Chapter 317

Neffie had just arrived home after an excursion to the Long Fang Valley, where she gained a significant number of new second advancement forms. The Beastkin of the valley had an incredible array of Second Advancement classes that she could now use, thanks to Uncle Aggie and the Royal Guards helping her level up. 

The only annoyance of the trip was the confirmation that even her new skills couldn’t copy exclusive racial classes. So the fancy new class of the Guild Master remained beyond her abilities, at least for now. But she was determined she would find a way to Mimic the Ancient Race and use that skill of his to make a custom puppet of herself to cover for her when she snuck out to do fun things. 

Even though she was getting so much more powerful, her mother was no less protective, so Neffie was sure that’s just how moms were. It was sweet, but it was a bit boring, especially when she could be exploring and meeting new people instead. 

Her new skills let her hide her name and all her details from casual inspection, so she could appear to be a regular adventurer and try out new places, without fear of her actual identity being discovered, Neffie loved meeting new people. 

Today, her goal was to explore a dungeon she heard about not far east of Montauk. It was only level 110, but it was supposed to have the prettiest Koi fish inside. It’s not inside a city but on the edge of the desert, where it meets the mountains that surround the Beginner’s Valley. 

There haven’t been any reports of battles in the area, so it seems relatively safe. Plus,  pretty fish. 

After mounting yet another successful escape from her mother’s watchful gaze, Neffie transformed into Evangeline and began her flight across the desert. The Seraphim is a skilled flier, so Neffie knows it will only take a half-hour to get to her destination, flying low over the sand to avoid detection. 

Once she detected the dungeon, she transformed back into her new favorite form, Misha. She doesn’t have Misha’s blessing, so she doesn’t get the wings, but the body is convenient and taller than Auntie Kone, so she can reach higher shelves in the house where her mom hides the good stuff. 

She was distracted thinking of what snacks might be hidden in every house by the various foodies and almost missed the fact that people were waiting at the dungeon. They look like human forces from the battles in Landis, but they shouldn’t be this far north, at least not while they’re this far inland. 

These transfers’ gear looks look pretty beat up, and none of them are above level 120, hardly a challenge to Neffie, who can use Misha’s Lieutenant abilities while pretending to be her. She quietly Merges with a Record Keeper to increase her magic power and durability and approaches the group, hiding low in the sand. 

They’ve got a rather impressive Guild Name [The True Wizards], but none of them are wizards. Or even a wizard subclass. 

They’ve got strange names too. TooCool, NiceGuy, SmexOffenda69. Neffie is sure she wants nothing to do with these guys, but they’re blocking the entrance, waiting for something. 

Then a fourth man comes into view, not from the same Guild. He looks nice, not nearly as creepy as the other guys. 

His name is Cav, an Arch Paladin, and he greets the others with a forced smile. “Hey, guys. No luck finding a Healer so far, so we might have to wait a little more. I wish you hadn’t scared the last one away.”

“It’s not like that. M’Lady was just shy. I’m sure we will find another soon; many people come to this dungeon now.” NiceGuy says with a shrug. 

A group is a group. So Neffie comes forward through the dunes to talk to the group. “Did I hear you still need a Healer? I’ve got pretty solid healing skills, despite taking the damage specialty within my class.”

“See, the gods favor us. No woman can resist the charm of a truly nice gentleman.” NiceGuy declares, tipping his funny-shaped hat. Neffie has never seen anything like it, but somehow it suits his overly rounded face and thick stature.

“Good enough for me. Level 140 should be easily more healing than we need even if you are damage specialized after First Advancement.” Neffie is glad she didn’t set too low of a fake level now; looking just strong enough got her in to a group without questions. 

TooCool hasn’t said anything yet, simply posing in the sun like he’s doing a modeling shoot, and Offender is giving her the most creepy look ever, so Neffie decides to only interact with Cav. 

“You must be the tank. I’ve got a Summoning skill that’s also good for taking damage, so I’ll send them upfront with you to help control the mobs.” She informs him with a smile, but NiceGuy steps between them. 

“Never Fear, we’ve got this. No need to worry your pretty little head.”

First off, he’s shorter than Misha’s body is; he doesn’t get to call her little. Secondly, she’s twice his level, even if she’s not showing it. But she wants to do this dungeon without trouble, so she rolls her eyes and nods at Cav.

As they’re about to enter, TooCool flakes out, saying he’s got to go back to his house and do something real quick. But it’s an hour’s run back to the city. That leaves them one man short again for a few minutes until a wizard named Techie shows up looking for a group. 

“You’re our fifth; now get over here so we can get going already.” Cav calls, clearly frustrated with the repeated delays, as the other two guys try to cover for their flaky friend. 

The actual dungeon reminds Neffie of the Naga Raid, with shallow water and shore creatures like crabs and monstrous crawdads. Their tank is perfect, though, especially paired with the Wrath Bringers that Neffie called, and it’s not a challenge to Misha’s healing skills that Neffie had never used before. In fact, she had to look them up before they started the dungeon so she knew exactly what they were. 

Despite showing as level 140 to the others interfaces, their strength is undiminished from Neffie’s actual level and the Demons are crushing the dungeon residents. Techie is a very competent wizard, stunning monsters that aren’t coming in the right direction and switching from area to single target damage at just the right time. 

The only real issue is NiceGuy. He keeps pulling random groups of monsters to stay on the sandbar, saying that Neffie shouldn’t have to get her feet wet. It’s honestly annoying, and she wonders if there’s a way to discretely kill him inside the dungeon, so she doesn’t have to put up with his nonsense just to see all the pretty fish in the water.