Consumable magic materials are common throughout the myriad of magical planets, but vary just as much as each magical system. As opposed to artifacts, which are normally catalysts that help cast spells, consumable materials can create magical effects independent of the user. There is no such thing as a self-sustaining magical item; all items require a continuous stream of energy, or they will decay.

  While most artifacts require an aura limit, consumables often have a much greater restriction. A magic user could theoretically wield four of the same wand, if poorly, but drinking four of the same potion would cause a poisoning effect. This is regardless of the affinity of the user and the affinity of the consumable.

  This is from a phenomenon called integration capacity. Artifacts integrate into the aura while consumables operate on, in, or around the aura. Each health potion takes time to work in the body, but also in the aura. Too many potions can cause a foreign mana rejection.

  -On consumables, traveler’s textbook

  Despite my aversion to being a lord and my acceptance of my naivety, I do have a plethora of knowledge to draw on. Books, games, movies, and stories give me a vast understanding of many of the concepts of politics, intrigue, and warfare. I might have trouble with the execution now that I have to enact policies, but the high-level understanding of what I need to do is not beyond me. So, when Morgana reports to me that my steward Alyssa is meeting in a secret carriage just outside my estate, I know what I need to do, even if I don’t want to do it.

  All the books I read taught me that if I recognize a spy, the best thing is not to expose them. If I confront Alyssa, the nobles will just find a new set of eyes or ears, making the next spy harder to find. Like a rat learning to avoid the poison cheese. I need to keep control over the situation.

  Logically, it is sound to use this information to feed false info and control the narrative being spread to my adversaries, but emotionally, I want to confront her. I want to berate her for selling me out and kick her to the curb. It feels like she’s a knife hovering over my back that would plunge in any moment. I blame myself for our poor interactions so far. I have been trampling all over her hard work, but now I see things in a different light. So as the morning light filters through my window, I stare at the ceiling, contemplating my angst. Trying to compose myself when I greet my duplicitous employee.

  Acting is not a skill I ever tried to hone, and I’m a little afraid I will give away what I know. Fortunately, I’m saved from having to be around the house. A knock on the door shakes away the last vestiges of sleep.

  I walk down the stairs to see the Sandridge carriage come to collect me for an early start on the dungeon. I’m about to bolt out of the house when Alyssa rounds the corner and stops me.

  “Lord Kelly, it is good to see you up. I received a message from merchant Evergreen, who would like to make amends for his behavior with the furniture incident. When I mentioned you were going on a dungeon run, he gave me these in hopes of mending any ill feelings.”

  She presents to me three health, mana, and stamina potions. I take them, feeling deep cold in my chest as I say, “Thank merchant Evergreen for his gift.”

  I see Alyssa tense, and her face tightens at my words. If I were a better man, I might try to comfort her. Let her know I wasn’t angry at her. I walk past her as she bows.

  Instead of smashing the vials on the floor like I want to do. I put them on my belt and wonder if they’re poisoned. I doubt it, but I won't try them until I can verify. Even with my natural poison resistance, I’m not willing to test them in the heat of battle.

  I walk out the door and see a guard opening the door to an immaculate carriage. Then I motion with my hand. Morgana slips from the woods to the opposite side of the carriage. She grabs onto one of the riding bars for soldiers: steps with bars so they can ride along for short distances. The guards see her but don’t react with hostility. I step in, and the friendly smiles of the Ashmores greet me, even as they are on guard from Morgana’s unexpected addition.

  “A friend of yours?” Alicia asks in a sweet tone that masks her pointed question. Morgana is one of my greatest friends and assets. I’m very tempted to leave her at the house to gather more information, but I need her with me.

  I’m not going to risk being alone. Losing the house and noble title would be a setback; losing my life would mean the end. So, in the end, I decided to take her with me on my dungeon trip, but I also want to keep her a secret from the members of the house.

  “A construct. I can raise a creature in the dungeon, but for anything powerful, I need time to invest. You never get a fraction of their strength in life if you rush the process,” I say, returning their smile.

  “He follows the healer and the commander archetypes. Quite the find our cousin Olivia found,” Frank says, giving a meaningful look to Alicia.

  “I have always been jealous of the commander archetypes, being able to bring in a small squad of troops. If we try to enter the dungeon with our house guard, it will block us.” She says pouting.

  “Wait, there are others who are the 'commander archetype’?” I ask. I haven’t heard about others with darkness affinity.

  Frank sighs, “Yes, the Sandridges have a few earth affinity users who can summon golems. They are nothing special, but every extra hand benefits the land, I suppose.” The last part sounds like a common rhyme and colloquialism. I’m intrigued and want to ask more, but they seem to sour on the subject, so I let it go.

  “Right, so what is the plan for the dungeon?” I ask.

  “You did say you ran it before?” Frank asks with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yeah, but they mostly stood around. I mean, what is the plan to do so as a team?”

  “Ah, yes. Hmmm. I guess we would need to spell it out.” Frank mutters to himself, and I try to disregard the comment. It’s true, I’m not familiar with the norms and folkways of their society, but it still burns that everything needs to be explained in front of me so often.

  “You are here to support and guide us. As nobles of the estate, we have run the dungeon before and will have little trouble. Your job is to support and take the lead once we get to the final boss. One of the reasons healers and other support classes are so well-regarded is that, on dungeon runs, they don’t compete for resources. If there are four fire affinity users, we would need to take special care to call out targets and not drain the affinity from an area.” He explains.

  I nod along, “Thanks for the explanation.”

  “Speaking of the Sandridge branch. Have they sent anyone to meet you yet?” Alicia asks.

  “Ah, no, I have been spending most of my time around the house trying to get things together. I am supposed to start attending court in half a week or so.”

  “Ugh, court is so boring.” Alicia groans, “Court duty is something everyone in our family has to do, but it’s so droll.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “I would think the court would be important to get news and be part of decision-making.”

  Alicia waves away my comment, “Well, yes, that is true, but most of it is sitting around listening to people complain. Half the complaints are made into quests, and only a fraction of those are ever brought to the sub-branches. We used to joke that the Razorleafs were trying for a kid just to get out of court duty. I’m sure it will be rougher with you since you are not married.”

  The two share another conspiratorial look.

  “Speaking of not having a wife.” Frank cuts in. “Being the most eligible bachelor on the estate, I envy you a little.”

  I get whiplash at the change in topic. From dungeon diving to upcoming noble responsibilities to being single.

  “Yes, I am single,” I say cautiously.

  “Relax,” Alicia says as she puts her hand on my arm, and I don’t fail to notice the sudden contact. “All my cousin means is you are unmarried, mysterious, and part of an up-and-coming noble house. Many rumors and questions are starting to float around. We only wonder at what your thoughts are.”

  “Ah…” I say eloquently. “I hadn’t thought much about it. With how often I’m reminded that I’m a “wilder” and trying to put together the house, I’ve had my thoughts elsewhere.”

  “Well, it might be good to think about it. A wife could help you out with your noble house, and some girls find a rugged wilder to tame quite appealing.” She says, giving me a vulpine smile and squeeing my arm before pulling back. Frank gives her a flat stare at her flirtatious manner, and she just flicks her hair over her shoulder.

  Frank turns to me, giving me an apologetic smile. “My cousin is quite the flirt. It’s a skill of necessity to navigate the court, but you should give her words some thought. The other noble houses certainly are thinking about it.”

  Fortunately, I’m saved from having to speak any more on the subject when we roll up to the entrance of the dungeon. When the wagon rolls to a slow stop, one of the guards opens the door and motions for me to step out.

  I walk outside the carriage, taking in the familiar manicured flora. I notice a few of the guards unhitching the horses and putting blocks under the wheels. One knight is putting on plate armor, a shield, a sword at his side, a few knives, and a great axe. I look on in wonder, seeing the human armory.

  One thing I never understood before coming to this world is having a variety of weapons. It might be useful, but the metal is very heavy. I’m another unspoken benefit of magic. I could bludgeon with water or freeze it into sharpened points. Though I still carry a little extra weight with my additional canteens, I know it is nothing compared to just the knight’s armor.

  Frank catches me staring at the knight and saddles up beside me. “Knight Johnson is quite fearsome and one of the top knights in our household. He has mastered several attribute enchantments and weapons. He is far too skilled to be on a dungeon run, but with the new boss branch, Ashmore is pulling out its best.”

  I nod, “I look forward to seeing a weapon master in action.”

  He shrugs, “Well, he probably will just sit back. Alicia and I are more than enough for most of the dungeon, but I agree that seeing him in practice duels as a kid is awe-inspiring.”

  Then he slaps me on the back, “Now come on, I am eager to see this new boss.”

  We enter the dungeon, and I feel the strange tingling wash over me right as I enter. I look around and see the familiar green shrubbery. In my run, I spent a few hours running back and forth through the labyrinth. I’m curious about how they would navigate it, so I ask Frank.

  “So do you have a map of the labyrinth?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “No, it changes a little every time. I guess and pick a direction. Fortunately, the dungeon creatures are weak here, so we should be able to move quickly.”

  “Can you just burn a hole in the shrubs or fly?” I ask.

  “Burning a hole in the shrubs takes a lot of mana and draws the dungeon's ire. Better to stay on its good side when we are hoping for good items. As for flying, I can jump high, but only enough to get a glimpse. Better to just move fast.” He says before turning left and moving ahead.

  What follows is a long hike through the winding green pathways. I try to focus some on casting a few of the training stones in my pocket. The weapon training stones. It’s interesting to see a sword made of water or shadow, but I don’t have long to study it as the Ashmores and their silent guardian keep a fast pace. Morgana tags along just behind me as she looks out for threats.

  I’m curious what they would do about the Earth elemental. It should be a strong counter to their fire magic, but one explosion from a small fireball scatters the creature with ease. The root elemental is sturdier, but it only took another two in quick succession to finish it.

  A stream of flame finishes the cloud leopard, and the heat burns away any of the magical fog the cat uses to double jump. One escapes up a tree, but a fireball knocks it down before it’s finished off. The plants are probably the toughest foes in the water pool area, but the Ashmores take their time and boil the plant elemental.

  When I see it is going to take a while, I step in to have the water deposit the plant a few feet away. Then the flames kill the plant much faster. The flames of the Ashmores us cock most of the corpses, so little is left for me to raise. I do get one cloud leopard, but the extreme fire damage shows bones inside the cooked meat. The power of the raised minion is far less than it might have been.

  We took a quick break for them to recover mana, and then we are at the den of the bear boss. Right as we are about to enter the boss area, the knight moves forward to put himself between the threat. I’m curious to know more about the knight, but we had been at such a blistering pace that none of us had much time to talk. When we walk in, instead of a bear, a giant tree is in the middle.

  “Nice, I love the Tree Ent, the bear is such a hassle,” Frank says.

  “Wait, there can be multiple bosses?” I ask, but the tree starts to move, and all our collective concentration goes to the awakening Ent. The base of the tree splits, and a crack is heard as its feet are separated from its roots. The limbs shake, revealing that the two large branches are its arms and the remaining thinner branches are the hair for its head.

  A thorny maw opens, revealing a face like out of a Halloween cartoon, and it lets out a cry that sounds like a low creaking of wood. It charges forward only to be met with twin plumes of flame. The knight rushes forward, chopping with its great axe. I see it barely goes an inch into the wood, but it causes the creature enough pain that it retreats. As it circles, there is a noticeable limp.

  Despite the powerful opening attack, the tree Ent can strike back. It reaches down, smacking the knight before pulling up a rock and throwing it at the Ashmores. It’s a sloppy throw that likely would have been missed. The two fire magi don’t take the risk and glide away on bursts of flame. The attack was ineffective, but it does buy the creature some space.

  I curse and draw on water I have gathered from a pool a few rooms back. I had been so used to the team not needing me that I had not reacted. I push forward my stream of water to heal the knight. He seems taken aback at first, but relaxes as the water shines with healing water. With the water actively healing him, he sprints forward, roaring. He flies towards the boss, great axe at the ready. I also have the bony cat I raised join the knight, though I ask Morgana to stay back.

  The cat lasts all of two seconds. The Ent raises its leg and smooshes it, but those two seconds are seconds the boss doesn’t concentrate on the real threats. Under the combined power of the Ashmores, the Ent is set on fire and quickly dismantled.

  The team suffers another few nicks that I heal, and I even intercept one particularly big boulder the Ent tries to use to crush us. I wrap it in water to slow it, then use shadows to push it away from us right as it’s within a few feet. Again, not necessary as the others dodge, but I feel accomplished. The sight of my stopping its bolder throw angers the Ent. It tries to charge, but that is the last mistake it makes.

  On fire, missing a limb, and its feet straining to hold it, the creature topples with one more volley of fireballs. I look over to see the Ashmores sweaty, panting, and smiling.

  “Whoo! That was fun!” Frank says.

  Panting with her hands on her knees, Alicia is nodding in agreement. I look over at the knight whom I healed earlier. I walk over and ask if he has any injuries. The stoic knight just shakes his head “no” as she puts up his axe to wield the shield and sword. I look over at the Ashmores.

  “They are quite close,” I say, looking at the cousins.

  “Danger makes quick friends, and house Ashmore requires none can leave the grounds without another family member. Those two were quite the troublemakers, but a few dungeon runs will drive home the importance of trust.” The knight interjects.

  I look over at the knight, and he just walks away towards the door without another word. I had not expected a word out of the man, and even his emotions feel controlled and ordered. I can’t get a read on him at all.

  “The two of you really gave it to the Tree Ent,” I say while closing with the group.

  Frank laughs, “Yeah, the bear is a giant pain. His armor stops him from being burned, so you must pummel him. The tree Ent is a much easier fight if you are not hit with one of its rocks.”

  Alicia is lying back on the ground, taking deep breaths and enjoying the victory.

  “I did not know the bosses switched; it makes me a little nervous. What if the next boss is a variant?” I ask. The entire reason they brought me in is because of my knowledge. If the boss is different, they might want their money back.

  Alicia waves it off, “Nothing is certain, but we are going to be counting on you from here on.”

  As if to answer her words, a tunnel opens to the underground.