Wandering Dungeon

The old lady lead Garrett and the others through the door and down a long corridor of stairs. "So ma'am," Garrett spoke up after starting down the stairs, "I don't think we got your name while we were upstairs."

The old lady chuckled. "Oh, how rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Jenny. I was born and raised right down the street in fact. Ever since I was a little girl I always listened to the tales of the adventurers that would visit our town and I was inspired to go see the world." Jenny sighed while reminiscing of her past. "I left town as soon as I could join the adventurers guild and had a grand time. I actually met my husband when I saved him from a band of ruffians. He was such a coward back then."

Kyle looked at Garrett with what Garrett could only assume was an 'oh great, grandma's telling us her life story again' look and shrugged back at Kyle. Garrett didn't really mind since there was really nothing else to do besides walk down the stairs. Besides, maybe he could learn a little bit of history that could be useful sometime.

"Look at me rambling on. I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear my life's story." Blixie rolled her eyes. "Well after I retired awhile back my husband and I returned here to live a nice simple life and now I run the adventures guild here in Arenthia while he is one of the tailors in town."

"We don't mind." Garrett said. "You probably have some really good stories from your time adventuring. Did you ever get a nickname when you adventured?"

Blixie and Kyle sighed. Here we go again, they both thought. Jenny laughed. "I haven't thought of those in years, but yes I had a few. Near the end they started calling me Grandma Jenny, but most people would remember me as Morana. It was given to me by a group I rescued that was visiting our country and it just kinda stuck for some reason." She waved her hand dismissively. "I never really minded it and I didn't use it myself but it makes you wonder how nicknames gain their power."

Blixie's eyes widened until they took up about half her face. "You are Morana? Ogress of the battlefield? Destroyer of dragons?"

"Hahaha. Yes my dear. Those are some of the names I picked up as well." Jenny laughed. "Not sure when I destroyed a dragon though."

As they arrived at the bottom of the stairs Garrett and Kyle looked back at Blixie in hopes that she would explain a bit more. "I have all your cards." Blixie said as she pulled a small book out of nowhere. She quickly flipped through several pages before stopping and turning the book around.

The pages showed several small rectangular cards depicting a very large, red-headed women in fights against different enemies. One showed her fighting a pair of orcs that came up to her waist. Another was against a troll that stood to her shoulders, hands locked in a contest of strength. There were several other cards with different monsters or animals, but the common theme was an axe that looked like it was made for someone even larger grasped in the giant woman's hands or strapped to her back, and she was always bigger than her opponent.

Garrett and Kyle looked back down at the old lady then to each other. "Must be like the trading cards from our world." Garrett whispered. "They probably wanted to show her power compared to the enemies she fought."

"Well then." Jenny said as she moved to the center of the room. "Welcome to the training room." The others followed her into the large circular room. There were various racks of weapons lining the walls as well as targets made of straw and wood. "Every adventurers guild has one so members can practice their skills without endangering civilians. It's also where we test people for entry into the guild." Jenny lifted her hand to the side and a slight hum started. A large axe that rested against the wall started to vibrate then suddenly flew into Jenny's outstretched hand, the large double blade head thumped into the ground. "Let's see what you got." She said with a smile as she leaned on the axe like it was a walking stick.

Blixie sighed when she noticed that Garrett and Kyle just stared at Jenny with confusion. "She wants to see if you will survive on the quests the guild gives you, so she needs to know how well you fight. So, you are going to have to fight her."

"Are you serious?" Garrett exclaimed. "I get that she was a famous adventurer back in the day, but I can't fight an old lady. I don't want to hurt her."

Blixie burst out laughing while Jenny chuckled. "If you could hurt her Garrett, we wouldn't be in the situation we are." Blixie said.

Jenny smiled. "It's so nice to see youngsters with morals these days. Let's do this." She walked over to a box full of clothes and pulled out a plain white shirt and two pairs of gloves made of a fine red cloth. She tossed a pair of gloves to Garrett and a pair to Kyle, then put on the white shirt that fit her more like a dress as she returned to the center of the room and grabbed the axe handle. "Those gloves are enchanted to leave a mark wherever they touch on this shirt. So, if you can leave a mark you will pass. How does that sound?"

Garrett put on the gloves. "That sounds better. What do you think Kyle?" He looked over at Kyle and saw him sprout two slimy tentacles and slip them into the gloves. "Hey, you look good with hands." He chuckled. He made a show of stretching a little bit then walked over to the middle of the room and stood about ten feet from Jenny. "I think I'm ready." He said but saw a look of confusion on her face. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Jenny replied. "It's just that the monster tamers I have seen usually just let their monster fight and they support it with enhancement spells and maybe throw in an attack spell or two as a distraction. So, you coming to challenge me by yourself surprised me."

"Well, it's not like we are actually fighting and both of us going against you just seems a little unfair."

Jenny just smiled. "Whenever you're ready." She said.

Garrett took a few lunging steps and reached out to touch Jenny's shoulder, but she just turned her body and let his hand sail past her. He quickly reached out with his trailing hand but met only air as Jenny bent forward and slid under his arm.

Garrett reached out again and again swiping at her from different angles. He tried throwing in feints and even used his mana threads to slide the gloves up his hands a little to increase his reach. He tried to grab the shirt with a couple of spare mana threads, but they slipped off just the same as when he tried to pick up his core or the bottle that had contained Kyle. No matter what he tried she would turn or duck or take a single step to be just out of reach. He soon realized that the axe she held onto hadn't even moved. and in frustration and anger he swung his foot out in an attempt to trip her.

Jenny lifted her feet in a small hop while Garrett's leg slid beneath her, kicking up a bit of dust and sand. Garrett spun around with the momentum of his kick and was shocked to see Jenny floating in the air, supported only by one skinny arm holding onto the axe handle. "That's better dear. You have to use everything you have available when you fight." Jenny said in a calm voice, as if teaching a young child, while she held herself effortlessly in the air. "But unless you get your slime to fight me as well then you are only using half your tools." She continued as she slowly lowered her legs to the ground.

Suddenly she leaped forward and to the side as a gloved tentacle whizzed through where she had been and slapped into Garrett's chest. She used the axe handle as leverage to swing herself around and kicked Kyle who had been trying to sneak up on her. Kyle rolled across the room and slapped wetly into the wall. "Much better. You almost got me there. You used yourself as a distraction to let your slime get in close. It's quite clever in this situation. Maybe I underestimated you and I should get a bit serious now."

Garrett realized that he had been eye level with Jenny since she had kicked Kyle into the wall. Was this her normal height when she wasn't hunched over. He thought but quickly realized she was actually growing when he started having to look up to her. "I guess those cards were more literal than we thought." He mumbled to himself as Blixie laughed mischievously of to the side.