The fairy gave a satisfying shriek and nearly fell over trying to turn around and back up at the same time. Chaney tried to restrain his smile while he waited for the little green man to regain his composure.


    The fairy huffed and glared at Chaney. "How did you do that, what skill were you using?" The question was pretty rude, between mostly strangers, but Chaney forgave the fairy immediately.


    "I hadn''t heard of this one before, it came out as ''I''m not here'' and it makes it more difficult to locate me, even if I make some noise or something like that." Chaney said proudly. He had meditated for two hours to unlock that skill after an incident where he looked right at the moon cat and failed to see it, smell it, hear it, or detect it with any other sense he had.


    The fairy stopped glaring and looked impressed. "I should have been able to sense your disruption to the ambient mana, but the only thing I sensed was like a soft breeze, not a person walking around. That''s a good skill." The fairy nodded to Chaney with respect. "How did you know to make it hide your mana interactions like that?"


    Chaney felt uncomfortable with this very personal question, so he tried to answer vaguely enough to make the fairy stop asking questions. "Well, I focused on all the senses." He could tell his face showed his discomfort, and, thankfully, the fairy changed the subject.


    The fairy held out a wooden talisman and Chaney took it. The wood was heavy and dark. Several gemstones were embedded in the corners of the talisman and a complicated symbol was engraved on the front and back. "This is yours now. It indicates to the dungeon that you are not an intruder, that you have a right to be here. It will help the more intelligent creatures--Yrryth, the giant snake, and the big water bat--view you as an ally without fighting their instincts."


    Chaney was shocked. "Wow. Thank you, master fairy!" He ran his fingers over the engraving and the gemstones. "It''s quite beautiful." The fairies cheeks turned a darker shade of green, like he was blushing. "What happens if it breaks or I lose it?"


    The fairy nodded. "Right, there is one more step." The fairy withdrew a tiny knife from nowhere and held it out. "Put a drop of blood on both sides, in the engraving. That way, no one else can use it. If it breaks while you are still employed, I''ll make you a new one." Chaney took the knife and poked the back of one wrist to get the drops of blood.


    The fairy continued after Chaney finished. "There is one thing I need to clarify. This marks you as not an intruder, but dungeon creatures will attack you, but not because you are an intruder. The dungeon could still have them attack you, even if you aren''t an intruder. But they creatures might attack you anyway." The fairy growled in frustration and waved his hands in front of himself. "Bah, I''m making it too complicated. If the dungeon commands the creatures to attack intruders, the creatures will ignore you. If the dungeon commands the creatures to attack you specifically, they will attack you. If a creature feels like attacking you, it will attack you. Does that make sense?"If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Chaney thought about the explanation for a moment. "I think so. It''s mostly the same as now, but if I left the dungeon and came back, the creatures would not do that thing where they all start to attack after a minute goes by." The fairy began to nod, but his face did a complicated expression of confusion.


    "A minute? It is a minute each time, isn''t it?" The fairy shook his head after a second, then nodded. "In any case, yes, exactly right. Plus the more advanced creatures will be nicer to you. The snake probably won''t even eat you, but don''t test that."


    ----


    Three weeks after Punch''s injury, he could walk around and speak normally, but his ribs were not healed enough for him to do any strenuous activity. He mostly sat and tried to train his new **Knapping** skill. He was trying to make a spearhead out of flint to mount on an ironwood pole that squints had gotten for him. The bandits didn''t have proper woodworking tools, or knapping tools, or the right sort of cord for binding the spearhead to the shaft, but Punch didn''t have anything else to do. The best he had come up with was using the handle of a broken knife to break chips off the flint, then making some rough silk rope from a damaged cocoon.


    Punch was tying his latest stout spearhead onto the end of the shaft when Sajaa and the other bandits entered the camp. Sajaa roared a greeting when she came in range of the camp, which lifted a number of spirits. Zdeska and the guards on watch roared something back at the goblin woman. Punch listened to it from inside his tent. It was some goblin ritual that Sajaa hadn''t given up about re-establishing who was leader and who was follower after a prolonged separation. Punch figured that Zdeska had kept her spot as leader since no fighting sounds reached him.


    Punch listened as the other bandits mixed with those in the camp. Excited murmuring spread all around outside the tent. He thought he heard Borth giving some orders, but, since no one entered his tent, Punch ignored it all.


    A few hours later, Punch was trying to tighten the rope holding the spearhead when Sajaa stepped into the tent. The goblin woman was glorious to Punch''s eyes. Her grey-green skin and black hair blended beautifully with a new outfit of colorful silks and leathers topped with a large hat. Smiling at the bandit second in command, Punch resolved to get some peacock feathers to adorn that hat.


    "Punch!" Sajaa said loudly. "Are you injured?" The goblin''s voice was rough and she glanced at him critically. "Borth says you haven''t taken your team out in weeks."


    "Yes, Sajaa. I broke nearly every rib three weeks ago. I''m still not recovered enough to thrust a spear." Punch grimaced as he patted his tender chest.


    "Hmmm." Sajaa growled in contemplation. She stepped closed and held out her hand for the spear. Punch handed it to her willingly. "You are an amateur knapper and you don''t know how to mount a spearhead. I will show you." To Punch''s delight, Sajaa sat on the floor of the tent and quickly disassembled his rough spear.