Three days after the glove incident. Greg was at his workbench trying very hard to not think about anything magical when Bork walked over and cleared his throat in a way that meant he wanted to talk about something important.

"Boss," Bork said, leaning against the workbench. "May I ask you something?"

Greg said, without looking up from the perfectly normal horseshoe he was working on, "No, if it means making anything that could possibly develop consciousness or cause emotional distress."

"It's not like that at all," Bork said with a laugh. "Actually, I was thinking about how it's winter now. Do you know what that means?"

"Everyone complains about being cold, and I have to make things that will get locked up in the cellar again?"

"Yes, but it also means that the deep caves are open."

That caught Greg's eye. He looked up from the horseshoe. "Deep caves?"

"Yes," Bork said, his eyes lighting up with the kind of excitement that only a dwarf could have for caves. "Water levels go down in the mountain caves about fifteen miles north of here in the winter. It opens up paths that are usually covered in water for the rest of the year."

"And I guess these caves have something cool in them?"

"Just cool, you say?! These caves have some of the richest ore deposits in the whole area, boss!" Bork was getting more excited now. "There's mithril silver, deep iron, star copper, and even some veins of adamantine if you know where to look."

"People can't get to them most of the time because they are too dangerous when they are flooded. But in the winter? Perfect conditions for mining."

Greg put down his hammer. "Alright, alright, I hear you. You want to go mining, right?"

Bork said, "I want us to go mining. You, me, and maybe Felix if he promises not to make things worse."

"A real boys' trip to get away from the workshop for a few days and do some real mining work. When was the last time you did something apart from making magical things?"

Greg thought about it for a while. "I made those fence posts for Thomas."

"That was three days ago, and you whined the whole time."

"They were dull."

"Exactly! It's okay to be boring sometimes! And mining is the best kind of boring thing to do. You dig, you find ore, and then you dig some more. It's easy and ain't hard because there are no magical problems."

Greg said, "Nothing you're saying makes this sound good."

Bork said, "There's some excellent quality beer. I'll bring the good dwarven things that taste like heaven, but it could take off paint."

"I'm paying attention."

"And think about it, Boss. When was the last time you did something beneficial for yourself? Not because you were paid, not because someone needed help, just because you wanted to? This might be good for you."

Greg looked around the shop. Marina was reading in her corner and smiled at him every now and then, as if she knew what he was doing. Lylia was getting things ready for lunch.

Seraphine was writing down what she was doing. Elwen was working on her metalworking skills. Mira and Donetta were putting together supplies.

They could all handle things just fine without him for a few days. The thought of doing something simple and physical, where the worst thing that could happen was hitting a rock with a pickaxe instead of accidentally making sentient cutlery, was actually very appealing.

"Okay," Greg said. "I'm in. But we need the right tools, like pickaxes, lanterns, and safety gear that work well."

"We're doing it right if we're going into deep caves."

Bork's smile was so big that it looked like it could break his face. "That's what I'm talking about! I'll start getting things ready. If you can make the equipment by then, we can leave in two days."

Greg said, "I can do it in one day, and I'm doing them right. No shortcuts and no extra magic. Just good, solid tools for mining."

"That's all I want, Boss."

Felix, who had apparently been eavesdropping from across the workshop, suddenly showed up next to them with the wild energy of someone who had just heard the best news of their life.

"Did someone say mining?" Felix almost yelled. "Are we going to mine? Like real mining? In caves? With PICKAXES!?"

Greg said, "Yes, Felix, we're going mining."

"Oh my God! It's finally happening!" Felix paused and cleared his throat before continuing. "And I bet this is just like that really popular survival game where you build and mine blocks in that world! The one where you hit trees and fight green guys that blow up!"

Bork said, "Felix, I don't know what you're talking about."

"The game of making things! You know, the game where you put blocks together, mine resources, and build things."

"I probably shouldn't say the exact name because of copyright issues, but you know what I mean. Everyone knows the one and only peakest game to exist!"

Greg rubbed his temples. "Felix, are you going to act like this the whole time?"

"Most likely! Do you have any idea how happy I am?!"

"In my previous life, as a child, I yearned for the mines! I did this in a game, so not real life, but you get the point!"

"We need to check that we have torches! And we should bring food with us! Oh, and we have to be careful of monsters in the caves!"

"Are there monsters in the caves?" Greg asked Bork.

Bork said, "Just some rats and maybe a few bats. Not a big deal."

"CAVE SPIDERS!" Felix yelled. "We should be careful of cave spiders! And the zombies! Even the skeletons with bows!"

Greg said, "Felix, I don't think this world works like your game."

"You don't know that! What if it does? What if we find some diamonds?! Or emeralds?!"

"Oh man, we could put in a minecart track! Do you guys have a redstone?! We could build a system that sorts things automatically!"

Greg said, "I'm already sorry I did this."

"You can't feel bad about it! This will be the best trip for the boys ever! There are only three guys, some pickaxes, and many rocks to break. It's going to be great!"

Marina walked over with a smile on her face. "You're taking Felix to the mines?"

"Apparently," Greg said.

"That will either be the best choice you've ever made or the worst. And, of course, there is no middle between them."

"I know."

"Can I come?" Marina asked.

Greg, Bork, and Felix all said "No" at the same time.

Marina raised her eyebrows. "No?"

Bork said, "It's a trip only for boys, and it's our time to bond! Just us guys doing manly things, like hitting rocks with other rocks."

Marina said, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"It's a tradition!" Bork protested.

"It's not tradition at all."

"It's that time for tradition to start."

Marina turned to Greg. "You're really not going to let me come?"

Greg said, "You can have the workshop all to yourself for a few days. No one making strange things, no chaos, just you and the girls doing what you want."

Marina thought about this. "Actually... that sounds nice. Okay, you can go on your trip with the guys. But I'm blaming both of you if Felix doesn't come back!"

"Hey!" Felix felt insulted.

"You have a history, Felix."

"I'm a better person now!"

"You tried to lose all your money at the casino two weeks ago."

"That was... okay, that was awful. But now I'm a better person! I'm a new man, especially next year!"

"Let's see," Marina said, patting his head like he was a dog.

"Don't die in a cave."

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