I received my first quest.
Clear the dungeon and obtain its core crystal. As exciting as it sounded, it didn't seem something a level-one wizard could do. I couldn't even call myself a wizard, and I doubted if I could even qualify as a level one in the first place because there weren't levels or stats or anything in this world, to begin with.
"Are you sure you want to come with us, Nati?" Omerta asked, but I was adamant. I may or may not have blackmailed them a little.
"I definitely will, or I'm not lending you my crystal," I claimed, sitting at the large table in the mess hall. We spent less and less time here since the embassy finished, but it was as good a place as any to make our plans. "I know it's a dangerous mission, but you guys would run in head first and risk your lives for some kind of treasure. You will be much more careful if I'm there too, right? And that's a great opportunity for me."
"Well, yeah, but..." Gitaut scratched his head. He seemed the strongest magician here but was the least confident about the plans. "You are not ready for that, Nati."
I knew that already, which was the whole point. I started running more, but I was practically useless in a fight. In this world, that meant death. I had to do something about it.
Alexandra was gone for weeks and didn't return even after the battle. We could only rely on ourselves. With the threat of another attack always in the cards, I had to train myself and my body, not just in magic. The shell I got from the Goddess was in excellent shape. It only started to deteriorate since I took over, and I was ashamed. I needed to challenge myself.
"Gorgon and Avalon agreed to train any volunteers that wanted to fight," Ember noted, a new member of our little council. Once she realized what kind of artifact I had and that the shaman could give everyone a copy, given we provide a medium for them, she doubled down on her demand. Now, it was a given that we had to conquer that dungeon.
"Yes, we have to train you first." Omerta agreed. She seemed excited about this adventure, which was a great sign. Losing her brother took a toll on the witch, and she spent most of her days drinking earlier, but this gave her life a purpose again. "And I guess we will also have to ask permission from Charlotte."
"Ugh, I'm a bit worried about that," I noted, leaning over the table.
"I can provide you with the gear you might need." Gomel, the dwarven smith pitched in. But he also felt the need to add a warning. "I offered the same to Sir Dioneras, Fang, and Bastion, but they said a dungeon left alone for a decade is too dangerous to explore without a magic caster, and that poor goblin already paid with one of his eyes, just fighting the monsters outside of it."
"Well, Dio isn't a fighter to begin with." Omerta shrugged. The Elder curbed her ambitions, but I heard how she wanted to wrestle the leadership from his boss. "I'd love to see him with his new eyepatch though. I might have underestimated the old goblin. And if they said it would be dangerous without someone with magic, we have that covered. It should be easy for the three of us, right?"
"I think what they meant was that it was dangerous anyway but suicidal without a balanced party." The dwarf rephrased it. "I would not go in there without some serious protection against magic, considering how a simple fear aura made an entire army run."
"You are right. Your Nightmares did save our bacon out there, and there will be much worse than them in the dungeons." Ember shared her opinion. "None of us ever seen one before, and if someone like Fang said it's risky, we should probably take the safest approach."
"You were the last person I expected advice like that, but I also agree." Omerta nodded and proposed a long-term plan. "I suppose we can't just rush in there now. So many things are happening, and we must stay vigilant and keep everyone safe. All of us could benefit from some training, some people more than others, Nati. But it's fine, we have time. This dwarven gentleman will prepare some gear for us, and we should consider recruiting a few fighters."
"I'm still not sure if it's a good idea." Gitaut seemed reluctant. I couldn't believe he was the most powerful here when he wasn't even a sorcerer, but the spirits were also strong if led by someone with great potential. "If it was left alone for a decade, nobody was strong enough to conquer it so far. And things probably only got worse over time."
"Hey, if you are okay with not getting a crystal, we can skip the whole thing." Omerta teased him, staring at my blue stone in question. They were all obsessed ever since they found out about it. Gitaut shook his head. "Guess even you wouldn't turn down an opportunity like this."
"I can't possibly find a master willing to teach me magic. And you people..." He couldn't possibly hurl a bigger insult at the witches than cutting his sentence off there. "I'm willing to take some risks for that crystal and even work together with you. I'm just saying that we shouldn't take this dungeon lightly. It would make sense to copy the crystal beforehand and start familiarising ourselves with it."
His personality kept changing. He was similar to me in that he liked to stay away from crowds and was awkward, especially around me. But when he was in his element and talked to others, he seemed a lot more confident in his capabilities.
"Do you think we could use it as a core for the staff too?" I heard Omerta pondering. So magical staffs did exist in this world after all? Because so far I haven't seen a single one. Well, my knowledge was mostly limited to things that came to this small village. Thus, I looked forward to this adventure.
"It has the right properties." Ember nodded. She didn't even touch my blue stone yet, but she had two red ones. "But the ones I have would try to take over your mind if you embedded them into a staff. I think that Elder woman used these to control the lizards."
"Talking about staffs and gear, I saw a beautifully prepared wyvern hide stretched out next to the smithy," Gomel interjected, combing his long beard with his fingers. "I could make a splendid leather armor from that, and one of you could etch the Runes of Protection into it."
"I'd ask the hunter's leader about that." The shaman noted. "They had me prepare that thing ages ago, wanting to do something with it, and couldn't wait for proper tanning. But it's been there for a while."
"Wait, you can etch runes into wyvern skin?" Ember sounded surprised. For a while, I had no idea what they were talking about, but I didn't want to interrupt them. "Damn, too bad those lizards pierced my poor ride with so many arrows her skin became useless."
"I tell you what. You can even etch them into the hellhound's hide, and I have some leftovers." The dwarf claimed, and my head was starting to spin. They must have noticed I was quiet because Omerta had this wistful smile.
"Okay, I guess we can deal with the details between ourselves. The important part is that we need the crystals prepared, and Nati needs to start her training." The orc witch announced, and the rest were all nodding in unison. "Would you trust your stone on Gitaut until then?"
"W-wait, but if I hand it over now, how am I supposed to start training?" I asked. Omerta giggled.
"No, I didn't mean your magic training, but Avalon's boot camp. You need to get in shape, first and foremost." She claimed, and it hurt me more than being stung by slimes. "Not even us witches can always rely on our magic alone. You need to gain some strength, and learn how to fight."
"Huh, but I can use my crossbow," I noted, a bit offended. "And I can run away if something bad is happening."
"Neither of those are bad, but inside a dungeon, both can be problematic," Gomel explained patiently. "I saw your magnificent invention, and it's amazing, but it is a ranged weapon with a slow rate of fire. If some dungeon rats swarm you in a melee, you can't hope to defeat them with that and won't be able to run away either."
"Y-you have a point." I lowered my head. I was defeated and felt useless after all. "I've never done that kind of training. I'm a bit worried, to be honest. But I don't want to hold you guys back."
"Well, staying home is still an option," Gitaut noted, rolling his eyes. After he followed me everywhere, I did not expect him to try and ditch me like that. Now, I wanted to prove myself out of spite.
"Okay, when does that training start?" I asked, jumping up from the table. The two witches were giggling at my sudden determination.
"They are busy trying to finish the inn and the apartment. That Church woman destroyed all the golems assigned to construction and damaged the homunculus too." Omerta said. Her voice started to shake halfway through. She was still easily upset when talking about the Elder and what she did a week ago, but it was completely understandable.
"Then you should help them too, so they finish sooner." Gitaut did not seem to notice the changes in her voice. "That way, the training can start, and we can go to that dungeon before winter sets in."
"If they are no longer busy, we might be able to convince the ogre and the hob to come with us. Some extra muscles can never hurt." Ember brought up the idea. "Can't go there with an entire army when things are this rough here, but a capable task force is necessary."
"Capable? Then we should just leave you here." Omerta teased her new rival, back into her usual self. She lost the most during that attack. Not only her brother but since the Elder kidnapped Lambert too, she had to look for someone else to compete with. Thankfully, Ember felt the same way, always trying to one-up the orc witch. "I will try to make a few golems again, but they are more effort than I first thought."
"I can help with the smelting." The Fire Witch offered flames in her eyes. "You shaman should work on the rice fields."
"Don't order me." Gitaut protested, but the plan was set in motion.