Lexie blinked. "I thought that's what you just did."

"No, I told you what we're taught about dungeons," he said. "Fortunately, I have access to confidential details that most people don't know, not even [Heroes]."

"Let me guess. It's because you've played this game before." Lexie had wondered about that, given that Tate had also been a video game nerd when she knew him. She could sometimes see him playing on his phone during class.

He smiled. "Something like that. But again this isn't a game. Everything that happens here is real. But my prior knowledge of this world's mechanics is how I can tell you that a dungeon isn't created by a confluence of mana that opens the portal. It's something more insidious." He chewed on his next set of words, clearing his throat before he spoke. "What, if anything, do you know about the Eldritch?"

That made Lexie pause. Where did that come from? Was he actually stalking her? Did he see Naem leave her home? Was he about to use that to blackmail her?

His expression had not changed, simply holding that quiet intensity as he stared at her. Not threatening, or seeming like a 'gotcha'. Just waiting.

She tried to shrug casually so as not to give off how freaked out she was. "About the same as most people, I guess. Why?"

"Because they're a big part of this. Dungeons aren't actually made from random confluence of mana. Rather it is made a confluence of Eldritch mana, mana siphoned from the souls and minds of the Eldritch," he said. "They are essentially large pocket dimensions created from Eldritch dreams. Or nightmares depending on how you want to look at it."

Lexie's jaw dropped. "Wait, what?"

Tate nodded and just waited for her to digest it as he continued walking.

She followed him distractedly, her mind racing. Dungeons created from the Eldritch? How?

"That…I mean, how come I've never heard of that?" Lexie asked as she remembered the Hechtl they found in the underground dungeon last year and how unusual it had seemed to everyone.

She, Aiden, and everyone else assumed the eldritch creature had gotten trapped there. But had it…created the dungeon?

"You haven't heard of it because the idea of dungeons are already spooky enough," Tate continued. "Even as dangerous as dungeons are, people still find comfort in the fact that it's straightforward. You go in there, you fight a few monsters, get the treasure, and get out. Most people think dungeons are just places and they don't realize it's a sentient thing. They don't think it's the physical representation of being inside the mind of a demon. If they knew that, how many people do you think would be willing to risk it, knowing that they could be trapped there for all of eternity?"

Lexie swallowed. Even just hearing about it, gave her the heebie-jeebies. It was hard enough being in Naem's presence and Hechtl's presence without feeling overwhelming despair. She couldn't imagine having to feel that for the rest of her life.

"Exactly," he said. "And that's why the Fae hide that fact from most people."

"The Fae?" Lexie questioned. "What do they have to do with this?"

"Well, they're the ones who supply us with the dungeons," he said. "You see, when the Fae came to Earth, we had a lot of problems. One, the Guardians obviously. The second thing was that thanks to our ruthless overmining, we'd destroyed the environment, caused famine, and now people had to fight for resources. Even after the Guardians were gone, Earth was a planet in decline and reaching a swift end.

The solution, as you know, was multifaceted. [Saintesses] were made to heal the Earth. [Heroes] came in to bring balance. There was food relief from other planets and of course, they created pocket dimensions from which we could mine our riches. Dungeons are created by the Fae on multiple barren planets and then during dungeon season, they're siphoned through a complex series of transportation to Earth." They'd reached the train station at this point, and Lexie could hear the train in the distance. "And to create that, they use the Eldritch."

"Why?"

"Because no one knows how to create a pocket dimension quite like the Eldritch. They control dreams and nightmares. Reality bending is their specialty. And, apparently with dungeons, the younger the Eldritch, the better. Maybe because their dreams feel more tethered to their reality, versus older Eldritch who are better at separating them. The dungeons represent Eldritch's greatest fantasy, nightmarish creatures and pretty gems. They're creatures born with greed and violence and so their dreams reflect that. Older Eldritch learn how to control these urges better, which is another reason younger Eldritch are used to create dungeons."

"Woah." Lexie shook her head as the information swam in her brain. "It's hard to wrap my head around this, to be honest."

"I know, but it's true. Why do you think the Eldritch Lord, despite being known to facilitate crime, has never been accosted or punished on the Fae planet? Why do you think he's allowed to roam free and Eldritch are given a legitimate status there. Because it's an even exchange."

"And why would the Fae go through all that trouble just to give humans dungeons?"

"Well obviously, they get something out of it," he said smiling. "Either that or they really are our magnanimous overlords like some people think they are."

"Right." That likely wasn't true. No creature was that magnanimous.

Tate's eyes twinkled which told Lexie that he knew precisely what the Fae were getting out of it, but he wanted her to ask.

She would, but first, there was another pressing question.

Lexie pursed her lips. "Okay, say all that is true. What does that have to do with two kids endangering themselves by raiding a dungeon?"

"It's not as dangerous as it sounds."

"Oh yeah? And how do you figure?"

"Well, we're not really kids and we're not really raiding the dungeon. I said exploring, Lexie, exploring."

A smooth whoosh blew their hair back as the train finally came to a stop. Neither Tate nor Lexie looked away from each other as people began boarding.

"How long is your trip home?" Tate asked.

"Like thirty minutes," Lexie said automatically, mind still buzzing.

"Perfect." He grinned. "Then I have thirty minutes to convince you."

Lexie frowned but slowly nodded. She got her ticket and boarded the train first heading to her favorite window seat at the back of the train.

A well-dressed older man, walking in front of Tate, decided that out of all the empty seats on the train, he wanted to sit opposite her. The second he did, and gave Lexie a smile, Lexie saw Tate stiffen. He then took the seat beside Lexie and stared at the man.

Tate's face tightened and he wasn't glaring per se but he was giving the man a hard look. So much so that the man stopped smiling and shifted his gaze to frown apprehensively at Tate.

Tate didn't stop staring and eventually, the man got up and transferred to sit two rows up. Tate still didn't stop giving him sidelong glances out of the corner of his eye.

Lexie leaned in to whisper. "Do you know him?"

"No," Tate said. "But I think he was trying to get to know you."

"Oh." Lexie turned back to the man who was straight ahead, but he could probably still feel Tate's burning gaze on the back of his neck.

Tate finally turned to Lexie and said, "You need to be more careful. There's all kinds of people in this world you know."

"What did I do?"

Tate simply sighed and said, "Nothing. Just...be careful."

"Is this you saying you're worried about me?'

He coughed. "Well, it would suck to lose my dungeon partner to a potential creep."

"You don't know he's a creep. He literally just sat there." Lexie felt bad for the man...if he wasn't actually a creep, that is. She would try to apologize if she saw him again.

"You don't know what I know," was Tate's response. "Okay, now where were we?"

"You were telling me about us going into a demon's dream…" Lexie didn't want to admit that she was curious about it, but she was, and Tate probably knew it.

"Alright, so boom. This is how it works. A dungeon is an alternate dimension that's just as real as this one, but only lasts for a short time and it can either be destroyed or resolved. What it also is, is that it's the dreams of the eldritch manifested and in those dreams, are hidden dreams that can be activated by putting together the right set of clues."

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At Lexie's blank look, he continued, "So, let's bring back the video game analogy I told you about. You know the concept of hidden levels right? Levels that you can activate by, I don't know, talking to the right NPC or shifting stones to activate a certain sequence?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, dungeons are similar. The Fae and the Eldritch really like puzzles, and, riddles, and games, and stories. And even amid all the horrors going on in the dungeon, it's all just a game with a storyline attached. You'll notice if you know where to look. The story isn't as pertinent to the main level of the dungeon, where most delvers go, but you have to piece it together to get access and win the hidden level."

"And at that level, you get to fight more monsters?"

"Not always," he said. "In fact, for most of those hidden levels, you don't have to fight the monsters to unlock the treasure. And if you do, you're equipped with the powers for it, just like in a video game. Sometimes there isn't even a monster. It's just dark. And I'm not afraid of the dark.

"Good to know," she quipped. "Still not explaining why this is a good idea."

He gave her a look. "Don't you get it? Inside those hidden dungeons are even more treasures than you find in the dungeon. Sometimes, it's rare treasure, stuff that no one on Earth has ever seen before. Also lots of raw mana rocks. And once you solve the level, you can just walk out with them."

Lexie frowned doubtfully. "And how come in decades, no one else has figured that out?"

"Because they don't even know where to look. Because without intimate knowledge of the 'game', they don't know how to play it." He ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up on his scalp. "In some hidden dungeons, you'll find that the Eldritch are also similar to the Guardians in one regard.They can both give powerful gifts to anyone who manages to pass their puzzles. Some, the highest levels, can grant any wish. But those high-level dungeons are too risky for me to attempt right now, so I only stick to level four and below where I can get mana stones and gold."

Ah, so that explains how he can afford mechs. He didn't have a wealthy sponsor. He was the wealthy sponsor.

"But if your goal is just to be rich, then why even join the circuits in the first place?" Lexie asked. "It seems like you're doing just fine with your dungeon thing without having to get your ass kicked three times a week."

He shook his head. "That's not part of the story for today. I'll tell you if and when we become closer friends."

"You really don't know how to say that word normally."

"I thought I was saying it normally."

Lexie sighed. "So basically, you want us to join dungeon parties?"

"Nope. I tried that. They either sucked, were abusive, hindered my progress, or were too stupid. Usually all the above. I also can't risk anyone else finding out what I know. I discovered early on that I work better solo."

Her eyes widened in horror. "So you do this on your own?"

"Yeah," he smirked. "But only with already-raided, low-level dungeons. That way there's even less risk that I run into a monster."

"I thought the already-raided dungeons were gone."

"Not necessarily." He shook his head. "There are two ways to get rid of a dungeon. You either destroy it or you wait for it to resolve. Destroying is expensive, and typically requires a team of mages and equipment to get rid of its core. It's much easier and cheaper to let the dungeon resolve on its own. So say there's a dungeon that has already been raided and mined and is simply left there waiting to be resolved. What the Heroes Association does is that they seal the portal so no one can enter while it waits for resolution. I managed to get my hands on a key to unlock that seal, so I can access the already-raided dungeons and get the secret level."

"How?"

"Well, I just told you about the clues–"

"No, not that," Lexie said. "How did you get your hands on the key?"

Tate sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask me that. Let's just say I got it from an old friend."

Lexie stared at him. There were so many weird parts of his story, so many unbelievably convenient things.

"You're not telling me the whole truth are you? You're hiding something." Or multiple things.

"I'm not…"

"80%t EQ, remember?" she said. "What's the real deal? How did you get your hands on the key?"

Tate shifted in his seat, and once again, she saw him wince. He definitely had an injury somewhere that hadn't completely healed. He was ignoring it, instead focusing on the story.

"I stole it," he finally admitted and Lexie's eyes widened.

"You stole it?"

"It's fine, they didn't need it, probably," he said but his voice didn't sound convincing.

Lexie's horror only magnified.

"Look, it's fine. They weren't good people anyway."

"That makes it worse!" Lexie hissed. Good people might be willing to forgive him, or maybe just report him to the authorities. Bad people would hunt him down and put a bullet in his skull. How was he so casual about it?

Lexie was panicked for him and more than a little shocked. From what little she'd known of Tate back in Earth 2, he'd been a good kid, straight-laced except for the fact that he'd taken Robbie's exam on his behalf. Then again, that was probably proof that he was willing to bend the rules to benefit himself. She'd never thought he would go as far as stealing though.

"Listen, Tate, I understand what you're trying to do," she said, carefully trying to sound sympathetic. "You're trying to make money so you don't have to be in a vulnerable spot anymore. But there are limits and I have a feeling that, with the way you're going about the things you're doing, you're going to end up in a very dangerous place."

He shrugged carelessly. "I've been doing fine so far."

"If you were doing so fine, you wouldn't be asking me for help."

"I'm asking you as a precaution," he said. "When a dungeon is about to resolve, it gives you a warning and a mechanism kicks in to give you extra time to get out. For mundanes, it can maybe give you an extra five minutes. For rankers, dungeons can stay open closer to fifteen minutes, sometimes thirty."

That part was true. Lexie recalled Aiden telling her something like that when she'd first arrived in this world.

"So you want me to go into the dungeon with you so that it doesn't close on you?"

He shrugged. "Something like that. But you don't have to go exploring the dungeon with me if you don't want to. Just enter the portal and stand right by it, to give me extra time to get out. If you see there's only like thirty seconds left, then get yourself out and leave me behind."

"This is insane. Why do you think I would agree to any of that?"

"Because then I would share my loot with you," he said. "I'm willing to draw up a contract, 70/30. You get thirty percent of mana potions and gems, and if I manage to find anything more valuable we split that too. I'll do all the work and you just have to stand by the entrance so it doesn't close on me. Think of how easy that is."

"Not happening." She shook her head, turning away. "It's too dangerous and I don't trust you."

"I'm hurt," Tate said drily. "Fine, what if I upped your portion to thirty-five percent."

"It's still a no. I don't need that stuff."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "You're a C-Rank mage and you've done incredible things with your cards. I haven't met anyone else who does that, which means you probably put a lot of work into it. But think about how much more you'll be able to accomplish if you had endless pools of mana at your disposal. Think of the fact that you could make cards where the skill lasts longer. As long as you need it to."

Lexie froze, drawn to the excitement in his eyes. She didn't want to ask. She wanted to turn him down entirely and keep telling him how crazy he was being, but she couldn't resist asking, wanting to know.

"That won't be possible," she said. "To create a card without a time limit, that is. The system won't approve it because it's against the rules."

The confidence in his eyes didn't diminish even a little bit. "Once again, you play with the rules, I play with the loopholes."

Lexie fell silent. She turned away from him to consider the earth outside. Stretches of green and brown passed her vision but she saw none of it. Her mind was flying in a lot of different directions. She didn't want to admit that she was tempted by what Tate was saying. At the same time, she couldn't find herself realistically going along with it. There were just too many dangerous aspects and as much as Tate liked to pretend that it was as easy as sticking by the dungeon entrance, she knew enough about dungeons to know that they could be unpredictable. Even the stable ones.

"These dungeons are already weakened," he said as though he could read her mind. "They don't have the same pull. They're like half dead."

"There's a reason people don't engage in the kind of things you're talking about Tate."

"Because they don't know what I know. Only the Fae do."

"And what do you think the Fae are going to do when you infringe on their territory."

Tate rolled his eyes. "Lexie, we're only doing this to 10 maybe 50 dungeons a season amidst probably thousands. I doubt they'll even notice."

Lexie remained bothered by the concept. She was also bothered by how much he wanted this. "This is really that important to you."

He nodded and looked past her, out the window. He shifted again in his seat. "I don't plan on being the same kid I was in that other life. That sucked."

Lexie felt a wave of pity for him. "I kinda liked that kid."

"I didn't," he said simply and just like that, they were silent for the rest of the minutes until the trains shifted to a stop.

"You have arrived in Hovelton Village."

Lexie got up. "Come on."

He raised an eyebrow "You want me to come with you?"

"You still need to convince me, don't you? Besides, I want to show you something."

He thought about it then shrugged. "Lucky for you my meeting was canceled." He rose to his feet and they stepped out together.

As they walked off the platform, Tate surveyed the town curiously, staring at the emptiness and the vast sprawling grass.

"Interesting place," he commented.

"You haven't seen the half of it," she said and started off down the cobbled path. Hovelton was in rare form today. A perfect breeze whistled over the grass, and the suns were orange glows in a pink and blue sky. The sky rumbled like it was going to rain but it had been threatening to rain for the past few days already and it never quite did.

As they approached their destination, Lexie decided to distract Tate by asking one more question.

"The mana in your body," she asked. "What is that from?"

His head snapped to her, his eyes widening. "How did you…"

"I can sense it when I concentrate. I also know that it's not really in your body, at least not in your pathways." She cocked her head. "You put mana in your mechs?"

He didn't look like he wanted to answer, but lucky for him, they'd gotten close enough to the Healing House for Emma, who was at the base of the steps to call out, "Hey, Lexie-bear. Who's your companion?"

"He's my…friend." She said it in the same semi-sarcastic tone that Tate used and he smirked.

"Your friend is a boy," Emma commented.

Lexie didn't see how that was relevant. She shrugged. "I guess."

"Hm…" Emma said, and a thoughtful smile tickled the corner of her lips. Lexie finally got what she was insinuating. Her face flushed.

"He's just a friend, Emma," she said, "Who's a boy. But he's not like a boyfriend."

"I didn't say he was." If anything, Emma's smile widened.

No, but you're definitely thinking it, Lexie thought.

"This is Tate." She gestured to Tate who was looking apprehensive as Emma came down to introduce herself.

As they spoke, Lexie allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts again. There was so much to think about.

Especially since she was pretty sure she'd just figured out her father's crime.

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