I wanted to pour the information on the mayor, but I waited for my mother to return with cups of tea for each of us. My father took a break from his work and sat down with the rest of us.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Soranir said calmly, noticing that I wasn’t feeling too well about all the events in the south.

“Well,” I started. “I’m going to once again need your help.”

The mayor nodded and carefully sipped his tea while looking at me in anticipation of what I had to say.

“I talked to Elysa the other day and she had some information that I feel is crucial to you, and maybe others. She said that the being banished by the obelisks is located in the middle of them, deep underground. I wanted to let you know, and I assume a message will be sent to the wall. I feel Vyath should know, considering he is the first person we talked to about this, and focused on research regarding the subject.”

“Underground,” he said, touching the beginnings of a beard. “That is strange.”

“How? If I may ask?”

“As far as I am aware, and this was reaffirmed when we dove into the library, banishment spells send the target to a different realm. Don’t ask me about the specifics, I’m a farmer, not a wizard. If she says it’s underground I’m going to assume it’s still in our realm. Whatever that means, I don’t know, but if the spell holds, I think we may have a bit of an advantage here.”

“My thoughts exactly,” I said.

“I’ll send him a sealed letter, and beyond that, it sounds like it’s time to convene the builder’s guilds to start setting up an excavation site.” He shook his head and stared at his tea, sighing. “I don’t quite know what kind of excuse I’ll have to think of to set up what is likely going to be the largest operation since the wall.”

“I’m… afraid I can’t really help there,” I said quietly.

“I’ll think of something,” He assured us. “Might have to make a report that actually states the truth. How much time do you think we have?”

“I haven’t a clue. Could be weeks, could be years. I doubt it’s something we can figure out.”

“I see.”

He continued sipping his tea in silence, thinking, planning. I could see it in his eyes. I wished there was more I could do, but anything else I would do would just draw attention. I would be there if I was needed, but before that, my hands were tied.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“Certainly,” He said optimistically. “I’ve sent word to the capital about our most recent discovery, too. I thought you’d want to know.”

“Thank you,” I said.

I wasn’t much for politics and was thankful that the mayor was doing that part for me. I just wanted to stick to what I knew: fighting and protecting.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything. I hope your dungeon adventures are going alright?” He asked with a smile in a surprisingly casual manner, his straight-to-the-point attitude replaced with calm and carefreeness.

“Yeah. We were planning on going again today, to practice a bit in the proving grounds, get Cellestra familiar with her new heavy armor, and then try to see if we can go beyond where we stopped, or perhaps check out the other dungeon sometime soon.”

“And you’re doing all that with just the two of you?” He asked.

“Yes,” I said, nodding.

“Impressive, I admit.” He emptied his cup, as did I, and my mother asked if we wanted some more.

“Sure,” I said while the mayor nodded.

“However,” He continued when my mother went inside to make a new pot of tea. “Wouldn't it be better to form a party?”

“Perhaps,” I replied. “But I don’t think either of us wants the hassle that comes with that. Besides, we don’t know who we can trust or not, so I thought it would be better to wait a bit with that.”

I looked over at Cellestra to see what she thought of it, and she nodded in agreement.

“Fair enough.”

My mother returned with more tea, and Soranir continued asking fairly mundane questions, genuinely interested to learn more about me, such as how living in the forest was and the spells we used.
I gave away a few of my spells, but there was no harm in that. Selleron already knew, after all. I then said the forest was a great place to live and thanked him once more for his permission to shape our new home, making him curious to have a look for himself one day.

He finished his second cup of tea quickly, before wishing all of us luck and thanking my parents for their hospitality once more before setting off to go back to the city to resume his duties for the day.

“Seems he has got this all figured out,” My mother commented when he left.

“He has things under control,” My father reassured her.

“Sure looks that way,” I said. “It’s a relief to see. I hadn’t expected him to be so calm and collected about this. Think he knows more?”

“Don’t know,” Keelarin continued. “I think he’d say so if he did. “Anyway, we should get back to work.”

“Yeah,” My mother agreed and smiled.

“Thank you for the tea,” Cellestra said warmly as she stood up.

“We’ll be back for dinner,” I said. “As long as that’s no issue.”

“You know we’re always happy to have you for dinner,” My mother said warmly, but with a hint of sadness in her voice. “We’re family after all. We’re glad to have you in our lives.”

I skittered over to her when she stood up, taking her in for a hug.

“Thank you, mom. I love you.”

She returned the hug and lightly caressed my hair.

“We love you too, sweetie. Take care out there in the dungeon.”

“Will do,” I said, breaking the hug. “See you later.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” She said slyly.

Cellestra giggled and I realized we hadn’t even looked at our new furniture yet. I slapped my head at my own stupidity, turned around, and walked to the dresser and bookcase to inspect them.

Both pieces were made of dark oaken wood, sturdy and probably excessively heavy, which more than explained why two burly men were needed to carry them. I ran a hand over the wood to feel its smooth finish, and could almost see my face reflected in the polished surface.

The dresser had three drawers and the bookcase three shelves of equal height, making them fit well together.

I tried to lift the dresser which would be the heaviest piece, and by a long shot, and noted what I had feared was true. It was beyond solid. Even with my strength enhancements, I could only lift it for a short while before it became too much.

“They are beautiful,” I said. “And I doubt anyone is going to walk away with these,” I added with a chuckle. “Damn.”

“Do you need help with transport?” My mother asked.

I shook my head. “I can manage. These extra limbs aren’t just for show.”

“Would I be a bad parent if I said I’d more or less expected that much?”

“Not at all. It just means that you know me well.”

She smiled as I lifted the dense collection of wood for a second time, this time placing my pedipalps and front set of legs at the bottom, helping me lift it. It wasn’t like walking with six legs was much different for me, and this way, it was surprisingly light.

“Well,” I said. “I suppose we’ll take the bookcase with us after dinner if that’s okay.”

“All good,” My mom said. “See you later.”

I waved at her with a free leg before setting off to the forest with Cellestra, who was visibly amused at the sight of me transporting furniture.

“Is that another thing you’ll add to your list?” I asked in reaction to her great mood. “Conquerer of dungeons, legendary weaver, mover of… stuff?”

She giggled at my joke.

“I’ll definitely add that to the list.”

I chuckled and kept up the pace, all the way until I placed the hefty dresser in the back of the nest. At last, I could stretch and unwind my poor arms, which I did with a sigh.

“It’s a beautiful piece,” Cellestra commented now that it was in place.

“It is, but that’s enough of that. It’s time to expand that list of titles with something more meaningful like ‘master of teaching magic’ or something like that. Hope you’re all prepped and ready for it.

Cellestra smiled and nodded excitedly.

“I sure am.”