Yuulvan followed as the Warden led him deeper into the dungeon. "So, first thing first, gonna set you up proper living quarters. So, like, at least bedroom and bathroom, if anything else comes to your mind, tell me.", they said, as he nodded.

"Not just a bedroom ?", he asked to the Warden. That was definitely more than he expected, especially for a single month.

"Nah. I don't want you to be too disruptive, after all. Setting you up proper quarters will make that easier." Setting me up for success, hmm ? He appreciated it, if nothing else. If he was to be completely frank, he had had worse hospitality in palaces.

Although, it was in no small part because the lord of many of those palaces wanted to use his knowledge or talents for distasteful ends, whereas there was no such expectation here. He closed his eyes as he considered. Is there anything else I'd truly need ? One month isn't that long.

Forming deep roots took time, far more time. He would likely keep most of his belongings in his storage, anyway. "I assume the food will be handled by the Uujutzerja.", he inquired instead, the Warden turning their head.

"Yeah, most likely. I can set you up a personal dining room. Might do that, yeah, probably not a dumb idea." The Warden stopped. "This. This place is good", they said, and with a turn of their wrist, they started reshaping the dungeon.

It was an ability he had always been curious about, if he was frank, but a Warden is one thing he had never been in his life. And the Warden clearly wouldn't share their secrets that easily with him, although that didn't particularly bother him.

Some people were trusting by nature, but the Warden clearly wasn't. Their trust wasn't given, it was earned, and it would be up to him to figure out whether he actively needed that trust and how to gain it if he truly did need it.

He had a few insights in their personality, but nothing he could draw even tentative conclusions from so far. So instead, he focused back on the rooms as they were being filled with furniture. "Ah, you're using your magic to staff the rooms to my preferences.", he noticed.

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's your quarters, it'd be fucking stupid to staff it like I want it.", the Warden answered. He smiled, as it made sense, in a crude, crass way.

"I do appreciate the gesture", he said in answer, the Warden going quiet again. There was a bit more waiting, as the magic ran its course within his new quarters, and then the Warden turned to him.

"Here, should be done.", they said. "So, yeah, that kinda tired me out, so, huh, see ya tomorrow.", and then they teleported to their own quarters. He smiled as he opened the door. Today... Today has been an excellent day.

---

Zoemie teleported to her room, half shaking and exhausted. "Well, fuck." Her mind was utterly racing. Did I screw up ? Was it a bad idea ? "Ain't like I can go back, now.", she grumbled. That would just be mean.

I didn't even tell him my name ! "Well, I mean, I guess I'll tell him later, if ever..." And in some way the fact that he's here has also some advantages. "Mostly, he can't go around and babble about the dungeon. Gonna have to talk to him about that at some point, but..." Urgh. Later. Don't wanna deal with that right now.

She sighed as she focused on her computer. Let's play a bit. Distract myself. She opened up a game and started to play. Will likely play until dinner. "How am I gonna even handle din... Yeah, okay, at worst I can just conjure myself fast food, eat in my room, and call it a day." Zoemie said to herself. Besides, he's likely to eat in his own dining room. So, let's do some achievements.

Zoemie really enjoyed gaming, and it did a lot to distract her. She could feel the old man in the dungeon, but he wasn't a strong presence and it didn't bother her much. So, she instead focused completely on her gaming, trying to dispel the worst of her anxiety.

After a few hours of gaming, Zoemie realized she was hungry, and decided to check on the dining room, before quickly noticing that the old man was still in his quarters for now, so she decided to go grab dinner and teleported to the dining room. Too bad for the training. I'll do it tomorrow.

Zoemie tried to keep herself calm as she ate the chicken and greens. She forced herself to not rush through the meal but eat it properly. The chicken was very good, in particular.

Xajymzia interrupted her racing mind with her trademark heavy, ponderous steps. "He is deeply preoccupied right now.", she said, to which Zoemie nodded slightly, feeling her anxiety dissipate a little. "He'll probably eat after you, so take your time, and he has his own room for dining anyway.", she said, Zoemie nodding and finishing to swallow.

"Yeah, I know... Things should be kinda okay, but, like, I'm nervous. Doesn't it bother you having more work, though ?", Zoemie asked to Xajymzia, who shook her head in answer, before smiling at her and leaving Zoemie to finish dinner. Will have to ask her to make more of that.

---

Xajymzia focused as her charge finished her candied chicken dinner and was currently eating dessert. She had a few discussions she wanted to have with the ancient mage, but these could wait for tomorrow.

She had said to Zoemie that she didn't mind either way, but in truth she preferred that that Yuulvan stayed. While it was a bit more work for her, it was ultimately rather minimal. But, more importantly, their secrecy was safe as long as he was here.

She had been very wary when Yuulvan had spoken the Umdoranz tongue, unlike Zoemie who mostly had been surprised. Xajymzia would have to explain it to Zoemie at some point that her understanding of the language was directly linked to her Warden position, since this had been for inhabiting her people after all.

Mostly, she had been wary of where he learned that language, as humans like him shouldn't be able to speak it, but his story of staying in another Umdoranz dungeon in the past made sense. It explained how he was able to explore the jetuzran, by example, as he should not even know of its existence otherwise, and overall made a lot of things click in a way a fake explanation couldn't.

Besides, maybe Xajymzia could learn a thing or two from him, as well. A wizard that old ? He was bound to have quite a few tricks up his sleeves that they could maybe learn from, and she was intent on trying to get as much of them as she could.

Still, she would have to sit him down and get a better measure of the kind of man he was in a one-on-one discussion. As she thought about it, she noticed that he was starting to move out of his quarters, Zoemie had meanwhile retreated to her room.

Good. It hadn't been perfect, but her charge would be alright for the evening, at least. She instead went to meet with the old man, who looked at her when she entered her line of sight, before smiling slightly. "Ah, hello.", he said in whatever tongue humans spoke.

"Z... The Warden has already eaten.", she informed him, almost accidentally dropping Zoemie's name. She didn't know if he knew of it, so she would keep it under wraps unless he spoke it to her. "When you are amenable tomorrow, I would like to talk with you.", she continued.

"Certainly.", he answered. "Thanks for the information, but in truth I expected something among these lines. I got distracted by all the knowledge available to me." He shook his head with a smile. "Ah, well, that is not very relevant.", he said. "I shall conjure my dinner myself, and eat in my quarters.", he said as he teleported back to those.

He was making things easier for her, but ultimately it wasn't that much work. Xajymzia closed her eyes, and decided to return to her lab. Maybe she could figure something out for the portal.

---

Yuulvan woke up feeling refreshed after a good night of sleep. He looked around the bedroom that had been furnished for him. They were truly quite pleasant, despite him not knowing a third of the materials that they were made of. It only stirred up his curiosity more. I am truly quite lucky to be able to stay.

He had spent much of the past evening conjuring a lot of books, and while he couldn't quite do that now, he would have to reassess and choose his priorities with utmost care as quickly as possible. He only had a month at most, and everything he could learn here was valuable. That said, he needed to get ready first.

He left the room, looking at the time. It was early-mid morning, it seemed, and the dungeon was empty, although as he wandered around the corridors, he caught sight of the Uujutzerja, who nodded at him affirmatively. "The Warden is asleep at this time of day.", she explained. "Breakfast ?"

"I shall handle it on my own like yesterday evening, but I appreciate the offer.", Yuulvan answered, getting a nod in return, before she left. Breakfast was the most important thing on his list. After this, conjuring himself some proper robes, then the discussion.

He smiled as he teleported himself to the dining room in his quarters. It was smaller and not as richly furnished as the Warden's, but it was still quite nice and welcoming, with pleasant square-geometry designs he quite liked.

Yuulvan had never been a demanding man as far as food went, but he was curious about the kind of foods the Warden ate. He had glimpsed at some while in the jetuzran, and he hadn't recognized any of them. It had surprised him, despite it being a mere quick search and not a thorough deep-dive.

He decided to have his magic conjure some foods the Warden would be familiar with and that he would enjoy for breakfast, and in front of him appeared a few food items. Firstly, there were two of some kind of circular pastry, with a hole in the middle and off-white top.

Another was clearly a fruit, of a pale pink color, with thin skin. The whole was served with a tall glass of a drink that looked like but didn't quite smell like milk. He started with the fruit, it was pleasantly refreshing and tasty, although the large, brown core was clearly not edible. He dismissed it with magic, returning it to the dungeon's energy pool.

The milk-like drink was, as he expected, not milk, which he appreciated. He and whole milk had never gotten along very much, although he was fine with derived products. It tasted rather strange, something within his mind conjuring the image of a large, brown fruit with white flesh as he drank it.

The pastries turned out to have a soft, creamy filling of something he didn't quite know, but he enjoyed it. The taste was pleasant, but not too strong, and it helped avoid the pastry being too dry. Quite a decent ensemble.

His breakfast thus consumed, Yuulvan activated his storage magic and cleaned his teeth with an enchanted rag he kept in his possessions for that purpose. He had had to regrow these once, he would much rather not have it happen again.

After that, he teleported back to his quarters and conjured himself some proper robes. While his travelling robes were well-worn, if plain, he preferred to use them for that purpose specifically. It is truly staggering how much easier conjuration is in a dungeon.

He then went to his study and sat down on the chair, hearing a knock at the door before he could even start to look through the piles of conjured books. The Uujutzerja entered the room, and he nodded to her as she sat down.

---

Xajymzia looked at Yuulvan. She had quite a few questions, but decided to start with a simple one. "What is a duke ?", she asked him. She didn't know much about nobility, and Zoemie was not well informed either, but the old man in front of her seemed likely to know. He frowned slightly, so Xajymzia decided to elaborate a little. "I am vaguely aware of the existence of human nobility, but would like to know the details."

He closed his eyes, and started talking. "The duke is the highest title in hierarchy of human nobilities." He opened them again. "The sole higher title, prince, is reserved for children of the monarch. The basic order is monarch, prince, duke, marquis, count, baron, and finally knight, but I am overlooking arch- and vis- titles, and the exact titles differ between countries.", he explained.

"Adventurers came here a while ago.", Xajymzia said. "They were backed by a man called Duke Vosvelz, and I would like to know if you know anything about the man." The frown on the old man's face grew deeper.

"Nobles are fools, they all think themselves the pinnacle, but I have lived and watched long enough to tell you that they all fade into history at some point.", he started. "Duke Vosvelz is the worst kind of man. Greedy, cowardly, corrupt, I have not heard a good thing about him. The duchy over which he rules, is at least three weeks by foot to the east of this dungeon, and another full week to the north."

Xajymzia nodded. "I do not know if he will seek revenge for his fallen adventurers, but he is likely to fail even if he tries too. The best tools he has at his disposal to attack would be levied peasants and hired knights, and neither are good for dungeon storming.", he explained.

"Why ?", Xajymzia asked, curious all of a sudden. There was some clear strategic insight she could gain from this line of questioning, so she decided to press the old man slightly for more information. Everything she could glean was worthwhile.

"Many nobles have tried, and most have failed. Dungeons have often tight, snaking corridors or medium-sized rooms for large monsters where levied peasants cannot exert their greatest strength, numbers, and knights simply do not have the tools and experience adventurers have at their disposal, as they are primarily about taking down other peasant levies."

The old man sighed slightly. "The attacks your people suffered... these were an aberration. Something about those was not normal, although it still eludes me as to why. No army was ever as successful in targeting dungeons, even those with particularly dumb and weak monster Wardens.", he continued.

Xajymzia assimilated the information. It was helpful, because, if nothing else, it told her the type of enemy formations she was the most likely to encounter. Large amount of enemies with a smaller number of elite fighters.

She dispelled her darker thoughts for now, refocusing on the conversation. "What do you know about slave collars ?", she asked instead. She had hesitated about bringing these up because she didn't know how much she was willing to reveal, but if the old man had anything that could help handle those, it was worth going for..

"Slave collars ?", he said, frowning deeply yet again. "A type of item used to establish control over the weaker. I have a loathing for them, despite how necessary some people may call them". He closed his eyes. "If you're worried about having one forced on you or the Warden, I... may have a solution on how to prevent it. But it will require the Warden's assistance.", he said.

Xajymzia nodded. That would be easy to obtain. Slave collars scared her in part because even if Zoemie was to die and revive, she would still be under their effect. Having the opportunity to deny them to the enemy was a good precaution to take, especially since they had already proven themselves willing to use those, and Zoemie's old acquaintances could also come equipped with those.

She thought for a bit about what to ask next, but Yuulvan beat her to the punch. "If I may ask a question of my own... is... have you killed a bandit known as the Crimson Wraith ?", he asked to Xajymzia, who raised an eyebrow. She didn't know if it was the man's name, but she certainly had an idea.

"A group of bandits did come here, and the Warden killed them.", she answered, the old man nodding with a smile in turn. "For now, that is all I wanted to know.", she said as got up, the old man smiling as she teleported away, as Zoemie had woken up and she needed to talk to her.

After walking in the corridor a little, Zoemie noticed her and Xajymzia started talking. "I was talking with Yuulvan earlier, and during our discussion, he told me he may have a solution for enemy slave collars.", she explained, and Zoemie nodded. "However, he'll need your assistance for it."

"I, uh, get breakfast, get showered, and all that, and then we get that done, okay ?", Zoemie said, and Xajymzia nodded. It would not do to give her charge too many orders too quickly. She got overwhelmed when that happened.

"Of course.", Xajymzia said at Zoemie, before leaving for her lab while she went to eat the just-conjured breakfast.

---

Zoemie grumbled as she left the bathroom. She had eaten her breakfast, and had immediately went for her bath rather than wait and play as she usually did. She didn't know how she felt about the fact that the old man was aware now that she had fought slavers before, but she suppressed the feeling.

I hope for him this ain't a trick of some kind, she thought as she started walking to Xajymzia's lab. She knocked on the door, and entered, finding the old man sitting next to a table. Xajymzia was further to the side, she looked at Zoemie and smiled. "Right.", Zoemie said, as she sat down. "Let's hear it."

"I think the simplest way to explain the idea, would be to start by a short story of a past dungeon delve of mine.", the old man started, and Zoemie nodded. "Once, I was hired to investigate a dungeon in Northern lands, a glacier led by an ice monster. No matter how hard the adventurers tried, they couldn't activate any fire magic in the dungeon, and their mage had lost an eye and a lot of his sanity trying.", he explained.

"After a short bit of investigation, I came to understand.", he said, staring at Zoemie's mask, but not her eyes. "In a dungeon, the Warden's word is law. That Warden had decided, in a rare stroke of intelligence to completely prevent fire magic from working in its dungeon. And as slave collars are magical items, contract magic to be more exact, I theorized that it would be possible to setup a similar interdiction.", he extrapolated.

Zoemie nodded. "So the idea is that I can completely prevent contract magic from working, huh ?." She closed her eyes and focused. Sounds simple enough. She faded into the dungeon, and reached further, she could feel it in her metaphorical grasp.

She could feel the dungeon, its territory, like she did when she wanted to expand it, but she went further, deeper into her dungeon, into its very nature, and all of a sudden, she could feel it, but not explain it, the webs of magic.

It was here, in front of her but not really, and it would take for her as much effort to turn it off as the flick of a lever. She started to turn it off, and stopped. Wait, let's go further, she thought, her blood suddenly boiling. This is my turf. Any slave collar in it ? Broken. Impossible to repair. Any slave immediately freed.

She wrote it as the law of her dungeon, and almost immediately around her, the air changed. It felt lighter, yet firmer, the very fabric of the dungeon shaking and changing, as one shakes a comforter to smoothen it.

Her territory, her turf, adapted itself to her word and wish as naturally as leaves fall in autumn and regrow in spring. The air around her felt lighter, yet firmer, as it imprinted itself with its owner's resolve. Zoemie opened her eyes.

She was still in the lab, the old man in front of her. Xajymzia was to the side, she had noticed the change in the dungeons too. "A bold stance.", he said with a slight smile, somehow figuring out what Zoemie had done. "It will make you many enemies... and some friends as well. I can respect it, if nothing else." Zoemie sighed.

Guess he was worth bringing in after all, she thought.