The following morning, the party woke up to find that they had received a notification.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  Achievement Acquired: One Week Later.

  Description: Spend one week in the dungeon.

  ??

  Reading that notification, the party was surprised that they'd only been in the dungeon for one week. They had honestly believed that they had spent much longer inside. Yet they had to assume the dungeon was right since they couldn't confirm it themselves, having lost track of time as they explored the space. It was especially hard, considering that they spent a good portion of that time underwater.

  Speaking of being underwater, the party was looking to spend some portion of the day mostly above water. They had discussed it the night before and had chosen to head towards the beaver first. The beaver Beast Lord’s home could easily be reached above water, and the party figured it would be nice to stretch their legs, at least Alexion’s and Arctur’s legs.

  Sure, they did a lot of swimming in the lake, which did exercise their legs, but that wasn't the same as actually walking. It was for that reason that they tended to take breaks above water, so the duo did not have their ability to move on land impaired. Granted, their breaks also allowed them to feel the wind and actually breathe, which was a refreshing experience in itself.

  It was also important to note that Adriana experienced the same issue as her two friends. Once Adriana reverted to her normal humanoid form after having spent a large amount of time in her mermaid form, she had to take some time to readjust. Obviously, she could revert to her normal form every other day, but it was hard to convince her to do so when they didn't have a good reason. And no, having to learn to walk again, at least partially, was not a good enough reason to revert, at least in the mermaid's opinion.

  So, after deciding their course for the day, the party began making their way over to the beaver lord.

  Traveling mostly meant that the two boys ran on land, but considering they wanted to save time, they also occasionally dipped into the water to cross between points where the land was divided, as it was simply faster to swim across. And naturally, while the two boys mainly stayed on land, Adriana stayed near the shore, keeping close to her two friends.

  It didn't take very long for the party to reach the beaver lord’s general area, since sticking to the shore meant that not many monsters attacked them. Still, they had travelled a good distance, and by the change in light in the sky, due to what was possibly a replica of the actual sun, they knew they had travelled for an hour or two. Something that they did confirm once they took out their watches. Not like it mattered since they weren't on a huge timer or anything. Sure, they had to recruit as many Beast Lords as they could, but they also knew other adventurers were working on the same thing.

  Focusing back on the area that the Beast Lord called home, the party found that it was almost its own miniature lake. As they watched, they saw a multitude of beavers hauling logs from the nearby forest and dumping them on the ever-growing dam. The dam was being built in the only spot that connected their small offshoot to the actual lake. However, as they watched, the party couldn't help but notice that the dam was only partially done, which could only mean one thing.

  “A bit cruel to make them remake the dam with every reset,” Adriana said, as she floated in a bubble of water next to the duo. She could have maybe gotten permission to jump over the dam, but she didn’t want to risk it, so she decided to make herself a water transportation bubble for the time being.

  “Nah, beavers live for this stuff, so if anything, I think they are happy to always have something to build,” Arctur told them, knowing a bit more about beavers than his two friends.

  “I guess. It probably also helps that these aren’t normal beavers,” Adriana added, noticing the slight metal streaks on their brown fur as well as their rather shiny flat tails.

  “Yeah, I imagine that this might be the reason why they aren’t very hostile, after all, they must spend all their time building this thing.” Alexion could be wrong about his guess, but it didn’t seem likely.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “That seems possible,” His girlfriend agreed.

  “Should we try to find their boss? I imagine he has to be in or near one of these nests, though probably a larger one,” Arctur said as he watched the bobbing semi-round piles of wood floating in the water.

  “Sounds good, but can we get in the water? Or do you think they will be mad?” Adriana asked.

  “I don’t think it will be a problem, at least as long as we don’t mess with their nests,” Her elf told her.

  With that decision made, the party got in the water and began swimming around as they looked for the Beast Lord. And sure enough, the beavers didn't seem to mind them being in the water, and if anything, they saw another one or two parties of adventurers also swimming around. Seeing the adventurers made the party wonder how recruitment worked. If one party had just spoken with the Beast Lord, and then they approached, would they be treated like a brand new group, or did the creature remember previous parties it had spoken with?

  After all, they hadn't been able to ask too many questions of a Beast Lord since their talk with the otter had gone rather badly. Luckily, it seemed that they would be able to do so as they finally found a very large floating pile of wood with a very, very large beaver on top. The beaver looked like the smaller ones, except that it was the size of a bear, if not larger, definitely larger.

  Approaching, they saw that a group of adventurers was swimming off from the large nest, and the beaver turned to look at them. Thankfully, it didn't attack and simply watched as the trio got onto its large wooden raft.

  “Adventurers, can I help you with something?” The beaver said its voice was rather average, and partially took them by surprise with its ability to talk, something they were now sure was a trait of Beast Lords.

  “Uh, yes, we are trying to see if you would be willing to join and help the frog people in their time of need?” Alexion said.

  “No, I'd rather not.”

  “How come? Have you perhaps already joined one of their factions?” Arctur asked.

  “I have not, even if some other adventurers have asked. As to why, well, the frogs have nothing to offer me that I can’t already get myself,” The beaver said, answering Arcturs question as well as finally letting the party know whether Beast Lords had memories of previous parties.

  “So, there isn’t anything they can offer, like extra food? Or maybe help with the completion of your dam?” Alexion asked, hoping to find something that would change the beaver's mind.

  “No, we can already gather whatever food we wish, and the sheer thought of asking outsiders for help with our dam is unacceptable!” The Beast Lord said, clearly offended.

  “Ah, apologies,” Alexion told the beaver, his words mollifying the creature.

  “I will forgive you this time, since you know nothing of us, but do not say such a thing again. Now, if you have nothing else to ask or offer, I would ask that you leave us to our work.”

  “Very well,” Alexion said, and the trio turned around only to find another party approaching the floating structure. Seeing this, the party slowed their departure to see how the Beast Lord spoke with the other group of adventurers.

  “Hello, adventurers, what brings you here?” The beaver said as the other party approached.

  Staying around to hear the whole conversation, the trio found that the other party had pretty much the same exact talk that they had just had with the Beast Lord. The only difference was that the other adventuring party had pushed a little bit harder, and the beaver drove them off its structure by creating a mini tidal wave.

  “Well, it looks like we aren’t having much luck with recruitment, but it looks like nobody else is either,” Adriana said, sounding a bit defeated as she and her two friends swam away from the beaver’s nest.

  “Eh, it's too early to tell, that’s only our second Beast Lord,” Her boyfriend said, swimming over to hug her and try to cheer her up.

  “Yeah, it also doesn’t help that the otter wasn’t very keen on us to begin with. Plus, this beaver really doesn’t need anything the frogs can provide,” Arctur added.

  “That’s true, let's try and not beat up more of their underlings, yeah? That might help us recruit them,” Adriana stated, hoping her idea would have merit.

  “We can try that, though only as long as they don’t attack us first,” Alex told her, giving her another kiss as she nodded in agreement.

  “Still, I fear we might be unable to recruit the Beast Lords. In fact, no one might be able to, at least not during this stage,” Arctur stated rather confidently.

  “Why do you say that?” His white hair friend questioned.

  “Well, it's just a guess, but considering everything so far, the event will certainly have other phases, since I doubt everything will be resolved peacefully. So, I am guessing during this so-called talking stage, the dungeon is simply letting us scout our future targets.”

  Hearing his green friend's explanation and thinking about it, Alexion had to agree.

  “That seems likely, after all, from what the chief explained, they don’t want us adventurers fighting for their futures, so considering the dungeon is ultimately a training ground for us, and the Beast Lords are the biggest threats in the lake, it makes sense we will end up fighting them anyway,”

  “So, what? It's pointless to talk to the Beast Lords?” Adriana asked, no longer as sad about failing to recruit the lords so far.

  “No, like I said, it’s a good way to scout them out and get a measure of them. Also, with everything the dungeon has done so far, I wouldn’t put it past it to allow for a few Beast Lords to be recruited during this time,” Arctur explained.

  “Alright, that sounds better. So, who should we go find next?” The mermaid asked.

  “I think the platypus would be the easiest, then we can spend however long looking for the tigerfish,” Alexion prompted, and the other two nodded in agreement. So, with that, the party sped up as they made their way across the small beaver lake and towards the first platypus cave.