Misaki leaned back in her chair, her mind mostly disconnected from her avatar. So far she had done nothing and had mostly been familiarizing herself with the changes to her dungeon. Now that she was a guild stronghold and not just a dungeon a lot of things had changed. A few things had changed automatically. Such as all of her dungeon pets who had membership in the guild were now Dungeon Guardians. They were free to leave when their term was up now. That was something for future her to worry about.

One thing she really wanted to change now, was her external appearance. She was thinking something along the lines of a demonic castle, but she was hesitating. Her mind kept thinking about her first few floors. Wondering if she should start making changes there. She didn’t want to change those too much. Perhaps she should leave them largely the same and make only cosmetic changes to the first two floors. Something that fits a theme, although she had no need to stick to such things.

Suddenly the door opened. She looked up, in time to see someone she did not interact often with. Milith had come to see her. This might prove interesting.

Milith closed half the distance before speaking, “I wanted to congratulate you on evolving.”

“Thank you,” Misaki said, a bit unsure, but hoping it didn’t show.

Milith sighed, “I guess I have to teach you something now that you have evolved.”

Now she was confused. Fortunately Milith elaborated on that.

“Before you ask, Grandmother said that I had to teach you a certain spell after you evolved. Part of why, I haven’t gone back to my own lair yet.”

“A spell? Why do I need to know this spell?”

Milith shrugged, but her expression said it all. Her tone and words merely confirmed, “How the hell would I know? She never told me! All she told me to do was to teach ‘Skylord’s Lance’ after you evolved. I don’t even know why she wants me to teach you a racial spell. Cursed Elders and their cryptic words!”

Misaki made a few mental notes, and then asked the first question that came to mind, “What is a racial spell?”

Milith sighed, “I guess you would not have encountered them often. Racial spells are spells that can normally only be used by a certain race. For example, the spell ‘Dragon’s Lance’ modifies a dragon’s innate breath attack. As a result it can normally only be used by dragons. This is also the norm for racial spells, they typically modify a primal magic innate to a given race. The spell Grandmother wants me to teach you is the same, it modifies a Skylord’s innate breath attack. In fact it is our counterpart to the dragon spell, and almost the same. Only difference is that ‘Skylord’s Lance’ is particularly effective against dragons, while Dragon’s lance is especially effective against Skylords.”

Misaki was confused even more. She had no idea why she would need to know that spell. Besides, she was a dungeon, not a Skylord. She probably couldn’t even use the spell. So maybe it was more the knowing, and not the being able to use it that mattered? That was not the only question this raised either. “A racial spell with a bane property? Correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t bane spells less than spectacular when used against things other than the bane of the spell?”

“That would be true of the lower ranked ones, but ‘Skylord’s Lance’ is not a low ranked spell. It is reasonably effective against all races, but does increased damage against dragons.”

Perhaps, it really was the knowing in this instance. This might be some kind of test, a challenge. Maybe Arlie wanted her to take the spell, and create a variant that she could use? Not that she could be certain, but figuring out the goal was perhaps half the challenge? By this point she was intrigued.

Milith sighed, “I guess I should demonstrate the spell. As a dungeon, I figure that should be enough for you. Although it might be just complex enough that you won’t pick it up instantly.”

Misaki stood up, “The garden might be a good place. Perhaps together we can even figure out why your grandmother wanted me to learn this spell?”

“Sounds like a plan, but I have been trying to figure it out for weeks. Don’t get your hopes up.”

Xatali slumped onto the ground. Forlornly rubbing her empty pocket. It was gone, her cursed ball was missing. She had looked everywhere, the temple, the guild, the inn. She had even looked around the streets. The young catgirl knew she had the cursed ball yesterday. Xatali never went anywhere without it. She kept it in her pocket close to her, so that she always knew where it was. Even knowing that it was stupid to carry it around like that, she did not feel comfortable leaving it in a safe.

Now it was gone. She had lost it, and with it what little freedom she had. The young Liritian just hoped that whoever had that cursed ball didn’t know about its functions. By now she was certain someone had stolen it, or that she had dropped it and someone picked it up. Either way someone had her cursed ball.

Feeling tears about to break, she tried to hold them back. She knew things were bad, but she wasn’t a little girl. It would be even more humiliating if she broke down in tears. Instead she leaned back against the building she had slumped down next to, and stared at the sky. Her mind once again going over yesterday. Let’s see, she had gotten up early. First thing in the morning, she had met up with the twins at the temple. She was pretty sure she had the ball with her then. It had been uneventful, if a little boring.

After that, she had to rush over to the guild for her early morning lessons. She remembered getting a little distracted, and she bumped into a naked dragonkin named Zemoria. That encounter had been brief, but friendly. Other than her ending up on the ground nothing happened. She paused. Did I have the ball after that?

She couldn’t remember. Her lessons had been a lot of fun. She had gone to the market after those. Bought lunch, hung out with her friends. Participated in the afternoon lessons. Gone home, saw that weird notification. Ended up in a orgy. She went red remembering that, but through all of that she could not remember if she had the cursed ball with her.

Maybe I lost it then? Although I can’t rule out losing it at the orgy. I ended up naked then, and there is the chance some kid took it. Children had not been affected by whatever caused the town wide orgy. That was weird, but she could not say she hated it. It had been fun, and relaxing in its own way.

Suddenly she was aware of someone sitting down next to her. She looked over to see the dragonkin from yesterday. A wide smile on her face. Something about that smile made her shudder. Xatali had the strangest feeling she was in danger. Like a mouse before a lion. Every fibre of her being was telling her to run. She needed to escape, and hide, but instead she froze. Unable to understand where these feelings were coming from. Not that it would have made a difference to the outcome.

Phyllis was in her office working on the plans for a school when Melisa suddenly asked. “Out of curiosity what did you get from your divine quest?”

Phyllis wasn’t sure how Melisa knew that, but there was no harm mentioning some of it. She wasn’t going to mention that she was now physically younger. The quest had reduced her age some, increased her lifespan. Gave her enough gold to make a dragon jealous. Not to mention boosting her level to the point that she could evolve. It even gave her a few resources that would be useful for expanding the guild. Oh, and before she forgot she also got a stat boost, all of her stats had been nicely padded. Between the levels and stats alone it had been a good haul.

Misaki had received similar bonuses, but since Misaki was already pretty young the gods didn’t restore her youth. She had gotten a new skill instead. Although Phyllis didn’t know what it did.

Phyllis merely gave Melisa an abridged version. Merely telling her that they both received a large experience boost, a modest stat boost (A lie, the boost was quite large, just not hero level large), a few temporary boosts( mainly to skill growth, and not a lie. Although those had already expired), some gold and useful materials. She downplayed the amount. Phyllis didn’t want anyone to know how wealthy she suddenly was.