I lay on my guest bed in Nefern Village, wishing it were half as cushy as my own bed back in Corwen Hearth. The skymotes are just turning azure outside the window, but I want to take a close look at my aura before I move.

The marker that brands me a thief is quite clear in my aura, and I'm pretty sure anyone with even the most rudimentary of [Aura Sight] would be able to detect it. This could be annoying. There are very few people who would notice or care out in rural Tempest, and everyone knows us out here, so there shouldn't be any real trouble unless we go to one of the major towns along the edge or try to visit another domain.

I let out a sigh as I open my eyes and get up. I could leave investigating Flux for Uncle Falcon's party. They've already been deeply involved here, from helping with the salvage to searching for Colt Nefern. But that feels unsatisfying and a wasted opportunity for experience. And I really want to see what the other domains are like, beyond the fields and forests of Tempest.

Alternatively? Wait for it to wear off. We'd be safe in Corwen, Hebron, or friendly goblin territory until it fades. Belladonna says that they normally last three months and if you can lay low that long, you should be good. I hate hiding for that long, but it's not like I don't have other projects.

I head out to the guest hearth for some breakfast, absently scanning the auras of the others around me who are eating, playing cards, and talking. The messenger from last night is intently eating a bowl of porridge and failing to disguise how much he misses proper food. He's probably the sort of person who would put raisins in everything.

Everything you do makes a mark upon you. You might be an drifter, an oppressor, a survivor, or any number of things. But I can take one look at you and see what has shaped you the most. Your class.

I take a closer look at Euston Flux's aura. Not just a messenger. A [Perceptive Messenger]. Weak and unarmed, but with his eyes and ears open.

Skills increased: Clairvoyance (Aspect Analysis, Empathy)

I'm pretty sure he has already figured out more than we told him, but I'm sure my party members know to be discreet around outsiders. By which I mean I warn my mom immediately.

Outside in the yard behind the guest house, Belladonna has a little Rogue class going comprised of Jade and Poppy. I overhear snatches of discussions about skills as I approach.

Belladonna's silver hair is tied back in a bun, giving clear view of the scars and lines on her face. She's still wearing skin-tight black leather armor, and if her age has slown her down any, she's still Heroic ranked and far faster than any Basic would be.

"You here for a quick lesson too, Drake?" Belladonna asks.

"I might as well," I say.

"We're working on Enhanced Feet (Light Step)," Belladonna says. "It will reduce the weight and noise you make with your feet. You may already have [Soft Landing], which will serve you well since it counts for landing a boat too, but [Light Step] is your go-to if you want to be sneaky and avoid triggering pressure plates."

"Sounds good. What do I need to do?"

"Take your shoes off and grab a feather," Belladonna says. "My own mentor had me strap a bunch of them to me while trying to teach me this skill and I don't think using more than one actually helped."

A pile of freshly plucked chicken feathers sits on a nearby bench, also indicating what dinner will be in the Hearth tonight. I pick one of the longer ones from the pile and run a finger down the soft brown feather. Poppy Nefern, undeterred by her unfortunate run-in with a cursed pirate box, grabs a feather and joins in. I'm sure she'll make a fine Rogue some day, if she doesn't get killed by some trap.

"Do you know much magic?" Jade asks, twirling her own feather between her fingers.

"A little, but nothing I rely on in combat," Belladonna says. "I know enough Wizardry to fly a skyboat and make a cup of tea."

"Enhancements are still cool, at least," I say. "I really want to learn actual magic, though."

Belladonna chuckles. "You reach Elite early and you wind up thinking magic is superior in every way to enhancements. I didn't reach Elite until I was in my twenties. Don't underestimate enhancements. I might not be able to beat a mage in a straight fight, but I'm a Rogue, so if there's a straight fight with a mage going on, I've already done something wrong."

Belladonna starts in on her lesson proper. I know the drill in absorbing an aspect by now, and start drawing in the concept of lightness from the chicken feather. She talks at length about body movements and gives some demonstrations, attracting a bit of an audience herself.

None of us has the skill unlocked by the time the others wake up and want to be doing things, but I haven't acquired many enhancement skills in one sitting and there's plenty I never quite managed to grasp.

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"Everyone's up? Great," Belladonna says. "I'm going to take you kids on a training delve. We'll be here for a bit and there's a low level dungeon right across the field. Corwens sometimes have some bad habits that I ought to break you of before it gets you killed. Also, I'm bored."

Belladonna pointedly ushers out anyone who might be dumb enough to say something incriminating in front of the [Perceptive Messenger]. In addition to my usual party, Colt and Poppy are coming along with us. I telepathically warn them both to stay quiet until we're in the dungeon and not to go blabbing about skyships and lockboxes.

Colt is twelve years old and grateful just to not be in jail. Although subdued, he doesn't hesitate to grab his adventuring gear (or what passes for it) and come along. He has an artifact machete with a reddish edge to it that clearly isn't just rust. I think it gives a bonus against plants, but other than that, he's just wearing stained homespun clothes.

The Secret Garden is a short trip away and the light just below the horizon turns green just before we arrive. When we reach the wrought iron gate leading into the garden dungeon, Belladonna stops to give us another lecture.

"First, once inside, stay quiet and stay serious," Belladonna tells us. "When you're on a job, you should be paying attention to everything around you and not making any unnecessary noise or movements. It may not always matter, but avoiding detection is usually better than not. The only time you want to make sure you're seen is if you're dealing with people you know are friendly or neutral and you don't want to get shot at."

The kids (including the one in her thirties) mumble assent, fidgeting to get inside. Belladonna looks over us critically before opening the gate to lead us inside.

We'd been in here before, but hadn't gone very far in. I go quiet and focus, opening up my [Ghost Eyes] to take in as much of my surroundings as possible on the metaphysical level. Many of the monsters in here are camouflaged and I start telepathically pointing them out to my party members.

Colt and Basalt make short work of the carnivorous daffodils as we head further into the garden. We start off with following the overgrown cobblestone pathway through the garden, but we will probably need to cut a path into the underbrush if we want to fully clear the dungeon.

We come upon a round floral bed surrounded by a small clearing with the mossy stone path circling around it. A kaleidoscope of butterflies flutters above it. Strangely, they don't have individual auras. Just one large aura that covers the entire cloud.

[It's a single monster, low Elite,] I tell my party along with the identify screen.

We attack. Rowan swings his sword through one of them but realizes his sword is passing through the air and hitting nothing. In response, the butterfly swarm shoots a hail of razor-sharp petals at us that's difficult to dodge or block.

"Hit the blue and yellow one!" Colt says.

The butterfly he's pointing out is well out of reach of our melee weapons, so we start hurling rocks. It's a keen shot from Basalt that finally strikes true. With a splat, the entire illusory swarm vanishes. Although annoying, the monster clearly only had one hit point.

"How'd you spot that?" Jade asks.

"Enhanced Senses (Wind Detection)," Colt says. "Only the real one was actually disturbing the air."

A chest has appeared in the middle of the flower bed, and Jade and Poppy go to check it out. After disarming a trap and picking the lock, they withdraw a handful of coins, a lockpick, and a literal butterfly knife with folding multicolored "wings" that seem to be made of thin chitin rather than metal. Jade keeps the lockpick but the rest is given to Belladonna to be distributed when the delve is over.

"This area should be safe until the monster respawns," Belladonna says. "So let's take a look at what you could have done better here."

[We could have killed it before it even detected us,] I comment. [Instead we attacked without observing it well first. That was stupid.]

I say 'we' but we all know it was Rowan and Basalt who charged in first. Rowan at least looks sheepish about it. The monster's corpse is ruined beneath the stone Basalt used to crush it, but at least we got some loot out of it.

We move on and continue down the path, shortly coming upon a small pond. Before doing anything hasty, this time we hold back and use our various detection skills to try to learn whatever we can about it.

[I think this is a fishing challenge,] I tell my party. [I don't suppose anyone brought a rod?]

My party slowly shakes their heads, and I start considering how much a fishing rod might weigh to be constantly carrying one around in my bag of holding. I do not have nearly as much space for tools as I would like. Five kilos goes fast when you start deciding on what tools to pack and I didn't think I'd need to fish.

Poppy searches the ground for a good-shaped pebble and holds it up to show us before flicking it across the pond. The water sparkles and lets off musical chimes where the stone strikes the surface. It skips twice before sinking into the depths. (And by "depths" I mean this pond is like three meters deep in the middle.) Jade and Basalt join in, finding and skipping stones of their own.

It takes a few attempts, but Poppy gets one that skips all the way to the far side of the pond. With a dinging sound, a chest floats to the surface of the pond.

My party seems reluctant to swim out to get it. There's no telling what those currently-docile fish might do if we got in the water. I bring out a length of thin rope with a small grappling hook, and throw it toward the chest. It lands in the water with a splash nowhere near the chest.

I pull the rope back and I'm about to throw it back in when Basalt holds up a hand with a wriggling earthworm. Right, I suppose this is still a hook even if it's not on a rod. Basalt adds the worm to the hook and I throw it back into the pond. Still failing to snag the chest, but maybe I'll catch something else instead.

I let the rope sink for a bit before pulling it back. It snagged on something but it's not struggling, so I'm not surprised when the hook comes out dragging a water plant. I let the others examine it to determine if it's a useful potion ingredient or whatever and do some more fishing.

While I don't manage to catch any fish, I do eventually hook the chest well enough to pull it ashore. Jade opens it up to reveal… a lightweight fishing rod. Dangit, that would have been useful to have to start off with.

Skills increased: Survival (Fishing), Mechanics (Rope Use)

The coins get passed to Belladonna for safekeeping, and I stick the fishing rod into my bag of holding, amusing myself watching its length disappear into the tiny pouch. I'll come back to do some proper fishing later, but right now we decide to just finish the dungeon first. There's still plenty we haven't explored.

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