"There are people gathering down there, I think they spotted us," Sam said.

We were only a few slopes from the chasm floor now, and this meant we were in sight of the people who had previously been forced to come down here for their own versions of this initiation. We'd been a little too focused on just getting down the slopes to notice them before, but judging by the size of the crowd I'd say they've been aware of us for a good while now.

"Wait, doesn't it look like they're fighting?" Sam said as she continued to watch.

I looked down to take a look as well. They weren't in any kind of all out bloody conflict or anything, but there was indeed one faction that appeared to be trying to take over the area and forcing others away from where we'd be arriving should we continue on our current route.

"Awww shit!" I said once I'd processed what I was seeing.

"What?" Sam asked.

"They're trying to claim us, I think they're divided into some kind of factions down there, like a gang. They want to recruit us to their gang before others get a chance to come for us. They probably noticed us manipulating the stone here and so they're all ready to actively fight each other in order to pull us to their side."

"Oh, well that sure doesn't sound good," Sam said. "What do we do then? Go down a different way?"

"They'd just follow, and they might not be very happy when they catch up," I say.

"Yeah, probably not," Sam said. "So, what DO we do then?" She asked.

"Well, we really do have only two options. Either we join the guys securing the square down there, or we don't. Those guys are either one of the stronger gangs in the area, or they are the gang that just so happened to have the most people around at the time. We could slow down our descent and give others a chance to show up if we want to know which way it is for sure, but that could very well mean we'd be walking into a real active conflict. Another option is to just get down there quickly and go with those guys before things get complicated."

"Or maybe things get just as complicated either way," Sam said.

"Yes, or that," I said.

"I don't like any of this. I've heard what gangs do with their female members," Sam said.

"You are effectively a three year old in both body and chronology in this world. It'd have to be some real messed up fucks for them to go after you," I said.

"There are some real messed up fucks in gangs," she said.

"Well, these aren't gangs as we know them. I said 'gang' because they're acting in the same way gangs do today in terms of competition over members and territory, but they're something more primitive."

"Greaaat! Medieval-era warlords! That's soooo much better!" Sam scoffed sarcastically.

"Err... well, point is, unlike our modern-era gangs who are acting against the government authority and causing trouble, these people ARE the authority in which the rule of the area is anarchy. That is something very different, at least where we're concerned. It means we can't reach out to parents or authorities in order to seek support and stay out of the gang. We're probably going to have to join one of them if we're going to survive down here."

"Uhhh... huhhh..." Sam responded.

"So, uhhh... if we're going to have to join one of them, one of the stronger ones will probably make things easiest, and these guys look like they might be strong."

Sam did not reply to that one. She just remained quiet.

"Uhhh... Sam?"

"Oh, yeah?"

"What do you think? That sound alright to you?"

"Oh, yeah, it's just... umm..."

"What? Is there a problem?"

"Well, it's just you said 'parents or authorities' pretty naturally there, so I just... you sound pretty old, but that didn't quite fit. How old WERE you back on Earth?"

"Oh, what!? Ummm... I was seventeen." I said.

"Seventeen!? You were just some teenage kid this whole time!?" She demanded.

"Hey! You just said it yourself. I may have been still in Highschool, but I know what's what here. My dad raised me right. And besides, if I was coming off as older and all that, that means you agree with me, right?"

"Hahh... I can't believe I've been following around some kid!" She scoffs.

"Hey! You know it's not just our human past lives that matter here, right? My Agarath memories are still pretty fuzzy, but I can use controlled stoneshaping techniques on immutable stone while you couldn't, that would probably make you the kid on the Agarath side. And besides, just how old was your Earth side anyway?"

"Oh? Are you trying to ask a lady her age? How immature of you." She said.

"You're not listening to me at all, are you?" I said. "Right, whatever. Can we focus on the issue of what tribe of warlords we're going to have to join in order to avoid just getting killed while we're down in this pit?"

"Alright, sure thing kid, let big sister help you out and guide you through this mess," she said.

I let out a heavy sigh in response. "Alright, big sister... if you're so sure of yourself, how about you help out your tired little brother and handle the next vertical descent for me? You are the older and more experienced one here, right?"

"What!? I... I don't think I can do that," she said.

"Well then, stop being a pain in it and get your head on straight then! It doesn't matter who's older, we're both three year olds in this life! So let's stop squawking at each other and figure this thing out! My vote is to just go on down there and deal with this first group, they're clearly organized and probably have at least some half-decent strength down here. I'm trying to be an equal here and ask for your opinion, but if you want to be a pill then I'll just head on down there on my own and you can jump down the rest of the way or something!"

"Alright, alright! Fine! We'll go with your plan then," Sam says.

I let out another heavy sigh. "Fine, let's go then," I prompt her and start ripping up the guard rail she'd made for our descent down the most recent shelf to turn it into spikes for the next vertical descent. The stone here has been getting harder and harder to work with as we go deeper into the pit and the mana content of the stone gets higher. We've had to rest several times now, occasionally snacking on a stone or two we pull out of the ground to replenish our energy. I immediately recognized the taste the first time we tried this. These are definitely the same kinds of rock the guards started giving me as treats once I'd revealed how strong I was in stone shaping for a mere infant.

They call these 'earth nest stones' then, huh? It sounds like there must be some kind of story behind that. And the abnormally dense mana in this valley and the way it gets more dense the deeper in we go is a matter of interest as well. I'm definitely going to have to ask someone about it. I'm not sure if any of the gnomes down here will know the answer. They're supposedly tossed down here pretty young, after all. But, if they don't know, then the people back up in the gnome area will definitely know.

At any rate, it might well be easier with how things are going here if we were to just let ourselves fall the rest of the way. I'm pretty sure our bodies actually could take it. Those guys up top seemed confident we could survive a fall all the way from the top, and now we had descended all but the last few foot-hills. But, aside from Sam being too timid to try such a thing, showing off our ability to shape stone with this high a mana content may well raise our value in the eyes of the band we were going to join here.

After descending two more slopes, one of the members of the group in control down there broke off and started climbing up to meet us. He was walking straight up the bottom slope, and I noticed someone had carved stairs into it. Looks like they've got some stone shapers who can overcome this high density mana just fine, then. I guess I will need to spend some time figuring out what the normal level of power is down here and where we stack up at this rate.

Well, everyone is probably going to guess us as being pretty low power anyway since we look so young though. Should be interesting.

The man disappeared from sight under the lip of the stone shelves we were descending down. We didn't see him again until we were staring straight down at him from above from the last vertical descent we would be sliding down. We did our usual routine with the clay-cutting, this one being the hardest yet. The mana content of the stone was spiking even harder here right near the bottom, and I had to tap out my entire mana reserves in order to continue our smooth descent. I had to focus so hard on the task that I didn't even notice as we were nearing the bottom of the descent. I was only alerted to it when I heard the man started shouting from only around ten feet below us.

[What the hell!?] he exclaimed. He didn't say anything else until we were at the bottom, but when we finally did get down he was staring at us with a completely dumbfounded expression, like he'd just come home to find a three headed cat sleeping in his front lawn.

His appearance was equally strange to me. He had the typical 'looks like a human 10 year old with pointed ears' appearance of most gnomes, but the strange thing was the way he was dressed. The poor excuse for clothing that he was wearing was some kind of animal pelt, mole skin by the looks of it, but if it was from a real mole then it must have been the size of a cow. He had it cut like a sheet and wrapped around himself like a toga.

[What... why are you two so small!?] the man demanded, breaking me off from being able to contemplate his strange clothing any further. [Are you are wearing the camp clothing. Are you midgets, or did they seriously send a couple toddlers down the pit!? Ahh... but fuck! You got the power to shape earth-nest stone, so... well, anyway, you two are coming with me. We'll get this cleared up on the way.]

After saying this, the guy just reaches down and grabs us, taking one of us under each arm.

"Whaah... hey! Let me go! Don't touch me!" Sam cries out and starts trying to struggle.

[Ghhh... calm down kid!] The man grunted as he also struggled to keep hold of Sam.

"He can't understand English!" I shout at her.

"Grrr...!" [Let! Me! Go!] Sam shouts off in awkward and broken Elven, sounding exactly as young as she looked.

[Ugh! Are you seriously just a little kid!?] the man grunts, seeming utterly dumbfounded. [Hahhh... shit! Well, whatever. Guess I'll just let the Enis sort it all out. This is a mess, but these kids got power. Hehe, oh, he's gonna love to hear this,] the man started muttering to himself, now completely ignoring what we had to say since he seems to have completely confirmed in his mind that we're just a couple of toddlers who just so happen to have high specs in the mana department.

I can see gazes of hostility toward the man from the people who have been pushed aside by his buddies, but as soon as his foot leaves the bottom step of the stairs they'd carved into the stone that hostility is replaced with looks of shock and fright, and they are looking at some point behind and above the guy who's holding the two of us under his arms.

[What, huh?] The guy says, and then turns right around while still holding us as he realizes something is wrong. I have to crane my head quite painfully from my position to see what's happening. It turns out the thing that had everyone in a panic was the old man we'd seen up at the top, and he even had Abu and Kain with him. He'd followed us down. I didn't even know how, but considering the speed of his arrival and the fact I'm sure I did not feel any earth-shaping nearby, they must have just jumped and landed solidly on each shelf on the way down. Had they been following us the whole time? He must have at least been watching us somehow to arrive with this kind of timing.

[Well, well!] the old man said. [That was rather fast for such a timid and gutless method of getting down. I suppose it makes sense for kids like this to be afraid of heights, but I never thought they'd actually have the mana to keep stone-shaping at that rate all the way down. It is no wonder Iuutel himself would have chosen these two and had them entered into the program at only three years old,] he said. He was acting like he was talking to himself, but it was more than obvious what he was doing. For some reason, he wanted every single person down here to know exactly what our value was.

[It is the ...Enisib of Abdul that will be welcoming them, correct? I will be noting that. Do know that detaining them when they see fit to ascend the pit will not be tolerated though. You understand, there are some rather high expectations for those two. Now, I suppose while I am down here I should do a little cleaning up, these two left quite the trail on the way down so it will take some effort.]

After saying this much, a huge wave of earth mana swept out over the bottom slope and those stairs carved into the lowest foot hill warped immediately back into smooth stone, causing several sounds of dismay to escape form the gathered crowd. The old man completely ignored this, however, and simply turned and, with a casual jump, crossed the entire distance back to the vertical cliff higher up. He placed his hand on the wall and the two grooves cut into it by me and Sam instantly stitched back together, looking just as smooth as they did before we crossed that way. I suppose that would explain why I'd seen no signs of stoneshaping on our way down.

Abu and Kain were easily able to replicate the old man's jump, and after he'd finished mending the cliff face he simply leapt straight up to the next shelf. The three of them were easily able to hop around on their way up the cliffs like some kind of fleas, and the sight of it left me feeling completely baffled.

Back down here at the ground level, I got another look at the people gathered around when the guy carrying us turned around. The faces that had been looking at us with hostility and envy before were now showing looks of smug schadenfreude with a few looks of pity mixed in. Whatever happened, it was obviously a big deal with some kind of serious social dynamics issues down here.

[Shit!] The guy carrying us cursed. [Well, the brats are ours now. We're taking them back to Enis Abdul. We've got to inform him of what we just got ourselves into. This is going to be a serious pain.]

With those words, he shoved us off onto two of his companions to carry us, and the jeering crowd separated to allow them through as they all stalked off with the two of us in hand.