happens, but be ready."

  "Yes, commander." Shewa nodded with a serious face.