Zoe learned a lot more about her new skills by using them than by reading them, in the end. The system really was useless when it came to documentation.


    The upside was that she still had a sparkling new class, some nifty skills, and a funny little boat taking her and two friends out of that horrid place. What Zoe did learn was that blood siphon was exactly what it sounded like—she could siphon blood from things.


    “Shocking,” Lilith had remarked. Sarcasm aside, that was still a great ability to have, in the context of the rest of Zoe’s skillset. Flesh manipulation, meanwhile, was also basically what it sounded like. The main difference, aside from doing totally different things, was that it was broader and harder to get a specific handle on. So in addition to mangling up some corpses more than they already were, Zoe figured out she could jam up the gate lock with a small mass of undifferentiated Human tissues.


    It was gross—but it worked, and it was just as easy to discreetly suck it back out of the lock when Lily and Sasha weren’t looking. Simple and clever, Zoe thought. She had already started thinking of other creative ways to use some of her lesser-used skills.


    Less fortunate was how little she learned about the other two skills that came with her upgraded class. Life ray fired off a barely visible ray of, well, some kind of life mana? Zoe wasn’t really sure about much more than that. She was well aware of how deeply it pulled on her soul, though, devouring her spiritual energy to produce little observable effect.


    Equally disappointing was reap. Where life ray seemed to activate just fine, even if she couldn’t figure out the purpose of its effect, reap failed to activate properly in the first place. Zoe could feel the Rank C skill start to spin up and engage—but then the metaphysical gears would get stuck, bits and bobs would go whirring and flying off, and she’d be left with nothing but soul strain.


    She would figure them out eventually. As the three young women coasted over the dark, cool waters of the canals, Zoe shifted her focus to the other rewards she got for the whole endeavor.


    Quest Complete!


    [GET OUT]


    Uh oh, a familiar cultist cut off your head and dropped you in some kind of prison! This is a bad situation—if you’re a guard. And what’s worse than one escapee? A whole lot of them, of course.


    Assist someone in escaping and they’ll surely be grateful. Being nice pays.


    -Rewards-


    > (Free Lodtvik) Elixir of Greater Soul Sight x3 <complete>


    > (Free Sasha) Cloak of the Hunter Forest Animal (Rank E) (Living Item) <complete>


    > (Free Liliana) Dubiously Legal Passkeys x3 <complete>


    Zoe’s personal quest system was back to pulling its weight. She still hadn’t gotten to play with her magic kite as much as she’d wanted to, and she suspected it was useful as more than just a toy. But that was old news, as right now she had three new goodies to look at—or seven, depending on how you counted.


    [ELIXIR OF GREATER SOUL SIGHT] x3


    Rank C


    A pure and potent distillation of the Mind and Spirit, temporarily granting or increasing the subject’s ability to perceive the spiritual.


    -Attributes-


    > 1 hour duration


    > 100 Quality


    > +10 additional Perception during effect


    So it’s a potion that lets you see souls. Zoe decided that this was an excellent thing to have, even if it wasn’t immediately useful or good in a given emergency. Even though she’d already gotten the mana sight skill as well as a class option with mana manipulation too, Zoe wasn’t going to slack on her eventual goal of mastering magic. These potions would likely be useful there. If they weren’t, they’d be useful for something else. Who doesn’t love soul magic, right?


    Setting those aside, Zoe skipped over Sasha’s reward to first look at the keys the quest linked to ‘rescuing’ Lily.


    [DUBIOUSLY LEGAL PASSKEYS] x3


    These may not be entirely legal, so you should consider going around sticking them in locks to see if you can get rid of them.


    Zoe read through the description three times. That was it. That’s helpful, thanks. The system sure loved being sassy at times. But, as Zoe had noted previously, the sass had never been totally baseless or irrelevant thus far. There was usually at least some conclusion to be inferred. In this case, there was something up with the legality or even just cultural opinion on these keys. The whole ‘dubiously legal’ part could go multiple ways when you got down to the details.


    The other main thing was that she should try sticking them in locks to use them. That should be obvious—they were keys—but the system went out of its way to be ‘sarcastic’ about it. Zoe suspected she really should try them on things.


    As for the actual items, they were just metal keys—slightly larger than the regular mass-produced ones back on Earth, and slightly less flat. Were the grooves in the sides different too? Zoe wasn’t sure.


    That left her with one more item.


    [CLOAK OF THE HUNTER FOREST ANIMAL]


    Rank E


    The wolf is many things—but perhaps most of all, a symbol. What does it mean then, to bear the mantle of its hide? This cloak is no ordinary enchanted garment—it bears not only magic within its thread but a living spirit to guide and grow with you.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    -Alignment-


    > Life


    > Cold


    > Earth


    > Wind


    -Stats and Bindings-


    Power 65


    Perception 60


    Acuity 50


    Durability 100


    Vitality 70


    -Effects-


    > Lonesome Recovery


    > Winter’s Embrace


    > Earthen Resilience


    > Howl on the Wind


    Huh. Zoe liked what she saw here. It was some kind of living item, so she didn’t think the stats it had were bonuses that she would get directly—something Lilith confirmed a moment later. Yet they were still important because they affected the rest of the item as a whole, such as the potency of whatever each of the four ‘effects’ at the bottom did. And because it was a living item, they would grow and evolve over time. This is definitely pretty neat.


    Zoe really, really wanted to put the cloak on then and there. She only didn’t because of her present company. She wasn’t worried about offending Sasha—honestly, that’s probably one of those things where the implication of it thinking it’s offensive is what would make things offensive. If that made any sense. No, the reason was she didn’t want to reveal all her tricks—or talk about how she was pulling items out of thin air.


    _____


    The canals changed a lot as the hours stretched on. Yes, hours. Zoe thought they’d coast out into the open ocean, sail away from some dismal rock of a tiny island, and head off back towards the continent. Nope!


    The whole thing was underground, and half of it was flooded. And not just underground—a dungeon. This was not something Zoe was expecting, and it wasn’t something she was prepared for, either. To summarize a rather lengthy conversation, the entire planet was one giant game-like dungeon.


    ‘The Underworld,’ they called it. No one knew how deep it truly went, though most sections were quite deep, at least a mile or so under the surface. The spots where the convoluted, tangled, magic and monster-filled tunnels rose all the way up in an underground dome of malevolent natural architecture were the ‘dungeons.’


    Zoe thought that was a bit of a silly way to term things, but she had little choice but to accept it.


    Did that mean that the elder temple she’d woken up in was connected to the giant world dungeon? Probably. Regardless, Zoe thought it was super cool, especially when Sasha remarked that the passages of the Underworld were notorious for trafficking bandits, refugees, and all manner of organized and unorganized crime. It looks like there’s a criminal underworld after all—quite literally.


    She was a lot less happy with it right now, because she wanted to be exploring the city, and also the nice cool water was transitioning to Human sewage. “Gross!” Zoe yanked her oar away from a foamy, yellow-gray mass of—material—as it floated by. Things were getting nasty enough that even touching them with tools made her feel violated.


    “Well we know she’s not a Demon of Revulsion.” Sasha guffawed as both Zoe and Lily wrinkled their noses. “Come on, both of you had your fist in someone’s chest at some point, quit acting like you’re going to keel over and die.”


    Zoe wheezed as her lungs gave out and she was forced to suck in another noxious breath. “Hey! My core is only attuned to one bodily fluid, and it is most definitely not liquid excrement.”


    “Oh?” The Lycan woman chuckled. “That’s an interesting way to say your core is attuned to a bodily fluid.” Zoe glared at her, but her patented death glare didn’t seem to be working. “Let’s see—the liquid excrement would probably be Fear—so if it were Sorrow, then tears maybe—“


    Zoe shook her head. Is it not obvious? I mean she just talked about sticking hands in people’s chests.


    “I think she’s just messing with us,” Lilith clarified.


    That was probably true, and the wolf-woman got a mischievous glint in her eye a moment later. “Well, it couldn’t be something as obvious as blood, and that would eliminate Wrath, and I don’t know what would even go with Disdain, like what bodily fluid even goes with a feeling of pride? None of them, maybe?”


    For all that she was annoyed by the teasing, Zoe had little idea what she was talking about. What were all these names? Like what even was the ‘Disdain’ thing related to her Demoness? Like ‘Wrath’ would fit with the Catholic sins from Earth, but the others…


    “You should ask me,” Lilith suggested. And Zoe took her hallucinatory companion up on that offer, because it was at that very moment Sasha latched onto another class of bodily fluids—and the ‘euphoric and passionate feelings’ that might go along with them.


    _____


    Given that the flooded tunnels had been transitioning into clearly artificial sewer works, Zoe expected them to climb a ladder, lift up a manhole cover, and emerge in some back alley in the middle of the city. Instead, they emerged straight out into the afternoon light with the boat still beneath them.


    “Huh.” Zoe discarded her oar over the side, garnering a sharp look from her two companions. “I didn’t expect the ocean.”


    It was indeed the ocean. The calm, sunlit sea stretched outward before them, disappearing over the horizon as it met with the billowy shapes of fair-weather clouds. Behind them was a bit of sandy, scrubby coast, and not a hundred yards behind that was solid tree-line. Farther up the coast to the North, Zoe could make out the familiar spire of the mage tower. Verdanport was close, but they still had a ways to walk.


    If the ship engine still worked, they’d just be using that, but it had given up shortly into their little escape adventure. Henceforth, they’d resorted to the backup oars. Zoe’s arms were exhausted, so she’d rather stretch her legs for a turn by getting out and walking. “Yessss,” she hissed as she stretched her arms and back. She yelped as the surf washed up over her feet. The next few seconds passed with Zoe making a mad dash farther up the beach and onto the dry sand to avoid further wetness.


    “You guys coming?”


    Lily and Sasha shared a look. “Uh, sure.” Sasha hesitated. “Uh, where are you going?”


    “I’m going back to Verdanport,” Lily said as she hopped over the side and joined Zoe where the weeds met the pure sand. “I have an uncle to murder.”


    Nodding sagely, Zoe voiced her agreement. “Verdanport for me too, I think. I also have an uncle to murder.” She paused. “Well I mean he’s not my uncle, but he is an uncle. He’s Lily’s uncle.”


    Everyone laughed at that, even the annoying little ‘person’ tagging along inside Zoe’s head. Why is that funny? That wasn’t supposed to be funny. “Whatever. Let’s go.” She turned and trudged upwards through the scrubby weeds, up until she hit a paved road stretching along the coast. Zoe idly wondered where it would take her if she went South instead.


    She began heading North.


    The other two joined her but a moment later. “Any plans on getting into the city?” Lily asked. Zoe stopped walking. Plans to get into the city? Oh right, the whole thing with everyone expecting a Demon and inquisitors or something everywhere. Zoe had forgotten about that.


    “On second thought, I will not be going to Verdanport at this time.” And with that, she made an abrupt turn on her heel to start heading South.


    “Fair enough,” she heard Lily call back over the sudden wind. Sudden gusts were picking up, but Zoe didn’t mind. They were, for the most part, coming inland, so they didn’t impede her progress. A bit of stormy, coastal wind while walking down a beachside road was a welcome change in scenery from the sewers.


    “Mind if I join you?” Sasha had come up beside her. Zoe half expected that. It looked like Verdanport wasn’t the most welcoming for either of them at the moment. It was disappointing, because it was a neat-looking place and Zoe still wanted to explore it.


    “I don’t mind. I do have to warn you though—I have no idea where I’m going, and I’m also massively stupid.”


    “Yeah, I could tell.” That remark earned the wolf woman a cutting glare. But she just smirked.


    Zoe scowled and shook her head. She was going to have a nice, relaxing stroll, and then she was going to find a nice little town and work toward hitting Rank E. It was hard to imagine how even someone as moronic as her could get a plan as simple as that to go too far sideways. But enough self-negativity, she chastised herself. Never underestimate the ingenuity of idiots.