“So I’m not a paper-making expert… but the method that we’re going to use is close enough to a type of fabric that I think we will be able to make a passable attempt,” Chandrika said.


    She was using her magic to suspend the delicate fiber mesh in the air as Gio, Sapphire, and Hatra examined it.


    “The hard part is going to be finding a suitable type of cellulose mush to replace a proper woody pulp for the texturing…” Sapphire commented.


    “Hmm… what about the roots of the Asphodels? They’re tough enough to climb sheer rock faces, right?” Gio asked.


    “That could work. Hold on…” Hatra said.


    She reached over the side of the moving boat, indelicately grasping at one patch among thousands that lined the walls of the dungeon.


    Gio’s eyes widened as Hatra summoned a complicated-looking construct of magic. It seemed to be a mix of alchemical diagrams and translucent barriers in swirling shades of purple and green. It reminded him of Sapphire’s workstation in their shared gardening hut, albeit far more mystifying.


    “Is that a portable workstation?!” Sapphire nearly yelled.


    “Yup!”


    Hatra squeezed down on one of the poisonous roots, creating a pulpy white paste. The paste then flowed into a depression in one of the barriers. A clear liquid that was probably water began dripping out from under the pulp into the canal below.


    “I’ve never been more jealous of system mages than I am at this moment,” Sapphire said.


    “Don’t be so sure,” Hatra said, further grinding the paste.


    “I cannot learn any kind of healing or life magic. The evocation spells that I cast are about a quarter of the power they should be. It would be a waste of time for me to learn any sort of divination spell. I am also shoehorned into a specific path for class progression by my system… “Grass is greener” and all that.”


    “Wait, you can’t use healing magic?” Gio asked.


    “Nope. My system thinks that if I need healing, I should be able to either produce the medicines myself or be rich enough to afford a healer.”


    “Huh. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t know any healing spells yet, so we’re in the same boat on that subject.” Gio chortled.


    Hatra flung a small glob of white goo at Gio, hitting him square on the cheek.


    “Bad. No puns while I’m working.” She said.


    “Hey! Isn’t this stuff toxic?” Gio said, wiping off the paste.


    “In this concentration, barely at all. You’d need to eat about a pint of the stuff to get an upset stomach. Or I guess if you ate a decent sized amount of it for a month, you’d start to experience the first signs of renal failure.” Sapphire said.


    “I bet if you left it on your skin for like… an hour, you’d probably get a rash. Here.” Hatra said, reaching out to cast a spell that Gio was amply familiar with. A wave of white mana washed over him, disintegrating all trace elements of the paste from his cheek.


    “[Cleanse]! I love that spell!” Gio said.


    “I made a point to get it as soon as possible because of all those nights at-”


    “-Kings Garden,” Gio said in unison with Hatra.


    They laughed together, beginning to tell stories about their time working under Sam to the group.


    While they chatted, she began to use a series of ghostly hand tools to further grind and process the white paste even further. She added a few drops of some sort of liquid that she produced from thin air, which somehow managed to make the paste even whiter than it was previously. After a while, she motioned to Chandrika and Sapphire.


    Sapphire began wiping the paste on top of the mesh as Chandrika did something that made the fibers seem to animate and writhe around in a slightly worm-like fashion, spreading the substance evenly.


    Gio then took the resulting rough-shaped mesh, drying it out with a bit of heat from his mana shaping, and then took out a pocket knife to cut it down to spellbook size. He held his prize aloft for the group to admire.


    “Dungeon paper!” Gio exclaimed.


    “I can’t imagine that it’ll be the easiest thing to write on… but I hope it works for your assignment,” Sapphire said, smiling.


    “I’m sure that I can make do. Thank you all for doing this for me. Not just the paper… all of it. I can’t imagine doing this alone.” Gio said, feeling sentimental.


    “Don’t thank us yet. We haven’t even fought anything.” Jean said.


    A splash from behind them alerted the group to a fin in the water.


    Chandrika narrowed her eyes at Jean. “You just had to jinx us.”


    Jean stopped paddling the boat, brandishing the oar as a weapon, as it’s edges began to glow with a shining starlight.


    A young pup of a Telchine bobbed up from the water. He quickly surveyed the group, flinching back at the raised oar, and spoke to Chandrika in a voice that sounded adorably similar to a puppy’s bark.


    Chandrika caved instantly, re-casting [Tongues].


    “Why did you follow us?” She asked.


    Gio examined the Telchine more thoroughly. It was difficult to tell, but he was fairly certain that this was the same Telchine that they had given the lichen to. The same Telchine that the village leader had shooed away from the table.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The pup reached into the water, dipping both outstretched hands down and raising them up as if clutching something that was not there. The surface of the water bubbled slightly, and as the water fell away, a roughly shaped rod of metal appeared in his hands. The work seemed to deplete the young Telchine heavily.


    “I had to chase you down so that my grandfather would not prevent me from asking again. I have nothing to offer you except this cursed metal. I have not yet learned to shape it in a way that would be useful to you… but I must ask anyways. I know that it is forbidden to ask, but please… kill my father.” he said.


    <Serendipity! The spirits of Honor, Familial responsibility, and Justice bless your party with a CHALLENGE>


    <Challenge: Kill the marked Telchine Watcher.


    Rewards:


    - Dungeon loot bag of moderate rarity


    -Unworked length of [REDACTED] Metal from questgiver.


    Failure penalty: None. Time limit: Three hours.


    Special warning! Accepting this quest will increase difficulty of dungeon: [Telchine’s Garden]>


    Gio was taken aback at the sudden wall of text, and looked around, seeing similar looks of surprise on his companions faces. Suddenly, another wall of text appeared in a flash of glittering purple letters, juxtaposing the text of the first challenge.


    <Rejoice, Child! Several spirits and a [REDACTED] of [REDACTED] edict a COUNTER-CHALLENGE>


    <Challenge: Disregard the previously issued Challenge. Throw the metal into the water. Bring the child to the gate.


    Rewards:


    -MAJOR BOON for all party members


    -Exclusive Spell from dungeon loot table


    -Free access to the reservoir that you seek.


    Failure penalty: Scorn of the Spirits.  Time limit: Immediate future.>


    Chandrika grunted, scrunching her face into a scowl.


    “I detect foul play.” She said, looking up at the sky.


    Chandrika sparkled with golden magic as a crown of glittering gold appeared a foot in the air above her head. Soft light emanated from the crown as gossamer threads draped down, touching her forehead. A third eye forged of light shined out from the crown of her head.


    “Reveal yourself! Who or what interferes with our journey?” She said. Her voice was clear, echoing out on the water with a slight ripple. The letters of the second challenge began to shift.


    <Rejoice, Child! Divine servitors of a Goddess of Witchcraft edict a COUNTER-CHALLENGE>


    <Challenge: Disregard the previously issued Challenge. Throw the metal into the water. Bring the child to the gate.


    Rewards:


    -MAJOR BOON for all party members


    -Exclusive Spell from dungeon loot table


    -Free access to the reservoir that you seek.


    Failure penalty: Increased Agression of Thralled Telchines.  Time limit: Immediate future.


    Do you accept? Y/N>


    Chandrika grimaced.


    “A Goddess of witchcraft?!” Sapphire said, immediately beginning to sweat.


    “What does that even mean?” Gio asked.


    “It means that a Goddess is meddling in this dungeon. Or… at least the servants of a Goddess are.” Chandrika said, clearly upset.


    “Should we leave? Taking on a dungeon is one thing… but a God? I don’t think I’m ready-” Hatra began.


    “I wouldn’t worry too much. In Ujjbala Sūrya we worship dozens of minor Gods and Goddesses. It is uncommon for a divine entity to interfere directly in the affairs of mortals without proper cause, as it is very costly for them to do so. It’s more likely that whatever servants she has are doing something here for their own reasons. The fact that they were less than forthcoming with us until I challenged them makes me believe that they’re just trying to manipulate us into keeping the status quo.” Chandrika ranted.


    “A Goddess of witchcraft, though? Doesn’t that imply that she could have actual… witches working under her?” Gio asked.


    “Well, I don’t believe that any of the Goddesses of my pantheon would be involved with th enslavement of a species of sentient creatures. We’re also a long way away from Ujjbala Sūrya. Aside from my country, There’s several small communities of hedge witches scattered across the globe, as well as Ataraxia, but they famously worship one specific witchcraft Goddess… and I don’t think that She would feel the need to hide her name.” Chandrika said.


    Gio seriously considered the options.


    “I don’t want to speak for everyone. I feel that there’s only one acceptable option here, though.” He said.


    Everyone looked at him.


    “Well, duh.” Hatra said.


    “I’d be disappointed if anyone thought otherwise.” Jean said.


    Gio smiled. He pressed his finger onto the imaginary button hovering in front of him.


    <You have chosen to DECLINE the COUNTER-CHALLENGE.>


    “Yeah there’s no way that I’m turning a child over for spiritual slavery or whatever,” Gio said.


    “Yeah… but like… Is it wrong that I’m kind of sad about missing out on the boon?” Sapphire said.


    Gio turned to eye Sapphire.


    She quickly raised her hands up in front of her.


    “N-not like I would actually do it…” Sapphire stuttured.


    “The rewards are designed to be tempting. I’ve heard similar tales of coercion from the spirits… but those tales are usually ones of caution. I… my family would know better than most.” Chandrika said, barely whispering by the time she finished the statement.


    The pup chirped up again, his eyes wide with reverence.


    “So you will do it?! Thank you!! Thank you, strange creatures!” The pup said, as Chandrika translated.


    The Telchine handed the haft of metal to Chandrika, who accepted it with a nervous half-smile.


    “Thank you for the… uh….” She began.


    “May it serve you well!” The Telchine said, splashing off back to the village.


    Chandrika put the metal down in front of the group. They all crowded around, looking down at it.


    The jagged, almost spearlike protrusion of metal was just under a meter long, and about half as thick as Gio’s arm. It was a strange mix of metallic hues of copper and bronze, with crystalline outcroppings of an almost botanical green and blue color.


    “So… we managed to do what your grandfather couldn’t… We’ve got our hands on some special un-cursed metal… Yay?” Hatra said.


    She tried casting [Identify] on the metal.


    “Wow. A whole lot of nothing.”


    She shared the notification.


    [Telchine Pseudo-Orichalcum] - A type of metal produced by Telchines. Has magical properties.


    “Well… I guess that’s useful information. Sorta.” Gio said.


    “Yeah… well, I guess I’ll put it away for now. How much longer until we reach the- wait what was that noise?” Jean said.


    “Hmm?”


    Splish.


    Splish. Drip.


    Splish.


    A shimmer in the water.


    Splish.


    Gio whirled forward with a fluid motion, nearly knocking over Jean as he surged forward in the boat, conjuring a plane of mirror. [Reflect] activated on cue, and the reflected projectile splashed back into the water it had just shot out from, creating a series of ripples.


    “They’re here.” Gio said.