The fighting arena was carved into a plateau higher up on the mountain. A system of caves had been cut into the rock that included a resting area, some changing rooms, and a bathroom which I made use of. When I finished, I checked my gear for safety and then I strode out onto the plateau.

There were men and women from all three naga clans present. Some were fighting amongst themselves and others holding practice bouts between families. Everyone came to a stop when they saw me.

"Um, hello." I said, giving a small wave. They all continued to stare at me in silence so I scratched my head and said, "I was wondering if anyone wanted to spar?"

Suddenly I was overwhelmed by very tall, very enthusiastic naga all looming over me. They argued amongst themselves until a member from each clan was chosen.

"I am Terra, from Lamia." Terra said. She tapped her fist to her heart in salute.

"I am Collin, from Kidna." Collin said. He tapped his fist to his heart in salute.

"And I am Shade, from Melusine." Shade said. She too tapped her fist to her heart.

"Excellent! I am Henrietta." I returned the greeting and then waved towards a practice ring. "Shall we?"

The three shared a look and then Terra asked, "Which one of us would you like to fight first, Princess?"

What a silly question, but I kept a straight face.

"I'll fight all of you of course." I unsheathed my blade and checked my character sheet. My [Sword Aura] Perk could last two hours before I needed a cooldown. "If I fight teams of three or four at a time, then I should get through everyone before dinner."

I closed my logs and looked up at my opponents. They were a mix of awe, insult and stoicism. Terra was the calm one, and immediately entered the ring. She unraveled her long snake body, freeing up her tail and looking ready to whip me. The others followed shortly.

"After what you did to my brother, I hope the three of us can give you a good warm up." Terra said.

I cracked my neck and got into a casual fighting stance. “On the count of three?”

I won.

The girl, Shade, from Melusine was the most challenging. She had a shadow-walker ability that let her teleport through shadows and into my blind spots. Terra fought similarly to Marik, with brute strength and heavy Spearmanship. My [Quick Step] Perk let me prevent getting blunt force trauma to the face from the butt of a spear, and my [Sword Sense] helped me [Parry] stealth cuts to the gut from Shade. Collin actually held off for most of the fight, and I didn't realize until later than I care to admit that he was a sort of buff ranger type.

He could have enhanced his own weapon and attacked, but instead he was defending from a distance and providing buffs to Terra and Shade. When I did realize what was happening, I jumped over the two in the vanguard and landed on Collin with a clean boot dagger.

I loved hidden daggers. No one expected a Heroine of Justice to fight dirty, so they focused mainly on the sword. Also, throwing knives at lesser targets while challenging a dungeon boss made it easier to clear floors faster.

Knives were wonderful.

I tapped Collin's nose, flat side down, and said, "You're out." Then returned to fighting the ladies.

Without their enhanced attributes, Terra and Shade were quick work. Honestly, with at least 30 levels between us everyone was quick work. Still, I tried to give every Warrior on the plateau a good fifteen minute bout.

"Phew," I said after fighting the last challenger. "I actually worked up a sweat!"

My stamina was pretty big, and it refilled very quickly, but working against teams of enemies made for good exercise. Eventually my [Sword Aura] ran out, but by that point I was fighting the lowest level newbie fighters, and I didn't need anything special to defeat them.

"Thank you again, Henrietta," Terra came forward and offered me a waterskin. I'd beaten a few heads together before everyone started calling me by my name. I like being a princess… but I've grown very fond of my real name. People might as well use it.

"My pleasure Terra." I hesitated only a second before I asked. "How is your brother?"

"Embarrassed." The naga woman smiled. "But he'll feel better after he finds out about what happened here."

They both looked over the exhausted, bruised and defeated group of naga - all of which were incredibly excited and already practising ways to improve their fighting based on her recommendations.

"That's good." I nodded. "Tell him he shouldn't interrupt people like that. I almost dropped my gift!"

"Speaking of," Collin cut in. He and Shade had came over. No one had outright said it, but I assumed they were all pretty high up in their Clan's hierarchy. "What was that? It was delicious!"

"I didn't get to try any," Shade sighed, "but I've heard from Janet, Planta's sister, that it was the most delicious bread they'd ever eaten."

I smiled, "That's good to hear. I got the recipe from a beastfolk friend and I’d be happy to share it. I wasn't sure if you had any dietary restrictions…"

"Dairy." Collin said. "We can eat most everything else. But something about cow milk just destroys us."

"Hm," I asked the first thing that came to mind, "does having poison resistance help?"

"No." He shook his head. "Though having a monstrously high Constitution does."

"Interesting."

"Well Princess." Terra slithered around to Shade and put a hand on the naga's shoulder. "It's time that we return to our family's for dinner. Collin will bring you to the hot spring house where his sister Mera is waiting to show you around."

"Shall we?" Collin bent down awkwardly to offer me an arm. I took it.

"That sounds lovely Collin!"

…

When I arrived at the stunning carved wooden villa overlooking the springs, I was given my luxurious soft cotton bathroom suit and arachnid silk gown to lounge in while I ate chicken sausage, stuffed olives, warm rye, goat cheese drizzled with honey and a bowl of salted cashews.

I enjoyed the light charcuterie. They were all the rage last year, though no one has been able to figure out what charcuterie actually meant.

Then I was escorted to the hot springs.

Mera was in full professional tour mode, and after an hour at the pools and another hour getting a massage and mud wrap, we finally relaxed on an outdoor veranda to eat dinner.

The Kidna Clan set out an elaborate spread of roast lamb, truffle mushrooms in garlic, hazelnut oil, and steamed vegetables in oyster sauce. Drinks included a glass of filtered mountain spring water and a smooth white wine labelled Beautiful Stars from one of Peldeeps famous vineyards called The Glass Apple.

"You know Mera," I broached, "you don't have to play the host. I'm here to relax and just chat." Spending the day with Planta really showed me how much time I spent with fake smiles and aristocratic [Etiquette], and how much of people I never got to see. "Is there anything that you want to talk about?"

Mera warred with herself, and after a moment's hesitation her demeanour dropped from rigid polite to slightly conspiratorial. "There is one thing… is it true that you came to challenge King Keith to a duel, and when you won you asked to be the future Queen of the Dark Enchanted Forest?"

I didn't spit take wine across the table, because I had only just lifted the glass to my lips and hadn't actually taken a sip with which to spit.

"What?!"